Artie very sick after biopsy / Update!

[Loving Mickey]

I have been reading through your thread. So glad to hear that Artie is doing better. Yes our kitties always seem to be here for us. They know that we need them just as much as we need them. My Mittens always lays by my feet if I am napping on the couch. At times, I am not aware that he is even there until he puts his paws around my ankle and lays his head down. I always cry when he does that.He is just so sweet and always seems to care just as your Artie shows his love for you.
Hoping that your Artie continues to do well. Also, take care of yourself. Artie needs you to be well for him.I will be thinking of you and Artie in the coming days.
Take-Care!

 

[artiemom]

Well, it looks like my guy is now either fussing, has a stomach problem again, or is reacting to how I was feeling the past couple of days--lack of attention to him. 

Artie, while being my nurse for 2 days, has cut back on his food intake. I noticed it a bit on Friday, more yesterday and even more so today. 

I am hoping it is just a delayed reaction to me. 

sigh...

You never know with these IBD cats.......

I was out of the house for church this morning and this afternoon I was visiting my cousin who had heart surgery this week; then I went out to eat with a friend. Artie did not touch any of the food I had left. He should have licked the bowl clean....He was sleeping the entire time I was gone.  No toys moved, nothing in litter box. Same position as when I left. 

I had to wake him up. He wanted new food! I do not know if he is trying to twist me around his paw, again!

I did not give in to him. It is an hour later, he just came from his food area, licking his lips.. I hope he ate....fingers crossed  

 

[Columbine]

I hope that Artie's just feeling stuffed after his 'pigging out'. Try not to worry - I'm sure the occasional day of being less hungry is nothing to worry about. 

 

[goholistic]

How is Artie today, @Artiemom? I hope he was just having a lazy day when you last posted.

 

[artiemom]

 
How is Artie today, @Artiemom? I hope he was just having a lazy day when you last posted.

Thanks for asking! Artie is Artie. I cannot put my finger on it, but I still think something is up with him. He has changed his eating habit around. He is now eating most of his food during the night! And he becomes wide awake, wanting to play, when I am going to bed! 

He is eating so-so. The amount of food is between 6-9 oz each day. That is in a 24 hour period. He is not eating with as much gusto as he did before he saw the Vet.

He was being a piggy at that time. 

Also, he does not seem to be as active as he was. He is sleeping most of the day. I tried to keep hin up for longer periods of time, but he retaliated by changing locations, and finally nipping at me.

Very strange, one of his favorite hiding spots is in his carrier. I keep it out for him. He has been going in there a lot.  

Artie has been visiting me in bed. Some nights he cuddles, other times he just tries to wake me up. 

He is not playing. I take his toys out and he does not seem to have much interest in them. He has toys all over the place. 

Artie is 11 yrs old. Is that appropiate habits for a 12 year old? He still follows me around. I have learned to do the 'shuffle walk at night and when I am in the kitchen. 

The other night Artie ate 1 small can in addition to the leftover 1/2 large can~~~ I know that is a lot. 

He has come out and completely refused the NV ltd ingredient dry Rabbit food. I know he wants to change his food. I can read his mind on that. He keeps asking for a different food. But I am not giving in. I usually do. This is the longest he has stayed with one food. 

On a great note: Artie has not vomited since I stopped chicken! 

I still cannot get him regulated with his bowels. He still has constipation. Then I have to increase the mirallax and give him some laxatone. I try not to use the laxatone because he gets diarrhea from that. It seems I cannot get it right. He has been pooping every day since the Diagnosis of IBD. That is good. He used to go every 2-3 days. 

All of his blood work came out great! I got a copy of it because I did not believe it!

I have switched from the liquid compounded pepcid, back to the pill. I am giving him 1/2 a pill (in a gel cap) per day. 

It is easy for me. He absolutely hates the taste of the liquid. I have tried both fish and beef. He still spits it out..

He takes the steroid much better. 

Artie has also started having some dark 'sleep' in the corner of his eye. Yes, the one he had the abrasion in. I kept wiping it and it came back. I went back to the antibiotic drops and it is subsiding. I also started the l-lysine once a day. It is a 500mg capsule which I mix with his food. If he does have herpes, then maybe this will help. I also tried a bit of slippery elm bark, which I mix with his late day/night feeding. He free feeds. He eats a bit at a time. I think it is easier on his stomach.

