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i read another thread on this (from a few years ago). my cat (Blue) has been diagnosed...well, i guess with pancreatitis. i think that's more a "not sure what else it is," although an ultrasound showed the pancreas was inflamed (i think). anyway, she wasn't eating well and her breath had gotten AWFUL, so i finally found a new vet (we moved) and took her in, figuring she had a bad tooth/teeth. nope; her teeth are just fine. but the vet felt hardness in her abdomen and an x-ray showed she was FULL-UP Constipated. we came home with lactalose and mirtazipine. the mirtazipine didn't seem to be boosting her appetite at all (and had some unwanted side effects), so i stopped that quickly. the lactalose seemed to help after several days. but she still wasn't eating.
took her back in the next week, and she got an enema. they said she was pretty cleaned out, and we came home with more of the lactalose and prednisone. she still seemed constipated to me, and the pred wasn't helping her eat more either. i was in pretty close contact with the vet during all this, but we ended up going about 4 days with her eating almost nothing. then, on monday, i dropped her off at the vet clinic. she would have an ultrasound the next day, and they would be able to syringe-feed her (and get SOMETHING in her).
they did syringe-feed her, a couple times a day (after the ultrasound), and she also was eating at night there. she came back home thursday with just buprenorphine.
the vet said she thinks it's helping her be able to eat--that she's in so much pain from the pancreatitis she won't eat. she HAS an appetite--she is always asking me for food/gets excited when i get up/etc. but when i put something down (no matter what it is), often she just sniffs it and walks away. usually she'll (eventually) like up any gravy/sauce that's there. (she also has hard food available all the time. and the last thing she ate before stopping entirely were Temptations treats.)
buprenorphine is .2ml, every 12 hours, "as needed." the invoice says 10 syringes, but there were only 7 in the bag, and the tech said i should probably give it at least thru the weekend. (because i questioned how i would know when it was "needed.") she's about 9 pounds. and i think she's about 4 now. maybe 5.
all that's just background, because usually if i just go right to my question on a forum, i get all kinds of questions. (and possibly will here anyway, lol.)
the biggest problem (other than Blue not feeling well and not eating) is that i CANNOT get the medicine in her. before--the 2 other times we came home with meds, i pretty much got the stuff in her for about 3 days. then she figured out what to do so i couldn't any more. both times. and when she was at the clinic those days, when i picked her up, i asked if they'd been able to clean the lactalose off her chest and neck, and the techs said they'd gotten most of it. when i asked if they might, you know, get the rest of it, they said, "well, she doesn't like us to touch her any more." hmm...yup, it'd been 3 days.
i have experience with cats and meds. i had a CRF kitty for a year, and there've been others, so i'm okay with pilling; the SQ fluids weren't a problem; i'd even syringe-fed my CRF girl a few times. but with Blue--no go. i usually can't scruff her. if i DO, she doesn't go limp. at all. i think she has a trauma (body-trauma, maybe) because when she showed up outside, we at first thought she was wearing a white collar. several days later, when she let us get close enough to really see, she was NOT wearing a collar but obviously had been because the fur was completely worn off in a perfect collar shape all the way around her neck. it's the best thing i can come up with for why she's so difficult when being scruffed.
since i thought of that, i've tried very hard NOT to scruff her to give her the meds. but that makes it very difficult for both of us, and, as i said, i can do it about 3 days, then she figures out a way to avoid it.
with the buprenorphine....okay, when they said i needed to squirt it under her tongue, i actually laughed, and said, "you're kidding right?" no, they weren't. so we came home with me pretty much knowing i was going to be a complete failure at this. and i have been. i've managed to "give" her 2 doses, and i guarantee you, they were NOT sublingual. so....i don't think they can have had much effect at all? she's not eating much. again. she ate the first night; a bit the next day; then mostly stopped again.
i guess my question is--is there SOME OTHER WAY TO GIVE CATS MEDS?? the only thing i can think of is having a port put in until we get thru this. that doesn't seem the best either, but i don't know what else there is. this is, supposedly, going to be a temporary thing, until she feels better and starts eating again. we've got new food for her (which she will eat, when she's eating) that the vet believes will help make sure the pancreatitis (or whatever) doesn't come back. but we've got to GET there.
