Muffin - Bad news vet visit today

[blueyedgirl5946]

I wanted to ask a question here.  Muffin is getting Forti Flora once a day sprinkled over whatever I am trying to get him to eat.  It is very expensive at my vet's.  I am considering buying some off E-bay.  But I wanted to ask if anyone knows of another kind of probiotic that might can be purchased locally at the pet store.  We have a Pet Sense store in our town.  Thanks.

 

[kittylover23]

I give my cats a human probiotic daily. Acidophilus and bifidus, with one million cultures. :nod: you could buy it from your local health food store.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

I am very frustrated right now.  Muffin is refusing to eat anything I offer him.  This morning he did eat a mixture of the c/d and y/d.  Tonight he refused everything I tried, even rotisserie chicken.  I finally gave him some of Mattie's stinking Meow Mix food with some chicken broth of it and he ate a few bites.  It does't look like it is going to happen as far as getting him to eat a diet of the y/d cat food for throid.  Since he is refusing anything, I wonder if it would be a waste of time to try to introduce some new food now.  The vet said one other thing he could do is start him on some steroids and hope he will start to eat and at some point maybe he can be weaned offf.  Please give me some input here.  I have some serious things to deal with here and a very servioud decision to make. 

 

[orientalslave]

My cat that had a hyperthyroid lost his appetite and the vet said something like 10% do.  Could this be Muffin's problem?  Is his thyroid well and truely under control?  Maybe he is nauseous and something like Pepcid would help?

For the record my cat developed tumours on both lobes of his liver a few months after the HT diagnosis and was on steroid shots (as well as methimazole) the rest of his life.  They improved his appetite and generally perked him up - he was 15 1/2 and possibly a bit arthritic as well and they would have eased any pain from that.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Does anyone here have knowledge of how to give milk thistle or sam-e to a cat.  Muffin has always had high ALT since the very first blood work he ever had.  A few years ago, I tried him on Denamarin which is a combination of these two things.  His liver ALT came down to almost the normal range but he started vomiting.  The vet and I decided to stop the Denamarin since at that time, Muffin was eating and had never shown any symptoms of any kind of problem.  We talked this week about trying these two things to try to support his liver if we could get him eating again.

 

[kittylover23]

I haven't given milk thistle or sam-e to one of my cats before, but when I did some research I found this: http://www.petwellbeing.com/products/cat-liver-disease, http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/milk-thistle-a-wonder-herb/, http://www.ehow.com/way_5171523_milk-thistle-dosage-cats.html, http://www.healthypets.com/sadenosyl100.html and .

Hope that helps out baby Muffin.

 

[violet]

kittylover23, I think you'll be happy to know that the first supplement on your little list

http://www.petwellbeing.com/products/cat-liver-disease

can be an excellent, safe supplement for sensitive cats that have had discouraging adverse effects (vomiting and loss of appetite) from other (enteric coated, etc, etc...) silymarin/milk thistle supplements.

(I would still urge anyone thinking about using milk thistle to check with a good holistic vet first.)

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

I am glad you posted that here Violet.  Muffin has been on Denamarin about two years ago.  It hs milk thistle and Sam-e.  He started vomiting so the vet and I decided to stop it.  The reason we gave it to him even though at that time he was exhibiting no signs of liver disease is his ALT was high.  Okay folks I am fast running out of time here.  There is no holistic vet  near where I live.  Does anyone have any experience with any of these products that are milk thistle only.  I think I might want to try this.  I stopped by my vets office and came home with one can of the Purina UR.  Muffin has eaten some of that and seemed the most interested than in any other food I have tried.  But he did that too with the y/d.  Comments please.  I need help here with some suggestions.  Is my only option at this point to do steroids and try the milk thistle.

 

[violet]

Since there is no holistic vet to ask, my heartfelt suggestion would be to print out the details of this supplement

http://www.petwellbeing.com/products/cat-liver-disease

and ask your vet how he would feel about trying it.

I have not seen a single instance of vomiting from it, so for this reason I can recommend it.

Also, you might want to ask your vet about trying this supplement as well in this desperate situation

http://www.wellvet.com/hepagenc.html

Steroids can help if inflammation is involved in the present situation. Might also help with stimulating the appetite.

(Metronidazole killed my Bernie's appetite to the point where our vet had to stop treatment with it. So in case Muffin is getting this medication right now, the possibility of this side effect might be something to keep in mind.)

You have my heartfelt prayers for your Muffin.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Violet I have printed out the information on these two products.  Have you used these same products as in the links you sent or do you know someone who has.  I would want to use one that comes personally recommended and tried by someone I know.   Muffin is not taking metronidazole now.  He was put on it for a ten day trial but it didn't help any at all and I was having to fight him to get ii in him with the syringe.  It must taste terrible. Concerning the milk thistle, I have read that some tinctures have alcohol and that is not a good thing.  Do you have personal knowledge of this one in the link you sent.  Thank you for trying to help me. I appreciate it so much.

