Krista's Care

[daftcat75]

“I was sleeping! Why is that thing always in my face?”

The third eyelid is retreating to a corner. The pupil size difference and head tilt still remain.

As does the attitude...

 

[daftcat75]

A lot just happened in the last 20 minutes. Her eye was getting watery so I finally got over my hesitations and her objections and gave her the eye drops. Then I laid down some fish flakes for her after. And because, I often like to use fish flakes to stimulate her appetite, I brought her plate of food from morning over. She proceeded to finish that. Went back to the S&C’s and finished that. Came back to the office and found her hops up the cat tree I put there specifically to make it easier for her to get to the sill. This might have been her first sill sitting in awhile. Then just as she was thinking of jumping from the desk in one jump (almost certainly would have ended in a somersault), she remembered the tree and took the steps down.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Glad she remembered!

I put a chest at the end of my bed to help Feeby, and she uses it 100% of time to jump up on the bed. Why she only remembers about 50% to use it to jump down befuddles me...

 

[daftcat75]

Glad she remembered!

I put a chest at the end of my bed to help Feeby, and she uses it 100% of time to jump up on the bed. Why she only remembers about 50% to use it to jump down befuddles me...

I have cat stairs next to the door leading to nowhere because she doesn't use them where I put them. So now I keep a jar of fish flakes by the door and tap the top step with my finger. This calls her over and while she's eating the flakes, I get in a few scratches. It's our occasional welcome-home greeting. I also bought her a handful of ramps before I brought her home from the hospital last week. She hasn't used any of them. Cats! Go figure! This is why I don't bring home every cat tree I think is cool and I think she'd enjoy.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I have cat stairs next to the door leading to nowhere because she doesn't use them where I put them.

Too funny!! I bought Feeby a lower step to go in front of the chest and all she did was use it to scratch on, then went around it and used the chest to get on the bed! (I got her that step before I put her on Glyco Flex for her arthritis.)

But, now you got me thinking... Before the Glyco Flex she had stopped using the bed in the spare room to nap in the afternoons. She's back to using it, and I never even thought to get her an interim step for that bed. DUH!!

 

[daftcat75]

I may have more cat furniture than people furniture at this point. Then again, it's all cat furniture as far as she's concerned.

 

[daftcat75]

There’s a nicknames thread. And there’s a certain character from the American Pie movies whose nickname would definitely be censored here. But that’s Krista’s new nickname. Because she stops mid-dinner to use the bathroom, to make room, and then goes back for more.

Well, tonight, sometime between putting a coaster over her plate and heading off to the loo, she shakes her head and her tube cap goes flying. So I go and prep the next one. And she’s in the box. Crap! Now I have to flush her tube and she’s wanting to go back for round two. This may be a live and learn moment but I’m thinking putting a little water, and probably some air, (maybe some litter dust??) in her stomach in between her meals may be why she’s looking a touch nauseated. But I couldn’t just cap her up after she used the box without a little bit of a flush. I’ll be happy when I can remove the tube. Assuming she doesn’t still need it, it will be my Valentine’s Day gift to her. Until then, I’d rather leave it in too long than remove it too soon.

For now, she’ll meditate on the pros and cons of barfing and then settle into a sleep. Before the night is out, she’ll probably be back at the plate. At least a few more times.

Tomorrow morning we retest her chemistry and see if an environmental change and milk thistle alone is enough to put her back on the right track. Or if we have to go back to the meds game. She certainly seems better without the meds but we may need to resume them to get her over a short-term hump.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Keeping fingers crossed she can stay off prescription meds

 

[daftcat75]

She makes this vet thing look easy. Just chillin’ like Dylan.

She has an iPod of cat rock (Music For Cats) stuffed in a carrier pocket and playing right now. I tried to upload a video but TCS is being funny about videos.

 

[daftcat75]

It got quiet enough in the office for a brief moment for me to hear a hiss from the back. I feel sorry for the tech who is drawing her blood. We never practice that at home.

 

[daftcat75]

Liver enzymes creeping back up again. I guess I will be reading up on liver enzymes once more. Is antibiotics really the right course? Would a few days of IV fluids make this go quicker? I don’t know how many more times I want to put her on meds and shuttle her over for a retest. More research needed....

Dr says she may have an alternative antibiotic to Clavamox but she has to do her research to determine if it’s appropriate and effective for this use. This is why I like her.

 

[daftcat75]

We're sort of throwing treatment options against the wall to see which stick. The current plan is to restart the ursodiol and re-test on Sunday. The GGT rising has the Dr thinking bile ducts which is what she was originally hospitalized and treated for. If this doesn't do it, we can either restart her on Clavamox or we can try Veraflox, the Dr's alternate she found for us. Personally, as much as I hate shuttling her back and forth for re-tests, I like the ursodiol plan because it allows me to do more research on both Veraflox and Clavamox.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

my old girl (Calico also) used to have a rise in her ALT every few months. She would get a Convenia shot and her ALT would go down, then in a couple of months it would rise again and we would repeat. She had chronic kidney disease however, so we didn't investigate too in depth what was causing the issue since we knew we would NOT do anything too invasive to to "fix it". As long as the Convenia brought it back into acceptable levels, we all could live with that, including Callie. We also tried Denamarin, but she was absolutely impossible to pill. Even our friend, a Vet Tech, could NOT pill her . (that's why she got Convenia instead of any other type of antibiotic) She also rejected any food with milk thistle in it, so you're one step ahead of us there. Our Vet also suggested adding a tiny bit of Vitamin E to her daily regime.

