Krista's Care

[daftcat75]

Slept right through the midnight shift. But did wake at 1:30. She’s been well-behaved tonight. I gave her a transdermal bupe dose at 8 pm. So next dose would be either now or at 4am (in two hours) depending on whether she gets 6 or 8 hours of relief. I changed out her food and she seems calm right now. She’s not quite eating as much as she was before. But she’s still eating a healthy amount. Somewhere around 6 oz today I think vs 8 to 9 oz before

The hospital called earlier in the day to check on her. The surgeon called me back later tonight to answer some questions. Namely she could be wobbly for some time after these two weeks. While the surgeon cleared out all the infectious material she could, there’s likely going to be inflammation for some time. And she’s taking the antibiotic long-term to make sure the infection doesn’t come back. Dr also said to give her under the chin scratches to get a peak at her site. That’s what she was doing after surgery.

Tomorrow morning I will start her on the bi-weekly chemo dosing schedule. Hopefully she’ll take the larger dose. But she only has to take it once every two weeks now. And since it is a super concentrated liquid, I could squirt it in her mouth if I can’t convince her to eat it from a plate, mixed with food and possibly salmon oil.

Saturday or Sunday, I’ll probably let her out for a highly supervised office jaunt. She’ll likely recover her balance faster if she’s allowed more than a few feet to stretch her legs and walk around. Any jumping though and she goes back in the pen.

 

[daftcat75]

My sad prisoner

 

[daftcat75]

She was quiet all night. I wonder if there was just a rough few days she needed to get through. Or if she’s resigned to her place in there.

This morning’s chemo went well. I mixed the dose with a little food and covered that with salmon oil. She ate that plate clean. If her next poop is a little looser because of the salmon oil, so be it. We won’t have to do this again for two weeks. Today is payday for me. That should make this easy to remember. Dose her on payday.

She finished most of the late night meal I gave her. She nibbled at some of first breakfast. She’s got a lot going on. She’s eating better than I thought she would. Both the bupe and the antibiotic can suppress her appetite. The vestibular condition can disrupt her appetite as well. That she’s eating even close to six ounces a day is fantastic. It’s also possible that if the flakes for her pred were causing inflammation in the ear, they were almost certainly causing it in the gut too. And as the gut inflammation finally cools, she may not need to eat as much as before. Less inflammation means better absorption. I’d love to pull a fatter Krista out of isolation in two weeks.

 

[tarasgirl06]

She was quiet all night. I wonder if there was just a rough few days she needed to get through. Or if she’s resigned to her place in there.

This morning’s chemo went well. I mixed the dose with a little food and covered that with salmon oil. She ate that plate clean. If her next poop is a little looser because of the salmon oil, so be it. We won’t have to do this again for two weeks. Today is payday for me. That should make this easy to remember. Dose her on payday.

She finished most of the late night meal I gave her. She nibbled at some of first breakfast. She’s got a lot going on. She’s eating better than I thought she would. Both the bupe and the antibiotic can suppress her appetite. The vestibular condition can disrupt her appetite as well. That she’s eating even close to six ounces a day is fantastic. It’s also possible that if the flakes for her pred were causing inflammation in the ear, they were almost certainly causing it in the gut too. And as the gut inflammation finally cools, she may not need to eat as much as before. Less inflammation means better absorption. I’d love to pull a fatter Krista out of isolation in two weeks.

Wouldn't that be cause to celebrate!!!
Sounding good. Salmon are such noble fish -- they are doing excellent work here by helping Krista and you! Are her haws always up like that? I hope that goes away soon. It's always hard to see a cat like that.
Thanks for links to cases. Yeah, I saw that black cat with ears and thought about it. Ended up getting this really ugly basic grey case. But my roomie is plotting behind my back and I think she is going to give me a cat case she found on eBay. My roomies are so amazing!

 

[daftcat75]

I cannot wait until her culture comes back and we can compound her antibiotic. I mean I might not literally be able to wait. After several attempts to get her to swallow her 1/4 pill, I went back to the kitchen to plot another way. I crushed the pill with a pestle and smeared the crumbs in salmon oil. Then I kept poking my finger in her mouth until all the crumbs were gone. I'm going to try my hand at "compounding" her pill again tomorrow. I'd like to be able to crush it and suck it up into a syringe with a small amount of oil (salmon or coconut) and administer it that way until we can get the duck flavored liquid medicine from Wedgewood.

She's distrustful of the warm compress this morning. I don't blame her. It seems like every time I enter the pen, it's to molest her in some way.

I'm warming up a towel with a heating pad and then I'll let her lay on the warm towel. Maybe later when she's had some time to forgive the pilling fiasco, she'll let me take a peak at her incision site again.

 

[daftcat75]

Wouldn't that be cause to celebrate!!!
Sounding good. Salmon are such noble fish -- they are doing excellent work here by helping Krista and you! Are her haws always up like that? I hope that goes away soon. It's always hard to see a cat like that.
Thanks for links to cases. Yeah, I saw that black cat with ears and thought about it. Ended up getting this really ugly basic grey case. But my roomie is plotting behind my back and I think she is going to give me a cat case she found on eBay. My roomies are so amazing!

