Update on Nikki (LONG, medical ramblings)

Yesterday, Nikki had a violent coughing attack, then threw up and was
unsteady on her legs for a moment, then gasped for breath a few times
before she seemed back to normal. I called TED and talked about the
situation with her. I told her I'm not happy with giving Nikki
Prednisone every day. She called in a prescription for another drug with
the active ingredient theophylline (the brand name here in Finland is
Retafyllin, but it's manufactured by a Finnish company, so probably not
known by that name elsewhere). It's supposed to relax and open the air
passages into the lungs.

TED warned me that some cats can't take this drug, because they get
nauseous. It's been 12 hours now since I gave Nikki the first dose, and
she seems to be doing fine. I haven't heard a wheeze or cough out of
her. I talked to TED about inhaled meds instead of pills, but she didn't
seem to know very much about them. She recommended that I contact the
only cats-only TED's office in Helsinki, and that's what I've been
planning to do anyway. I'm going to wait and see what this new drug
does, and whether I can cut back the cortisone.

One problem with this pill is that you're not supposed to crush it. You
have to swallow it whole (or, in Nikki's case, half) to make the effect
last as long as possible. So, what I did was take Nikki in my arms, hold
her firmly, then pop the Retafyllin into her mouth and keep it shut for
a while. Then I popped in her Prednisone pill and held her mouth shut.
Then I gave her some turkeybird. ;o) I think she swallows both pills.

Both Frank and Nikki have stopped eating their meds mixed in sour cream
(they stopped shortly before Mere came to us). So lately I've mostly
mixed their hyperthyroidism meds into their gooshyfood. The drawback is,
of course, that I can't be quite sure that they get an equal amount of
their medicines, but I try to monitor their eating and make sure that
each eats about half of the food. They have separate bowls, but they
always have to check out the other bowl to see if the other one is
getting something better.

The pattern goes like this: I set down the two bowls. Frank comes and
eats from his own bowl, then from Nikki's bowl. Nikki sits off to the
side and watches him eat. When he's done, Nikki goes and eats out of her
own bowl. Then she eats out of Frank's bowl. Repeat until both bowls are
empty. They get the same dosage of the hyperthyroidism meds, so I'm
hoping they get about their fair share when they share the bowls like this.

Of course, now there's also Mere's plate to check out. Since Mere won't
eat catfood, but only fresh meat and fish, her food is usually veeeerry
interesting to the big cats. I try to keep them away but I can't be
there all the time to watch them. I give F&N their own share of fresh
meat every other day too, but somehow it just tastes better if it comes
from the 'baby's' plate.

--
Marina, Frank, Nikki, and Mere
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Sincere purrs and meatloaf meditations for your two beloved companions to
get adjusted to revised pill/food
regimen. I know you love them dearly.


"Marina" wrote in message
...
Yesterday, Nikki had a violent coughing attack, then threw up and was
unsteady on her legs for a moment, then gasped for breath a few times
before she seemed back to normal. I called TED and talked about the
situation with her. I told her I'm not happy with giving Nikki Prednisone
every day. She called in a prescription for another drug with the active
ingredient theophylline (the brand name here in Finland is Retafyllin, but
it's manufactured by a Finnish company, so probably not known by that name
elsewhere). It's supposed to relax and open the air passages into the
lungs.

TED warned me that some cats can't take this drug, because they get
nauseous. It's been 12 hours now since I gave Nikki the first dose, and
she seems to be doing fine. I haven't heard a wheeze or cough out of her.
I talked to TED about inhaled meds instead of pills, but she didn't seem
to know very much about them. She recommended that I contact the only
cats-only TED's office in Helsinki, and that's what I've been planning to
do anyway. I'm going to wait and see what this new drug does, and whether
I can cut back the cortisone.

One problem with this pill is that you're not supposed to crush it. You
have to swallow it whole (or, in Nikki's case, half) to make the effect
last as long as possible. So, what I did was take Nikki in my arms, hold
her firmly, then pop the Retafyllin into her mouth and keep it shut for a
while. Then I popped in her Prednisone pill and held her mouth shut. Then
I gave her some turkeybird. ;o) I think she swallows both pills.

