I think I am way behind on your posts - so, sorry if you have already explained. But, if most everything other than her hips is pretty much under control, why can't they give her anything for her arthritic hips?
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From Neglect to Shame
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My vet told me that there really wasn't much on the market for cats. I use Metcam but even its not working anymore.
No options such as glucosamine and/or chondroitin just to see if after they have been administered awhile if they might make a difference? It's not an overnight treatment, but can help when given consistently for a period of time. I gave Feeby Glyco Flex Plus (glucosamine, chondroitin, and green lipped mussels) when she was limping from arthritis, and within 2 weeks she had improved quite a bit. She has been on it for over a year now, and no limp at all. She by no means can move around as she once did, but she does OK.
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Are those the two that work well on humans with arthritis? He wouldn't go there when it came to supplements. Thank you for bringing them to my attention- I will read up on it.
All three have been used (either separately or together) on humans with success. And, all of them can be purchased without a prescription, but it would be a good idea to find out why your vet won't even entertain such things as a trial if nothing else.Are those the two that work well on humans with arthritis? He wouldn't go there when it came to supplements. Thank you for bringing them to my attention- I will read up on it.
Vale has just been through so much, and has been a trooper all the way through; it is hard to see that she might be taken down by arthritis. I use interim (6") steps all over my house for Feeby, just so she doesn't have to jump as much to get to places - and, she uses them all (she knows!). I haven't yet had to resort to a very-low sided litterbox, but I will do so if/when the time comes. For me, that means a whole lot of clean up around the box, as she stands to pee/poop! Small price to pay, if it comes to that!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0116E4HW0/?tag=thecatsite - after you read what you need to, this is what I buy for Feeby.
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Some vets are not into supplements, MD's can be the same way. He may not know much about them. I am sure glad that I have this site of informed people, such as yourself, to help educate me. Vets are not the be all and end all when it comes to animals.
Well, you and feeby are a team.
She can count on you to do right by her. I held Vale last night while she ate so she was more comfortable. That is about all I know to do.
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Self warming mats/blankets to help with easing the pain a bit? She probably loves your lap because it is not only warm, but comforting. Even a heating pad when you can watch over its use with her?
We lost our 11 year old golden retriever about a year ago and he had been on medication for years because of the pain from arthritis in his back end. We tried glucosamine, heating pads, pretty much everything but eventually he just couldn't even get up off the floor and just fell. The night before he was trying to hide under the bed and the next day it was like he couldn't stand up. We put him to sleep at that point.
Unfortunately there's only so much that medicine can do for pain and arthritis. Even people who have arthritis can only get so much relief.
There are more pain management options, so you are not helpless, yet. In addition to NSAID therapy, such as your meloxicam already in the pain treatment booty, there is neuropathic pain management (a big part of DJD) i.e. gabapentin and amantidine, as well as other interrupters of the pain pathway, including oral tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline (lower dose for pain compared to anxiety treatment), and microdosing traditionally anesthetic agents, such as ketamine (they may have already given this in a cocktail if she was sedated for her abscess procedure). Can you email her care team requesting additional prescriptions either filled by them or digital copy emailed to you to send to online pharmacy? Gabapentin capsules are small and easy to administer in food or pill manually. TCA tablets are also tiny. These all have minimal side effects, primarily sedating while adapt to new med, then sedation effect wears off and just the pain management stays. Multimodal approach leads to lowest effective dose of the meloxicam, too.
https://www.fetchdvm360.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/CVCSD-2016-261-302-Feline_Medicine.pdf
"Break the pain cycle pharmacologically. NSAIDs remain one cornerstone of chronic pain management, particularly in the initial stages. They decrease inflammation and provide analgesia by acting at various locations within the nervous system. Once pain is controlled, we can (and should) titrate the dose to lowest effective dose, and that may be 0. Once removed, the NSAID can then be reserved for use as an inflammatory pain flare. Do not “mix & match” NSAIDs.
Chronic pain is “maladaptive” pain (see Clifford Woolf) or “maldynic” pain (see James Giordano). Maladaptive pain demands we target the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. “Targeted therapy” is a relatively new concept in human pain management, and a REALLY new concept in veterinary medicine.