I think those are sleepy eyes. I've seen her haws come up like that shortly before falling asleep on the bookcase camera.

Or she may be having discomfort. But she wasn't pawing and howling at all last night. She was very quiet all night long.

I'm going to give her a bupe break unless I think she needs it again (restless behavior, pawing at the pen, and the long sad meows.)

 

[daftcat75]

It’s hard to see her through the mesh. But I don’t want to disturb her by opening the top. It seems she discovered and appreciates the warm compress after all.

She’s laying right up against the camera in there so we’re not going to get anything from that shot.

 

[daftcat75]

Sorry Krista. I missed this note in your home care instructions (or rather I've seen it twice but failed to register with me):

"Please note, it is normal for some pets to show a change in their energy when Nocita [long-lasting local anesthetic] wears off after 72 hours [today]; therefore please continue with any other pain relievers prescribed to keep Krista comfortable."

So it wasn't that Krista just made it through a rough patch and was no longer restless and crying for bupe. But that she was probably stoically suffering through the pain she just woke up to as the local wore off.

I just gave her a full bupe dose in the ear with my old transdermal prescription for her teeth. She already looks more comfortable. I'll keep using the transdermal until it's gone because I've terrorized her mouth enough the last two days. Her next dose should be midnight.

 

[daftcat75]

Now I'm confused. Her energy level just picked up and she started meowing a bit. But I also started playing a Pink Floyd song on my laptop. Apparently an early mix of Money just dropped on Spotify today, and Krista is not a fan. She has settled down once more after I stopped playback and checked on her. Strange kitty! I suppose that could be a jarring song for a cat on opiates. Or for a cat in general.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Now I'm confused. Her energy level just picked up and she started meowing a bit. But I also started playing a Pink Floyd song on my laptop. Apparently an early mix of Money just dropped on Spotify today, and Krista is not a fan. She has settled down once more after I stopped playback and checked on her. Strange kitty! I suppose that could be a jarring song for a cat on opiates. Or for a cat in general.

Well, no offense, but I'm not a PF fan either. It's strictly classical here, and international. No rock whatsoever. Just sayin'.
Hoping Krista feels comfortable, comforted, calm, and better.

 

[daftcat75]

She's a little restless and vocal. I'm going to assume my expired bupe has lost potency. But I'm also going to assume it hasn't lost all its potency. I gave her a half dose by mouth. But I think she's just active right now. At midnight, I'll give her a whole dose by mouth. At least I know the oral is full strength. I just hate it that every time I go in there, it seems I'm doing something to her.

For her antibiotic, I'm defrosting a rabbit leg from the freezer and I'll cook it in the instant pot. Then I'll try to hide the antibiotic in the rabbit meat. I hope she likes my cooked rabbit as much as she likes my raw rabbit. I don't want to give her raw though while she's on immune-suppressing drugs. Then again, she is taking an antibiotic.... Maybe I'll reserve some raw anyway. A little antibiotic-laced rabbit sashimi for breakfast. Not going to get an organic label here.

 

[daftcat75]

We achieved solid !

Though she’s not eating so much today. Then again. She had a double dose of chemo today. I have no idea how a double dose affects her.

I think I got too lazy with the bupe. But now I don’t want to overdo it. I’ll give her an oral dose at 10 rather than midnight. That’s six hours instead of 8. She’s been active for the last few hours. I don’t want to bupe her just to quiet her down. But I kind of do. Because I don’t want her being too active right now either. For her recovery sake. I don’t want her ripping her sutures rubbing and pawing at the pen.

 

[daftcat75]

I buped her again. And now she’s settled. For the moment. I hope her eating picks up again soon.

 

[daftcat75]

Woohoo! Trupanion approved her claim. After deductible, they are paying 90%. Overall, it works out to a little less than 80% of the total bill. I could have the rest paid before she comes out of rehab.

Even without her in the bed, I’m up at 5am. Well not up yet. But soon. I want to swap out her food. She’s averaging only 60% of what I’m plating. I’m hoping that will pick up as she recovers.

After the 10 Pm bupe, she was quiet all night. Okay. Time to get up.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Woohoo! Trupanion approved her claim. After deductible, they are paying 90%. Overall, it works out to a little less than 80% of the total bill. I could have the rest paid before she comes out of rehab.

Even without her in the bed, I’m up at 5am. Well not up yet. But soon. I want to swap out her food. She’s averaging only 60% of what I’m plating. I’m hoping that will pick up as she recovers.

After the 10 Pm bupe, she was quiet all night. Okay. Time to get up.

A quiet night! That must have been good for you both. Hoping she likes her food and starts eating more of it today!

 

[daftcat75]

A quiet night! That must have been good for you both. Hoping she likes her food and starts eating more of it today!

I put a little salmon oil into the first breakfast remainder. I can’t do that for every meal. Or maybe I can. I used to put a pump of salmon oil into the whole can so she would get a taste of it at every meal. I want to reserve that option. I also have transdermal mirtazapine if it comes to that. But I'd hate for her to have the meowzies while she's stuck in confinement. That's my nuclear option.

