Lucas is going blind:-(

  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #41

momto4kitties

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
1,771
Purraise
42
Location
Añasco, Puerto Rico
Poor sweet Lucas! I'm so sorry for what the both of you have gone through and are going through. I spent ages reading every page of your other thread (it's taken me an eternity!) because I have an itchy kitty who is on permanent prednisilone and was very interested in Lucas' story. I can't believe he is having this issue after everything else he has been through. It doesn't seem fair sometimes. I do hope the treatment he is receiving helps him and he retains at least some of his eyesight if not a complete improvement. So frustrating for you that the first vet didn't send him to the specialist right away. It's hard when you feel something is important and it feels like they're not listening (I know, I've been there a lot too). Keep us updated on how he is doing! x
Hello! I'm. so sorry you have been having the same problems I had with my Lucas, as you read, it has been a difficult road ... some things worked at first, then they didn't... and today I can say Lucas stop screatching after being on a strict hypoallergenic diet of Royal Canin hypoallergenic dry food and also Hills canned z/d. Also he is only uses Dr. Elsey's Hypoallergenic cat littler, but he also needs his prednisolone. Lucas has an autoimmune disease and without the prednisolove his toes get ukcers and the skin opens, his throath gets swollen and he can't swallow and he also gets horrible throath infections. But now, this happens:-( The eye problem could be related to the autoimmune condition also. But I will not give up amd will keep fighting for my boy:-) How is your kitty?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #42

momto4kitties

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
1,771
Purraise
42
Location
Añasco, Puerto Rico
Awwww, sweet sweet boy!  His coat looks good. (knowing everything he's been through!)  I'm so pleased to hear the vet said he could regain, or at least retain some of his vision!  

Sorry I've been so absent the past few days. I had been really, really sick since Wendsday. The whole story is on my poetry thread. It was terrible!!

Give that sweet Lucas kisses from his Auntie Kelly!!    Hugs to you, & yes,as Foxxycat said, just ignore all of those who are negative. They don't get it. ..We do!  We'll give you all the support you need. :hugs:
Hi Kelly, Thank you! Oh No!!! I'm. so sorry you were so sick! I will read it on the poetry thread. I hope you are feeling better now. Will pray fro that, hug!

Lucas is a little better, but even if he doesn't regain his sight , he needs to get his treatment to have the fibrins of his eyes eliminated because they could lead to glaucoma and I don't want that to happen. That is why I can't just let him be without treatment. Hopefully I will be able to take him to the next appointment:-)
hugs, Tammy
 

angels mommy

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 5, 2011
Messages
6,899
Purraise
6,906
Location
Wilmington,NC
Hi Kelly, Thank you! Oh No!!! I'm. so sorry you were so sick! I will read it on the poetry thread. I hope you are feeling better now. Will pray fro that, hug!

Lucas is a little better, but even if he doesn't regain his sight , he needs to get his treatment to have the fibrins of his eyes eliminated because they could lead to glaucoma and I don't want that to happen. That is why I can't just let him be without treatment. Hopefully I will be able to take him to the next appointment:-)
hugs, Tammy
Thanks so much Tammy!  Yes, I agree he needs his treatments for sure. 
 
 

tobilei

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Oct 30, 2015
Messages
407
Purraise
59
Hello! I'm. so sorry you have been having the same problems I had with my Lucas, as you read, it has been a difficult road ... some things worked at first, then they didn't... and today I can say Lucas stop screatching after being on a strict hypoallergenic diet of Royal Canin hypoallergenic dry food and also Hills canned z/d. Also he is only uses Dr. Elsey's Hypoallergenic cat littler, but he also needs his prednisolone. Lucas has an autoimmune disease and without the prednisolove his toes get ukcers and the skin opens, his throath gets swollen and he can't swallow and he also gets horrible throath infections. But now, this happens:-( The eye problem could be related to the autoimmune condition also. But I will not give up amd will keep fighting for my boy:-) How is your kitty?
Thank you. You have my empathy. Dealing with a chronically problematic kitty is exhausting. Jasper isn't exactly the same but he's seen 3 different vets, all who have their own ideas on treatment and what to trial him on. Atopica has been discussed as has a newer drug that is approved for dogs but off label for cats still and like you, I live where a lot of the pet foods that are limited ingredient are non existent. We get to choose from Hills Z/D and Royal Canin Hypoallergenic (I have no doubt there's no way I will be able to get my boy to eat the wet version of Z/D. He refuses so many foods already and I bought a can once and he promptly buried it!) I've been doing my head in trying to choose between the 2.

