Willow ups and downs and up again.

[serafaery]

I've been totally wrapped up in Willow's health, as she's been iffy ever since Saturday's dehydration/constipation incident.


I've been sort of panicking because she's needed an injection nearly every day in order to stay hydrated, and she still hasn't been acting totally normal. Less than usual happening in the litter box, less eating, and no drinking.

Called her vet, did some research, collected all of the wet kidney-failure-diet food from mom's house and bought all kinds of things I thought might help: Pepcid AC, organic canned pumpkin (haven't used this yet), non-kidney-failure-diet wet food (tastes better), free range organic chicken broth, Slippery Elm powder, a catnip toy. Not in that order.

Started with the Pepcid (1/4 tablet ground up and mixed in with a half teaspoon of yogurt, which is her favorite thing in the world), as she vomited a couple times so her tummy was clearly upset (Chronic Renal Failure cats get acid built up in their stomach if they get dehydrated or don't eat enough, making them nauseated). That seemed to calm her down a little. All day Thursday I had a migraine and stayed home and watched her. She did a lot of loafing (sorta hunched up in a bread loaf shape, which cats do when their tummies are not comfortable) and a LOT of heavy sleeping, but she batted around the catnip a little, chased her ribbon with normal pep, and finally started eating her dry food at the end of the night (after licking half-heartedly at the wet stuff during the day) which brought me some relief. Eating = good.

Today I asked my boss for half of the day to take care of her, gave her a morning dose of pepcid and left. Did some research while at work and discovered Slippery Elm, which not only aids in constipation (which still was/is an issue) but calms kitty tummies. Bought some in bulk powder at Whole Foods along with the pumpkin (constipation/fiber aid) and chicken broth, which her vet said might help encourage her to drink.

Came home, did another injection - I was nervous about doing these so often until I read about people who did them up to twice a day for their cats. Willow's vet said that once a day probably means her health is declining, but I also read that sometimes CRF cats will have a "crash" where they need extra hydration for a while, and then they'll stabilize. (Had some fancy sciency stuff explaining why.) It's not the greatest thing in the world that she crashed a bit, but it at least gave me some hope that it doesn't necessarily mean she's in a freefall of decline, nor will it necessarily be this difficult to manage her care for the rest of her life/until she declines further.

The injection seemed to perk her up a bit. I fed her some non-diet (yummier) wet food and she ate some of her regular dry food, but still wasn't drinking. I gave her some time and some cuddles and then about an hour ago spoon-fed her some Slippery Elm mixed with non-diet wet food and a little chicken broth, managed to get her to eat all of it after some serious persuasion.

About a half an hour later (I read Slippery Elm works almost right away) she was in the litter box and un-loafing and jumping in my lap and acting perky. And just a few minutes ago she went and ate more dry food and drank a bunch of water. This makes me so happy! This means that her tummy is all better-feeling. She seems pretty much back to normal.

I'm going to keep giving her daily injections and a morning dose of Slippery Elm and just keep an eye on her. This might be what her treatment will be for the rest of her life, but it might just be needed for a little while and then we can ease back to every other day for injections. I'll take it slow. Day at a time.

Needless to say my weekend is devoted to caring for my cat. I will hopefully get my room and house clean (I find cleaning soothing when I can do it at my own pace) and do some small, soothing craft activities. I have four-leafed clovers that need to be sent to friends.

Yay.

...

And now. BSG!

ETA: Argh stupid holiday no BSG what am I supposed to do now?! K, play wif mah kitteh.

Comments

[splendid-red.livejournal.com]

Yay for cat obsession!! :-/ That's pretty much what my week was like also. Isn't it the most relieving feeling in the world when they finally do what you want them to?

The pumpkin seems to have gotten things moving again for Brindel, although the quality/quantity in the box could still use improvement. I gave her a couple day break from the pumpkin and Laxatone but will probably keep giving it a couple times a week for awhile. She also started her hyperthyroid medication this week, which is a (thankfully acceptably-flavored) cat treat with medicine in it that I have to give twice a day FOREVER. Another option is radioactive iodine treatment, which is a cure, but she becomes "radioactive material" (HAHAHAHAHHA) so it involves a quarantine period at the facility where I wouldn't even be able to visit her :-(. And also costs about $1000. So I'm still thinking that one through.

Anyway, long enough reply, here?? Sorry.

[chavtasticjinx.livejournal.com]

My oldest cat just got diagnosed with hyperthyroidism too, we've been giving him pills twice daily ((groan)) and he has surgery scheduled next thursday...

They told us about the radioactive iodine treatment and we pretty much came to the same issues: too much $$ and we couldn't visit during quarantine (he's had to stay at the vet for several days in a row and he *totally freaks out* - pulled out his own catheter and tried to make a run for it) so we went with the normal surgery... :(

of course, there's always the fear with radioactivity that he'd develop superpowers... and frankly this cat is wantonly destructive enough with just his normal feline wiles ;)

[splendid-red.livejournal.com]

I know, I'm worried about the stress level too. Last week mine had to stay at the vet for a few hours for tests and when I picked her up you would have thought she was in the middle of some kind of extreme torture - growling, hissing, some sort of otherworldly not-really-meowing sounds.