I think he lost a few ounces. His hips seem to show a bit more. He is not overweight. Artie is a big boy. Very long and thin. He weighed 11.3 lbs at the Vets. My scale is about that also. I think my scale measures a bit heavier. But who knows..He is a moving target!!!

I guess all and all, he is doing good. He is eating pretty well, no vomiting, but a bit more lethargic. I am thinking that could be related to the steroid. 

I do have a call in with the specialst because I wanted to run things over with her and because I am giving his SEB, l-lysine, and switche tot eh pill form of pepcid..

I guess with this disease, It is always something. 

Thanks for asking...and thinking of us!! I appreciate it.

 

[mphscat]

This disease is EXHAUSTING for the patient and the caregiver! Glad to hear Artie is doing well.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I've heard that the L-Lysine only has a 12 hour life in the body, so giving it twice a day is a must for it to be effective

.

6 - 9 oz a day of food actually sounds pretty good to me.  I have 2 male cats, one weighs 13 - 14 pounds (depending on the day), and one weighs 9.5 ish pounds.  They each eat around 6 oz per day.  AND I have a 4.5 pound kidney cat.  If she ate 5 oz per day I would be ecstatic!  On a good day she will eat 3 oz

  Any day she eats 4 oz we dance a jig

I think we danced 4 times last week

 

[goholistic]

I'm glad Artie is okay and has not vomited.

You know....any time I can't "put my finger on it" with Sebastian, what it usually turns out to be in most cases is a mild flare-up / low-grade inflammation. I would say the first 4-6 months after diagnosis were really the worst when it came to ups and downs. It look awhile to find a good combination of things, determine his "triggers," and the pinpoint the little signs that he's just not feeling quite right. And I'm still always tweaking this or that. It never really stops. 

 

[artiemom]

Thanks for the advice and support.

As of this morning, I started giving Artie the l-lysine twice a day. I am mixing it with the probiotic, in his morning food. I hope that it is ok to mix with Probiale probiotic.

Can I mix it with the slippery elm bark for his nightly feeding. He free feeds, meaning that he nibbles all day. I keep reeling his food dish periodically during the day.

I open a fresh can in the morning, late afternoon and before I go to bed. 

Artie is definitely wanting different food. He keeps taking me over to his food dish and waits for me to open a different type. He also waits as long as he can before eating. 

I am making this short because we are getting a severe thunderstorm waning, with large hail for another hour. It should be over me in about 20 minutes. There were some tornado warnings with this storm earlier. 

I have to get stuff ready so I can run inot the bathroom or closet with Artie in case we get a warning. 

they are saying the hail is the size of a large marble right now. They were softball size earlier...the large ones are coming....so talk to you later....

We had a tornado in this city a year ago...right near the beach!!

 

[stewball]

How are you feeling re your biopsy?
I had to do one on my tongue!!!
I used to take slippery elm for my IBD. I had it sooooo very badly for years and years and then it just stopped. Strange. What a relief.

 

[artiemom]

How are you feeling re your biopsy?
I had to do one on my tongue!!!
I used to take slippery elm for my IBD. I had it sooooo very badly for years and years and then it just stopped. Strange. What a relief.

I am having the lesion removed on Aug 7.  The biopsy came back as basal cell skin cancer. As the dermatologist said, 'no one has ever died from this'. Just a bit anxious because it is on my face. I have had the same face for over 60 years and cannot envision any scars.. I do not have any scars on me. I have always had good skin. But I cannot do anything about it. It has to be removed. I am just wondering how it will look. I am not a vain person, but it is my face and in a difficult area. My dad had many areas of basal cell removed from his face, and I remember the incisons and scars. A friend is telling me that things are very different now and I am going to a cosmetic dermatologist/surgeon. But it is the first step in taking my life back from my shoulder/arm work injury. 

I can't imagine having it on your tongue..must have been so sore. I am fortunate that I have not had a relapse of the microscopic colitis since it was diagnosed. I do have a one day episode when I get stress though.  It just suddenly stopped. I have been told not to take any NSAIDS, Cymbalta (possible trigger) or acid reducers. 

Thank you for asking. I will answer this question over the week-end. 

The specialist returned my phone call today. We are thinking it may be a motility issue. I just cannot get Artie regulated. He goes from constipation to diarrhea. He has diarrhea when I give him Miralax and constipation when I do not. I have tried all different doses of miralax. It either does not work or when I really increase the dose, it works too good. 