Like you also a lot of it has been back and forth. One thing works for a while, then it stops. My boy struggles to gain weight. He's a Maine Coon and should be big/heavy but he weighs less than my domestic short hair who is half his size (but heavier than he is). Sometimes we manage to get 400g extra on him then for no apparent reason it just comes off.

We've deal with swollen ear tips that turned bright purple, scabbed over and then all the fur fell off, we've dealt with hot spots on his hocks, so deep they took months of antibiotics to heal (they were so bad we thought he'd sat in a hot frying pan), we've dealt with overgrooming, fur loss, bumpy skin and every time I lower his pred to less than 2.5mg a day he's angry, irritable and itchy all over again. It constantly feels like 1 step forward, 3 back!

All my boys blood work has been normal, except for his eonsophils (spelling?) count is through the roof, even on prednisilone! We do 3 weekly flea treatments with comfortis, 1 monthly milbemax treatments for parasites, we've changed kitty litters, done a sticky tape test for fungus, tried baths (that didn't end well any of the times!), diet changes (although not full elimination yet) nothing seems to work :(

I'll keep your baby in my thoughts and hope that they can figure something out for him with his newest problem. It's not fair that one kitty (or a kitty parent!) should have to go through so much. Keep us updated x
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #45

momto4kitties

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
1,771
Purraise
42
Location
Añasco, Puerto Rico
Hello everyone:
I don't really know if some of you donated to Lucas' gofundme or not, but I just wanted to say that the ones who did, will be getting a refund because sadly, gofundme refuses to send the funds to banks here in Puerto Rico. I guess I will need to start another fundraiser or just accept dinations to my paypal. Thanks to the ones who donated, I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. Now I'm back on square one:-(
 

tobilei

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Oct 30, 2015
Messages
407
Purraise
59
Oh no! That's so unfair!!! I only read this 2 days ago but I can't believe it's US funded only :(  Maybe there's a similar initiative out there that allows international currency to be exchanged?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #48

momto4kitties

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
1,771
Purraise
42
Location
Añasco, Puerto Rico
Oh no! That's so unfair!!! I only read this 2 days ago but I can't believe it's US funded only :(  Maybe there's a similar initiative out there that allows international currency to be exchanged?
What makes this worse is that we are US citizens and considered part of the US. But I started another one that works
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #49

momto4kitties

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
1,771
Purraise
42
Location
Añasco, Puerto Rico
Thank you. You have my empathy. Dealing with a chronically problematic kitty is exhausting. Jasper isn't exactly the same but he's seen 3 different vets, all who have their own ideas on treatment and what to trial him on. Atopica has been discussed as has a newer drug that is approved for dogs but off label for cats still and like you, I live where a lot of the pet foods that are limited ingredient are non existent. We get to choose from Hills Z/D and Royal Canin Hypoallergenic (I have no doubt there's no way I will be able to get my boy to eat the wet version of Z/D. He refuses so many foods already and I bought a can once and he promptly buried it!) I've been doing my head in trying to choose between the 2.


Like you also a lot of it has been back and forth. One thing works for a while, then it stops. My boy struggles to gain weight. He's a Maine Coon and should be big/heavy but he weighs less than my domestic short hair who is half his size (but heavier than he is). Sometimes we manage to get 400g extra on him then for no apparent reason it just comes off.


We've deal with swollen ear tips that turned bright purple, scabbed over and then all the fur fell off, we've dealt with hot spots on his hocks, so deep they took months of antibiotics to heal (they were so bad we thought he'd sat in a hot frying pan), we've dealt with overgrooming, fur loss, bumpy skin and every time I lower his pred to less than 2.5mg a day he's angry, irritable and itchy all over again. It constantly feels like 1 step forward, 3 back!


All my boys blood work has been normal, except for his eonsophils (spelling?) count is through the roof, even on prednisilone! We do 3 weekly flea treatments with comfortis, 1 monthly milbemax treatments for parasites, we've changed kitty litters, done a sticky tape test for fungus, tried baths (that didn't end well any of the times!), diet changes (although not full elimination yet) nothing seems to work :(


I'll keep your baby in my thoughts and hope that they can figure something out for him with his newest problem. It's not fair that one kitty (or a kitty parent!) should have to go through so much. Keep us updated x