I was personally hoping she would come back from treatment with a permanent glow-in-the-dark feature. That would be awesome, and also convenient in the middle of the night.

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

Damn, hyperthyroidism and crazy radiation treatments, eeep!

It can feel really lonely sometimes caring for kitties with illnesses. I am here for commiserating if it's ever needed. :)

Willow really hates going to the vet, too. I'd rather do home treatments than take her anywhere. Sigh.

Glad they have ways to make our kitties feel better!

[splendid-red.livejournal.com]

Hey, Willow looks kind of radioactive in that icon! I hear you on it feeling lonely... I hate that my coworkers seem to get a bunch of sympathy and carte blanche to be gone for days when their kids are (allegedly) sick, but I get these dirty looks if I need time off for a vet appt. I mean, am I entirely responsible for their care, or is there some kind of vet fairy I'm unaware of? It's frustrating!

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

Hehe yeah, I like to put the camera on "tungsten" light (meant for standard yellowish lightbulbs) in natural sunlight and watch everything glow kinda weirdly bluish when I take pictures with the Rebel XTi - which run bluish anyway, I'm told.

I know - kids are all the rage and pet troubles are met with silence or just total lack of concern. And to be like, the *only* person in the cat's life that is looking out for their well-being is kind of hard to bear. At least with kids there's usually two parents and lots of family that are paying attention to their well-being, too. But with cats it's all the mama and no one else, it seems.

Preston and Skot have been really nice and supportive about it, but still, they don't know anything about her illness or why/how all this treatment works. They haven't been raised like you and I to consider cats family members, either.

Eep lightning! wtf? Willow just ran and hid under the bed - I think I'm gunna go hide too!

[splendid-red.livejournal.com]

I so want a Rebel.

Yesterday some of the constipation issues returned so this morning I went out and got some of that slippery elm which I may try later.

So tired of being stressed out by cat issues! This morning I poured a glass of wine at 7:00 (and thought of your mom).

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

oooohhh wine at 7am yay. I had a mimosa yesterday with breakfast, that's basically wine in the morning.

Mom still has wine glasses littering the house. It's pretty amazing she's doing as well as she is (which isn't great), considering.

Yeah cat issues are endlessly stressful. I hope the constipation calms down - I am comforted to know that Willow isn't the only one having trouble adjusting to the weather and such. She's 14 today! I'm sort of guessing on her birthday but it's right around todayish. She's a sweet little old lady.

[crowgrl13.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear that she perked up. Hopefully this is just a short, uncomfortable episode for her, and she'll be back to her cute kitteh self! Love the new Willow icons, too!

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

Hey thanks! I really need to take more pictures of her. Time to brave my fear of renting the cameras again. No more cab rides! :)

[chavtasticjinx.livejournal.com]

Was the dehydration from the couple days of hot weather we had?

I dunno. I get all out of whack for a bit when the weather changes dramatically. But I'm a people, not a kitty, sooooooo yeah...

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

It totally had something to do with it, yes. I'd let her go unusually long between injections (I normally do them every 3 days and she'd gone nearly 5) and did one Saturday morning and then left to do face painting, but hadn't hooked up the AC yet so she was left in a really hot house and was all constipated and dehydrated when I got home even though she'd just had an injection that morning. :(

Stupid sudden hot weather - a few nice warmish days beforehand would have been nice.

I know better than to let her go very long without injections now, especially in the heat!

[miz-anneliese.livejournal.com]

You're such a good kitty mama! Sounds like you've done a lot of helpful research and she's coming along nicely. It takes time for kitties to adjust to their regimens, I'm sure.
The annoying advice bit: make sure you keep the vet advised of what you're doing so that s/he has all the information necessary in case something happens and Willow needs to go in :)

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

This is good advice, thank you! I had told her on the phone that if Willow didn't improve I'd make an appt. so we could test her levels and see if phosphorus binders or anything would help, but since she improved I didn't call. I'll leave a message at least, saying she's better and that Slippery Elm is helping. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

[anthalus.livejournal.com]

You are probably going to have to monitor the temp/humidity and how it affects her. She is most likely intolerant to changes in them.

I have to say, there are people in ICU who don't have such a devoted family member pulling for them. Willow is lucky!

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

Aww, thank you. She is my #1 priority, for sure. I was raised to think of cats as family members, and she is totally and utterly dependent on me so it's my responsibility to make sure she's cared for properly. Plus it makes me really happy to see her comfy and happy. :)

It's crazy how much heat and humidity effect her - I had no idea cats could be this sensitive. They seem so resilient most of the time, you know? I've got AC in my room for her now and will keep a careful eye on her whenever the weather changes, now that I know. :)