Topic: Willow's MOT - it's anaemia, CRF and possibly HyperT (Read 24304 times)

Mark · « **Reply #91 on:** January 30, 2009, 15:04:21 PM »

I'm really not sure what to do now - as I am now on antibiotics due to her biting me, I'm not willing to risk it again. OH can help me or we will have to resign ourselves to her not taking them.

swampmaxmum · « **Reply #90 on:** January 30, 2009, 13:25:30 PM »

can you not sneak up while she is asleep, scruff her and quickly quickly shove it down before she's had time to think KILL HIM?! good luck Mark. Suppose a pill shooter wouldn't be tolerated either?

Maddiesmum · « **Reply #89 on:** January 30, 2009, 11:49:15 AM »

How stressful for you all. Hope your finger is ok and hope you can find some way that she will take the pills

clarenmax · « **Reply #88 on:** January 30, 2009, 09:37:19 AM »

Quote from: Mark on January 29, 2009, 19:41:03 PM

Well tonight's attempt resulted in me with teeth sunk deeply into my finger just below the nail. Lots of blood, a stressed cat and a pill on the floor. OH & I are going to have to discuss if pilling her is viable. If she is going to be stressed and unhappy about it, I can't continue. Also my finger is throbbling and I can't handle going through this every day.

Mark · « **Reply #87 on:** January 29, 2009, 19:41:03 PM »

Well tonight's attempt resulted in me with teeth sunk deeply into my finger just below the nail. Lots of blood, a stressed cat and a pill on the floor. OH & I are going to have to discuss if pilling her is viable. If she is going to be stressed and unhappy about it, I can't continue. Also my finger is throbbling and I can't handle going through this every day.

Mark · « **Reply #86 on:** January 28, 2009, 19:20:25 PM »

I hope so too. I got some Waltham Pocket Tabs in my VetUK delivery the other day hoping that she would take it in those but no luck. The are much squashier than Webbox sticks but expensive - £5 for 20

- I can get 2 out of each though - I may even try to get 3. Makes it easy to hide Claptons pills

Maybe tonight I shouldn't try to Pill Willow when she is lying on OH as the claws were not appreciated

Maddiesmum · « **Reply #85 on:** January 28, 2009, 17:41:05 PM »

What a nightmare, it is so stressful for all of you and you have to watch that pill time doesn't become anxious time. Hope you can find something she will take it in

Janeyk · « **Reply #84 on:** January 28, 2009, 17:38:04 PM »

olives eh?

she does have quite a personality bless her!

Mark · « **Reply #83 on:** January 28, 2009, 14:38:42 PM »

No she is very hard to please. She won't touch cream or any of the things cats are supposed to like.
She does like olives - maybe I should stuff one with a Fortekor

She is our little French madam

(OH got her from a rescue in Paris in 1999 when she was one)

I managed to get a pill down her last night. I sprayed it with olive oil and pilled her as she screamed

- It was doubly difficult as OH was behaving as if I was abusing her rather than trying to help her. I said there is no point her going back for more bloods next month unless she has been taking her tablets so they can assess the other issues.

Janeyk · « **Reply #82 on:** January 28, 2009, 13:13:02 PM »

Does Willow like cat milk MarK?

Mark · « **Reply #81 on:** January 27, 2009, 18:52:45 PM »

I will give it a go but Willow is more particular than the average cat with wet food. I know food with moisture is a lot better but with her being underweight, high calorie food is also important for her. The vet said last year that she is borderline underweight so it's a case of feeding her anything she will eat really.

Has an unsiccessful pilling last night which resulted in me bleeding. I tried again this morning and she went mental. I thought she had swallowed it but she spat it out again - I will have a go again tonight. I was amazed when she took it in a treat on Sunday and thought it was too good to be true.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #80 on:** January 27, 2009, 07:58:33 AM »

Dry renal tends to be more palatable, but it goes against what cats with CRF need, which is moisture!! Have you tried the Renal food from Zooplus Mark? Rosie would eat that although she wouldn't touch the RC/Hills

clarenmax · « **Reply #79 on:** January 26, 2009, 18:54:45 PM »

I think the dry is generally better, so more chance of being chomped

Mark · « **Reply #78 on:** January 26, 2009, 17:59:16 PM »

I have given up with renal wet food - I have 2 unopened out of date boxes in the cupboard

Also some cans of Trovet renal.

I daren't offend Clapton. If he doesn't like it, he will sniff and go back upstairs in disgust

clarenmax · « **Reply #77 on:** January 26, 2009, 13:17:16 PM »

Mark, the way I do Max's food now is to mix half renal and half senior in the same bowl, i.e. 2 sachets a day, so its still a good mix of food, but mixing it makes it taste better (as long as the flavours don't clash too much!).

Maxy was becoming very reluctant to eat the renal on its own, but mixed in, he will always eat the whole bowl, or at least most of it

Mark · « **Reply #76 on:** January 26, 2009, 10:20:15 AM »

The VetUK delivery came today. I put some RC Renal in front of her and she ate a few nuggets. She never eats a lot in one go anyway so hopeful that she will eat it. I am going to continue giving her senior wet food as I know how unpalatable renal wet can be - also I'm not convinced the whole reduced protein thing is good for cats in the long term. I can't stop her picking at Clapton's food as she has always done this anyway - also I am a firm believer of quality over quantity. I'm sure this will reduce her overall phosphorus intake.

