Advice needed

HI there,

Some of you  have been so kind to share their own experiences with your cat's health challenges and so did I. I am the owner of Maggie, a himalyan cat, 16.5. I just got her back from the vet after an initial diagnosis of fatty liver, high liver enzymes and light pancreatitis. Ultrasound brought out that she has a heavy bile duct inflammation and as chain reaction all the other organs got involved. She is home since yesterday after a 2 days hospital stay, and so far so good. The good news yesterday for which I am grateful that is wasn't cancer.

I have received antibiotics to give to her at different times, but I am having trouble doing this. When we first got home, she ran under the bed and was only seen again when I went to bed. I encouraged her to come out the entire time, but then gave her some time to settle back in (6 hours). She eventually came out. As she had received all meds for the day at the clinic, I was reassurred that I could let this go, but not so today. At 4:30 am this morning, we were both awake and it seemed to me that she was hungry, so I prepared the first of three tablets, and puliverised it to be able to suck it up into the syringe which contained some liquid food. It was a huge struggle with her. She didn't want it, and I was only able to get very little into her. I wrap her into a towel. She tried to break free, I held her feed, she was turning her head right and left. Very little meds could be given. After I let her go, she disappeared under the bed and was only seen again, after the lights were out and it was silence.

This morning i had to look for her for a while as she was hiding. I went to prepare regular food for her, called her again, and finally found her, encouraging her as always to come and have her breakfast. She understands these words. So she game out and she eat, but not nearly enough and the meds? Well couldn't give it yet.

Any suggestions you could share with me what to do. It is important now that she gets these meds but I am having difficulties feeding them to her. She hides and won't take them. The procedure of course is invasive and she hates it, but how can I do this. She needs to gain not loose weight.

Thanks

How about trying to put each of  the pills in a piece of pill pocket instead of crushing it up & adding it to the syringe? She can probably taste it more that way, & that's why she may not like it. If all else fails, you could always just pill her w/ one of those pill syringe dispensers from the vets. It's not fun, but at least she will get the meds she needs. You could offer her a treat after as a reward for letting you pill her. Then maybe she will associate it w/ the treat afterwords & not be as negative for her.  

How did she get fatty liver disease?  (That usually happens when they go to long w/o eating.)

I hope that helped some.   

Thank you very much for responding. Could you describe what you mean by "pillow pocket". I am unclear. So far I have crushed the pill and add it to a little bit of food that I sucked up into the syringe to feed her. It is an act.. Not working.

I will explore the syringe dispenser if it is something different of what I am currently using. Not familiar with the terminology.

Maggie has always been a bad eater. We go through rough patches and I actually found that changing things up even more when it comes to giving her food, even between brands, it made her eat more. The was first time diagnosed with fatty liver in 2006, but she weighed much more than now (2.7.5 kg, so 5.5 pounds). She has always been a very tiny, slender cat. She has been fine until last week, when this became a real problem.

Thanks for the comments. Appreciate it.

Warmest

Hi there,

Just did some research based on your comments. Pill pockets could work well, as she loves treats. Greenies Pill pockets could be the answer. Thank you very much.

Warmest

If she doesn't like the pill pockets, you can use anything to hide the pill...cream cheese, peanut butter, any soft treat, a piece of deli meat (low sodium).  They also make several :"pastes" that you can use to coat pills in different flavors to try to coax your furkids to take them.  These can usually be found at pet food stores.

Now, as to the syringe feeding, here's a video of one of our members doing it.  She uses a cat bag to help, but you can use a towel wrapped around your cat and held tightly to try to keep her in place.  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/227858/syringe-feeding-lucky-video-if-your-cat-is-not-eating  'Course, you have to be able to find her in order to be able to feed her.   I know it's easier said than done, but try not to stress out, because she'll pick up on that and that will only make it harder.  Did you discuss having a feeding tube installed?  That really makes it SO much easier for cats with Fatty liver. 

 

I have 2 kitties who are addicted to pill pockets....unfortunately neither one of them needs pills LMAO, they are so addicted they even hear me getting the pills out and they come running.  The 2 kitties who do need pills, I cover their pills with pieces of the chicken flavored dog pill pockets.  Then I have DeeJay whom I put on my lap on her back and open her mouth as fast as I can and drop her pills down the throat.....she is notoriously difficult to give pills too.  Munchie I just open his mouth and stuff the pill pockets in the back. 

Thank you for the helpful comments and the video. I have been using a towel. What I didn't do , is put her on her stomach, might make a difference.

Just got back from purchasing the pill pockets, and she had and took her first pill, I left the other one for her to snack on as she would only take one of the pockets.

