Ping Candace Re Abbey

Candace, I'm sorry if you've already posted about this, but my life has been
really hectic lately and I haven't read any updates about Abbey.

How is she doing? What's the prognosis look like now? Has she had her
ultrasound/echocardiogram?

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

CatNipped wrote:

Candace, I'm sorry if you've already posted about this, but my life has been
really hectic lately and I haven't read any updates about Abbey.

How is she doing? What's the prognosis look like now? Has she had her
ultrasound/echocardiogram?

Thank you for asking, CN. She's doing better now. She was not eating
for the first few days after her last chest tap. The first time she
had it done,she bounced back quicker. I was making sure she ate a
little everyday by either trying to spoon feed her a/d or syringe feed
her but she is verrrrry hard to get stuff into and would let it just
ooze back out of her mouth or start gagging. I talked to the vet and
he got me all worried about hepatic lipidosis, which I am well aware
of, but I thought as long as she was getting something into her, it
would be okay. However, he said she needed the equivalent of a 5.5 oz
can of cat food daily and she wasn't eating anywhere near that. So I
asked him for some cyproheptadine, an appetite stimulant that used to
work very well on my late cat, Cory. Oddly enough, he was unaware of
this drug and was going to prescribe oxazepam, a benzodiazipine, but I
wanted to try the cyproheptadine first. Sure enough, a very small
dose, 1/4 tab daily, did the trick and she is now eating. It must be a
very bitter pill, though, because she has a hard time with it and
scrunches her face up and sometimes begins to foam at the mouth a
little...just with this particular pill. Fortunately, once a day is
all she needs that.

Last night Tony left for China for 3 weeks so I have done 2 pillings on
my own. I had to trick her this a.m. so I'm not sure if she'll fall
for that again. Abbey is not one of those cats that hangs around you
and lets you pick her up whenever you feel like it. She's never liked
being held much. She's fairly aloof and independent and, now, with
pilling involved, even more so. So just getting her is the hardest
part. Once I actually have her, the pilling itself isn't too horrible
(but sort of horrible). I can't block off all her hiding places
because we have another cat, Marbles, who has to be separated from
Scottie and Abbey, for the most part. When he comes out into "their"
part of the house, they need a safe place to hide. So they go under
the futon in the family room. From there they can observe him but he
doesn't go under there after them. He can be aggressive and will
sometimes chase them and I don't want Abbey getting stressed.
Actually, it is more of a habit that they hide from him now; I don't
think they're really afraid of him anymore. Anyway, that is her
favorite hiding place from me, too, and it's hard to get her out of
there.

So, to answer your question, no, I haven't had the u/s done yet. She
was not feeling well and it is so stressful for her to go to the vet
that just being in the car makes her start panting and then they think
she's really doing badly when I get her there. I know I need to do it
but she's just been too unhappy, miserable, and sick looking for me to
haul her in there again. She is probably one of the worst cats I have
had as far as taking to the vet and it's not going to get any better
when she has to have awful things done to her when she goes there.

Abbey is still accepting prayers and healing thoughts. Thank you for
thinking of her.

Candace

"Candace" wrote in message
oups.com...
CatNipped wrote:

Candace, I'm sorry if you've already posted about this, but my life has
been
really hectic lately and I haven't read any updates about Abbey.

How is she doing? What's the prognosis look like now? Has she had her
ultrasound/echocardiogram?

Thank you for asking, CN. She's doing better now. She was not eating
for the first few days after her last chest tap. The first time she
had it done,she bounced back quicker. I was making sure she ate a
little everyday by either trying to spoon feed her a/d or syringe feed
her but she is verrrrry hard to get stuff into and would let it just
ooze back out of her mouth or start gagging. I talked to the vet and
he got me all worried about hepatic lipidosis, which I am well aware
of, but I thought as long as she was getting something into her, it
would be okay. However, he said she needed the equivalent of a 5.5 oz
can of cat food daily and she wasn't eating anywhere near that. So I
asked him for some cyproheptadine, an appetite stimulant that used to
work very well on my late cat, Cory. Oddly enough, he was unaware of
this drug and was going to prescribe oxazepam, a benzodiazipine, but I
wanted to try the cyproheptadine first. Sure enough, a very small
dose, 1/4 tab daily, did the trick and she is now eating. It must be a
very bitter pill, though, because she has a hard time with it and
scrunches her face up and sometimes begins to foam at the mouth a
little...just with this particular pill. Fortunately, once a day is
all she needs that.

