2 of mine off colour today. Willow poorly now.

[Mark]

Thanks - Now we have to get some meat on her bones.

I was cooking chicken in Olive oil at 11.45pm so she would take her pill - she wasn't fooled with the ham 

[**TINA**]

Just noticed this bout Willow,
Glad she has perked up 

[Mark]

She even ate some boiled egg this afernoon  (highest quality protein source)

[clarenmax]

All sounding much more positive Mark 

[Desley (booktigger)]

I am glad she has perked up - vets can give sub-q fluids during consults quite easily, I have had it done on a few cats - and held some of them while it was done. I am glad the smell isn't as bad, that is a really positive sign, as that is the toxins you can smell.

[Bazsmum]

I am so glad that darling Willow has perked up Mark and is now enjoying her food and other beds! 

[Mark]

She has improved a lot but I don't expect she will be the same again. She has started grooming again. The uraemia smell is still there but not as strong. She has stopped sitting in the sink and shower and is back to sleeping on the bed or in her nest in the garden. She even slept in her rotary line tree house bed yesterday. She is eating well (at least as well as she ever did). Amazingly, she has started eating renal food. She refused point black previously. My old vet said animals are good at knowing what is good for them 
Her eyes are clearing up and she is returning to the feisty madam we know and love. I'm really pleased we have found a form of Benazeprine that she will take and I know she will need her jabs every 3 weeks but as long as she has a good quality life, I will keep it up - however, I have warned OH that I refuse to see her go gradually downhill and be poorly. Decisions will have to be made.

[Mark]

Thanks 

There is an imrovement 

I was looking into getting B12 as a supplement but as methylcobalamin as it is more easily absorbed.

[swampmaxmum]

A vet could do sub cuts for you during a consult, it's very quick.  You could ask them I suppose, to see what they think. Not all UK vets do it anyhow.

Laurabolin's an anabolic steroid so increases the red cell volume I think. It's what the riders on the Tour de France used to use before more up to date cheating drugs were around. Anyhow, it's the main treatment and safest treatment for anaemia.  Vit B just sort of helps it along, can boost appetite and energy and you can give it a lot more often. You can give vit B complex pills to cats  - Swampy has 1 every 3 days. But the injection is vit B12, which I think's the best one.

Hope it all helps make her feel perkier.

[Mark]

Hopefully the vet would have told me if he thought she was dehydrated enough to need it? - it is a 10 mile round trip so every 3 weeks is enough for me unless she really needs it. I will be back at class in a couple of weeks so won't have as much free time.

I don't think they would do sub-cut at the vet anyway, I thought it was intravenous?

I must have misheard the vet as I thought he said the Laurabolin was to help clear toxins and the B12 was to help produce red blood cells (he said the kidneys play a part in red blood cell production)

[swampmaxmum]

just picked up on this Mark. I'm so sorry Willow's poorly.  Swampy has laurabolin once a month, but you can give it every 3 weeks if she's very anaemic. Sometimes it makes him feel better, sometimes no difference. My vet usually mixes in vitamin B too.  I hope it makes her want to eat more.

If she enjoys a trip out, could you get the vet to give her say twice weekly sub cut fluids which may help with her dehydration? From what you say about giving her pills, I take it giving her fluids would be impossible to do at home.
  for her and Clapton

[clarenmax]

Hope Willow is enjoying her comfy nest still Mark, and is staying out of the sink/shower today 

[Bazsmum]

Sending positive healing vibes for the new meds to assist her and for her to take them easily! 

[Mark]

she's clearly drinking, so dehydration shouldn't become an issue? 

The vet said she is dehydrated already as it is going straight through her which worries me. 

Sorry hun I missed this in your post    What did the vet say about this?

He didn't say a lot except the meds would help. I'm sure he would have suggested rehydration if he thought it was necessary. I was a bit embarrassed asking so many questions and said I try not to obsess about the cats and he said there is nothing wrong with that and that he obsesses about his own and that they are family 
He was so good with her 

[clarenmax]

she's clearly drinking, so dehydration shouldn't become an issue? 

The vet said she is dehydrated already as it is going straight through her which worries me. 

Sorry hun I missed this in your post    What did the vet say about this?

[Mark]

  Could it be that they are cool and it feels nice maybe? xxxx

OH wondered that too. Anyway, I want to get her out of the habit. I brought her back downstairs and put her in the nest I made outside and she is fast asleep right now 

[Mark]

  Could it be that they are cool and it feels nice maybe? xxxx

OH wondered that too. Anyway, I want to get her out of the habit. I brought her back downstairs and put her in the nest I made outside and she is fast asleep right now 

[Mark]

she's clearly drinking, so dehydration shouldn't become an issue? 

The vet said she is dehydrated already as it is going straight through her which worries me. 

[clarenmax]

Aw poor Willow, hope the injections work, and the new tablets are easier, they certainly sound better if they are smaller, so should be easier to hide 

If you're concerned about her weight at the moment, I'd also try cat milk, as well as dry food as well, as she's clearly drinking, so dehydration shouldn't become an issue?  This is what I did with Max to try and build him up again, and it didn't make a huge amount of difference to his bloods.

Weird that she's liking sinks and showers at the moment though!  Could it be that they are cool and it feels nice maybe? xxxx

[Mark]

She won't touch pate type foods. In fact there aren't many wet foods she will eat. Good idea re cat milk  . I bought some senior cat milk in PAH the other week so will try it.