Wow! He is almost like my Lucas, Lucas is on 10mg of prednisolone, I know it is a high dose, but it keeps him from getting sick.. I truly hooe you can find a way to help him. Maybe try thenhypoallergenic food, and the hypoallergenic litter.. those have helped a lot, but he still needs the prednsolone. Hope your boy gets better
(hugs)
 

tobilei

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Oct 30, 2015
Messages
407
Purraise
59
Wow! He is almost like my Lucas, Lucas is on 10mg of prednisolone, I know it is a high dose, but it keeps him from getting sick.. I truly hooe you can find a way to help him. Maybe try thenhypoallergenic food, and the hypoallergenic litter.. those have helped a lot, but he still needs the prednsolone. Hope your boy gets better
(hugs)
Thank you :) We bought the Royal Canin Hypoallergenic dry yesterday and a couple of tins of the z/d wet. So far so good. Both kitties seem to like new kibble and tummies have accepted it without incident (probably because they were already eating Royal Canin). I admit, I like the protein content of the z/d dry better and the fact that it's soy free but my boy probably won't eat those teeny tiny ball shaped kibble. We don't get hypoallergenic litter in Australia but I'm going to switch from the rice/plant based one we have to clay for the purposes of the elimination. The wet food is going to be harder to change (fancy feast to pate, he hates pate).

And I hate the prednil like you but quality of life is more important sometimes. Jasper is on 1.25mg this week and so far so good, but he was on 5mg a day 2 months ago (for nearly 18 months) then 2.5mg for the last 7 weeks.

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread for how Lucas is doing <3
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #51

momto4kitties

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
1,771
Purraise
42
Location
Añasco, Puerto Rico
Aun update on my baby, we went to the vets today to get some blood tests done, couldn't affor all of the m, but at least I have some done. He was a very good boy and behaved great as always. We have the apoiintment on Monday with the ophthalmologist, ai hope the labs are ready on time. But they told me they would fax them to the vet if they are not eady before Monday.
Thank ypu all ho have been donating for Lucas, still need some help for Minday's appointment, I just pray that they don't have to inject his eyes...
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #54

momto4kitties

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
1,771
Purraise
42
Location
Añasco, Puerto Rico
Just want my donors to see their donations are being used for Lucas. They prescribed an antibiotic for Lucas because his toes are bleeding, his autoimmune condition causes that
 
Last edited:

catpack

TCS Veteran
Kitten
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
3,271
Purraise
646
Location
Southeastern USA
I see they prescribed Doxycycline (this is a good antibiotic), but gave you the pills. Just want to advise you to make sure to give him 5 mLs of water after administering the pill. The doxy can cause erosion of the throat if it gets stuck and begins to dissolve in the esophagus. (I always give water, even when administering the liquid form of doxy, just to be on the safe side.)
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #56

momto4kitties

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
1,771
Purraise
42
Location
Añasco, Puerto Rico
I see they prescribed Doxycycline (this is a good antibiotic), but gave you the pills. Just want to advise you to make sure to give him 5 mLs of water after administering the pill. The doxy can cause erosion of the throat if it gets stuck and begins to dissolve in the esophagus. (I always give water, even when administering the liquid form of doxy, just to be on the safe side.)
Thank you so much, I always give him sometimes after each pill just in case, don't want ut to get stucked:-)
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #57

momto4kitties

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
1,771
Purraise
42
Location
Añasco, Puerto Rico
Hello everyone:
We went to our second appointment with the ophthalmologist today. Dr Bras injected both of Lucas' eyes with attopine and the fibrins dissolved.... he just have a little bit left that could dissaper with drops, but gave me an appointment is two weeks and prescribed the same drops again.. if his eyes stilll need it, she will inject them again. But the best news is he can see!!!! Yes, his retina is intact and so is the optic nerve... pressure is perfext.

Blood test results did show he has inflamation, could be his autoimmune disease and also his glucose was a little high... we will have to get that checked out also.

I'm just so happy he can see!! and the ophthalmologist was so happy to give me the news!!! she is my nee hero! Here are some pics of our appointment today...
 

angels mommy

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 5, 2011
Messages
6,899
Purraise
6,906
Location
Wilmington,NC
:clap: YAAAY!!!! That is the best news I've heard in a long time!
That makes my day, & makes me soooo happy!! :D
Give that sweet boy lots & lots of happy kisses from me, & A Big hug to you!

Thank God for answered prayers! [emoji]128522[/emoji]
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #59

momto4kitties

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
1,771
Purraise
42
Location
Añasco, Puerto Rico
Thank you soo much! I just can't tell yoj how amazing it js to see him being able to see everything. He is soo happy! He still needs tomuse his three drops and has to keep going to the ophthalmologist, we don't know what exactly caused this , I have ro change his diet to try and lowerhis glucose levels. That is really scary for me because Lucas is allergic to so many things. Must be careful. But still, I'm so happyyyyy
 

angels mommy

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 5, 2011
Messages
6,899
Purraise
6,906
Location
Wilmington,NC
I understand. I remember all you went through to find a food he wouldn't react to.
Maybe you can talk w/ the specialist about that, & she can help you find something that will work.
 
Top