Sparrow has luckily gone so long without a flare, mine's a bit out of date even though I have tried to keep up with it for emergencies. So of course she is having some nastiness going on today, when the vet closes early! (Probably because her asthma has been flaring very badly in the California dryness, and we had her on prednisolone last week and tapered off this week, and have started her on an inhaler - too many changes in medication at once, and when one of her chronic issues flare, they all tend to.) Her anti-diarrhea "quick fix" expired last month, but I'm risking it, and I'll pick up a new tube tomorrow.
It got me wondering: What do other IBD cat parents have in their emergency kits?
Mine is:
1. Diarsanyl: This is the diarrhea quick fix. I try not to give it for more than a day or two — if she's bad enough to need more than that, then it's time for a vet visit and some metronidazole (although it may be time to try a new antibiotic, given the thread a couple weeks ago). It's just an oral paste with (copying from the website) montmorrillonite, electrolytes (sodium chloride, potassium sorbate, magnesium citrate), sugars (fructooligosaccharides, dextrose, glycerol), but it seems to calm her insides down and paired with a bland diet for a couple days, gets things under control about two-thirds of the time.
2. Cat Lax, for when she's having the opposite problem.
3. Mal-A-Ket wipes, an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal wipe, to help clean things up (otherwise she's bound to get a lower UTI).
4. Forti-Flora. I know there are much better probiotics out there, but this seems to work for her, she likes the taste, and I'm nervous about too many changes all at once just upsetting her guts more (she switched from prescription wet and dry to non-prescription all canned in October). She gets half a packet every day but I increase it to a full packet when she's having issues and it seems to help. I may change once she's doing better.
5. An oral syringe and water. When her IBD flares up, Sparrow tends to get a little nauseous even though she rarely vomits. She does, however, stop drinking, and after a few trips to the emergency vet for fluids during her flares when she was first diagnosed, I started giving her a tiny bit of water (1-2 CC) every couple of hours that way.
EDIT: I feel like I should add that all of these products were approved or prescribed by my vet. Please don't use them for your own cat without checking with your vet first!
It got me wondering: What do other IBD cat parents have in their emergency kits?
Mine is:
1. Diarsanyl: This is the diarrhea quick fix. I try not to give it for more than a day or two — if she's bad enough to need more than that, then it's time for a vet visit and some metronidazole (although it may be time to try a new antibiotic, given the thread a couple weeks ago). It's just an oral paste with (copying from the website) montmorrillonite, electrolytes (sodium chloride, potassium sorbate, magnesium citrate), sugars (fructooligosaccharides, dextrose, glycerol), but it seems to calm her insides down and paired with a bland diet for a couple days, gets things under control about two-thirds of the time.
2. Cat Lax, for when she's having the opposite problem.
3. Mal-A-Ket wipes, an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal wipe, to help clean things up (otherwise she's bound to get a lower UTI).
4. Forti-Flora. I know there are much better probiotics out there, but this seems to work for her, she likes the taste, and I'm nervous about too many changes all at once just upsetting her guts more (she switched from prescription wet and dry to non-prescription all canned in October). She gets half a packet every day but I increase it to a full packet when she's having issues and it seems to help. I may change once she's doing better.
5. An oral syringe and water. When her IBD flares up, Sparrow tends to get a little nauseous even though she rarely vomits. She does, however, stop drinking, and after a few trips to the emergency vet for fluids during her flares when she was first diagnosed, I started giving her a tiny bit of water (1-2 CC) every couple of hours that way.
EDIT: I feel like I should add that all of these products were approved or prescribed by my vet. Please don't use them for your own cat without checking with your vet first!
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