Yeah, that's usually the sign that it tastes bad. When Bandit needed to
take Amoxycilin she would form pink foam - gross!

Last night Tony left for China for 3 weeks so I have done 2 pillings on
my own. I had to trick her this a.m. so I'm not sure if she'll fall
for that again. Abbey is not one of those cats that hangs around you
and lets you pick her up whenever you feel like it. She's never liked
being held much. She's fairly aloof and independent and, now, with
pilling involved, even more so. So just getting her is the hardest
part. Once I actually have her, the pilling itself isn't too horrible
(but sort of horrible). I can't block off all her hiding places
because we have another cat, Marbles, who has to be separated from
Scottie and Abbey, for the most part. When he comes out into "their"
part of the house, they need a safe place to hide. So they go under
the futon in the family room. From there they can observe him but he
doesn't go under there after them. He can be aggressive and will
sometimes chase them and I don't want Abbey getting stressed.
Actually, it is more of a habit that they hide from him now; I don't
think they're really afraid of him anymore. Anyway, that is her
favorite hiding place from me, too, and it's hard to get her out of
there.

I would say ambush her at her food dish, but since you're having trouble
getting her to eat you don't want to do that and discourage her from eating
what little she is.

So, to answer your question, no, I haven't had the u/s done yet. She
was not feeling well and it is so stressful for her to go to the vet
that just being in the car makes her start panting and then they think
she's really doing badly when I get her there. I know I need to do it
but she's just been too unhappy, miserable, and sick looking for me to
haul her in there again. She is probably one of the worst cats I have
had as far as taking to the vet and it's not going to get any better
when she has to have awful things done to her when she goes there.

Abbey is still accepting prayers and healing thoughts. Thank you for
thinking of her.

Prayers and healing thoughts are still headed her way.


Candace

"Candace" wrote in message
oups.com...
CatNipped wrote:

Candace, I'm sorry if you've already posted about this, but my life has
been
really hectic lately and I haven't read any updates about Abbey.

How is she doing? What's the prognosis look like now? Has she had her
ultrasound/echocardiogram?

Thank you for asking, CN. She's doing better now. She was not eating
for the first few days after her last chest tap.

Very scary.

The first time she
had it done,she bounced back quicker. I was making sure she ate a
little everyday by either trying to spoon feed her a/d or syringe feed
her but she is verrrrry hard to get stuff into and would let it just
ooze back out of her mouth or start gagging. I talked to the vet and
he got me all worried about hepatic lipidosis, which I am well aware
of, but I thought as long as she was getting something into her, it
would be okay. However, he said she needed the equivalent of a 5.5 oz
can of cat food daily and she wasn't eating anywhere near that. So I
asked him for some cyproheptadine, an appetite stimulant that used to
work very well on my late cat, Cory. Oddly enough, he was unaware of
this drug and was going to prescribe oxazepam, a benzodiazipine, but I
wanted to try the cyproheptadine first. Sure enough, a very small
dose, 1/4 tab daily, did the trick and she is now eating.

This is the sort of information that this group is great for. My vet has
benefitted by things I have learned here. As common as it is for cats
to stop eating, it is great to know about cyproheptadine.

It must be a
very bitter pill, though, because she has a hard time with it and
scrunches her face up and sometimes begins to foam at the mouth a
little...just with this particular pill. Fortunately, once a day is
all she needs that.

Does your vet have those chicken-flavored things to wrap the pills in?
Now that her appetite is back up it might make the bitter pills easier to
swallow. My Buddha loves them and they have made all the difference.
She used to foam at the mouth and lay her ears back and drool like she
was going to vomit.