Patricia

Maggie22 said:

Thank you for the helpful comments and the video. I have been using a towel. What I didn't do , is put her on her stomach, might make a difference.
Just got back from purchasing the pill pockets, and she had and took her first pill, I left the other one for her to snack on as she would only take one of the pockets.
Patricia

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If she likes the pill pockets, then perfect, they are the answer.
Having a cat rescue, I've had all sorts, believe me!
Smart little farts they can be, outsmarted me many times, here I'm thinking I'm being sly, oh they'll never know, yeah right! haha, joke is on me right?!

There are a few variations if the pill pockets don't always work.
For one, the syringe with crushed up pill, no matter what you put in with it, tastes really bad, which is obviously a huge turn-off.

Some things I have done with success are-if kitty loves the pockets but seems to be getting pill-smart about them, I give several little balls of the pockets, slipping the pill in one of them. Perfect.
Or, same thing but pour some chicken baby food over them all, they scarf that up like no tomorrow.

Or, for those who don't like the pockets, I found soft treats, take 2 and really smash them together to make a very tight ball, make up about 4 or 5 of them, only one containing the pill. This works really great for treat lovers!

Also, if you must use a towel, a pillowcase works best, then they won't kick their feet out and nail you, just hold it snugly around the neck area

Those are very useful tips, will do. Thanks a lot. She has taken one but not the other, I will divide them into smaller treats.

Cheers

Patricia

Yes, catwoman707 has some good advice there. I have also done that w/ a soft treat. also, this may be obvious, but I also don't use a whole pill pocket. They are huge! I just tear off enough of a piece to wrap the pill in, undetected. Another good trick to entice her with is, once I fix the pill pocket w/ a pill in it, I roll it in nutritional yeast & Angel loves that stuff! (also helps hide the smell of the pill) 

 It's something I put in his food everyday. It's full of B vitamins, etc.. You can find it usually in bulk at a health food store, & it's very inexpensive. It has a nice cheesy taste. Vegans often use it in place of cheese, like a Parmesan sprinkle, etc.. I like it on salads & popcorn!   

Maggie22 said:

Those are very useful tips, will do. Thanks a lot. She has taken one but not the other, I will divide them into smaller treats.
Cheers
Patricia

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Great, hope to help!

I do the same thing with the treats in pills and giving more than one treat, with only one being "spiked" with the pill .  I always know which one it is, because it's a different shape, and I make sure somehow that it gets eaten, but usually I will give one or two regular ones, then toss in the spiked one, then another regular one.  I found that Whiska Licken SOFT treats in either chicken or salmon flavor worked really well since mine don't seem to like the pill pockets.  And CatWoman is right, it takes more than one.   Sometimes I could get away with 1 1/2, but you want to try to keep 'em small, yet big enough to completely cover the pill.  Angel's Mommy has a great idea about actually rolling whatever you're using in something else to give it another level of flavor.  I've got some of that nutritional yeast.  Maybe I'll try just adding that to my finicky eaters' food to see if it'll help her eat more

Thank you very much for the tip regarding the natural yeast, I will try for sure. I agree the pill pockets are big, so several small ones, hiding the pill in one is only one is good idea. She has just finished her second one, so both pills are in, coverage the dosage for this morning late. One other pill to go. She hasn't eaten much or drank anything so far. I will see if I can entice her to eat. She just had several treats, not closely enough, so will try a little again. I don't want to ruin the relationship with my cat, and loose her trust and I will see if I can turn around the association from feeding as bad, to feeding, ...oh and I also receive a treat.

Thanks for everything. Great advice

Patricia

Just wanted to add in case you are not aware, but the antibiotics have a 12 hour window, which is why the dose is twice a day, or every 12 hours.
Try to come as close as you can with this, since, once the 12 hours has passed, the antibiotic is gone from her system, allowing the bacteria to begin again, making it harder to recover quickly.

What meds is she on by the way?

Thank you for the advice. I was thinking about this. I was only able to get the antibiotics for bacteria into her at 4 pm this afternoon. She takes one pill pocket at a time, so she still hasn't taken the other meds I am supposed to give her like for nausea. I was only able to feed her half a feeding syringe, wouldn't eat more. I am worried as I don't know how to get into her. she is hiding under the bed, very quiet and sleeping this afternoon. Well she is still not well, but came back from the vet yesterday, very alert, what I can't say today.

She came from the vet yesterday very alert because they gave her fluids. Cats who are not eating and drinking well get dehydrated very fast, causing lethargy and at a point, can cause additional problems.

This is why we preach so much about fluids and how important it is when a cat is not eating well to be sure they are still getting enough fluids into them.

Her body won't be able to heal as well while dehydrated.