As far as when he gets constipated: I have to resort to giving him laxatone in addition to the miralax, 2 doses of it! it results in diarrhea for a few days.

Before Artie  started treatment, he pooped every 2 days. I knew he was going into constipation when it was 3 days without  a poop. Then I had to catch up the  dose because he has gone as much as 4-5 days without a poop. He was not eating because he felt so horrible. I do not blame him. (I have the same issue) 

The Vet wants me to try giving him a smaller dose of miralax every day..  I am wary of this..but I will try.

She also said not to give him any slippery elm bark. She did not comment on the l-lysine. He is just  on pepcid and  the steroid. 

I have been giving Artie a  dose of 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of miralax every day, with inconsistent results. I increase it when he needs more and then he has the opposite effect..I am so confused...yes, and frustrated. 

Artie sleeps a lot. I asked the Vet if it could be a minor flair. She said that was possible, to watch him, give her a call in a couple of weeks or sooner if I notice anything more. 

 

[stewball]

Once the effects the injection wore off i was in agony. I'd had a very painful sore on the side of my tongue for months.
My daughter had something very nasty on her forehead which was removed by a plastic surgeon. No scar was left so don't worry. They know what they're doing.
Good luck.

 

[goholistic]

 She also said not to give him any slippery elm bark.

I am curious. Why not?  It could potentially help with his fluctuating back and forth between diarrhea and constipation since it is known to help with both. I recently had this issue with my old man, Boo. He has had chronic constipation most of his adult life, despite now being on an all wet diet and Miralax. All of a sudden, he has diarrhea! WTH! I thought it might have been bad food or something. I eliminated some suspects, but he was still going back and forth with inconsistent stools. I recently started him on Slippery Elm Bark, given at night two hours (best I can do) after he gets his last dose of arthritis medication. It has helped re-balance his BMs. I do still have to give Miralax, but I reduced the dose a little and I think we're at a good combo now. Boo gets SO stressed if he's not regular!  

 

[mphscat]

How is Artie? I haven't seen an update in quite a while. How are you?

 

[artiemom]

How is Artie? I haven't seen an update in quite a while. How are you?

Thanks for asking! I did not know if I should write some more or not.I have been a bit busy also.

Artie is Artie. I know that sounds so ambiguous... He is tired of his food. A few weeks ago it was so bad, that he refused to eat for many hours. I opened up a can of kitty tuna with sardines, in order to test him. If he was truly sick, he would not eat that. Well, he came over immediately and ate what was on the plate. That is when I knew he was tired of his food. I refuse to give in to him. I had to tuff it out. He came around. He is eating his Pride Rabbit, but not as voraciously as he previously was. He is also changing his eating habits. 

Most of his food intake is during the night! He really starts eating around 8pm! Between 8PM and 5AM he will eat  almost 2 full cans of food! I give him a fresh can around 7pm. Before I go to bed I open another can, add it to what is left of the other can (he eats most of the can before I go to bed.) When I get up 98-100% of that food is gone. 

I open a can for breakfast, he does not eat much of it. I am lucky if he eats 1/2 a can during the daylight hours. 

I have not seen him vomit; however I do see spots on my laminate floor. I never hear him vomit, so I do not know what they are from. 

I switched him over to 1/2 a tablet of pepcid per day. I stopped the liquid because he was spitting out most of it. I do think the liquid was better for him, but what can I do? He is taking the pill much better. 

I wish I could just get his bowels under control. He always has constipation. I cannot get the correct dose of miralax. I either give him too much because he is constipated, or I do not give him enough.  I spoke with the specialist a few weeks ago about this. She wanted me to start from scratch with the dosage. To begin with 1/8 of a teaspoon daily. That is not enough, but she was insistent that I begin that way.. I think she is a by the book doctor. I am trying to increase it a bit. I had to clean him out because of the lower dose. I have to time it just right. Right now he has had vey soft stools for a couple days. I have not given him any moralax the past couple days. I will give him a little tonight and tomorrow.

The Vet did suggest that he may need a motility drug. I think he does. But I have to prove it to her. I have to document all the steps I have taken.

He did really good while he was on Reglan. I do not want to go back to that unless I have to. 

He has been pooping every day since he started medication. He was going every 2-3 days before. 

AS for myself. Well, I did have the surgery on my face for the basal cell cancer. It was 2 weeks ago. This issue with Artie had to kind of go by the wayside because I could not deal with it. I kept giving him doses of Miralax, not too much but not too little.. a bit on the little side, because he had hard poops.

