Hi Everyone,
It is sometime since I was on this site. A brief history of Arthur my black and white tuxedo cat. He became ill after his 5th booster shot. Lethargic, sleeping a lot (for a hunting cat!) then sneezing, ear infection and a high rise in body temperature. Like most cats they hide illness well so by the time he got to the vets he was very ill - October 2014. Since that time he has had a thymoma removed, diagnosed with auto immune, rhinitis, EPI and B12 insufficiency. He lost most of his coat due to the thymoma (one of the side effects), had a one week stay in hospital whereupon I took him out due to lack of proper daily care. I left one vet who didn't have a clue what to do with him except dole out steroids. He was now 4kg and still dropping (previously 6.3kg). I finally took him to a dentist who specialised in anaesthetising low weight cats as my own vet was unhappy about doing this in order to x-ray his chest. Finally we found the thymoma. Back to a different hospital and at less than 4kg he had major surgery to remove the thymoma. Got him through the op and recovery whereupon we discovered he had EPI and B12 malabsorption, He's back to 5.35kg using raw pancreas as I make my own raw cat food from the cat nutrition website. Have also changed vets as he would have died if I had stayed with my first vet.
Any how I just wanted to let some of you know that there is a B12 capsule made by Wonder Laboratories in USA and Chemeyes in England called Trinfac-2. As many of you know especially those with EPI cats and dogs B12 has to be injected as the lack of proper enzymes do not allow absorption of B12. Researching B12 on an EPI website for dogs I came across a reference to Trinfac-B which was being used by someone for their dog and was working. I ordered some from the USA before I managed to locate it here in England. I discussed it with my vet who said it wouldn't work as B12 had to be injected. So I started to add the Trinfac-B to his food on top of the monthly injections and the next time he was tested his B12 levels were sky high - you can't overdose on B12 as the excess is automatically excreted in the urine. At this point I owned up to my vet that I had been giving Arthur the capsules. So we then stopped the injections and reduced his B12 capsule intake but his levels were still too high after two months. I am now only giving them to him 3 times a week and will then re-test him in 3 month's time.
So for those of you who live a long way from a vet or whose cat gets stressed out with injections etc. there is an alternative you can use. If your vet says it won't work just try it.
Lastly Arthur's auto immune condition left him with rhinitis which is just about managed with very low dose of steroid - am keeping it at bay with quarter of a 5mg table of prednisolone. He has lysine and lactoferrin to help his immune system and I am just starting Transfer Factor. His main problem is his tongue which is ulcerated and no one has been able to come up with a solution. Is there anyone out there whose cat has or has had a badly ulcerated tongue. I been to veterinary dentists and my own vet has written to Vet web forums but aside from one vet recommending we try a massive dose of steroids (which could damage his kidneys) we haven't had a response. I have tried just about every natural remedy going and been to see a homeopathic vet but still no solution. Needles to say he can never be immunised again and I have stopped giving him spot on treatments.
Arthur is still up and down - some good days and a few bad ones. Having removed the thymoma and got weight back on him with the raw pancreas his coat has grown back albeit not as thick as before, His rhinitis is being managed along with his B12 levels. When his tongue isn't sore or as sore as it usually is, he is a different cat. I just need to be able to find something to help heal it or to at least improve it somewhat. If any of you out there have had a cat with severely ulcerated tongue please let me know how you coped or managed with it. Arthur can just about manage small pieces or prawns which he loves and small pieces of turkey/chicken otherwise I feed him twice a day raw blended food with vitamins using.......a cake syringe - best piece of lateral thinking I every had.
June
It is sometime since I was on this site. A brief history of Arthur my black and white tuxedo cat. He became ill after his 5th booster shot. Lethargic, sleeping a lot (for a hunting cat!) then sneezing, ear infection and a high rise in body temperature. Like most cats they hide illness well so by the time he got to the vets he was very ill - October 2014. Since that time he has had a thymoma removed, diagnosed with auto immune, rhinitis, EPI and B12 insufficiency. He lost most of his coat due to the thymoma (one of the side effects), had a one week stay in hospital whereupon I took him out due to lack of proper daily care. I left one vet who didn't have a clue what to do with him except dole out steroids. He was now 4kg and still dropping (previously 6.3kg). I finally took him to a dentist who specialised in anaesthetising low weight cats as my own vet was unhappy about doing this in order to x-ray his chest. Finally we found the thymoma. Back to a different hospital and at less than 4kg he had major surgery to remove the thymoma. Got him through the op and recovery whereupon we discovered he had EPI and B12 malabsorption, He's back to 5.35kg using raw pancreas as I make my own raw cat food from the cat nutrition website. Have also changed vets as he would have died if I had stayed with my first vet.
Any how I just wanted to let some of you know that there is a B12 capsule made by Wonder Laboratories in USA and Chemeyes in England called Trinfac-2. As many of you know especially those with EPI cats and dogs B12 has to be injected as the lack of proper enzymes do not allow absorption of B12. Researching B12 on an EPI website for dogs I came across a reference to Trinfac-B which was being used by someone for their dog and was working. I ordered some from the USA before I managed to locate it here in England. I discussed it with my vet who said it wouldn't work as B12 had to be injected. So I started to add the Trinfac-B to his food on top of the monthly injections and the next time he was tested his B12 levels were sky high - you can't overdose on B12 as the excess is automatically excreted in the urine. At this point I owned up to my vet that I had been giving Arthur the capsules. So we then stopped the injections and reduced his B12 capsule intake but his levels were still too high after two months. I am now only giving them to him 3 times a week and will then re-test him in 3 month's time.
So for those of you who live a long way from a vet or whose cat gets stressed out with injections etc. there is an alternative you can use. If your vet says it won't work just try it.
Lastly Arthur's auto immune condition left him with rhinitis which is just about managed with very low dose of steroid - am keeping it at bay with quarter of a 5mg table of prednisolone. He has lysine and lactoferrin to help his immune system and I am just starting Transfer Factor. His main problem is his tongue which is ulcerated and no one has been able to come up with a solution. Is there anyone out there whose cat has or has had a badly ulcerated tongue. I been to veterinary dentists and my own vet has written to Vet web forums but aside from one vet recommending we try a massive dose of steroids (which could damage his kidneys) we haven't had a response. I have tried just about every natural remedy going and been to see a homeopathic vet but still no solution. Needles to say he can never be immunised again and I have stopped giving him spot on treatments.
Arthur is still up and down - some good days and a few bad ones. Having removed the thymoma and got weight back on him with the raw pancreas his coat has grown back albeit not as thick as before, His rhinitis is being managed along with his B12 levels. When his tongue isn't sore or as sore as it usually is, he is a different cat. I just need to be able to find something to help heal it or to at least improve it somewhat. If any of you out there have had a cat with severely ulcerated tongue please let me know how you coped or managed with it. Arthur can just about manage small pieces or prawns which he loves and small pieces of turkey/chicken otherwise I feed him twice a day raw blended food with vitamins using.......a cake syringe - best piece of lateral thinking I every had.
June