 

[violet]

I have personal experience with this one

http://www.petwellbeing.com/products/cat-liver-disease

No alcohol, glycerin based. (You'll find this info on the left hand side if you scroll down a bit and click on ingredients.)

 

[carolina]

Hun, how comfortable are you with syringe feeding? Sometimes you have to do it for a while, then things come back to normal once the liver heals itself

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

This one says the dosing is one drop for every two pounds.  Muffin weighs nine pounds now so that means he would get about four drops of this.  How easy is this type dosing.to put it directly in the mouth.  Are the drops measured out and marked on the dropper.  I wouldn't want to give it on the food because right now, he may or may not eat the food. I am going to discuss this one with the vet.  I will give him the name of it and he can read about it.

 

[violet]

Very easy to put it directly in the mouth.

My girl also weighed nine pounds. Our holistic vet suggested using 5 drops so that's what I did.

The bottle comes with a dropper which I used for measuring out the five drops into a tiny one ounce glass. Then I added two or three drops of water to dilute it just a tiny bit and used an eye dropper for putting it directly in the mouth. (I didn't want to contaminate the dropper that came with the bottle and the eye dropper was very easy to clean.)

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Carolina, I did some syringe feeding with my cat Speedboat two years ago before we lost him.  I can do that if I have to.  Thanks for the suggestion.  Violet, on the same website with the NHV milk thistle that you posted there is a product called RESTHYRO.  It is an herbal treatment for thyrod.  Have you or anyone else tried or know anything about this  product.  Mufffin is currently taking 1/4 tablet once a day of methimazole for his thyroid.  See, the vet started him on 1/2 tab daily for a week and then increased to 1/2 tab twice a day.  He took that double dose for a week and two days before he started vomiting and his med was cut back then to 1/2 tab daily for three weeks before his bloodwork was redone.  Then, by gosh, he was hypothyroid.  He has been on 1/4 tab daily since Monday.  I keep hoping when his thyroid gets in the right place, he will feel better.  But now I am reading that this medicine can cause the cat to lose appetite.  That is why I am asking about the Resthyro

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

The vet has given me prednisolone tablets for Muffin.  Dosing instructions are 1/2 tablet twice a day.  They are 5 milligram tablets.  He gave me 15 pills.  So this is a two week dosage.  Is this a standard dosage. Does anyone know.

 

[violet]

Regarding the particular supplement you mention and managing hyperT in general...... I believe one of the best things you can do at this point is join this group

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/feline-hyperT/

for help, support and advice. You won't be disappointed.

I have never had to manage hyperT myself, so I'm sorry to have to say I can't share any hyperT related personal observations or advice. However, these yahoo groups being as wonderful as they are, there is no doubt in my mind that you will find the help and advice you're looking for for your Muffin.

 

[barbb]

I know with Toby, when I go to the store i buy a few cans of all different foods and textures. The food he eats one day is different from the food he eats the next day or even later in the day. Yesterday it was fancy feast tuna and mackeral sliced. The day before was tender beef and liver classic- but NOT tender beef and liver grilled. 

Sometimes if it is something I think he will like, i put a little dab on his nose and mouth so he will taste it and maybe start eating. 

I know you said Muffin is not interested in people food now either, that is alarming to me since that is usually a big draw for a lot of kitties. Toby didn't want our rotisserie chicken, but he did want the chicken pieces from our trader joes chicken fried rice. I wonder if Muffin will eat the beef and cheese from a Big Mac or something like that. I realize this isn't a permanent solution but maybe this is just something to start him up again(?)

I know what you are going through and my thoughts are with you. It is so hard. I get pretty frantic when Toby isn't eating. Total panic. I don't even want to leave the house even when he is feeling good. A friend of mine in PA has stage 4 cancer and I have to go visit her in early August. Trying to figure out if we can leave Toby with our cat sitter, she comes twice daily. Toby is eating, up and down but mostly up if we find the right food. But we are going to have to ask our sitter to make sure and watch him eat while she is here. I just hope she will do this. We are still thinking maybe John will stay home with the kitties. So hard. I don't want to lose a single day with my boy. 

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

I am giving Muffin the steroid pill inside the pill pocket and he is eating it with no problem  He did eat better this evening than he has in awhile. The gilrl at the vet office told me he should eat at least one can of this cat food a day. I am not sure he is doing that.  Tonight when he didn't finish what I gave him, I put some canned chicken broth in it.  I checked the labe to make sure there was no onion or garlic in it.  I think I will boil some chicken pieces and have my own broth.  He ate the food when I had made it very runny with the broth.  At this stage, I am thinking whatever works.  He still will eat a little of the dry once in a while too. 

 

[detmut]

The vet has given me prednisolone tablets for Muffin.  Dosing instructions are 1/2 tablet twice a day.  They are 5 milligram tablets.  He gave me 15 pills.  So this is a two week dosage.  Is this a standard dosage. Does anyone know.

as anti-inflammatory: 1 mg/lb once or twice a day then taper to every other day

for immunosuppression: 1-3 mg/lb once a day then taper to 1-2 mg/lb every other day