Both Frank and Nikki have stopped eating their meds mixed in sour cream
(they stopped shortly before Mere came to us). So lately I've mostly mixed
their hyperthyroidism meds into their gooshyfood. The drawback is, of
course, that I can't be quite sure that they get an equal amount of their
medicines, but I try to monitor their eating and make sure that each eats
about half of the food. They have separate bowls, but they always have to
check out the other bowl to see if the other one is getting something
better.

The pattern goes like this: I set down the two bowls. Frank comes and eats
from his own bowl, then from Nikki's bowl. Nikki sits off to the side and
watches him eat. When he's done, Nikki goes and eats out of her own bowl.
Then she eats out of Frank's bowl. Repeat until both bowls are empty. They
get the same dosage of the hyperthyroidism meds, so I'm hoping they get
about their fair share when they share the bowls like this.

Of course, now there's also Mere's plate to check out. Since Mere won't
eat catfood, but only fresh meat and fish, her food is usually veeeerry
interesting to the big cats. I try to keep them away but I can't be there
all the time to watch them. I give F&N their own share of fresh meat every
other day too, but somehow it just tastes better if it comes from the
'baby's' plate.

--
Marina, Frank, Nikki, and Mere
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

in article , Marina at
wrote on 5/18/05 11:39 PM:

Yesterday, Nikki had a violent coughing attack, then threw up and was
unsteady on her legs for a moment, then gasped for breath a few times
before she seemed back to normal. I called TED and talked about the
situation with her. I told her I'm not happy with giving Nikki
Prednisone every day. She called in a prescription for another drug with
the active ingredient theophylline (the brand name here in Finland is
Retafyllin, but it's manufactured by a Finnish company, so probably not
known by that name elsewhere). It's supposed to relax and open the air
passages into the lungs.

TED warned me that some cats can't take this drug, because they get
nauseous. It's been 12 hours now since I gave Nikki the first dose, and
she seems to be doing fine. I haven't heard a wheeze or cough out of
her. I talked to TED about inhaled meds instead of pills, but she didn't
seem to know very much about them. She recommended that I contact the
only cats-only TED's office in Helsinki, and that's what I've been
planning to do anyway. I'm going to wait and see what this new drug
does, and whether I can cut back the cortisone.

One problem with this pill is that you're not supposed to crush it. You
have to swallow it whole (or, in Nikki's case, half) to make the effect
last as long as possible. So, what I did was take Nikki in my arms, hold
her firmly, then pop the Retafyllin into her mouth and keep it shut for
a while. Then I popped in her Prednisone pill and held her mouth shut.
Then I gave her some turkeybird. ;o) I think she swallows both pills.

Both Frank and Nikki have stopped eating their meds mixed in sour cream
(they stopped shortly before Mere came to us). So lately I've mostly
mixed their hyperthyroidism meds into their gooshyfood. The drawback is,
of course, that I can't be quite sure that they get an equal amount of
their medicines, but I try to monitor their eating and make sure that
each eats about half of the food. They have separate bowls, but they
always have to check out the other bowl to see if the other one is
getting something better.

The pattern goes like this: I set down the two bowls. Frank comes and
eats from his own bowl, then from Nikki's bowl. Nikki sits off to the
side and watches him eat. When he's done, Nikki goes and eats out of her
own bowl. Then she eats out of Frank's bowl. Repeat until both bowls are
empty. They get the same dosage of the hyperthyroidism meds, so I'm
hoping they get about their fair share when they share the bowls like this.

Of course, now there's also Mere's plate to check out. Since Mere won't
eat catfood, but only fresh meat and fish, her food is usually veeeerry
interesting to the big cats. I try to keep them away but I can't be
there all the time to watch them. I give F&N their own share of fresh
meat every other day too, but somehow it just tastes better if it comes
from the 'baby's' plate.

Ohh. I hope that Nikki continues to do better. Poor girl

I took theophyllin for my asthma for over twenty years. Its much easier or
you than steroids. The only real trick is getting the proper dose into a
cat. They used to check my blood levels fairly often. Also it has a lot in
common with a good strong cup of coffee (which will treat a mild asthma
attack in a pinch) in that its a bit of a stimulant.

Jo
"Marina" wrote in message
...
Yesterday, Nikki had a violent coughing attack, then threw up and was
unsteady on her legs for a moment, then gasped for breath a few times
before she seemed back to normal. I called TED and talked about the
situation with her. I told her I'm not happy with giving Nikki Prednisone
every day. She called in a prescription for another drug with the active
ingredient theophylline (the brand name here in Finland is Retafyllin, but
it's manufactured by a Finnish company, so probably not known by that name
elsewhere). It's supposed to relax and open the air passages into the
lungs.

