Arthritis in Cats

In article , jmc
wrote:

We've recently put her on Tramadol, which has done a lot more than the
Metacam alone in controlling her pain.

How much are you giving her? What dosage? I have some Tramadol 5/500
here in the house but it's in pill form. I can always crush it and mix
itinto the food but I don't want to overdose my cat.

I want to thank everyone for their answers. I found Prednisone (the
same medication) on 1800-petmeds for $.10 per 5mg tablet. They also
have PrednisTab for $.21 per tab. I'll be calling the vet to get a
prescription. If not, my niece (a PA) can write me one and i'll get it
filled at the pharmacy.

Gandalf, I understand my vet's need to earn a living. But like you I
just don't understand why he charged me over $6 for 5 tablets. I do,
rightly or wrongly, feel like he was robbing me. Hence my questions
here. We're all hurting in this economy and he knows I'm unemployed. It
might indeed be time to find a new vet. Much as I like him personally.

Bill, the vet did recommend that I try some baby aspirin but I've been
warned by others that while dogs can tolerate a buffered aspirin, cats
may have a harder time. And I really don't want to irritate his tummy.
He was diagnosed with FUS though he hasn't had a flare up since he was
a kitten, thanks to the quick diagnosis and good food he gets.

Friesian, I feel some trepidation in giving him the Metacam due to it's
side effects and my little, big guy already having FUS. Besides, he's
already a spaced out kitty and the last thing he needs is to get high.
LOL Other than the catnip he enjoys. IMHO, that's all that most pain
meds do, whether for human or animals. They don't so much as kill the
pain as make you just not care about it. I should know, having
Fibromyalgia myself, it's the effect my pain meds have on me.

Mike, good idea on a Cosequin. I understand it's glucosamine and
chondroitin. If it's good enough for humans and I know glucosamine
helps my joints, I imagine it'll do the same for Chaplin. Thank you so
much for this recommendation.

Rene, he doesn't seem to have too much of a problem using the litter
boxes. I've got two of them and they both have low entries. But your
advice is sound. Thank you.

CS

Suddenly, without warning, Clara Semps exclaimed (9/22/2010 7:06 PM):

In , jmc
wrote:

We've recently put her on Tramadol, which has done a lot more than the
Metacam alone in controlling her pain.

How much are you giving her? What dosage? I have some Tramadol 5/500
here in the house but it's in pill form. I can always crush it and mix
itinto the food but I don't want to overdose my cat.


Talk to your vet before you give it to your cat; it apparently interacts
badly with some drugs. On her first dosage I think she hallucinated
something aweful so I'd think overdosing could be very bad. We lowered
her dosage by half then gradually brought it back to the full dose, and
she's fine now. That first night was scary though.

Since she doesn't do pills well, I get hers compounded into a liver
flavored liquid which apparently still tastes absolutely horrible If
it didn't work so well we'd find something else.

It's 14ml/liter I think. Not really sure. 14 something. She gets 1ml
at 12 hour intervals.

It is more or less experimental in cats, my vet says there's not a lot
of info on it. Commonly used after surgery for dogs, I think.

Hope this helps.

jmc

Gandalf, I understand my vet's need to earn a living. But like you I
just don't understand why he charged me over $6 for 5 tablets. I do,
rightly or wrongly, feel like he was robbing me. Hence my questions
here. We're all hurting in this economy and he knows I'm unemployed. It
might indeed be time to find a new vet. Much as I like him personally.

I wanted to suggest that you be honest when calling your vet and
asking for the prescription. Tell him/her that you want to provide the
best care you can for your cat, but your income is tight and you're
trying to cut back if possible.

The economy worldwide has been down, and you won't be the first to say
that money is tight. If your vet truly caring, he/she won't mind
writing out a prescription. If he/she objects or makes you feel
guilty, then it may be time to find a new vet.