Last night Tony left for China for 3 weeks so I have done 2 pillings on
my own. I had to trick her this a.m. so I'm not sure if she'll fall
for that again. Abbey is not one of those cats that hangs around you
and lets you pick her up whenever you feel like it. She's never liked
being held much. She's fairly aloof and independent and, now, with
pilling involved, even more so. So just getting her is the hardest
part. Once I actually have her, the pilling itself isn't too horrible
(but sort of horrible).

I can identify. When they are feeling bad, who wants to shove
something down their throats? It is hard.

So, to answer your question, no, I haven't had the u/s done yet. She
was not feeling well and it is so stressful for her to go to the vet
that just being in the car makes her start panting and then they think
she's really doing badly when I get her there. I know I need to do it
but she's just been too unhappy, miserable, and sick looking for me to
haul her in there again. She is probably one of the worst cats I have
had as far as taking to the vet and it's not going to get any better
when she has to have awful things done to her when she goes there.

Abbey is still accepting prayers and healing thoughts. Thank you for
thinking of her.

Candace


It's good to get an update. At least the ultrasound is not invasive.
They just shave the kitty's chest and it does not seem to take too long.
It should not upset Abbey too much. Purrs and prayers and healing
thoughts from me and Buddha and Cheeks.

Mary wrote:

Does your vet have those chicken-flavored things to wrap the pills in?
Now that her appetite is back up it might make the bitter pills easier to
swallow. My Buddha loves them and they have made all the difference.
She used to foam at the mouth and lay her ears back and drool like she
was going to vomit.

Hmmm, he's never mentioned it. I can call and ask. Do you have to get
them thru the vet?

It's good to get an update. At least the ultrasound is not invasive.
They just shave the kitty's chest and it does not seem to take too long.
It should not upset Abbey too much.

Do they anesthesize them for the u/s? I can't imagine her just laying
there for it. It's the car ride that is bad, I know she'll be panting
by the time we get there. Well, and the vet part of it is bad, too. I
hate tormenting her this way (even though it all could help her, I
know).

Purrs and prayers and healing thoughts from me and Buddha and Cheeks.

Thank you.

"Candace" wrote in message
oups.com...
Mary wrote:

Does your vet have those chicken-flavored things to wrap the pills in?
Now that her appetite is back up it might make the bitter pills easier
to
swallow. My Buddha loves them and they have made all the difference.
She used to foam at the mouth and lay her ears back and drool like she
was going to vomit.

Hmmm, he's never mentioned it. I can call and ask. Do you have to get
them thru the vet?

I do. But I looked around and you can get them he

http://pillpockets.com/index_fs.htm



It's good to get an update. At least the ultrasound is not invasive.
They just shave the kitty's chest and it does not seem to take too long.
It should not upset Abbey too much.

Do they anesthesize them for the u/s? I can't imagine her just laying
there for it.

They did not need to anesthesize the Buddha--think battleship-shaped
copescetic (sp.!) cat that loves to lie on her back and purrs the minute
*anyone* touches her--and they usually do not anesthetize but if the
animal will not lie on its back or allow itself to be held still there they
sometimes do. If there is any danger to her you can bet they will not.

It's the car ride that is bad, I know she'll be panting
by the time we get there. Well, and the vet part of it is bad, too. I
hate tormenting her this way (even though it all could help her, I
know).


It is excruciating to further upset them, I know. But like kids, you
know what is best and it hurts you more than it hurts them.

Mary wrote:

I do. But I looked around and you can get them he

http://pillpockets.com/index_fs.htm

Thanks, according to the locator on the website, they have them at the
local Petcos. I never go to Petco but I'm going to head over to one
now and see if they have them.

It's good to get an update. At least the ultrasound is not invasive.

It is excruciating to further upset them, I know. But like kids, you
know what is best and it hurts you more than it hurts them.

I've made an appt. for next Thurs. for her. My vet has to have someone
come in to do it, they don't have the equipment there. They want me to
drop her off in the a.m. and pick her up after work but I hope to get
the day off because I don't want her there all day. She'd be horrified
all over again.

Candace