TED warned me that some cats can't take this drug, because they get
nauseous. It's been 12 hours now since I gave Nikki the first dose, and
she seems to be doing fine. I haven't heard a wheeze or cough out of her.
I talked to TED about inhaled meds instead of pills, but she didn't seem
to know very much about them. She recommended that I contact the only
cats-only TED's office in Helsinki, and that's what I've been planning to
do anyway. I'm going to wait and see what this new drug does, and whether
I can cut back the cortisone.

One problem with this pill is that you're not supposed to crush it. You
have to swallow it whole (or, in Nikki's case, half) to make the effect
last as long as possible. So, what I did was take Nikki in my arms, hold
her firmly, then pop the Retafyllin into her mouth and keep it shut for a
while. Then I popped in her Prednisone pill and held her mouth shut. Then
I gave her some turkeybird. ;o) I think she swallows both pills.

Both Frank and Nikki have stopped eating their meds mixed in sour cream
(they stopped shortly before Mere came to us). So lately I've mostly mixed
their hyperthyroidism meds into their gooshyfood. The drawback is, of
course, that I can't be quite sure that they get an equal amount of their
medicines, but I try to monitor their eating and make sure that each eats
about half of the food. They have separate bowls, but they always have to
check out the other bowl to see if the other one is getting something
better.

The pattern goes like this: I set down the two bowls. Frank comes and eats
from his own bowl, then from Nikki's bowl. Nikki sits off to the side and
watches him eat. When he's done, Nikki goes and eats out of her own bowl.
Then she eats out of Frank's bowl. Repeat until both bowls are empty. They
get the same dosage of the hyperthyroidism meds, so I'm hoping they get
about their fair share when they share the bowls like this.

Of course, now there's also Mere's plate to check out. Since Mere won't
eat catfood, but only fresh meat and fish, her food is usually veeeerry
interesting to the big cats. I try to keep them away but I can't be there
all the time to watch them. I give F&N their own share of fresh meat every
other day too, but somehow it just tastes better if it comes from the
'baby's' plate.

--
Marina, Frank, Nikki, and Mere
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Marina wrote:
Yesterday, Nikki had a violent coughing attack, then threw up and was
unsteady on her legs for a moment, then gasped for breath a few times
before she seemed back to normal. I called TED and talked about the

Lots of purrs for Nikki. I hope the new med works better and that the
new TED is able to help find a good solution.

--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

In article ,
wrote:

Yesterday, Nikki had a violent coughing attack, then threw up and was
unsteady on her legs for a moment, then gasped for breath a few times
before she seemed back to normal. I called TED and talked about the
situation with her. I told her I'm not happy with giving Nikki
Prednisone every day. She called in a prescription for another drug with
the active ingredient theophylline (the brand name here in Finland is
Retafyllin, but it's manufactured by a Finnish company, so probably not
known by that name elsewhere). It's supposed to relax and open the air
passages into the lungs.

First, hugs, regular purrs, and special purrs from Mr. Clark, who is
both head nurse and top sergeant around here.

Theophylline is an old asthma drug, but still useful. It probably makes
more sense in veterinary practice, since many of the best human meds are
inhaled, much more difficult to do with cats.

Theophylline is of a chemical group called methylxanthines. Caffeine is
the best known of these, the other two naturally occurring ones being
theophylline and theobromine. Tea, rather than coffee, contains a good
deal of theophylline. Theobromine is more found in chocolate.


TED warned me that some cats can't take this drug, because they get
nauseous. It's been 12 hours now since I gave Nikki the first dose, and
she seems to be doing fine. I haven't heard a wheeze or cough out of
her. I talked to TED about inhaled meds instead of pills, but she didn't
seem to know very much about them. She recommended that I contact the
only cats-only TED's office in Helsinki, and that's what I've been
planning to do anyway. I'm going to wait and see what this new drug
does, and whether I can cut back the cortisone.

