His previous thread can be found here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/268257/more-concerned-for-boo. But since it's been awhile, I wanted to start a fresh, new thread. He was at the vet last week for a check-up.
THE GOOD NEWS.
I think we were successful at addressing his food allergies. He's getting a small rotation of canned food in turkey, salmon, venison, and rabbit. He had previous ear infections from suspected food allergies, along with itching around his face and neck. The vet said his ears look clean and clear. The itching is virtually gone.
We were also pretty successful at addressing his "pain of unknown origin", although I feel a lot of it came from spasms from his colon and whatever damage was done from years of chronic constipation. Although it could also have come from his arthritis and IVDD. We are addressing the constipation with a wet only diet, Miralax, George's Aloe Vera, probiotics, and digestive enzymes. We are addressing general pain and arthritis with Gabapentin, Chinese herbs, a joint supplement, and omega-3 fish oil. He also gets a B-complex orally, B12 injections, and l-lysine.
The feline hyperesthesia is completely gone. I can only say it must be a combination of what I'm doing above. On occasion he'll have spurts of energy, playing with his toys, chasing Caesar, or getting into something he shouldn't....just being Boo.
THE BAD NEWS.
Despite the good news, his appetite sucks and he continues to lose weight. Just recently, he has dropped just below 10 lbs. He also drinks quite a bit. We had blood work and a urinalysis done at the vet last week. There have been changes in the past nine months. His creatinine is now starting to creep up. His cholesterol is higher. And there's still that 1+ protein in his urine. The vet is not overly surprised given his age, but she did say this looks like idiopathic glomerulonephritis.
She wants to put him on hormone therapy - I believe it's called corticotropin or adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) - to help slow down the progression. When I looked it up, I find very little information about its use in animals. Here's one link for its use in humans: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22722778. Does anyone know anything about this? It's expensive. While $45 a month doesn't seem that much alone, $540 a year is quite a chunk of money. I don't even get pay raises of that amount. She said if the corticotropin doesn't perk up Boo's appetite or if I decide not to go that route, she wants to put him on prednisolone. I have it on my to-do to consult with our TCVM vet about this and see what treatment she recommends.
I'd appreciate anyone's input on glomerulonephritis and/or the use of corticotropin / ACTH in cats.
THE GOOD NEWS.
I think we were successful at addressing his food allergies. He's getting a small rotation of canned food in turkey, salmon, venison, and rabbit. He had previous ear infections from suspected food allergies, along with itching around his face and neck. The vet said his ears look clean and clear. The itching is virtually gone.
We were also pretty successful at addressing his "pain of unknown origin", although I feel a lot of it came from spasms from his colon and whatever damage was done from years of chronic constipation. Although it could also have come from his arthritis and IVDD. We are addressing the constipation with a wet only diet, Miralax, George's Aloe Vera, probiotics, and digestive enzymes. We are addressing general pain and arthritis with Gabapentin, Chinese herbs, a joint supplement, and omega-3 fish oil. He also gets a B-complex orally, B12 injections, and l-lysine.
The feline hyperesthesia is completely gone. I can only say it must be a combination of what I'm doing above. On occasion he'll have spurts of energy, playing with his toys, chasing Caesar, or getting into something he shouldn't....just being Boo.
THE BAD NEWS.
Despite the good news, his appetite sucks and he continues to lose weight. Just recently, he has dropped just below 10 lbs. He also drinks quite a bit. We had blood work and a urinalysis done at the vet last week. There have been changes in the past nine months. His creatinine is now starting to creep up. His cholesterol is higher. And there's still that 1+ protein in his urine. The vet is not overly surprised given his age, but she did say this looks like idiopathic glomerulonephritis.
She wants to put him on hormone therapy - I believe it's called corticotropin or adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) - to help slow down the progression. When I looked it up, I find very little information about its use in animals. Here's one link for its use in humans: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22722778. Does anyone know anything about this? It's expensive. While $45 a month doesn't seem that much alone, $540 a year is quite a chunk of money. I don't even get pay raises of that amount. She said if the corticotropin doesn't perk up Boo's appetite or if I decide not to go that route, she wants to put him on prednisolone. I have it on my to-do to consult with our TCVM vet about this and see what treatment she recommends.
I'd appreciate anyone's input on glomerulonephritis and/or the use of corticotropin / ACTH in cats.
