kb2zct
Alpha Cat (Moderator)
Joined: 28 Nov 2005
Posts: 1612
Location: Upstate NY
Posted: Mon 01 January 02:24 pm Post subject:
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Guys:
No updates from the vet for today.
I'll call first thing tomorrow (Tuesday) morining and will post an update.
Mark
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valpofan98
Curious Youth
Joined: 31 Dec 2005
Posts: 130
Location: Chicago
Posted: Mon 01 January 08:11 pm Post subject:
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I will be hoping for good news as well!!!
Peace,
Kirsten
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kb2zct
Alpha Cat (Moderator)
Joined: 28 Nov 2005
Posts: 1612
Location: Upstate NY
Posted: Tue 02 January 09:25 am Post subject:
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Guys:
OK. I have an update on Ranger. The news is not as good as I had hoped.
Ranger is not coming home today. When Dr Kate tired to remove the urinary catheter, she was not able to do so because of spasms in the bladder and urinary tract. Eventually, after putting him under some light sedation, she was able to remove the catheter.
Dr. Kate was not pleased by this turn of events. She wants to keep him at least until overnight to see if he can urinate on his own. He has been given more metacam for the pain.
The blood tests came back with great results. The urine tests were much the same as before: they found some fractured crystals in the urine as well as red and white blood cells. The urine PH was a little high at 7.0, but she is not all that concerned by the PH readings. With the exception of the fractured crystals, there is no change in his urine test results.
I did confirm that the metacam injections that Ranger has received have been only 1/3 of the stated (labeled) dosage. His injections have been .1ml while the labeled dosage is .28 ml. The good news is that he is tolerating the dosages well. The bad news is that the metacam by itself is not doing enough for us.
I wonder if all the horror stories I have heard about metacam are from people using the oral version. Oral metacam is not approved for cats. Ranger has only received one dose of oral metacam – and that was when the practice ran out of the injectable version. Also, Dr Kate has been very conservative with the dosage – which has, I’m sure, worked to prevent problems with his kidneys and liver.
According to Dr. Cathy’s notes, she found some grittiness while inserting the catheter in the mid-urethra area. We’re not sure what that means, but, the long-term inflammation could be creating debris, which could (and might) develop into a blockage.
So, Dr Kate is going to reevaluate Ranger’s treatment plan. Ranger will be continuing on the metacam injections. I think we are going to add a new injectable medicine called adequan. We may also have to put him on a urinary tract diet – in fact, everyone in the house may end up going on it because of the problems associated with trying to feed it to one cat only. I don’t want to go down that road, but I may not have much of a choice.
Adequan is normally used to treat arthritic joints. However, the theory is that the medicine will coat the bladder much like the Restor-A should. Again, it may be several weeks or months before we know if the Restor-A or Adequan is doing anything at all.
I’ll pass on more info when I hear from the vet’s office tomorrow morning.
Mark
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animalangel1
Hostess/Host
Joined: 19 Nov 2005
Posts: 2232
Location: Upstate Eastern New York
Posted: Tue 02 January 11:12 am Post subject:
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Well, though this is not entirely good news at least you have more information to work with (like the grittiness found when trying to insert the catheter). The information can be used "down the road" if something "new" should develope. It's good that the blood and urine tests were good..... at least something is going in the right direction for Ranger. I'm sorry he couldn't come home yet but on the other hand, they can probably monitor his urine output (should he have any) better than you can from the office. Best to be safe than sorry. I hope he'll be able to come home soon with a medication plan that will work for him for a very long time.
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Michelle
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kb2zct
Alpha Cat (Moderator)
Joined: 28 Nov 2005
Posts: 1612
Location: Upstate NY
Posted: Tue 02 January 11:44 am Post subject:
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Michelle:
I would much rather be safe than sorry - so I do not have any real objection to a longer stay at the hospital for him. Before he comes home, we want to make sure the parts are working. If he cannot urinate on his own, he needs to stay in the hospital until we get the acute problem resolved. As much as I want him back home, and as much as I am sure he wants to be back home, it must wait until he is well enough to do so.
I’m not sure if I mentioned it earlier, but Ranger will be placed on antibiotics again. Poor little guy, he does not take to pilling all that well, but at least, I can do it. I may have to ask for another pill gun, since I am not sure where it is right now.
I’m just frustrated that we cannot get a handle on his condition so he can get better. I do not want my little boy to be in pain all of his life, so I want to find something that will really help him. Dr Kate did warn me, back when she diagnosed him with IC, that IC is a very difficult condition to treat. We could be doing quite a bit of trial and error before we find the right combination.
She did tell me that he was eating the CD cat food at the office – but, since that was all he was offered, he had not other choice.
I think there are other urinary tract diets other than CD and UR available. I though Wysong has something. I will have to check in on that and see if it is available. CD and UR did not work when I offered it at my house before.
At some point, if things do not improve, I may ask for a consult with Cornell. They should be on the cutting edge of feline medicine. Also, if we have been to the point were a urinary catheter has been installed, I’m not to far from the “bladder irrigation” treatment option. Dr Kate did not like it because it was invasive – but I do once the catheter is in I don’t think you can get any more invasive.
