Mika's Struggles With Cholangiohepatitis

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mikameek

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So the medicating her with the liquids in the cat bag was a little bit more difficult. Because she hates the prednisolone so much, she really put up a struggle to try and get away from it but she didn't have anywhere to go. She rolled around, basically but that still caused issues with me getting her medicine inside her mouth. Hopefully we'll get good at this and figuring out a way that she wont be able to roll around to get away.

She's been begging for food but refusing everything I put down so I left out some dry food. I think she's just wanting to go chew on the plastic container for the water bottles because she's trying to sneak in behind me when I go get her food. She's been eating well all day so I think she's just trying to be sneaky.

I let her go outside today and gave up on the rule to not let her eat grass. I'd been thinking recently that she's been eating dry food without transitioning (my mother fed her the new food straight without transition because she didn't know) and she didn't have any issues with the food. If she can handle the dry food switch without problems, then I figured she can handle some grass. She got brave, though, and went to the forest line near our neighbors and tried to chew on grass over there. After that she's gotten really bold inside the house.

I'm going to be calling the vet tomorrow to see if I can lower Mika's dosage of the prednisolone since it's really difficult to do 2 mls of a liquid at a time in her. Plus we're supposed to be moving to every other day this Thursday. I hope it works out.
 
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Well, I noticed Mika is definitely getting more yellow. I feel terrible. I want to cry because she is regressing so much and I am just exhausted thinking about how much time went into making her better. Realistically too, it's all my fault she got worse again.

I really want to get her into the raw diet but my parents are just so against it because Mika won't eat the food in the bowl. She drags it to another area to eat which bothers my parents so much. I have to follow her around with a pet safe disinfectant to clean all the areas or my parents start getting upset.

I'm also really overwhelmed with switching her to the raw diet too. I'm scared of making her sick. But I also don't feel like I have anyone to talk to about it. I have questions but I don't know who to ask. I can't post in the raw diet forum because the last time I did it took forever to get a reply and it was just a bunch of articles thrown my way. I did read them but I don't feel like my answers were answered.

Mika was so upset wit her food choices today. She barely ate anything I put down but she kept coming to me and making desperate meows. I eventually fed her half of the cooked chicken I had at dinner and she was really satisfied with that.

I found chicken livers and hearts at the grocery store the other day but I really don't know how my roommates would feel about me having those in the freezer at our apartment. I also most definitely don't have the space to do the ground version of the raw food diet. It would have to be the PMR way, but that just sounds intimidating because I have to be exact about the amounts of food she's getting, when and the rotation would have to meticulous. I also saw on here recently a forum of a cat owner whose cats got worms from contaminated raw food they ate. That scared me wild too.

I'm supposed to be leaving to go to school next week but I need to see a dentist and an eye doctor plus get my car inspected and oil changed. My nieces have finally left but now I have to deal with a commitment I made up at school now. I will be mentoring 13 transfer students to my university this semester so I have to make presentations for them, come together with a syllabus for our meetings, show them around the school and to their classes before they start and introduce them to each other (by joining my mentorship, they got placed into two classes together so they'll have friends). I was so excited to be helping these kids out but now I'm feeling drained before its even started. I committed to this program in January of this year and then found Mika that April. I told myself that I would be here for these students for whatever they needed because when I transferred in I felt so alone and lost. I eventually made friends but I wanted to be the mentor to these students that I needed and didn't have.

On top of that, this semester will be one of more challenging because I will be taking some very difficult science classes this semester (at the same time). I will be needing more time to study and I'll really need to be diligent about my time management. I also found out recently that the guy I'm talking with is allergic to cats. He assures me that if he takes allergy pills and gets a regular steroid shot (!!!! AH I FEEL BAD !!!!) then he wont have any issues with the cats what-so-ever.

I feel really overwhelmed already and school hasn't even started. But I think I need to just take a moment, breathe, and then take it one day at a time.
 

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Well, I noticed Mika is definitely getting more yellow. I feel terrible. I want to cry because she is regressing so much and I am just exhausted thinking about how much time went into making her better. Realistically too, it's all my fault she got worse again.

I really want to get her into the raw diet but my parents are just so against it because Mika won't eat the food in the bowl. She drags it to another area to eat which bothers my parents so much. I have to follow her around with a pet safe disinfectant to clean all the areas or my parents start getting upset.

I'm also really overwhelmed with switching her to the raw diet too. I'm scared of making her sick. But I also don't feel like I have anyone to talk to about it. I have questions but I don't know who to ask. I can't post in the raw diet forum because the last time I did it took forever to get a reply and it was just a bunch of articles thrown my way. I did read them but I don't feel like my answers were answered.