There are a couple of other things in human medicine that might be worth
considering -- but definitely get an opinion from a cat specialist.
Sometimes, you can reduce the side effects of prednisone by giving it
every other day, doubling the dose but allowing the body more time to
recover. Another approach, which I don't know if it works in cats, is to
supplement prednisone with very low doses of the anticancer drug
methotrexate. The combination uses lower doses of either than if done
alone.

Again not knowing if they are used in cats, another class of fairly
recently reduced oral drugs for asthma are leukotriene inhibitors, such
as zafirleukast.

One problem with this pill is that you're not supposed to crush it. You
have to swallow it whole (or, in Nikki's case, half) to make the effect
last as long as possible.

It's usually given as a 12-hour time release tablet.

So, what I did was take Nikki in my arms, hold
her firmly, then pop the Retafyllin into her mouth and keep it shut for
a while. Then I popped in her Prednisone pill and held her mouth shut.
Then I gave her some turkeybird. ;o) I think she swallows both pills.

Both Frank and Nikki have stopped eating their meds mixed in sour cream
(they stopped shortly before Mere came to us). So lately I've mostly
mixed their hyperthyroidism meds into their gooshyfood. The drawback is,
of course, that I can't be quite sure that they get an equal amount of
their medicines, but I try to monitor their eating and make sure that
each eats about half of the food. They have separate bowls, but they
always have to check out the other bowl to see if the other one is
getting something better.

The pattern goes like this: I set down the two bowls. Frank comes and
eats from his own bowl, then from Nikki's bowl. Nikki sits off to the
side and watches him eat. When he's done, Nikki goes and eats out of her
own bowl. Then she eats out of Frank's bowl. Repeat until both bowls are
empty. They get the same dosage of the hyperthyroidism meds, so I'm
hoping they get about their fair share when they share the bowls like
this.

Of course, now there's also Mere's plate to check out. Since Mere won't
eat catfood, but only fresh meat and fish, her food is usually veeeerry
interesting to the big cats. I try to keep them away but I can't be
there all the time to watch them. I give F&N their own share of fresh
meat every other day too, but somehow it just tastes better if it comes
from the 'baby's' plate.

In article , "Jo Firey"
wrote:

I took theophyllin for my asthma for over twenty years. Its much easier
or
you than steroids. The only real trick is getting the proper dose into a
cat. They used to check my blood levels fairly often.

Yep. It has a lot of drug interactions that affect the level. It can,
incidentally, interfere with the effectiveness of birth control pills
and anticonvulsants (well, they all can interact).

Also it has a lot
in
common with a good strong cup of coffee (which will treat a mild asthma
attack in a pinch) in that its a bit of a stimulant.


You are on the right track with coffee, since caffeine does have some
bronchodilating effects. Tea, on the other hand, contains more
theophylline than caffeine. Strong tea is more likely to help asthma.

Poor Nikki, we will purr and pray that she starts feeling much better soon.
Jazz & his mama

--

Irulan
from the stars we come
to the stars we return
from now until the end of time
"Marina" wrote in message
...
Yesterday, Nikki had a violent coughing attack, then threw up and was
unsteady on her legs for a moment, then gasped for breath a few times
before she seemed back to normal. I called TED and talked about the
situation with her. I told her I'm not happy with giving Nikki Prednisone
every day. She called in a prescription for another drug with the active
ingredient theophylline (the brand name here in Finland is Retafyllin, but
it's manufactured by a Finnish company, so probably not known by that name
elsewhere). It's supposed to relax and open the air passages into the
lungs.

TED warned me that some cats can't take this drug, because they get
nauseous. It's been 12 hours now since I gave Nikki the first dose, and
she seems to be doing fine. I haven't heard a wheeze or cough out of her.
I talked to TED about inhaled meds instead of pills, but she didn't seem
to know very much about them. She recommended that I contact the only
cats-only TED's office in Helsinki, and that's what I've been planning to
do anyway. I'm going to wait and see what this new drug does, and whether
I can cut back the cortisone.

One problem with this pill is that you're not supposed to crush it. You
have to swallow it whole (or, in Nikki's case, half) to make the effect
last as long as possible. So, what I did was take Nikki in my arms, hold
her firmly, then pop the Retafyllin into her mouth and keep it shut for a
while. Then I popped in her Prednisone pill and held her mouth shut. Then
I gave her some turkeybird. ;o) I think she swallows both pills.