I will check the link thanks.

[Desley (booktigger)]

Fingers crossed for her MArk - this is what I got told about compounding pharmacies over here, not looked into the link though. forgot that they don't call them compounding pharmacies in the UK--they are referred to as Special Units: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pharmacy-...ompounding.htm

Good luck with getting weight on her - does seh like cat milk or a/d?

[Mark]

I hope so. Any idea how long before we get some kind of change? ATM she is gaga. She is either lying in the sink or sitting in the shower. I took her to bed last night and she settled but this morning she was back in the sink. OH said she has lost it - it's as if she has reverted back to being a kitten but without the playfulness. I made her up a nice bed in the garden in the Lloyd Loom chair with vet bed and made her a tent with blankets. Five minutes later, she was back upstairs sitting in the shower. OH asked where she is peeing but I think she has stopped peeing in the house and using the corner outside. Anyway, good news is I got her to take her meds in some pork. The new tablets are tiny compared to fortekor. A 5mg one is 1/2 the size of a 2.5mg Fortekor and they are film coated. It's a shame they don't make a 2.5mg coated pill as that way it would be even easier to hide. I asked Jeremy about what I had seen on the internet re having meds made into transdermal so they are applied to the ear. He said we don't have compounding pharmacies in the UK. They have them in OZ where he is from and I know they also have them in the US.

Another frustrating thing is she has lost 200g since she was weighed in April and now only weighs 2.4kg. Although we are trying to keep the phosphorus down, the important thing is keeping her weight up initially. Also, I know dry isn't great for CRF cats but I have bought her favourite food which is Hill's adult chicken. I will gradually start mixing k/d into it when she has gained a bit of weight. Luckily Hill's adult is low phosphorus compared to a lot of foods.

Anyway, some pics I took of her in the shower. She is responding so not totally out of it.

[Gillian Harvey]

Hope she picks up with the meds, the laurabolin and B12 used to help Suzie somewhat 

[Mark]

Luckily with our setup, I can manage to take her every 3 weeks. She is the opposite of Clapton in that she seemed to enjoy the afternoon out 

[Bazsmum]

Aw bless her Mark....Hope the jabs manage to perk her up soon! If its not one its another! 

[Mark]

Noah description of Laurabolin.

"Nandrolone is a testosterone derivative which can be used in the supportive management of chronic renal failure."

It is an anabolic steroid.

[Mark]

She is quite dehydrated despite the amount she is drinking. Jeremy gave her a B12 jab and a Laurabolin jab. He said it helps to get the toxins out of the system. I need to google this one. I explained about her aversion to "palatable " Fortekor. We are trying a new one which has the same active ingredient but is 1/2 the size and film coated - it is called benazacare. The smell I could smell around Willows mouth was uraemia (not catty smell as OH thought) - I know what the cats smell like   Obviously Clapton was caught early and has stayed fairly stable. He said her change in behaviour could be down to the toxins making her a bit senile. She has turned into a different cat. She wasn't remotely bothered in the car nor by the 8 or so dogs in the waiting room. Jeremy recommended her having repeat jabs every 4 weeks, possibly every 3 weeks. I just hope she perks up and we can pill her one way or another. Also she has a bit of an infection in her eye so I have drops for that as well.

[clarenmax]

I know only too well what you mean on both counts 

[Mark]

Thanks Clare - I need a break from vet trips and I'm sure OHs bank account does too! 

[clarenmax]

Sounds like a very good idea to get all these things checked, hope all goes well 

[Mark]

I expect so. I want them to check her potassium. Also want to find out about vitamin depletion through weeing and see if it is worthwhile giving her a B jab. She is bouncy at the moment but seems so get worn out during the day and sits like a sphinx looking sad 

[clarenmax]

Glad Clapton has forgiven you now 

Best of luck with Willow later, do you think they'll be doing bloods tonight Mark?

[Liz]

Glad Clapton has nearly forgiven you!

Hope Willow gets on well onight - Tiger had a smell and drank shed loads - he was diabetic may be worth a quick test

[Bazsmum]

Glad that Clapper's is back to normal and got over his vet trip bless! 

Sending positive vibes for darling Willow's visit tonight~~~~Best of luck it can be sorted! 

Glad she is finding the trays or you would be having a right old time with all the fluids she is taking in! 

[Mark]

Yes but apart from the 2 places I dealt with, she is going outside and in trays luckily

[Dawn F]

omg Mark does that mean she is peeing loads as well?

[Mark]

He is much better thanks. He isn't running from me now. People don't believe me when I say it takes him 2 weeks to get over a vet trip. He is eating well and his fur is looking much better 

However, Willow is never far from a tap and is drinking almost constantly. In fact over the last couple of days, she has taken to sleeping in a bathroom sink and is sitting in the walk-in shower. She Will have a drink from the drinkwell, Then go to a water bowl and then to a tap. She just can't get enough. Also her usual runny eye liquid has gone from clear to opaque so may be some infection. They are also running more than usual. She also smells funny - like a zoo smell  She is booked in for 5pm today.

[Rosella moggy]

Just wondering how our Clapton's getting along Mark?

[Janeyk]

awww lovely photo

I def agree about the food Mark, if they're eating and happy that's the main thing because if we had to eat food we didn't like we'd be miserable and being miserable will affect their health too so it has to be a balancing act

[**TINA**]

Great news 
Lovely piccie