so far, sending us home with sublingual meds is the only bone-headed thing the vet has done. because she's been apprised, all along, of my difficulties getting meds in Blue. now, on monday again, i'm going to have send an email, telling how i failed to give her the medicine and she's basically not eaten all weekend again. full disclosure--i have a disability that makes taking Blue to the clinic very difficult. so, i can't just pop in there twice a day for them to dose her (and that wouldn't be 12 hours apart anyway).
does anyone have any suggestions???
sorry this is so long.
took her back in the next week, and she got an enema. they said she was pretty cleaned out, and we came home with more of the lactalose and prednisone. she still seemed constipated to me, and the pred wasn't helping her eat more either. i was in pretty close contact with the vet during all this, but we ended up going about 4 days with her eating almost nothing. then, on monday, i dropped her off at the vet clinic. she would have an ultrasound the next day, and they would be able to syringe-feed her (and get SOMETHING in her).
they did syringe-feed her, a couple times a day (after the ultrasound), and she also was eating at night there. she came back home thursday with just buprenorphine.
the vet said she thinks it's helping her be able to eat--that she's in so much pain from the pancreatitis she won't eat. she HAS an appetite--she is always asking me for food/gets excited when i get up/etc. but when i put something down (no matter what it is), often she just sniffs it and walks away. usually she'll (eventually) like up any gravy/sauce that's there. (she also has hard food available all the time. and the last thing she ate before stopping entirely were Temptations treats.)
buprenorphine is .2ml, every 12 hours, "as needed." the invoice says 10 syringes, but there were only 7 in the bag, and the tech said i should probably give it at least thru the weekend. (because i questioned how i would know when it was "needed.") she's about 9 pounds. and i think she's about 4 now. maybe 5.
all that's just background, because usually if i just go right to my question on a forum, i get all kinds of questions. (and possibly will here anyway, lol.)
the biggest problem (other than Blue not feeling well and not eating) is that i CANNOT get the medicine in her. before--the 2 other times we came home with meds, i pretty much got the stuff in her for about 3 days. then she figured out what to do so i couldn't any more. both times. and when she was at the clinic those days, when i picked her up, i asked if they'd been able to clean the lactalose off her chest and neck, and the techs said they'd gotten most of it. when i asked if they might, you know, get the rest of it, they said, "well, she doesn't like us to touch her any more." hmm...yup, it'd been 3 days.
i have experience with cats and meds. i had a CRF kitty for a year, and there've been others, so i'm okay with pilling; the SQ fluids weren't a problem; i'd even syringe-fed my CRF girl a few times. but with Blue--no go. i usually can't scruff her. if i DO, she doesn't go limp. at all. i think she has a trauma (body-trauma, maybe) because when she showed up outside, we at first thought she was wearing a white collar. several days later, when she let us get close enough to really see, she was NOT wearing a collar but obviously had been because the fur was completely worn off in a perfect collar shape all the way around her neck. it's the best thing i can come up with for why she's so difficult when being scruffed.
since i thought of that, i've tried very hard NOT to scruff her to give her the meds. but that makes it very difficult for both of us, and, as i said, i can do it about 3 days, then she figures out a way to avoid it.
with the buprenorphine....okay, when they said i needed to squirt it under her tongue, i actually laughed, and said, "you're kidding right?" no, they weren't. so we came home with me pretty much knowing i was going to be a complete failure at this. and i have been. i've managed to "give" her 2 doses, and i guarantee you, they were NOT sublingual. so....i don't think they can have had much effect at all? she's not eating much. again. she ate the first night; a bit the next day; then mostly stopped again.
i guess my question is--is there SOME OTHER WAY TO GIVE CATS MEDS?? the only thing i can think of is having a port put in until we get thru this. that doesn't seem the best either, but i don't know what else there is. this is, supposedly, going to be a temporary thing, until she feels better and starts eating again. we've got new food for her (which she will eat, when she's eating) that the vet believes will help make sure the pancreatitis (or whatever) doesn't come back. but we've got to GET there.
so far, sending us home with sublingual meds is the only bone-headed thing the vet has done. because she's been apprised, all along, of my difficulties getting meds in Blue. now, on monday again, i'm going to have send an email, telling how i failed to give her the medicine and she's basically not eaten all weekend again. full disclosure--i have a disability that makes taking Blue to the clinic very difficult. so, i can't just pop in there twice a day for them to dose her (and that wouldn't be 12 hours apart anyway).
does anyone have any suggestions???
sorry this is so long.