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I looked for my paperwork from Bo's last survery and couldn't find it. I can try calling my vet tomorrow to see if they still have the information and can tell me what antibiotic it was.
I know there are guardian cat angels. Sometimes I think they take the form of past pets. I am convinced that Maxx sent Bo to me (Maxx was put to sleep the week that I met Bo at my grandma's house). And I know that someone made Bo understand that he needed to leave his wounds from his 2 lumpectomies alone so I didn't have to collar him. How funny, he came to sit on my lap while I was typing this.
I'm still sending out healing thoughts for the poor struggling kitties.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Ok, the name of the antibiotic he was on is "Clavamox" (aka Augmentin). It looks like it can be used for anything amoxicillin is used for (it contains amoxicillin). I don't know if this info helps, but I hope so.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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For what it's worth, the clavulinic acid added to amoxicillin to make it augmentin is something that is often responsible for additional tummy upset and diarrhea. Just something else to take into account. Makes it more effective, but also can make for more or stronger gastrointestinal side effects.
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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Sorry I didn't see your question Tuesday, dear! She's been doing fairly well. Dr. George gave me some injectible antibiotics to give her one a day for five days. Her appetite came back about a day after the last Amoxicillan dose.
One encouraging thing is that her sore place on her side seems to be healing. Her breathing doesn't look great, and it's springtime so that's not good for asthma, but so far she's not had a breathing crisis. I'm supposed to treat her with the albuterol if that should happen. I hope it won't be necessary.
Today I got very afraid because at lunchtime I came home to feed her elevenses and one eye was dilated a whole lot more than the other. I spent the afternoon thinking that meant she wouldn't make it, but I left messages for Dr. George and he called me back and said it doesn't necessarily mean that at all, and I shouldn't lose hope. He said that they do that sometimes, and then they get better. So I'm going to give her the first shot (subcutaneously) tonight, so wish me luck.
Thanks for all your prayers. They mean a lot to us.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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I've been calling our six meals breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, dinner, tea, and supper. Does anyone know if those are the right names for the six hobbit meals a day? Starting Monday I can't come home for elevenses so she will have to go from 6:30am to around 5 or 6 pm without any fresh canned food. I hope that doesn't cause a problem.
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It's just for the one day? I imagine that'll be okay.
Do you have an air purifier? When I'm in environments that typically bring on an asthma atack, a good air purifier can make a tremendous difference. Of course, if you were going to use one you'd have to confine her to whatever room you had it running in, which (depending on how active she's feeling) could be traumatic for her.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I do have an air purifier. I bought it when she was first diagnosed. I run it all the time, though I never noticed that it helped any. I do probably need to get a new filter for it, so I'm glad you brought that up. It certainly can't hurt.
I also have special super hypoallergenic fancy furnace filters that I use for the same reason. Again I'm not sure they make much difference if at all, but it was worth a try. I will change that filter out as well.
This morning she woke me up early because she was so hungry. I think the injection antibiotics are making her feel better. She ate a good bit of her breakfast, but didn't touch her second breakfast. Just now I put out dinner (we skipped elevenses today because I had to stay at work) and she ate a good bit of it as well. Hopefully she will continue to have a good appetite like this. If so, she might even pull through. Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Yikes! Last night she fought me really hard about getting her shot, and this morning there's a new sore place right where I gave her the shot! I can't seem to do anything for her that doesn't make her worse in some way!
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Now, understandably, she flinches from my touch. I feel so bad for her. It's not bad enough that she's desperately ill but now she's got an abusive mom as well to be terrified of.
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Do you think she'd have a flinch response if you were to go back to forcing pills? Might she take that better?
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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I'm giving her 1/4 of a Tagamet tablet every evening, and it seems to be doing her good. She's accepting that pretty well and not freaking out too much about it. That is, she hisses at me but quickly forgives me. And it really does seem to improve how she's feeling.
The oral antibiotics seem to kill her appetite and make her G.I. tract feel worse. Dr. George thinks they aren't doing that, but from the start of this whole crisis for her, which seemed to have been brought on by some oral antibiotic pills we were giving her for sinus infection, to the difficulties with amoxidrops, that factor has seemed consistent. So I'm not feeling good about the possibility of getting any oral antibiotics to be helpful.