Gabapentin affects α-2-δ subunit of the calcium channel in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. It is an important gold standard for chronic, maladaptive pain management in humans, and it is emerging with a perioperative role. We need to dose appropriately at 5 – 15 mg/kg BID – TID to start. You will see drug activity within just a few days and maximal effects within 7 – 10 days."
Abscesses are very painful. Once that space heals further, you may find she responds better to her current pain therapy. All my geriatrics her age need/needed more than the NSAID to be comfortable. Only one tolerated acupuncture and cold laser therapy sessions long enough for effect, but what a difference that effect made compared to solely medically managed DJD kitties.
Quality of life assessment at home can help you distinguish good days from bad. See pdf attached to help assess QOL.
CBD Mobility Products for Dogs & Cats | ElleVet Sciences offers some pain control, proven safe and effective in first ever CBD study, with Cornell.
CBD Oil For Cats | Higher Quality Hemp Products for Cats
Omega 3 fatty acid supplementation in high concentration reduced joint inflammation. "Supplemental fish oil is used as adjunctive therapy for inflammatory conditions, such as inflammatory skin disease and osteoarthritis, cancer, hyperlipidemia, and cardiac disease.16" Role of Dietary Fatty Acids in Dogs & Cats | Today's Veterinary Practice
Nutramax Labs proves safety and efficacy in their trials, employs veterinarians, and has high enough concentration we aren't trying to get 5mL of oil into each cat. Nutramax's Welactin in capsules or free oil applied to food is choice option.
Welactin® Feline
Warm pads/beds near a heat source, on heating discs, or on a heating pad help keep osteoarthritic cats from getting too stiff, improving mobility from a resting position, limiting inappropriate elimination due to said stiffness and pain. Easier to move to the box, especially lower sided box just for the geriatric cat in the home. Her area can be in a corner of home less frequented by other cats, with a box, a heated bed, couple private hide like covered carrier, and steps leading to perches.
Your vet is in the minority within their field. The veterinary pharmaceutical company that makes the medications he does recommend also make the peer reviewed, trialed, and studied supplements, including Enisyl (L-lysine), which has now been proven less effective than we thought, Cosequin, still proven effective in studies for over 15 years and highly recommended by veterinary orthopedists and pain specialists, Proviable and FortiFlora, strongly used by veterinary internists. Over 10 different vets have all introduced me to supplements, with strong education backgrounds in feline pain management, GI/kidney disease management, cancer management, and joint disease treatment.
A good vet leaves ego at the door, learns constantly, and seeks to improve their level of patient care and medicine constantly. It behooves their skills, their performance, their patients. Ignorance and insecurity limits a vet's ability to grow.
Good veterinarians consider the big picture of how to administer home therapies and manage or prevent known side effects or symptoms. Vets and their nurse/technician support staff gave me the tips I have now on how to towel wrap, medicate, tempt appetite, passive range of motion therapy, warm/cold compress postop or chronic inflamed sites, inject SQ or IM treatments at home.
Find a vet that offers this level of care and service, if you can logistically and financially. Even my "non city," seemingly less modern vets utilized email and video conferences to effectively manage their patients; sometimes for a fee depending on their time vested and how long has passed since are last on-site exam/consult in clinic. If they're more hands off, resistant to proven medical management initiated by another vet, closed to discussion or trials, have no practical advice regarding home treatment methods and options, they're obsolete compared to their cohorts. Off our list of vets we use/recommend and on to another. Worth the drive to better invest in prime medicine, prime advice, prime patient management and communication.
If you're in the US, the American Association of Feline Practitioners is a good starting point, then compare consumer reviews of those clinics within X radius of your home. Cat Friendly Practices® | American Association of Feline Practitioners
If outside US, the International Society for Feline Medicine has Cat Friendly registered clinics, also. https://catfriendlyclinic.org/
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She's going to need more than that, I'm afraid. Vale was getting an abscess lanced today- a rather large and nasty one. She got that from another cat I have who broke through a barrier that I
She is having ups and downs. Last night she was in so much pain she couldn't find a comfortable way to sleep. I figured the extra pain was from where he lanced her, so I gave her metcam. It still took a long time for her to fall asleep. I applied the mite meds today and that seems to just about kill her with pain- but while my vet thought that Revolution is a very good alternative- he also warned me that it is very expensive. There has got to be a middle somewhere. I feel so sorry for her, I know that I wouldn't want someone to fuss with me when I am in my late eighties.