I had a tuff week the week after surgery. The bandage tape was covering part of one nostril  and part of my upper lip. One side of my lip was swollen, and bruised. I was drinking thru a straw because I could not open my mouth wide enough. It was tuff. But the surgeon did an amazing, I mean amazing job! I have internal dissolvable stitches and superficial ones also. I had around 25 stitches. All very tiny and thin.

I am so glad that is behind me. 

Artie was good to me that week. At first he wanted to play. But I was not able to. It took a bit for him to understand, but once he did, he did not leave my side. I slept on the coach so I would not lie on my right side during the night. He was always with me. Either on top of the coach, on top of me or on the living room table with was in front of the coach. 

That is the current story...working on getting Artie's bowels normal.

He is still on the pepcid and the steroid. He sees the specialist in November.  She wants to see if she can cut down on the steroid dose; but she wants to make sure he is indeed settled and can tolerate a decrease. 

Thanks for asking.. I know I do write a novel when i respond....sorry

 

[artiemom]

Well, I decided to update again..

Artie is not doing very well. He is still having problems with constipation or loose stools; due to the miralax and laxatone need to clean him out.  And not eating, despite taking 1/2 pepcid ac pill and 0.5 cc of prendalsone (sp)....and a probiotic.

He went almost 4 days without a BM. I was addind 1/4 tsp of miralax twice a day to his food. When I came home Tuesday, he had pooped a 6 inch hard piece about 1 inch in diameter. He has also cut down on eating. The past couple of weeks have been very stressful, Last week was a very stressful week around here. I caught him eating while someone was fixing a bookcase, drill went off, he kept eating, but threw up immediately after . That is exactly what he was doing before the diagnosis. 

I can not tell if he is fussy again with his food or sick. I am tending towards the sick. I gave him some Solid Gold cat tuna the other day, He gobbled up 1/2 can and then took 5 more hours to finish the can. That is a far cry from a cat who was eating almost 3 cans a day. Now he is more interested in the broth. I do mush up his food and add more water. 

I have also been giving him more of the NV Rabbit instead of the Pride Rabbit; a bit different in recipes. He will only eat a tiny bit of the NV rabbit; about 1/4 can if I am lucky.

I do not know how much of his probiotic he is getting since he does not finish his food before it goes bad. 

I tried the slippery elm bark, to no avail. I am giving him 500 l-lysine which really helped clear up his eye. I am continuing with it every night. 

I do not think the pepcid is effective anymore. When he is curled up on my lap at night, I hear him burp. Cats do not burp. 

Last week was a very stressful week. I am hoping he is not picking up on my stress. He usually does. 

The specialist is only there wed, thurs, fridays,----sometimes saturdays, and sometimes tuesdays.

There are other specialists there, but she knows his case. 

I left a voice mail message Tuesday for her. I gave her both my home number and my cell number. Last night there had to have been some kind of phone glitch because I was home, was texting on my cell phone. I did not haear a phone ring, but suddenly an hour after I finished texting, I heard the beep on my cell phone indicating a voice mail message. She told me it is unclear what is going on with him, and wants to examine him to see how constipated he is, and to discuss things in person. 

I will gladly bring him in, but I have a big problem. I had planned a month ago, to take my 92 year old aunt (who I rarely see), out for lunch with another cousin. She is thrilled and looking forward to it. That is today, she does not live near me. . The Vet does not have any appointments this morning; she leaves at 5pm (last appointment), lunch is at 1pm..so I will not be able to come home and drive up to the Vet's before 5pm..

Tomorrow, I am going to have lunch with an ex-neighbor (friend). I am driving a couple other neighbors over there. So tomorrow morning is out. I made an appointment for Tomorrow afternoon, (Friday).  I never have luncheon plans, in fact I do not eat lunch. This would be the week....sigh

I cannot cancel the plans...I feel bad for making Artie wait..as long as he pooped some yesterday, I do not feel as bad, but still bad enough. sigh

I also left another voice mail for the Vet. I told her that he had pooped, gave him some laxatone, but his eating is terrible. 

Artie has been doing most of his food intake in the early evening and during the night. 

Yesterday I noticed he was just lapping a bit of the juice. Last night I left him 1.5 cans of food, in case he got hungry. All he did was lap the food. I am up early. He was hungry. I opening up a can of Solid Gold Tuna, thinking he was tired of his food. I added water to it.  All he did was lap the juice.