Mika was so upset wit her food choices today. She barely ate anything I put down but she kept coming to me and making desperate meows. I eventually fed her half of the cooked chicken I had at dinner and she was really satisfied with that.

I found chicken livers and hearts at the grocery store the other day but I really don't know how my roommates would feel about me having those in the freezer at our apartment. I also most definitely don't have the space to do the ground version of the raw food diet. It would have to be the PMR way, but that just sounds intimidating because I have to be exact about the amounts of food she's getting, when and the rotation would have to meticulous. I also saw on here recently a forum of a cat owner whose cats got worms from contaminated raw food they ate. That scared me wild too.

I'm supposed to be leaving to go to school next week but I need to see a dentist and an eye doctor plus get my car inspected and oil changed. My nieces have finally left but now I have to deal with a commitment I made up at school now. I will be mentoring 13 transfer students to my university this semester so I have to make presentations for them, come together with a syllabus for our meetings, show them around the school and to their classes before they start and introduce them to each other (by joining my mentorship, they got placed into two classes together so they'll have friends). I was so excited to be helping these kids out but now I'm feeling drained before its even started. I committed to this program in January of this year and then found Mika that April. I told myself that I would be here for these students for whatever they needed because when I transferred in I felt so alone and lost. I eventually made friends but I wanted to be the mentor to these students that I needed and didn't have.

On top of that, this semester will be one of more challenging because I will be taking some very difficult science classes this semester (at the same time). I will be needing more time to study and I'll really need to be diligent about my time management. I also found out recently that the guy I'm talking with is allergic to cats. He assures me that if he takes allergy pills and gets a regular steroid shot (!!!! AH I FEEL BAD !!!!) then he wont have any issues with the cats what-so-ever.

I feel really overwhelmed already and school hasn't even started. But I think I need to just take a moment, breathe, and then take it one day at a time.
Personally I think you should forget about switching her to raw now and focus on getting her better and getting calories in her. Has your Vet. suggested an appetite stimulant? Mirtazapine has been a real saviour for my cat. It almost sounds like you need to make another trip to the Vet. and get things reassessed.
 

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Hi!
Try sending a pm to one of the staff members; mrsgreenjeans, mamanyt1953, kieka...

Perhaps I will be allowed to call in the troops for you and your baby. Possibly@1 bruce 1 @cheeser @LTS3 Tobermory Tobermory can help you with answers about the feeding raw and all that you're dealing with.


Hang in there!! I know that phrase is just about worthless with all that you're up against...
 
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mikameek

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Personally I think you should forget about switching her to raw now and focus on getting her better and getting calories in her. Has your Vet. suggested an appetite stimulant? Mirtazapine has been a real saviour for my cat. It almost sounds like you need to make another trip to the Vet. and get things reassessed.
She's getting calories fine when she eats. She's averaging around 180-200 calories when she eats well. I don't know she will ever get better. I was told by my vet up at school that it's more likely she'll be on medication for the rest of her life. At this point its just getting her "healthy" value wise. She was on an appetite stimulant before that didn't do anything. I also don't want to add anything else to her medication. She's stressing so much now she's losing hair and adding another medicine will only multiple that. I feel like the raw food would get her happier, maybe keep her stress levels down by letting her chew on bones or something, and also I've been thinking that she seems to be better on less commercial types of foods. I just can't afford to be buying her Rawz or other commercial raw foods because they're shredded, for one, which is not a texture she likes, and they're expensive.
 

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Well, I noticed Mika is definitely getting more yellow. I feel terrible. I want to cry because she is regressing so much and I am just exhausted thinking about how much time went into making her better. Realistically too, it's all my fault she got worse again.

I really want to get her into the raw diet but my parents are just so against it because Mika won't eat the food in the bowl. She drags it to another area to eat which bothers my parents so much. I have to follow her around with a pet safe disinfectant to clean all the areas or my parents start getting upset.

I'm also really overwhelmed with switching her to the raw diet too. I'm scared of making her sick. But I also don't feel like I have anyone to talk to about it. I have questions but I don't know who to ask. I can't post in the raw diet forum because the last time I did it took forever to get a reply and it was just a bunch of articles thrown my way. I did read them but I don't feel like my answers were answered.

Mika was so upset wit her food choices today. She barely ate anything I put down but she kept coming to me and making desperate meows. I eventually fed her half of the cooked chicken I had at dinner and she was really satisfied with that.

