Wish Me Luck

[mommytobuck]

My cat is a straight up terror at the vet. The word fractious has been bantied about since he was 8 years old. He is 13 now and no better. The last time he went to the vet he came home with a toe nail pulled out and had I needed to take him back to the vet... I would not have been able to get him into the carrier.

So tomorrow I am having two vets come out to my home -- now, don't think they haven't done this before. They did it when he was 7 and they couldn't get him to give blood. So they gave me gabitaten. The last time we tried it, it failed. He only ate about 1/2 of it. I have been testing it and I gave 100 mg and I didn't seem to see any good results. I mean he wasn't quite as bad to get into the carrier but he still cried and seemed aware enough to have issues.

So tonight I am supposed to give him 50mg and then tomorrow 150mg. They wanted to try 200 but I refused (he is 17 lbs). If the 150 doesn't do it I will do the 200 mg.

This is straight up the only way I am going to be able to get him medical attention, this has to work. Please pray for me.

 

[rubysmama]

Oh, wow. Poor you. Poor kitty. Poor vets. Hopefully things go well tonight/tomorrow.

 

[fionasmom]

My best friend owns a cat like that, and so do I so I feel your pain. You are doing the very best you can for him in order to maintain his health and care. My friend brings her cat to the vet...and it is a scene to get Luna into a carrier at all....in a soft sided meshy type carrier, a very secure one that she cannot escape from. The vet immediately gives the cat a sedative shot through the mesh and they proceed from there.

 

[lollie]

I feel your pain. Koshka was so naughty when she needed xrays, that we had to leave without them. They gave me Gabapentin for bringing her back. 100mg for the night before, and 100mg for before the morning visit. Just made her more chill. She is 11 pounds, but I would balk at the 200mg all at once too. She’s really good about letting me put something in her mouth though (put it in a goop of hairball gel) so she got all of it.

 

[fionasmom]

You are lucky that you can pill her and I agree with the caution that you are using with the dosing. Even my Jamie who is not that hard to manage had to be knocked out in order to do an ultrasound and then would not let anyone come near him in the kennel to put him in his carrier for the return home. I had to crawl on my hands and knees and get him out myself. They are all characters.

 

[mommytobuck]

Oh I am not pilling him. No way would he allow that. I am putting the pill in baby food. We got the kind of pill that is chicken flavored. The good news.. I gave him 50 mg tonight and he ate the whole thing like it was going out of style. Nothing left on the plate. The problem I believe I have encountered before is that he won't eat it all in regular food. I have previously given him 100 mg to see what happened and I really could tell zero difference. So I am going to try 150 mg on top of the 50 that I gave him tonight. If that doesn't do enough I will have them come out again. Or I will give him 200 mg and take him to the vet. The vets are going to call me ahead of time tomorrow to see if it worked. The appointment is 10:30 and I will start dosing him at 7 am. If he seems to be in trouble, overdose, I can have them come out. But if nothing seems to have changed I can tell them. One problem I tend to have is that my cat can seem totally chill but when he senses danger he seems to release adrenaline and seems to get extra energy. So it is hard to tell.

 

[Molly and Abby]

I wish you luck - although I don't think you need it. You sound like you've got a plan & know how to make it happen. So kudos - you're doing great!

 

[mommytobuck]

Well it kind of worked.
1. Gabapentin is a failure imho. It hardly worked at all. I gave him 200 mg and 2 hours to wear in and he is walking around just like normal. They could NOT get blood from him. He broke free and snuck threw the gate bars getting upstairs.
2. They were able to give him his shots. So that is good.
3. They were able to check his teeth... they said it was pretty good but there is one tooth in the back that is completely covered by tarter. They don't know if the tooth is ok or not.
4. I was able to cut some of his nails on my own so that worked out.

The suggestion is that I take him in they will give him a sedation shot... and do everything and give him back to me. They suggested that since he seems in good shape ( and we did a urine earlier that was negative for more serious issues - like kidney or diabetes) that we just wait until next year and do that. That makes sense and he will never see it coming.

I am a little frustrated with them because they just can't wrap their minds around the gabapentin not working. I understand it is the safest but if it doesn't work, it is kind of useless. I believe that my cat is able to shake off the grogginess.. with adrenaline. I need to be able to stop that process. He needs to be so out of it he doesn't know what is happening.

 

[rubysmama]

I've never used Gabapentin, but am surprised it didn't do anything for your boy. That's good that you got a bit of a checkup done. Hope for better luck next year, I guess.

 

[mommytobuck]

I am kind of frustrated with the vet. The vet is now saying that she thinks we could get him under control with 300 mg of Gabapentin. Um.. as I explained to her.. it is nearly impossible to do that is the amount of pill necessary is not easily put into food. But I have never heard of a cat getting that kind of a dose. Further as I stated, my cat is practically in a coma... but he overcomes that coma when scared. Adrenaline rush. So 300 won't work either. I think it is irresponsible to use that much.

 

[jefferd18]

I am kind of frustrated with the vet. The vet is now saying that she thinks we could get him under control with 300 mg of Gabapentin. Um.. as I explained to her.. it is nearly impossible to do that is the amount of pill necessary is not easily put into food. But I have never heard of a cat getting that kind of a dose. Further as I stated, my cat is practically in a coma... but he overcomes that coma when scared. Adrenaline rush. So 300 won't work either. I think it is irresponsible to use that much.

Get a second opinion.

 

[rubysmama]

Get a second opinion.

Yes, maybe look for a different vet.

 

[mommytobuck]

Get a second opinion.

Yeh I think I am going to have to. My cat is violently sick today. Horrible diarrhea and throwing up. I suspect it is the pill or the baby food with the pill. And all for really nothing. They got as much done as they would have without the drug. I think of it this way. One time I took a sleeping pill which typically puts me out and my elderly mom called and woke me up saying she had fallen. I jumped up drove over there got her to the hospital and was awake all night. Wasn't even slightly tired. My fear and adrenaline overtook the drug. So there is no doubt that my cat was sleepy and groggy yesterday but there definitely is doubt that it does anything at all to make the process any easier.

 

[rubysmama]

Oh, no. Poor little guy. Hope he feels better soon. Keep an eye on him, and call a vet, or even emergency vet, for advice if you feel he is getting worse, or you see signs of him getting dehydrated.

Cat Dehydration: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments

 

[mommytobuck]

He got up this afternoon and had a big drink of water and some hard kibble -- so I think he is slowly recovering. Thank god I took today off.

 

[rubysmama]

Oh, good. No more gabepentin for ... is it Buck?

 

[mommytobuck]

Oh, good. No more gabepentin for ... is it Buck?

Yes. Actually I was just looking at the internet and Gabapentin is known to cause diarrhea and actually the symptoms of an overdose include (1) dizziness, (2) lethargy, and (3) diarrhea. I am even more hesitant now to go up to 300 mg. I have informed his vet of this development but not let them know I know about it being an issue.

 

[mommytobuck]

So Frustrating - look what I just found
Keys to Calmer Vet Visits | Lexington Hospital for Cats

"If aroused, cats who are on Gabapentin can overcome the sedation effect of the medication. We can safely supplement the sedation with other injectable sedatives once the cat is at the office."

THIS is exactly what I was saying to the vet. If my cat gets aroused such as being put in the carrier or having people come out to the house... it doesn't matter. He over comes the effect.

FRUSTRATING. This vet doesn't know what she is doing.

 

[rubysmama]

Yeah, definitely look for another vet.