Why would a 14 y.o. cat cry when she is using the litter box?
Her litter box is in the closet so I can't observe her when she's in there to see what's going on.
My vet thought she might be constipated and told me to give her Miralax, which I did but she still cries. She had a recent urine test that was fine. Her poo looks the same post-Miralax..still hard little pebbles. He said for me to check it out when it first comes out to see if it is soft at first before it dries. But I haven't managed to do that yet. I guess I have to be more on top of this.
She eats dry food and takes prednisone daily for IBD. She absolutely refuses to eat any food but Science Diet dry. I know she should be on novel proteins or raw but she just won't eat anything about the Science Diet dry.
He also thinks she may have pancreatitis. Could that be causing the crying in the litter box? She also walks around crying sometimes too but she's always done that.
He gave me some oral buprenorphine "shots" to try out on her, but these are opiates and I worry about her getting addicted. I gave them to her twice and they seemed to make her more active and happy and seem to last several days although they aren't supposed to last more than 6 hrs. Then I read that a side effect of the drug is stimulation, so I don't know if she's really more happy, but just stimulated. Obviously this is not a long-term solution and these shots are very expensive. He told me to call him and tell him how she does and he'd come up with something cheaper. I just wondered if this whole situation brings us any advice from you all. He wants to know her reaction to the buprenorphine because he is trying to judge if she is in pain.
Also, is there a thread for sick-kitty caretakers? I feel my constant fear of her pain, encroaching death, etc. is taking its toll on ME too. She's been sick for 8 mos. now and I feel it taking its toll on me, too. I'm getting kind of stressed out from her long illness and unhappiness. Don't get me wrong....I adore this cat more than any creature on the planet. IBD is a horrible condition.
Her litter box is in the closet so I can't observe her when she's in there to see what's going on.
My vet thought she might be constipated and told me to give her Miralax, which I did but she still cries. She had a recent urine test that was fine. Her poo looks the same post-Miralax..still hard little pebbles. He said for me to check it out when it first comes out to see if it is soft at first before it dries. But I haven't managed to do that yet. I guess I have to be more on top of this.
She eats dry food and takes prednisone daily for IBD. She absolutely refuses to eat any food but Science Diet dry. I know she should be on novel proteins or raw but she just won't eat anything about the Science Diet dry.
He also thinks she may have pancreatitis. Could that be causing the crying in the litter box? She also walks around crying sometimes too but she's always done that.
He gave me some oral buprenorphine "shots" to try out on her, but these are opiates and I worry about her getting addicted. I gave them to her twice and they seemed to make her more active and happy and seem to last several days although they aren't supposed to last more than 6 hrs. Then I read that a side effect of the drug is stimulation, so I don't know if she's really more happy, but just stimulated. Obviously this is not a long-term solution and these shots are very expensive. He told me to call him and tell him how she does and he'd come up with something cheaper. I just wondered if this whole situation brings us any advice from you all. He wants to know her reaction to the buprenorphine because he is trying to judge if she is in pain.
Also, is there a thread for sick-kitty caretakers? I feel my constant fear of her pain, encroaching death, etc. is taking its toll on ME too. She's been sick for 8 mos. now and I feel it taking its toll on me, too. I'm getting kind of stressed out from her long illness and unhappiness. Don't get me wrong....I adore this cat more than any creature on the planet. IBD is a horrible condition.