I found chicken livers and hearts at the grocery store the other day but I really don't know how my roommates would feel about me having those in the freezer at our apartment. I also most definitely don't have the space to do the ground version of the raw food diet. It would have to be the PMR way, but that just sounds intimidating because I have to be exact about the amounts of food she's getting, when and the rotation would have to meticulous. I also saw on here recently a forum of a cat owner whose cats got worms from contaminated raw food they ate. That scared me wild too.

I'm supposed to be leaving to go to school next week but I need to see a dentist and an eye doctor plus get my car inspected and oil changed. My nieces have finally left but now I have to deal with a commitment I made up at school now. I will be mentoring 13 transfer students to my university this semester so I have to make presentations for them, come together with a syllabus for our meetings, show them around the school and to their classes before they start and introduce them to each other (by joining my mentorship, they got placed into two classes together so they'll have friends). I was so excited to be helping these kids out but now I'm feeling drained before its even started. I committed to this program in January of this year and then found Mika that April. I told myself that I would be here for these students for whatever they needed because when I transferred in I felt so alone and lost. I eventually made friends but I wanted to be the mentor to these students that I needed and didn't have.

On top of that, this semester will be one of more challenging because I will be taking some very difficult science classes this semester (at the same time). I will be needing more time to study and I'll really need to be diligent about my time management. I also found out recently that the guy I'm talking with is allergic to cats. He assures me that if he takes allergy pills and gets a regular steroid shot (!!!! AH I FEEL BAD !!!!) then he wont have any issues with the cats what-so-ever.

I feel really overwhelmed already and school hasn't even started. But I think I need to just take a moment, breathe, and then take it one day at a time.
I do not know anything about raw feeding so I can not give advice on that. You are right that you need to breathe and take it one day at a time. If the guy you are talking to cares enough about you to take allergy pills and get shots that is a good thing. In my opinion you have nothing to feel bad about if he is willingly making the decision to do this. It sounds like you really have a lot going on. Perhaps you could take some time to treat yourself to something you enjoy to help you relax a little.

I also wanted to remind you that you are doing a great job monitoring Mika's health. You are a great parent for Mika.
 

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She drags it to another area to eat which bothers my parents so much.
Can you contain her, like in a bathtub? Lots easier to clean if she'll go for it...

I really don't know how my roommates would feel about me having those in the freezer at our apartment.
They're packaged, all wrapped up, and you can assure them that you'll be using safe handling methods.

He assures me that if he takes allergy pills and gets a regular steroid shot (!!!! AH I FEEL BAD !!!!) then he wont have any issues with the cats what-so-ever.
Good on him. You shouldn't feel bad, --you're worth it.

She's stressing so much now she's losing hair
Are you using any calming products, - I'm sorry, I don't recall.
Mamanyt1953 has a wonderful suggestion of chamomile tea, which I think would be really good for both of you, from the tea bags. A couple cooled teaspoons a couple times a day, and lots of cups for you :)
 
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I do not know anything about raw feeding so I can not give advice on that. You are right that you need to breathe and take it one day at a time. If the guy you are talking to cares enough about you to take allergy pills and get shots that is a good thing. In my opinion you have nothing to feel bad about if he is willingly making the decision to do this. It sounds like you really have a lot going on. Perhaps you could take some time to treat yourself to something you enjoy to help you relax a little.

I also wanted to remind you that you are doing a great job monitoring Mika's health. You are a great parent for Mika.
I think I feel bad because he has to do something more, out of his way, to be around my place. It does make me happy that he's willing to do it and didn't even blink an eye about it. To be honest, it makes me nervous because it could turn into something he resents having to do which will be translated onto me (can you tell I'm a worrywart when it comes to relationships?). Thank you for that.

It makes so happy when Mika is happy and acting healthy. She played today, has been acting fine other than not liking the foods that I've put down for her. She still snuggles and wants to be pet and is acting like she feels okay. Hopefully we'll get to a happy medium where she's looking good and her values are good.

I don't want to bring her back in to the vet because the blood work will just tell me what I know: she's gotten worse value wise. And then I'll get told to add something else or just keep doing the same thing or she has to have exploratory surgery to figure things out. It just isn't worth it.
 
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Can you contain her, like in a bathtub? Lots easier to clean if she'll go for it...
I'll look into that. I don't have a tub up at school but I suppose I could do it in my shower.

They're packaged, all wrapped up, and you can assure them that you'll be using safe handling methods.
I know, but I don't know how they will feel about it in general. We have a small freezer so I think the main issue would be space. I might talk to them first and see how they feel about it.

Good on him. You shouldn't feel bad, --you're worth it.
I feel bad because it's something extra he has to do to be around me. If it gets to be a hassle to do, the easiest thing for him to do is just stop being with me. That makes me nervous. I like this guy if you can't tell.