There is a warning on the bag not to feed for more than 6 months without vet approval and to feed for 2 - 4 weeks for short renal episodes which makes me even more convinced that they should eat some other food as well.

I also got some pocket tabs to see if she likes them - they are expensive for what they are. I think 1/2 tab is enough anyway

There were a few catnip balls and stockings in the delivery as well

- she is taken with the socks

Mark · « **Reply #75 on:** January 26, 2009, 09:26:29 AM »

Well last night, Willow was sniffing around on the rug and licking it. I realised there were some crumbs from some Felix Lickin's - she doesn't normally eat treats but I wrapped 1/2 a pill up in one -( quite difficult as they are really crumbly) and she ate it - I did the same again and that was Willow pilled

I will try it again tonight but the chances are, she will refuse - maybe she just happened to be hungry?

Mark · « **Reply #74 on:** January 25, 2009, 20:36:54 PM »

I think it is having an effect on her and remain hopeful - she is up & about now so I will give her the dose and keep an eye.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #73 on:** January 25, 2009, 20:29:59 PM »

I would give her the dose MArk - if you remember with Clapton, you had similar problems, and if it is going to raise the creatnine, it is better done all in one go than miss a few days and then have to start again. Also worth remembering that Fortekor doesn't work on all cats, so Willow could be one of the cats it doesn't work on

Mark · « **Reply #72 on:** January 25, 2009, 19:58:24 PM »

I am in two minds about giving it to her tonight as she has slept all day and is still asleep now. Admittedly all the cats have been sleeping most of the day but it's unusual for her. I don't know whether to give it a miss and speak to the vet, give her 1/2 tab or give her the full dose

Mark · « **Reply #71 on:** January 25, 2009, 15:31:13 PM »

Apparently the creatine levels can increase and it takes a few days to settle back down.

Janeyk · « **Reply #70 on:** January 25, 2009, 11:17:34 AM »

aren't they crafty

thumbs up to giving it her half asleep, I've done that and it does work well they're so docile they hardly notice

hope she's not too groggy after it though, I didn't know that until they kick in they can feel worse

Mark · « **Reply #69 on:** January 25, 2009, 11:12:02 AM »

Last night, we had steak pie. Steak and burgers (especially McD's) are two things that Willow will eat. I cut a little pocket in a piece of steak and just left it on a piece of paper for her to discover (she is very suspicious and if I tried to give it to her, she would refuse it) - A while later, she started eating it. She makes such a meal out of the tiniest morsel (no pun) at the end, the pill was just sitting there

- later on, she was fast asleep on OH (along with Clapton

) so I went over to pet her. She woke up very sleepily and I shoved it pill down her throat - I don't thin k she had even realised what had happened. She is very docile this morning and fast asleep as I type. I will keep an eye on her as I know that for the first few days, they can feel rough due to increased creatinine. I suppose this is the first time she has had a full dose and she really is tiny.

Baggy · « **Reply #68 on:** January 24, 2009, 20:32:25 PM »

If you're giving her lactulose, would it be possible to dissolve her fortekor and syringe it all in together? Not sure if this would make the fortekor go through or get absorbed too quickly though.

swampmaxmum · « **Reply #67 on:** January 24, 2009, 09:47:11 AM »

imho Mark, the only way to do lactulose is by using a 1ml syringe (the skinny little one) in the corner of the mouth and fire! The only problem is it is so sticky. If you put it on her paw, her paw would be glued!

Mark · « **Reply #66 on:** January 24, 2009, 09:02:24 AM »

Thanks Kate. I will speak to the vet about it. Willow isn't too happy about having stuff smeared on her fur. I tried putting a tablet in front of her and she ran a mile. After I crushed it and mixed it into a bit of cat green, I smeared in on her and she went into hiding for the rest of the evening.

swampmaxmum · « **Reply #65 on:** January 23, 2009, 09:29:46 AM »

What he told me is that lactulose is routinely used in high doses apparently for liver disease. With CRF they have so many toxins poisoning their body that elimination of some from the gut is good. It's also very safe compared to the other laxatives.

Janeyk · « **Reply #64 on:** January 23, 2009, 07:25:27 AM »

Last year the vet was going to admit Schui to put him on a drip, which we were told among other things were to sort out the toxins Mark as he was very poorly, not sure of the ins and outs though. He has other issues though and after alot of thought we decided to try steroids which thankfully worked.

I think if the kidneys aren't working/filtering properly they can get a build up of fluid and nastys.

Mark · « **Reply #63 on:** January 23, 2009, 07:16:29 AM »

Quote from: swampmaxmum on January 19, 2009, 21:15:54 PM

My vet also told me that lactulose (if you can syringe her?) is better for CRF cats than katalax, as helps rid the body of some of the urea toxins and you can give it every day as it's safe.