Both Frank and Nikki have stopped eating their meds mixed in sour cream
(they stopped shortly before Mere came to us). So lately I've mostly mixed
their hyperthyroidism meds into their gooshyfood. The drawback is, of
course, that I can't be quite sure that they get an equal amount of their
medicines, but I try to monitor their eating and make sure that each eats
about half of the food. They have separate bowls, but they always have to
check out the other bowl to see if the other one is getting something
better.

The pattern goes like this: I set down the two bowls. Frank comes and eats
from his own bowl, then from Nikki's bowl. Nikki sits off to the side and
watches him eat. When he's done, Nikki goes and eats out of her own bowl.
Then she eats out of Frank's bowl. Repeat until both bowls are empty. They
get the same dosage of the hyperthyroidism meds, so I'm hoping they get
about their fair share when they share the bowls like this.

Of course, now there's also Mere's plate to check out. Since Mere won't
eat catfood, but only fresh meat and fish, her food is usually veeeerry
interesting to the big cats. I try to keep them away but I can't be there
all the time to watch them. I give F&N their own share of fresh meat every
other day too, but somehow it just tastes better if it comes from the
'baby's' plate.

--
Marina, Frank, Nikki, and Mere
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

On Thu, 19 May 2005 07:39:52 +0300, Marina
yodeled:

Yesterday, Nikki had a violent coughing attack, then threw up and was
unsteady on her legs for a moment, then gasped for breath a few times
before she seemed back to normal. I called TED and talked about the
situation with her. I told her I'm not happy with giving Nikki
Prednisone every day. She called in a prescription for another drug with
the active ingredient theophylline (the brand name here in Finland is
Retafyllin, but it's manufactured by a Finnish company, so probably not
known by that name elsewhere). It's supposed to relax and open the air
passages into the lungs.

TED warned me that some cats can't take this drug, because they get
nauseous. It's been 12 hours now since I gave Nikki the first dose, and
she seems to be doing fine. I haven't heard a wheeze or cough out of
her. I talked to TED about inhaled meds instead of pills, but she didn't
seem to know very much about them. She recommended that I contact the
only cats-only TED's office in Helsinki, and that's what I've been
planning to do anyway. I'm going to wait and see what this new drug
does, and whether I can cut back the cortisone.

One problem with this pill is that you're not supposed to crush it. You
have to swallow it whole (or, in Nikki's case, half) to make the effect
last as long as possible. So, what I did was take Nikki in my arms, hold
her firmly, then pop the Retafyllin into her mouth and keep it shut for
a while. Then I popped in her Prednisone pill and held her mouth shut.
Then I gave her some turkeybird. ;o) I think she swallows both pills.

Both Frank and Nikki have stopped eating their meds mixed in sour cream
(they stopped shortly before Mere came to us). So lately I've mostly
mixed their hyperthyroidism meds into their gooshyfood. The drawback is,
of course, that I can't be quite sure that they get an equal amount of
their medicines, but I try to monitor their eating and make sure that
each eats about half of the food. They have separate bowls, but they
always have to check out the other bowl to see if the other one is
getting something better.

The pattern goes like this: I set down the two bowls. Frank comes and
eats from his own bowl, then from Nikki's bowl. Nikki sits off to the
side and watches him eat. When he's done, Nikki goes and eats out of her
own bowl. Then she eats out of Frank's bowl. Repeat until both bowls are
empty. They get the same dosage of the hyperthyroidism meds, so I'm
hoping they get about their fair share when they share the bowls like this.

Of course, now there's also Mere's plate to check out. Since Mere won't
eat catfood, but only fresh meat and fish, her food is usually veeeerry
interesting to the big cats. I try to keep them away but I can't be
there all the time to watch them. I give F&N their own share of fresh
meat every other day too, but somehow it just tastes better if it comes
from the 'baby's' plate.


It just almost stops your heart when this happens out of the blue, to
your healthy, *older* babies Purrs that she feels better soon.

Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

Marina wrote: I try to keep them away but I can't be
there all the time to watch them. I give F&N their own share of fresh
meat every other day too, but somehow it just tastes better if it comes

from the 'baby's' plate.

EVERYTHING tastes better from the 'baby's' plate. ;o) Except that for
Francesca and Nina, everything seems to taste better if they steal it
from Unka Pan.

I hope Nikki is soon back in form, and that the coughing and wheezing,
poor girl. She has a kitten to educate, after all.

Melissa