I think I must be administering the shots incorrectly somehow. Maybe I can learn how to do it right, and this problem won't happen. I don't know what to do in the meantime until she heals, though. Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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As for the flinch response, I'm trying to deal with that by doing a lot of nuzzling, which she likes. I think she's afraid of my hands right now, so I'm trying to keep reminding her that mama loves her by kissing and nuzzling her, while keeping my hands away. Maybe that will help some. I know that her cooperation and will to live are also required for her to heal. If she loses that, there's nothing Dr. George and I can possibly do to save her.
CT, you must be a strong, awesome, woman to deal with this sort of situation day in and day out for your job. I don't know how you do it. <<<<<<CT>>>>>> I can feel the strength flowing from you to me, during this process, because of your experience and calm and understanding. I can't thank you adequately for that, but I just wanted to tell you that you are awesome.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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I wish I could make it better, Tatiana. I know you do, too. It would be so much easier (so much!) if we could just take the pills on our own or inject ourselves. This way, instead -- the coalition of the resistant and the unwilling -- is terribly cruel to everyone involved.
I really think that recognizing what a gift bearing witness could be was what kept me going through some very tough times. If you do nothing else for another in pain, at least you can be there and see it. That sounds kind of warped, I know, but in extremis it made sense to me.
There have been times when I was not able to bear witness, and I rue not having been strong enough. Thankfully, whichever way this thing turns for Drive By, she wasn't alone.
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I too believe in the importance of just being there, of being willing to stand by and hold someone's hand while they suffer, and not flinch from death, and from the pain and sorrow. To keep them company and show you love them no matter what they are going through. If I can do nothing else, I can at least do that.
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Today both her eyes are dilated. She's still eating well, though. I am keeping the room dark so the light won't hurt her eyes. I didn't give her the antibiotic last night because I don't want to make any more sores, and I don't know what it is I'm doing wrong. Her appetite was very good this morning at breakfast and second breakfast. She forgives me for hurting her.
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Dr. George said today that we should forget the antibiotics and just treat her with lots of love and food. He said there wasn't anything I did wrong, he doesn't think. (I disagree since his shots never do this and mine do.) She does seem to be doing best when I just feed and love her. We just have to hope her immune system can eliminate the staph that he knows is there. I'm not sure how he can tell it's there. Maybe just by looking at the wound.
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Bruises and sores happen, Kit squirms like crazy when we try and hydrate him with the saline solution. He has been poked in the muscle a number of times. ouch. He acts all huffy but I think he knows why we are doing it.
On the upside he has been improving quite a bit, he is to the point that he can attempt to actively evade me when it's time for upleasant bits.
I wonder if DB was licking the area after you gave her the injections. I once got a pretty intense sore when a kitty licked a spot on my hand raw one day when I fell asleep on the couch. Mmm tuna fish sammich hands.
Posts: 686 | Registered: Sep 2001
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Drive By seems a little better as well. I can gauge how skinny she is by how bumpy her back feels when I pet her, and tonight it seems a little bit less bumpy than it's been.
She seems to have eaten pretty well today too.
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Ah, Tatiana, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope that she pulls out of this, but if she doesn't she's been as lucky to have you as a mom as you've been to have her.
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Wow, tonight she just ate a lot! This is her appetite as it was a few days ago! Thanks again for all the good wishes and prayers. After 2 days with little to eat, she seemed to be weakening and zoning out, but now she's back again. I'm so happy! Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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It does seem like it would be terribly stressful. I imagine that Tatiana sleeps more fitfully, too, from worrying about whether each new day will go up or down.
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I expect so. Tatiana, I hope you're taking care of yourself as well as Drive By. Easier said than done, I know from experience, but still.
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Yes, hopes rise and fall, but I hope I remain steady in giving her all the love and care I possibly can. But each time she rallies, I'm just delighted and grateful, and I don't care how long it will take if she only will get well.
I discovered that the 4am first breakfast is very important. I think because I felt more confident of her appetite I didn't get up for that one on the weekend, and that's maybe partly why her appetite died for the rest of the day both days. Now we don't miss the 4am feeding under any circumstances.