Are you using any calming products, - I'm sorry, I don't recall.
@Mamanyt1953 has a wonderful suggestion of chamomile tea, which I think would be really good for both of you, from the tea bags. A couple cooled teaspoons a couple times a day, and lots of cups for you :)
I haven't gotten any calming products just yet. Waiting till I get back to my apartment because it's a smaller place for the Feliway to defuse in so I feel like it would work better. I'll look into the chamomile too but I also think that giving it to her would be stressful too.

Thank you for all your support, I really appreciate it. You're always here for me when I need it and it really relieves me to know that I know at least one person is out there having my back.
 

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I think I feel bad because he has to do something more, out of his way, to be around my place. It does make me happy that he's willing to do it and didn't even blink an eye about it. To be honest, it makes me nervous because it could turn into something he resents having to do which will be translated onto me (can you tell I'm a worrywart when it comes to relationships?). Thank you for that.

It makes so happy when Mika is happy and acting healthy. She played today, has been acting fine other than not liking the foods that I've put down for her. She still snuggles and wants to be pet and is acting like she feels okay. Hopefully we'll get to a happy medium where she's looking good and her values are good.

I don't want to bring her back in to the vet because the blood work will just tell me what I know: she's gotten worse value wise. And then I'll get told to add something else or just keep doing the same thing or she has to have exploratory surgery to figure things out. It just isn't worth it.
I have never dealt with the medical issues you are dealing with so I don't have advice for that. I have had luck using plain cooked chicken to get one of my cats to start eating after she was treated for kitty stomach flu. I used Fancy Feast Classics Pate in Turkey to get my seniors to eat again when they decided they no longer liked their wet food.

Also it is possible that someone with severe cat allergies actually does like cats. One of my friends has a severe cat allergy. She takes medicine before coming to my house because she actually enjoys interacting my cats. The last time she was here my black cat Casey was all over her. She was actually taking pictures of my cat hanging out on her to post on Facebook. The last time she was here two of her kids came with her and they took medicine just to be able to hang out with my cats. These kids are old enough to stay home alone if they did not want to be around my cats.
 
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I had a huge lightbulb moment earlier. Prednisolone has been known, in some cases, to cause issues with the liver with cats having liver issues. Mika could be getting worse because of the steroid. She hasn't been gaining weight on the steroids anyway. I'm going to stop them tonight and call my vet tomorrow.

Mika was okay today aside from being really picky about her food again. My dad complained that I would be going broke if I was opening 3 cans a day to feed her. I told him 1) It's better if she's eating all her meals wet, so she really should be getting 3 cans a day. He was saying this because she wouldn't eat one can I put down so I gave her something else so 2) Cats will literally starve themselves if they don't have anything they want to eat. He didn't want to believe that and kept telling me they were like every other animal, they would eat when they're hungry. So I threw back at him that he said that when she wasn't eating before and that made me wait longer to get her help which caused her to get sicker.

Hopefully getting off the steroid will make her feel better and that will bring her yellowing down.
 

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Please don't stop the steroids cold turkey, that's gonna cause a lot of problems. She needs to be tapered off, ask your vet in the morning how slowly you should be tapering. The adrenal glands need time to resume normal function, right now the steroid has been doing their job so they're not as active. Like I said I'm just a nurse, but it works the same way in animals as it does humans. Signs & symptoms of withdrawal from steroids too quickly: lethargy, nausea & vomiting, decreased appetite. All things you've been fighting to resolve for Mika.

I hope you don't take dogs the wrong way, I'm not scolding or yelling, I just want to explain why you shouldn't stop steroids rather than just telling you "no don't do that".
 
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I called the vet and we are tapering down the prednisolone. She will be doing 1 ml for 3 weeks and then down to .5 ml for another 3 weeks with checks in between to make sure that she is still doing well. Mika gave me a scare today. She wasn't eating at all this morning and unfortunately I had to be out of the house all day. When I came home, she hadn't eaten at all. But when I sat with her and put her dry food in front of her, she began to chow down. She had just a little under 1/3 of a cup of Orijen's and then around 6 treats (2 calories each) after her medicine. She just barely made it over her recommended 160 calories today which hasn't been her usual. But I'm glad she ate.

My mother told me that until Mika is "better" (I don't know she really understands that Mika will have this all her life) that I should just feed her what she likes and keep her on that. She told me to put her back on the food she did so well on when I got her back eating. I told my mother I didn't want to do that because it had unhealthy stuff in it (vitamin K) and she told me that just to keep her appetite up, it'd be worth it. I thought about it and maybe adding in some TikiCat mousse, which was what kick started Mika eating so well, back into her diet, every so often might not be a terrible idea. It's not calorie dense like I would want and I never tried to feed her different forms of food at a time (mousse for one meal, pate for another, something else later) so I don't know how she would like that.