In article
,
Rene wrote:

Gandalf, I understand my vet's need to earn a living. But like you I
just don't understand why he charged me over $6 for 5 tablets. I do,
rightly or wrongly, feel like he was robbing me. Hence my questions
here. We're all hurting in this economy and he knows I'm unemployed. It
might indeed be time to find a new vet. Much as I like him personally.

I wanted to suggest that you be honest when calling your vet and
asking for the prescription. Tell him/her that you want to provide the
best care you can for your cat, but your income is tight and you're
trying to cut back if possible.

The economy worldwide has been down, and you won't be the first to say
that money is tight. If your vet truly caring, he/she won't mind
writing out a prescription. If he/she objects or makes you feel
guilty, then it may be time to find a new vet.

Well, I found the medication I needed at 1800PetMeds and they called
the vet for a prescription for the Prednistab with no problem. I'm now
giving it to him daily. I also started him on Coquesin but there's a
problem in that he doesn't want to eat the food. Each night he's eating
less and less. I'm not sure if it's the Coquesin or the PrednisTab.
Last night we put no medicine in his food and he gulped it all down. So
tonight I'll add the PrednisTab and see if that's what's causing his
reluctance to eat the food. I hope so because it'll be a lot easier to
shove a pill down his throat once a day that try to figure out a way to
get hinm to ingest the Coquesin which is in capsules.

I originally got Cosequin for Amber. I opened a capsule and added it to
her canned food. She wouldn't eat it. Now I add the capsule to the
entire can (6 oz), mix it in well and both cats get it - twice a day.
That way the Cosequin is diluted enough so she doesn't taste it.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

Suddenly, without warning, Clara Semps exclaimed (10/10/2010 5:24 PM):
In article
,
wrote:

Gandalf, I understand my vet's need to earn a living. But like you I
just don't understand why he charged me over $6 for 5 tablets. I do,
rightly or wrongly, feel like he was robbing me. Hence my questions
here. We're all hurting in this economy and he knows I'm unemployed. It
might indeed be time to find a new vet. Much as I like him personally.

I wanted to suggest that you be honest when calling your vet and
asking for the prescription. Tell him/her that you want to provide the
best care you can for your cat, but your income is tight and you're
trying to cut back if possible.

The economy worldwide has been down, and you won't be the first to say
that money is tight. If your vet truly caring, he/she won't mind
writing out a prescription. If he/she objects or makes you feel
guilty, then it may be time to find a new vet.

Well, I found the medication I needed at 1800PetMeds and they called
the vet for a prescription for the Prednistab with no problem. I'm now
giving it to him daily. I also started him on Coquesin but there's a
problem in that he doesn't want to eat the food. Each night he's eating
less and less. I'm not sure if it's the Coquesin or the PrednisTab.
Last night we put no medicine in his food and he gulped it all down. So
tonight I'll add the PrednisTab and see if that's what's causing his
reluctance to eat the food. I hope so because it'll be a lot easier to
shove a pill down his throat once a day that try to figure out a way to
get hinm to ingest the Coquesin which is in capsules.


If it's the Cosequin, look into the Drs Foster and Smith Joint Care line
- Meep has been on all three levels over the years, and apparently it's
tasty. I get the liver flavored powder, but used to get the capsules
until the powder came out.

This is what Meep is on now:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...m?pcatid=19868

jmc

In article ,
---MIKE--- wrote:

I originally got Cosequin for Amber. I opened a capsule and added it to
her canned food. She wouldn't eat it. Now I add the capsule to the
entire can (6 oz), mix it in well and both cats get it - twice a day.
That way the Cosequin is diluted enough so she doesn't taste it.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')


Doesn't make a difference... Chaplin hates the cosequin. Still, I
continue to give it to them. When he gets hungry enough, he eats the
whole thing. In any event, the cosequin and prednistabs seem to be
helping. He's still a lazy old cat, but his hips don't seem to bother
him quite as much as they used to. I'm also giving him therapy every
day to keep the blood moving in his haunches. And he enjoys the
occasional catnip high. Seems to still be a happy cat and now I'm a
happy cat mommy.