He later went in and ate some of it. 

I do not know why the pepcid is not working. And he is so bad with food again...I guess, to answer my own questions is that he has gotten to the point where the pepcid alone is not enough, even though he is still getting the steroid,. I wish I could get his bowels under control. I think that would make him feel better. 

He has also been going into his carrier a lot. That is a sign from him, that he is not feeling well. 

I will try some baby food beef, later. He does not like baby food. Actually, he does not care much for food. He did enjoy a bit of the havarti cheese and the  jack cheese I had the other day. But he does not eat people food either. He loves to sniff it, but will not eat it... Artie seems to be allergic to chicken ~~~ I avoid all of it. 

he is even refusing the NV rabbit ltd ingredient kibble, which I give as treats....

Last week he was eating 1.5 cans of food daily. Yesterday was maybe one can...

It is so frustrating...

I never knew cats with IBD could have constipation and not diarrhea or loose stools......any ideas anyone?

thanks...

 

[stephenq]

 
thanks...

He sounds like he is obviously not feeling well, likely nauseous.  Remind us, is he on Cerenia?  If not, this could go a long way to restoring his appetite.  In combination with Sub Q fluids it could help even more.  Is he on Sub Q fluids?  Has the vet palpated him for impacted stool?  And you mentioned he is on 0.5cc Prednisolone, but its usually dosed in mg's not cc's.  Did you mean 0.5mg, or 5mg?  Lastly, have you ever done an ultrasound, and if yes, when?

So my thoughts are:

Cerenia?

Sub Q fluids?

Actual Pred dose?

Physical exam for impacted stool.

Ultrasound?

More aggressive treatment for constipation?

I have only found constipation listed as an IBD symptom on one website, so its clearly at most a very rare symptom.  

See http://www.allfelinehospital.com/inflammatory-bowel-disease.pml

 

[LotsOfFur]

So sorry Artie isn't feeling well
Sending you positive thoughts and healing vibes to Artie.
((Hugs))

 

[artiemom]

Hi Stephen,

Artie did have an ultrasound in May~ showed some thickened bowel/stomach...Biopsy also~ IBD diagnosis.

He immediately went on Cerenia, Pepcid, Steroid 0.5 mg (1/2 of a 1 cc syringe)  (I say cc because that is what I am used to from work), Reglan twice a day, and Zofran on days off of Cerenia. and Miralax, but not as much of it.

I also stopped the fancy feast food. I think he is allergic to chicken. He stopped vomiting when I took it away. 

At the point where his biopsy came back showing IBD, we started novel protein diet. I have been giving him Pride Rabbit and NV limited ingredient rabbit. He prefers the Pride. He is very fussy with food. The only dry food I give him is some NV ltd ingredient Rabbit, as a treat.

He did really good on this protocol. In July we started weaning him off the Reglan and the Cerenia. One at a time. He was doing great. Up to almost 3 cans a day.

Once discontinuing the Reglan, it seemed his constipation really went wild. I always gave him some Miralax due to his history of constipation. Have had him for 3 years. He is 11 yrs old.

I contacted the Vet in July about the issue with his constipation. It seemed I had to keep increasing the dose and then it would result in runny loose poop. She wanted me to start from scratch with the Miralax. I started with 1/16 of a tsp, then had to up it to 1/4 twice a day. Now that does not seem to be helping. I think he is flaring again. But why I do not know. I have been under a lot of stress the past month, especially the past week. He is a sensitive cat and picks up on things. Also construction and moving noise. I just thought of putting the feliway diffusers back on. 

He is drinking more of the juice of food, instead of eating right now. He does not use his fountain. He has a water bowl, away from his food dish, in the living room.

did I miss anything?

I was thinking of starting the cerenia, on my own, because I have a box here. But I will see the Vet tomorrow. I just wish she would have called this morning.

He did poop yesterday, but it was hard, but 6 inches long.

All of his blood work in June came out great! He has very early kidney disease diagnosed from his urine, I think specific gravity.  But his blood tests were all WNL.. I saw it myself. i have a copy of it. 

I Am thinking he may need the Sub-Q's.....I have never given them to him. His Regular Vet has when he has been constipated before or feeling poorly. It does seem to perk him up.  I completely forgot about that....I will ask the Vet..

What causes flares?????   

And anything else I should ask/ bring up to the Vet tomorrow... He breaks my heart....

 

[artiemom]

anything I can do today? before his appointment, tomorrow....