She's got a lot going on right now.

The vestibular stuff ("the wobblies") hasn't completely subsided. She likely still has inflammation in that ear. It may make her woozy to bend over her food dish even though I got her a raised Jackson Galaxy dish. Two actually. Because I do everything in pairs.

Her food is somewhat new as she wasn't eating half rabbit and half rabbit and pumpkin before all this. I was staging it in, but it wasn't at half yet.

She took a double dose of chemo yesterday to get her on the biweekly dosing schedule. (The one silver lining of having lost so much weight is that her body surface area dose for the bi-weekly only comes out to a double dose.) But I have no idea how she reacts to a double dose.

With her regular vet's approval, I reduced her pred from 7.5 mg per day to 5 per day which she now takes as a transdermal. I didn't feel like we were getting any more bang for the buck when we increased it to 7.5. And it seems counterproductive to suppress her immune system while she's fighting an infection. 5 a day is still plenty for anti-inflammatory purposes.

And she's on new drugs: bupe and the antibiotic. Both of which could be suppressing her appetite. She won't be on bupe much longer. They didn't send her home with very much.

Finally, if the fish flakes were causing gut inflammation, that could have lead to poor nutrient absorption and thus increased appetite. If the removal of the flakes is leading to better digestion, and her poops seem to point in that direction, it's possible that she won't need or want to eat as much as she was eating before.

Oh...and let's not forget the stress of confinement. And her reduced activity level. How much food does she really need to sleep or rest all day? Well, enough to heal herself.

I've been giving her a few adaptation days. Next week, I believe I will start weighing her remainders and recording her daily intake.

 

[daftcat75]

It doesn’t look too bad. She lets me gently tip her head to the side with chin scritches. I finally got what the surgeon was saying. But it’s still hard to get pictures of it. Or to get more than a second of peek time. I’m assuming an infection would look obvious. What I see is some bruising and normal scarring.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I put a little salmon oil into the first breakfast remainder. I can’t do that for every meal. Or maybe I can. I used to put a pump of salmon oil into the whole can so she would get a taste of it at every meal. I want to reserve that option. I also have transdermal mirtazapine if it comes to that. But I'd hate for her to have the meowzies while she's stuck in confinement. That's my nuclear option.

She's got a lot going on right now.

The vestibular stuff ("the wobblies") hasn't completely subsided. She likely still has inflammation in that ear. It may make her woozy to bend over her food dish even though I got her a raised Jackson Galaxy dish. Two actually. Because I do everything in pairs.

Her food is somewhat new as she wasn't eating half rabbit and half rabbit and pumpkin before all this. I was staging it in, but it wasn't at half yet.

She took a double dose of chemo yesterday to get her on the biweekly dosing schedule. (The one silver lining of having lost so much weight is that her body surface area dose for the bi-weekly only comes out to a double dose.) But I have no idea how she reacts to a double dose.

With her regular vet's approval, I reduced her pred from 7.5 mg per day to 5 per day which she now takes as a transdermal. I didn't feel like we were getting any more bang for the buck when we increased it to 7.5. And it seems counterproductive to suppress her immune system while she's fighting an infection. 5 a day is still plenty for anti-inflammatory purposes.

And she's on new drugs: bupe and the antibiotic. Both of which could be suppressing her appetite. She won't be on bupe much longer. They didn't send her home with very much.

Finally, if the fish flakes were causing gut inflammation, that could have lead to poor nutrient absorption and thus increased appetite. If the removal of the flakes is leading to better digestion, and her poops seem to point in that direction, it's possible that she won't need or want to eat as much as she was eating before.

Oh...and let's not forget the stress of confinement. And her reduced activity level. How much food does she really need to sleep or rest all day? Well, enough to heal herself.

I've been giving her a few adaptation days. Next week, I believe I will start weighing her remainders and recording her daily intake.

I know antibiotics make me feel really bad. They do that to a lot of people. And with all she's got going on right now, I wouldn't be surprised if she's not feeling great. Your feeling about the pred sounds logical to me. And yeah, with confinement, she's not burning a lot of calories, is she? I know I don't want to/eat much when I'm sick and most people (and cats) I know are like that, too.
So all systems go and keep on doing what you're doing, you two!

 

[daftcat75]

She is getting some supervised freedom. And she’s off her hocks.

https://thecatsite.com/media/off-her-hocks.423512/

She doesn’t go very far before she takes a lay down break. But hopefully this will make it a little more clear to her why she’s in the SHU. She’s improving. But not ready for gen pop yet.

 

[daftcat75]

She discovered that she could reach the chair and from the chair, she would jump onto the desk. So before she actually jumped or pulled herself onto the chair, I pulled a clawsy cat off the cushion and put her back in the pen. She’s stubborn. Once she gets it in her head that she wants to climb onto the chair, outside time is over. Because that’s all she would do for the remainder of that time.

I put new food in for her and a smidgen of the green powder in the food. She likes that stuff. And we can afford a smidgen to get her eating a little better.