Here's an interesting article on raised ALT and some of the causes. Dental work followed by antibiotics can actually cause it! Why Are My Dog Or Cat's ALT Levels Abnormal?

 

[daftcat75]

Except that her ALT and bilirubin levels were elevated before the dental work. She was initially denied the dental work because the ALT was over 1400 and bilirubin was also high. When she was released, everything was back in normal range. One day later, I got the bile acids test result and discontinued the ursodiol. That would have been Thursday. By Saturday's re-test, the ALT was creeping back up. Since I stopped everything on Sunday, the ALT has gone higher and the GGT is starting to climb. So we can try the ursodiol for a few days and re-test on Sunday. The milk thistle will take some time. In the meantime, I can also look into the Liquid Hepato if we're now using the tube again.

What's the bad reputation that Convenia gets? I'm always nervous about long-lasting drugs because it's a lot easier to get more drug into a patient if it's not enough than it is to get the drug out if it's too much.

 

[daftcat75]

In other news, her tube site was quite crusty. I have no basis for what it was supposed to look like or how much I can pick at it. I was horrified by how much crusty stuff she picked off and how nonchalantly she tugged at it until it came free. By the time we got down to the red inflamed skin underneath all that crusty, I got woozy and nearly passed out. I'm not sure I'm cut out for that task. I may have to hire a tech to help with the cleanings. By picking away the crusties, we found enough extra tube length for the tube to lay flat under the velcro strap on the Kitty Kollar. I will still tape wrap the cap, but I think it will be more secure against the head shake now.

 

[daftcat75]

That extra length is growing. I think the tube’s sutures were picked clean when the crusties were picked off. This is bonkers. I let her finish her plates at 2am. I would normally be changing them at 2am so she has food through the night. This morning, I’d like her stomach to be empty for a tube replacement if necessary. But now she’s been poking at me for a few hours. I take her back to the vet at 8 am. Until then, she’s been employing every trick in her book to endear me. She’s basically been half-Sphinxing me all morning. It would be adorable if I wasn’t trying to sleep. I want her to be done with meds so I can remove the tube. But we have only just begun resuming meds. And I’m sure she’s tired of being shuttled to the vet.

 

[daftcat75]

Once again, I’m coming home to a cat-less apartment. So I jumped the gun and showed up at the vet’s at 8am. The Dr doesn’t come in until 9. I left Krista at the vet’s office because she’ll be more comfortable in one of their cages for an hour than in her carrier or shuttling back and forth across town. I just feel terrible for her because it was only last week that she finally got released from one of those cages. But it really is the best of all the options, it’s only temporary, and she has her cat rock. I put the iPod in her carrier pocket now and we listen to that on the ride over and in the office (rather than her singing.) She’s the only cat at their office with a soundtrack.

 

[daftcat75]

my old girl (Calico also) used to have a rise in her ALT every few months. She would get a Convenia shot and her ALT would go down, then in a couple of months it would rise again and we would repeat. She had chronic kidney disease however, so we didn't investigate too in depth what was causing the issue since we knew we would NOT do anything too invasive to to "fix it". As long as the Convenia brought it back into acceptable levels, we all could live with that, including Callie. We also tried Denamarin, but she was absolutely impossible to pill. Even our friend, a Vet Tech, could NOT pill her . (that's why she got Convenia instead of any other type of antibiotic) She also rejected any food with milk thistle in it, so you're one step ahead of us there. Our Vet also suggested adding a tiny bit of Vitamin E to her daily regime.

Here's an interesting article on raised ALT and some of the causes. Dental work followed by antibiotics can actually cause it! Why Are My Dog Or Cat's ALT Levels Abnormal?

I think maybe the Fancy Feast only mostly agrees with her. Her stools are what I call “multi-featured”. They have formed bits and soft bits. The smell however is not nearly as benign as Rawz. As much as I’ve been enjoying the argument-free fancy feasting she has been doing, I may have to dilute that with Rawz. I’d hate to think the FF is causing intestinal problems that is leading to carry-over inflammation in the liver. Also, I’m no longer convinced that she’s paying no mind to the milk thistle powder. It seems plates with the 1/8 tsp are not being cleaned. However, I can re-test this theory by moving the milk thistle powder to her 2 am plates. She hits those (and another feeding she’s no longer waking me for—bless her!) pretty hard.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

You asked about the issue with Convenia. As with any drug, there can be side effects. The problem with Convenia is, as you stated, it's long lasting, and IF there are bad side effects, there's nothing you can do about it. Since you have access to a feeding tube for giving her meds, I wouldn't recommend using it, as it's also mainly for skin and/or wounds. We don't use it for "the boys" as they aren't as difficult to give meds to. Some cats have died from Convenia, but I guess you can probably find that type of issue with any medication if you search hard enough

I'm sorry Krista is back at the Vet again. Hopefully you'll have her back home b the afternoon. On the KittyKollar site, you you happen to see their video on how to clean and dress that area?

 

[daftcat75]

I didn't do the cleaning. The Dr did. And good thing too. There were a lot of crusty bits. I had no basis for what that site was supposed to look like. But once she started picking away the crusty bits and got down to inflamed skin, that's when I got all woozy and nearly passed out in the office. If there's any good to taking Krista back today, I don't have to clean and dress the stoma for another day. The Dr will do it again as part of the tube adjustment or replacement. I'm hoping that will be less inflamed the next time I have to do a dressing or I may be hiring a tech on the regular to come help me out. Or finding out if my current sitter has a stronger stomach for this than I do.