Prednisolone

[stephanietx]

Get some rest and love on your boy. It's so stressful when they don't feel well.

 

[1 bruce 1]

We are home from the vet. He hasn't pooped yet from the enema but hopefully it'll be soon. He went straight to his box to pee and now he's finishing his breakfast. I really hope this clears up his remaining issues.

My only concern with the lactulose is that he generally has softish stools anyway. This is something we've been trying to manage through diet. I'm a little worried it might cause diarrhea, but I think for now it's more important to just get him back to normal. The instructions on it are twice a day for 5 days. I don't have the dosage in front of me at the moment. I wish I could talk to his normal vet before proceeding, but unfortunately they are closed until tomorrow so I think I have to just go with it today.

On the enema...
Remember, he has just been cleaned out "stem to stern", so even if he's eating normally don't freak if he doesn't poop for a day or two.
We have had a cat have enemas a few times, and usually it takes him at least 48 hours to squeeze out a single nugget

You could call your vet tomorrow and just ask the person answering the phone to leave a not as to what's happened over the past few days with your regular vet so they're aware of what's been going on.
I'm thanking God I have no personal experience with that procedure but I would imagine he'd be a little sore. The lactolose might cause a softer poop, but let's be fair to the cat. After that kind of procedure, the last thing you'd want to do is strain, so for a few days while he's healing up a bit, a soft poop probably will be a blessing to him.
It's frustrating but I think he'll be back on track soon

 

[flowergirl]

Thanks everyone for the input and support today! I'm going to bed soon, hoping for a quiet night because I have a big day at work tomorrow. I sent all the info plus my questions to my regular vet and asked if they have time to see him on Tuesday. I hope it works out, they know him the best.

 

[flowergirl]

This morning he left his second post enema gift for me in the litter box. I have never seen so much in my life! He seemed alert otherwise and ate breakfast but was hiding when I left so I think it's taking a lot out of him.

I've also noticed some head shaking, like they do when something is in their ear. He does it fairly frequently but doesn't scratch his ear after. I am wondering if this is him getting used to the new gaps in his mouth. Anyway, I'm hoping the regular vet can see him tomorrow.

 

[flowergirl]

I had the home vet out today just for a check up on Pierre. His energy came back yesterday and he's acting way more normal. However he still seems to have nasal congestion and some runny eye, as well as head shaking like something is in his ear.

The vet thinks he's having a flare up of herpes virus due to the stress of the last week plus the steroid which can suppress the immune system. She said it should pass on it's own, he still doesn't have a fever. She took earwax samples but doesn't know what's up with the head shaking.

She wants to keep him on the laxative and said mild constipation might actually be behind his regular vomiting, which has been going on for a couple of years.

Her biggest concern is that while he's eating, it's probably not enough yet. It's hard without being able to feed him kibble as he gets bored with his wet food and rarely finishes it. I am currently soaking kibble in warm water to soften it. She said a week out from surgery he should be okay to eat it softened, and that might help supplement his calories if he will eat it.

Finally, she said his sutures look good and she smelled a little bit of a foul odor from his mouth but thinks it's normal post-dental smell. Has anyone had this smell thing happen after extractions?

 

[FunnyFaceFamily]

With the pred, i would talk to your vet about tapering down more than that. Go from once per day to half the dose once per day for a few days and then down to the half dose every 2 days for 2 or 3 doses before stopping all together. Its the coming off that drug that can cause problems. How is he now?

 

[flowergirl]

I followed the vet's taper instructions exactly, and my home vet also knows about it and didn't make any changes. Maybe because the primary dose was only 3 days? He got his last taper dose on Monday night (so 4 days ago).

As of now, he is doing great! He's been eating better and on the upswing for about three days with more normal behavior and energy. We are still monitoring his laxative dose but so far his stools are slightly soft but in the normal range. The vet thinks we'll probably need to reduce the dose in the next few days, but we want him to get in a routine first.

He is allowed to start kibble as of today, but since he's done so well on the wet lately I'm going to give him another day or so. I'm hoping so hard for an uneventful weekend!