Sorry, just re-reading this thread to see bits I missed. I'm surprised a vet would recommend something that draws water out of the system for CRF cats? - maybe the benefits outweigh the negatives?

Janeyk · « **Reply #62 on:** January 23, 2009, 07:16:19 AM »

she's lovely and great to hear she's doing well.
I wish my 2 would eat the renal food, my vet gave me 2 types to try, Hills and RC and I mixed it in their food but they wouldn't eat it. They only eat Whiskas supermeat, I've tried other pate types as Schui won't eat anything with any texture but not luck.

Mark · « **Reply #61 on:** January 23, 2009, 06:55:35 AM »

A couple more

Mark · « **Reply #60 on:** January 23, 2009, 06:54:08 AM »

She is rolling around playing this morning and attacking my hand - so fingers crossed she is feeling a lot better

Amazingly, she is eating senior food (I have ordered renal) I always buy her special food as she usually doesn't touch the felix senior

It's funny as my old vet used to say that animals seem to know what is good for them.

(excuse the mess - I am off today so need to have a blitz

)

Janeyk · « **Reply #59 on:** January 22, 2009, 16:42:12 PM »

good to hear Willow seems perkier

Our Squeaky was like Alice in the tray Mark it was always 50/50 in/out and it was always a cleaning job afterwards!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #58 on:** January 22, 2009, 15:44:51 PM »

Only just found this thread, am a bit behind........sigh

Just want to wish Willow and you lots of good vibes

cos I have one cat who cant be medicated at all and all 4 are fussy eaters, dont do treats or human food or anything, so very hard when they get ill.

My vet told me that convenia is only good for certain omplaintss but I know she has discussed jabs of this on a regular and permanent basis for Franta with a specialist at Bristol, if he starts getting kidney infections as he has only one working kidney.

Mark · « **Reply #57 on:** January 22, 2009, 13:54:42 PM »

She has only had 2 doses of Fortekor but seems a lot better in herself. She is eating more than usual - I know that in itself isn't always a good sign but this morning as I was going downstairs, she started batting me through the bannister. I put my hand through and she started her old trick of biting the bit between my thumb and finger and "killing" my hand - she hasn't done it much at all lately although it was one of her favourite games before. I wonder if the wormer has helped as it seems too early for the fortekor to have had an effect? - anyway, it's less than 3 months since she was wormed so maybe I should be thinking of doing it a bit more often.

Mark · « **Reply #56 on:** January 20, 2009, 22:22:28 PM »

Willow digs to Australia so I am looking forward to her night-time trips

Although Willow get litter on the floor, I have never once known her to miss the tray - unlike Alice, who tries but rarely goes in quite far enough so it ends up 1/2 in, 1/2 out

- it's a pain as I have to clean the rim of the tray and quite often it is all in the join inside the tray

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #55 on:** January 20, 2009, 22:03:37 PM »

Quote from: Mark on January 20, 2009, 20:37:31 PM

I have also given her an extra hooded tray in the bedroom which she has used today - I don't like the idea of a tray in the bedroom but needs must is suppose

You won't be the first by a long shot Mark. Litter tray moved into our bedroom when Dingle reached about 15 (circa 1991) Oh dear can't begin to tell you how bad her highness' business ponged . Really unbeliveable.

She was the reason the carpet came up and bedrooms now floor boards and rugs. Her aim stunk too

.

Litter tray moved back in for Tom when he reached about 16 (circa 2005) but that boy was just no troublle. We started to pick him up and place him over it when he was going to be sick; he ended up making his own way to the tray to be sick. My super little lad

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #54 on:** January 20, 2009, 21:26:45 PM »

Fingers crossed for her, Molly is like Willow and I am unable to pill her, the vet has already been warned that if she ever develops anything, I wont be able to medicate her, and she has a cat like that. Like Willow, Molly doesn't do treats and wont even do things like Katalax. My vet is like Jasmine's though, and doesn't prescribe Fortekor as standard for CRF. I hope they can get the anaemia under control, and am a bit surprised they haven't given an injection and just want you to pill her for month first - treating it might actually increase her appetite.

RC do samples of their Renal food, I still have some left from Rosie, so might be worth asking if they can get you some samples, and Zooplus do some renal wet food that went down better with Rosie than anything from the vets, although the tuna was hte most appetising from the vets.

Mark · « **Reply #53 on:** January 20, 2009, 20:37:31 PM »

tbh, it's just a screw on thing but it does the trick. Mixing it in hairball paste is the hard bit. I reckon she gets around 70 - 80% of the pill but she is a very tiny cat so hopefully enough for her

I have also given her an extra hooded tray in the bedroom which she has used today

- I don't like the idea of a tray in the bedroom but needs must is suppose - I am using the rechargable carpet sweeper to clean up

I have some "cat green" which is a clear gel so may be easier to mix the tablet into - I will give it a go tomorrow.

Janeyk · « **Reply #52 on:** January 20, 2009, 19:57:04 PM »

Right, it's good that she's looking to why, hope the pill crusher does the trick!

Author Topic: Willow's MOT - it's anaemia, CRF and possibly HyperT (Read 24304 times)