This is very, very frustrating. The only good thing is that one of my coworkers was telling me that she meet one of the vet techs at a News Year’s party. My coworker “dropped” my name – and the vet tech said that I was one of their best “patients”, as in that I carefully watch the little one’s conditions and do what is necessary for them. While I would like to pat myself on the back for that, the sad reality is that I am simply doing what should be done. If doing what should be done is so noticeable, it must be an exception to what is being done. That, I find, is a very gloomy thought.
Well, in any event, my little guy is still in the hospital.
Mark
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Maria
Alpha Cat (Moderator)
Joined: 22 Nov 2005
Posts: 1478
Location: Northern NJ
Posted: Tue 02 January 03:31 pm Post subject:
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Gee Mark, not a good way to start the new year. Well, maybe that means that things can only improve. I'm glad he is still in the hospital to be observed closely and at least you won't have to worry about getting him back there if he can't urinate - not to mention staying awake all night until he does.
I sincerely hope that the vet will find the right combination of drug therapy for Ranger for the long term. It would be good to know that something is working well without running into all these obstacles along the way. I can image how frustrated you must feel.
Thanks for bringing us up to date so far, and I will pray that Ranger will stablize now.
Maria
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kb2zct
Alpha Cat (Moderator)
Joined: 28 Nov 2005
Posts: 1612
Location: Upstate NY
Posted: Tue 02 January 06:21 pm Post subject:
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Guys:
Ranger’s Tuesday evening update:
After work, I headed down to the vet’s office to visit Ranger. I wanted to see how he was doing and get the chance to get another update.
Ranger looks OK, but, to me, it feels as if his weight is down some. They are trying to feed him CD wet, but he is not all that interested in the food.
When I checked up on Ranger, he was lying in his litter box (which has just been cleaned). His belly area had been shaved and some type of jell applied, so his hair was all messed up. He also had a little bit of the jell stuff behind one of his ears. All and all, I did not think he looked all that good, but that could simply be looking at him through my gloomy filter.
Funny about small cages – cats seem to lay in their litter boxes instead of on the other things in it. I borough in a sweatshirt for him to have; it was not in the cage with him. When I asked about it, I was told it was in the laundry. All blankets, etc. get laundered every day. I wonder if it was more comfortable to be curled up in the litter box than on the harder metal floor of the cage
The good news is that he has been able to urinate today. He will often wait until one the doctors or techs poke at him. They tell me he is getting quite good at tensing up his abs for these poking sessions. He had a good flow today.
Ranger was very affectionate with me. I may be confusing my state with his, but I’m pretty sure he wanted to come home - something about crawling into my arms at the cage. (Note to self – do not wear a dark green winter coat when holding a white, longhaired cat who needs a good brushing. Second note to self, wash jacket).
I had the chance to talk to Dr Kate for a few minutes. She wants to go to the Adaquin (sp) before trying the anitriptyline (sp). She told me that either drug does not have a high success rate by itself. She has used anitriptyline three times in other IC cases, and had good results on only one of the cases. We discussed continuing metacam, and she feels it is save to do so at the current levels. When I pick up Ranger tomorrow, I will have additional metacam to bring home with me.
They want to do some diet modifications – but, if he will not eat CD when it is the only thing available, I don’t now how I will manage that at home. I wonder if I can mix some baby food with it and see if he will eat it then?
Who knows, the insertion of the catheter could have “fixed” the problem. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Mark
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Maria
Alpha Cat (Moderator)
Joined: 22 Nov 2005
Posts: 1478
Location: Northern NJ
Posted: Tue 02 January 08:44 pm Post subject:
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Quote:
Who knows, the insertion of the catheter could have “fixed” the problem. We’ll just have to wait and see.
I hope that is the case Mark! I'll be glad to hear how Ranger is when he gets home in his own environment with you and the rest of his family.
Maria
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Galensgranny
Site Administrator
Joined: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 2273
Location: West Virginia, previously NYC, MA and AL
Posted: Tue 02 January 10:28 pm Post subject:
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I'm glad Ranger urinated on his own!
Quote:
They want to do some diet modifications – but, if he will not eat CD when it is the only thing available, I don’t now how I will manage that at home
He might eat it once at home, feeling better and in his own comfortable surroundings. Other companies make an equivalent prescription food to the Hills CD, so if he won't eat the Hills, try the Purina version. Your vet can order some, or give you a prescription so you can order it online.
Here is Purina's prescription diet site:
http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/felineproducts.aspx Here is a site selling prescription diets:
http://www.rxpetfood.com/ Maybe the place you order the CRF supplies from sells prescription diets.
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Margaret, a/k/a Galensgranny
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kb2zct
Alpha Cat (Moderator)
Joined: 28 Nov 2005
Posts: 1612
Location: Upstate NY
Posted: Wed 03 January 08:19 am Post subject:
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Hi Margaret:
Thanks for the link to the prescription food online store. I will have to bring it to Dr Kate's attention. I see that there are a few additional options.
I've tried both the UR and CD wet foods at home. No one would touch them. The first "go around" was when Little Bit had crystals two to three years ago. We tried it with Ranger in the September - October time period. Again, no takers.
Now, that was with the UR and CD wet food. I think UR had a semi-soft version that we also tried - again, without any luck.
I'l have more info later tonight when I pick up Ranger.
Mark
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Topic: Ranger has been admitted to the vet hospital- kb2zct, Dec. 2006 (Read 534 times)