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Your vet is in the minority within their field. The veterinary pharmaceutical company that makes the medications he does recommend also make the peer reviewed, trialed, and studied supplements, including Enisyl (L-lysine), which has now been proven less effective than we thought, Cosequin, still proven effective in studies for over 15 years and highly recommended by veterinary orthopedists and pain specialists, Proviable and FortiFlora, strongly used by veterinary internists. Over 10 different vets have all introduced me to supplements, with strong education backgrounds in feline pain management, GI/kidney disease management, cancer management, and joint disease treatment.
Thank you, mentat!
You are speaking about a holistic vet? There are some in the St. Louis area, I will check them o ut. . I stay with my vet because he works with me in regards to my fiances.
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I am sorry to hear about your canine friend.
Yes, I agree, a life with chronic pain is a life not worth living.Glad you're considering your options in Vale's bag of hospice care. They're not holistic vets. They are traditional western medicine, college of veterinary medicine graduates, who value therapies that have been proven effective both by hundreds of their peers' clinical testimony and published data, as well as scientifically studied, randomized, controlled proven treatments. Vets who not only use their own experience and knowledge, but network and take advantage of other veterinarians' experience and knowledge.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the bare minimum of modern, multimodal pain management options. I push my own human medical doctors to consider other analgesia options, when combined, treat my pain, improve mobility, and enable other body systems to start to heal without the stressor of pain limiting healing.
I bring research journals to vets as well, which is how we now have my old girl on a regimen that includes the ketamine microdose every month. Other vets have used it this way for many years already, but Tink's vet had not. It made sense to her, though. Resetting her pain pathway with this step has reinvigorated her, reduced her GI symptoms secondary to lymphoma, and she is like a freaking kitten again. This is just one example of many traditional veterinary medicine treatment options within your vet's scope, if they are not blind to the science and the innovative thinking. GP vets aka primary care traditional vets, treat pets like this every day of their career. You don't need a holistic vet. You need a vet without ego, with intelligence to seek many modes of treatment, and passion to advocate for their patients. Unilateral thinking limits not only pain management; without innovation and multi-therapy approaches, we limit/restrict URI, FLUTD, cancer, surgical, and hospice management, just to name a few. You can challenge and guide your cat's doctor to try more for Vale. Meloxicam and euthanasia are not your, or her, only options.
It's great he works with you regarding finances. In addition to Vale's meloxicam (NSAID). You can persist calmly and doggedly, inquiring about:
1.) neuropathic pain management, i.e. gabapentin, a big contributing part of the pain pathway of osteoarthritis and degenerative joint disease. The powder within capsules is easily dissolved into wet/tinned food. If difficulty opening cap by hand, ask about compounded smaller dose caps.The suspension liquids are too bitter. The capsules are very affordable, also.
Gabapentin Capsules
2.) tricyclic antidepressant, i.e. amitriptyline, interrupter of the pain pathway in lower dose than used for behavior/anxiety therapy. Fraction of a tablet daily, easily hidden in food, or butter, and pilled. Also, very affordable.
Amitriptyline Tablets
3.) joint supplements proven effective and safe, such as feline Cosequin. Flavored powder sprinkled onto food from the plastic capsule, easy dosing, very tasty. Very affordable.
Cosequin for Cats Sprinkle Capsules
4.) fish oil, specifically, omega 3 fatty acids, i.e. Welactin, made by the same laboratory as Cosequin, which is Nutramax. Capsules for minimal mess (no drips from scoop or spoon) and exact dose, with a twist tip you just remove and squeeze onto food. Mine lick it from their bowl.
Welactin FELINE
Comes in 2 different package boxes, same formula.