As I re-read this thread, I feel the need to give you some strong and serious advice. Please don't be upset by this but it's time to take charge of the situation.

She is far too old and too small to not treat this as a 'you could lose her' type of urgency.

There is too much involved with her organs and so on, and unless you don't think you can handle this, you may want to get her back to the hospital so you know for sure she is getting what she needs to get well again.

I agree with the relief you feel that it is not cancer, that word is very real in the cat world, especially at her age.

However, please know that what she has going on should be taken just as seriously as cancer. With cancer, there is likely no help for her, but with this, she can likely get well again, IF she recieves what she needs BEFORE it goes on too long and takes it to an extent that has no turning back, and she goes downhill.

If she is hiding, get her out and contain her so that you have constant access to her at all times. A bathroom works fine.

I know you love her and hate to do this, but by all means, do it, for her. It may very well save her life, literally.

She NEEDS fluids and her meds, and some type of food, even baby food (chicken only of course)

If you don't already have a syringe to hand feed her, go get one. You can water down baby food 50/50 and add the meds she needs. You are going to be forcing her, because cats do not like to eat when they don't feel good. They go hide thinking they are preparing to die.

Hold her however works and syringe the food /water mixture into her cheek. She will squirm and fight it, but do it anyway. Do this at least twice a day, she should have to take in 1 jar of baby food and 1 jar of water, as well as her meds, at least the antibiotics per day.

She can't tell you how to handle this, she has no idea this will help her get well. But it's not up to her, it's up to you. Like her life is in your hands.

Once the food/water/meds mixture gets into her system, she will feel some relief, a bit better.

Dehydration takes a huge toll on them.

By her 5th antibiotic dose she will suddenly act and feel alot better. You need to pull her through this okay?

You can do it, I know you can, just understand that you MUST take charge of her situation and understand how critical it is for her to get those meds into her, fluids and food.

Please let us know. Good luck hon!!   good vibes!     

Some good advice re getting those medications into her.

The internal medicine vet really did seem very grim about Rexy's prognosis (my girl with similar issues, minus the fatty liver and liver bloodwork issues). With lots of vigilant care, I at least got her stable and doing better than the internal med specialist thought she would do - Rexy is engaged in the household life, eating reasonably well etc. She is not quite as lively as she used to be, but she has quality of life. But it took a lot of unpleasant vet visits, medications and things to get her to this point. So keep trying and like someone said above, don't give up. There are serious issues, but you should be able to get her back on track if you can get her care sorted out. Best of luck to you.  

I don't take offense by well intended advice and your advice is my concern exactly because I am aware what is at stake. Nonetheless, it isn't easy to do. I am don't fear her being evasive or anything else, I know it needs to get done. I already had the water syringe on the counter when I found your email for exactly the reason you say.

so thank you very much for going out of your way to stress the point. I do not underestimate the seriousness of the situation as she is still a very sick kiddy.

Maggie22 said:

 
I don't take offense by well intended advice and your advice is my concern exactly because I am aware what is at stake. Nonetheless, it isn't easy to do. I am don't fear her being evasive or anything else, I know it needs to get done. I already had the water syringe on the counter when I found your email for exactly the reason you say.

so thank you very much for going out of your way to stress the point. I do not underestimate the seriousness of the situation as she is still a very sick kiddy.

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How's things going today?

I'm glad you 'get' what my intentions are! I wish I was near you, I'd surely be there to help, show you a few tips and tricks, but unfortunately I am not. 

Has she had her antibiotics? Any fluids/food?

You know, I just wanted to also say, not that you didn't already know this of course, but if you are not comfortable with getting those meds in her, fluids, etc and if you can afford to, it's not a bad thing to put her back in the hospital, at least it will give you some reassurance that she has a good chance of recovering.

I'm just trying to say, it's nothing to feel bad about, if you did anyway....(?)) Hugs.

Things are  better today. I actually had to lift my bed to get her out from under there, but it worked and I fed her a syringe of water, which left her to want to drink from out of my hand from the water faucet in the bathroom (she has always done that).

She also ate twice on her own today, which I was really happy about. Pill pockets worked. Not her most favorite thing and it took some time for her to actually eat them, but she took the meds.

Vet called with final results and her bowel is somewhat affected as well. As you said, chain reaction that kind of involves everything. The vet wants to give steroids to reduce the inflammations. They will call me when the meds are ready to be picked up.

I know you are a passionate cat lover and only out of compassion for these little creatures and your experience you advised and guided me, for which I was thankful, being new to this. I also went over it with the vet and asked my questions. Hopefully, the meds kick in and help soon. Good sign was, she is eating on her own, how much and if enough, I will have to monitor and do the appropriate thing.

Thanks again

Patricia