My other thought was if I should put her on a kitten food? I really can't understand why Mika isn't gaining any weight. It really has me stumped and it makes me uncomfortable. When does her weight loss get dangerous? At what point do we say she dangerously skinny? What if I can't ever get her to gain weight? I figure that kitten food has a crap ton of nutrients for those growing bodies, would that maybe help Mika out?

I've also decided to pull her off of all seafood flavored foods. I've noticed that when Mika was pulled off seafood, she was starting to do better but when I started to incorporate salmon and other things back into her diet, she declined a little. I don't know if this could be an IBD thing but it also falls in line with hyperthyroidism which I was told Mika tested negative for. Is it possible that could be wrong? She also doesn't have an unhealthy coat; in fact, the vet made many comments about how pretty and soft Mika's coat is.

I leave to go back to school in a few days. I don't know that I'm ready for the move back up there with Mika being the way that she is right now. It makes me incredibly nervous. But hopefully being back around her other cat friends will perk her up. I feel like Mika has always felt better when she was up at the apartment. It's familiar territory and its what she associates (I think?) with home. Maybe that will help kick things back into a better swing.
 

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I called the vet and we are tapering down the prednisolone. She will be doing 1 ml for 3 weeks and then down to .5 ml for another 3 weeks with checks in between to make sure that she is still doing well. Mika gave me a scare today. She wasn't eating at all this morning and unfortunately I had to be out of the house all day. When I came home, she hadn't eaten at all. But when I sat with her and put her dry food in front of her, she began to chow down. She had just a little under 1/3 of a cup of Orijen's and then around 6 treats (2 calories each) after her medicine. She just barely made it over her recommended 160 calories today which hasn't been her usual. But I'm glad she ate.

My mother told me that until Mika is "better" (I don't know she really understands that Mika will have this all her life) that I should just feed her what she likes and keep her on that. She told me to put her back on the food she did so well on when I got her back eating. I told my mother I didn't want to do that because it had unhealthy stuff in it (vitamin K) and she told me that just to keep her appetite up, it'd be worth it. I thought about it and maybe adding in some TikiCat mousse, which was what kick started Mika eating so well, back into her diet, every so often might not be a terrible idea. It's not calorie dense like I would want and I never tried to feed her different forms of food at a time (mousse for one meal, pate for another, something else later) so I don't know how she would like that.

My other thought was if I should put her on a kitten food? I really can't understand why Mika isn't gaining any weight. It really has me stumped and it makes me uncomfortable. When does her weight loss get dangerous? At what point do we say she dangerously skinny? What if I can't ever get her to gain weight? I figure that kitten food has a crap ton of nutrients for those growing bodies, would that maybe help Mika out?

I've also decided to pull her off of all seafood flavored foods. I've noticed that when Mika was pulled off seafood, she was starting to do better but when I started to incorporate salmon and other things back into her diet, she declined a little. I don't know if this could be an IBD thing but it also falls in line with hyperthyroidism which I was told Mika tested negative for. Is it possible that could be wrong? She also doesn't have an unhealthy coat; in fact, the vet made many comments about how pretty and soft Mika's coat is.

I leave to go back to school in a few days. I don't know that I'm ready for the move back up there with Mika being the way that she is right now. It makes me incredibly nervous. But hopefully being back around her other cat friends will perk her up. I feel like Mika has always felt better when she was up at the apartment. It's familiar territory and its what she associates (I think?) with home. Maybe that will help kick things back into a better swing.
I'm so happy for the both of you that she ate! You are a good FurMommie! When my anorexic cat was being so picky I got him some Purina Kitten chow. There were 2 benefits, the kibble is smaller in size and it is higher in protein than regular cat kibble. I'm sure it isn't the ideal food but it helped pack those calories in. I have also found that some times when Stinky won't eat I can give him a treat or a piece of ham and he will start eating. I wish the best for the both of you and I know the emotional roller coaster you are enduring.
:thumbsup:
 

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Hi! You can definitely try feeding a couple of different foods in a day, and kitten food should help :)
I don't know enough about food sensitivity, I suppose it could be that she's simply ultra sensitive to fish?
Your vet can of course tell you about her weight/body condition situation, but I'd guess there isn't much question that some more weight would be better.
Could you give her some chicken that she liked similar to what she ate the other day from your dinner, with no seasonings? What about steak in a tile floor bathroom over the next few days, assuming that might be easier for your mom to think about vs using the tub for a messy feline meal?
 
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