A pic of my cat's daily pain management. The white gabapentin capsule is divided into 3 doses per day to effectively manage Tink's pain. Others are once daily. I tried reducing Cosequin to every other day, she does best on daily dose. Her vet understands what works for one, say twice daily gabapentin and every other day meloxicam, does not work for her. Washout periods where we had to change from meloxicam to other anti-inflammatory were eased by increasing the dose of other pain management and 4 sessions of acupuncture in 2 weeks until we started her GI lymphoma prescribed steroid. Low invasive, low stress, effective pain management is always my and my vet care team's goal.
If Vale weren't eating, and avoided pilling manually, that's a quality of life discussion point. With her current great appetite, medicating is low stress and easy.
Treating each cat as an individual patient, with individual needs, unique pain, unique tolerance for or affinity for drugs, is a skill/philosophy good veterinary professionals have. Advocate. Persist. Request. We're rooting for you. Kitty Fist pump*
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the bare minimum of modern, multimodal pain management options. I push my own human medical doctors to consider other analgesia options, when combined, treat my pain, improve mobility, and enable other body systems to start to heal without the stressor of pain limiting healing.
I bring research journals to vets as well, which is how we now have my old girl on a regimen that includes the ketamine microdose every month. Other vets have used it this way for many years already, but Tink's vet had not. It made sense to her, though. Resetting her pain pathway with this step has reinvigorated her, reduced her GI symptoms secondary to lymphoma, and she is like a freaking kitten again. This is just one example of many traditional veterinary medicine treatment options within your vet's scope, if they are not blind to the science and the innovative thinking. GP vets aka primary care traditional vets, treat pets like this every day of their career. You don't need a holistic vet. You need a vet without ego, with intelligence to seek many modes of treatment, and passion to advocate for their patients. Unilateral thinking limits not only pain management; without innovation and multi-therapy approaches, we limit/restrict URI, FLUTD, cancer, surgical, and hospice management, just to name a few. You can challenge and guide your cat's doctor to try more for Vale. Meloxicam and euthanasia are not your, or her, only options.
It's great he works with you regarding finances. In addition to Vale's meloxicam (NSAID). You can persist calmly and doggedly, inquiring about:
1.) neuropathic pain management, i.e. gabapentin, a big contributing part of the pain pathway of osteoarthritis and degenerative joint disease. The powder within capsules is easily dissolved into wet/tinned food. If difficulty opening cap by hand, ask about compounded smaller dose caps.The suspension liquids are too bitter. The capsules are very affordable, also.
Gabapentin Capsules
2.) tricyclic antidepressant, i.e. amitriptyline, interrupter of the pain pathway in lower dose than used for behavior/anxiety therapy. Fraction of a tablet daily, easily hidden in food, or butter, and pilled. Also, very affordable.
Amitriptyline Tablets
3.) joint supplements proven effective and safe, such as feline Cosequin. Flavored powder sprinkled onto food from the plastic capsule, easy dosing, very tasty. Very affordable.
Cosequin for Cats Sprinkle Capsules
4.) fish oil, specifically, omega 3 fatty acids, i.e. Welactin, made by the same laboratory as Cosequin, which is Nutramax. Capsules for minimal mess (no drips from scoop or spoon) and exact dose, with a twist tip you just remove and squeeze onto food. Mine lick it from their bowl.
Welactin FELINE
Comes in 2 different package boxes, same formula.
A pic of my cat's daily pain management. The white gabapentin capsule is divided into 3 doses per day to effectively manage Tink's pain. Others are once daily. I tried reducing Cosequin to every other day, she does best on daily dose. Her vet understands what works for one, say twice daily gabapentin and every other day meloxicam, does not work for her. Washout periods where we had to change from meloxicam to other anti-inflammatory were eased by increasing the dose of other pain management and 4 sessions of acupuncture in 2 weeks until we started her GI lymphoma prescribed steroid. Low invasive, low stress, effective pain management is always my and my vet care team's goal.
If Vale weren't eating, and avoided pilling manually, that's a quality of life discussion point. With her current great appetite, medicating is low stress and easy.
Treating each cat as an individual patient, with individual needs, unique pain, unique tolerance for or affinity for drugs, is a skill/philosophy good veterinary professionals have. Advocate. Persist. Request. We're rooting for you. Kitty Fist pump*
