Willow ups and downs and up again.
May. 23rd, 2008 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serafaeryI'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.
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.