It does make it hard to get enough sleep, and my own blood sugar was way out of control when I checked it. I'm gradually bringing it back down now so I can stay healthy to take better care of her. The other two cats have been somewhat neglected recently, getting plenty of food and water but not much petting or attention. I hope they understand. Mama has to leave the nine and ninety sometimes for the sake of the one.
Today she had 4 or 5 sneezing fits while I've been here, so I'm thinking she has that sinus infection still. I wish I could give her antibiotics somehow to help her fight it off.
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She didn't eat any of the salmon. She ate very little today at all. Then she threw up. That doesn't seem good. Dr. George is coming tomorrow to visit.
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Kit has been intermittently struggling with having an appetite as well, I would suggest fancy feast for some reason that aroma has been more compelling to him than any other, and we have tried many many different brands. Kit has primarily been a dry cat food kitty, we have used friskies seafood flavor for years. I am beginning to suspect that he is having a reaction to the old stand by, maybe even related to food allergies. For his stuffy nose I have also been taking him into the bathroom as I shower in the morning for a steam treatment, as well as running hot water for the same purpose in the evening, it seems to help. He likes the heat as well. One morning last week I didn't bring him in the bathroom as I showered and when I finished he was waiting by the door quite annoyed that I had left him out.
Posts: 686 | Registered: Sep 2001
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Oh, calaban, I hope Kit's appetite gets stronger! Fancy Feast is a cornerstone of our meal plan here now, as she will eat that sometimes when she won't touch anything else. Another great one is Feline A/D, which you usually have to buy at a vet's office. It's the best for tummies that are upset, though there's only one flavor, so they don't get the variety they want. It's very soft and easy to eat. It's specifically designed to support sick cats.
The bathroom idea is a good one. That might help Drive By's sinuses and also her asthmatic lungs.
Dr. George could barely examine Drive By today. He said she was in no mood to be messed with, and he didn't want to manhandle her. He left me another antibiotic shot, which I'm afraid to give, because I don't give them right and it always makes sores when I do it. But her sinus infection is bad, and if it turned into pneumonia that would be the end of her, with her weak lungs. So what do I do?
He said as far as he could see her she did not look good. Which I already knew. So that was not a very productive visit.
On the up side, she ate a good deal of her teatime meal tonight.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Another update. She's been doing really well since my last post. Her appetite has been good and she hasn't vomited. Her sores are slowly healing, and she even seemed to be putting on a little weight, judging from how bumpy her back is when I pet her. (The bumps of her spine are very prominent now, and that's how I gauge her weight, by how much they stick out.)
Then I decided to see if she would be better off without her daily Tagamet. That seems to have been a mistake. About 4 days after I discontinued that, she woke up, ate a really good first breakfast, then threw it all back up and has barely eaten since. That was yesterday, and she threw up again this morning the little that she had eaten, I started her Tagamet back again yesterday, but still I can't coax her to eat anything.
Another thing that happened last night is this big raw red sore appeared on the right side of her face. It's obviously driving her nuts, because she scratches at it and rubs it with her paw constantly. I don't know how she got it. I guess it was itching her and she kept scratching at it.
I called Dr. George last night and this morning, and he said to give her 10mg of benadryl a day, and rub Cortisone cream on it. I'm mostly worried about her vomiting and appetite. I guess I won't try to discontinue that Tagamet again. It seems to keep the inflammation of her G.I. tract damped down.
I keep putting the food right under her nose, and before now, that has always tempted her to eat just a little, but now she turns away in disgust. I wish I could find some food that she just loved, or some other way to tempt her to eat.
I think the thing that's hardest for the caretakers is never knowing the right thing to do, and always suspecting everything you do is the exact wrong thing. :'( I wonder how Dr. George can stand that? Or how any doctors can? I've got to go out of town in early August. I pray that she's well enough by then to survive me being gone. I don't think Alysson can come over more often than three times a day to feed her.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Wow, it's been two months since I first realized she was life-threateningly ill. She's been doing better. The tagamet once a day was good for her tummy, and she quit vomiting and had a good appetite for a while. She put on some more weight. Then one day she got this weird reaction right after I gave her the pill. She gagged it up and began salivating, with foamy saliva dripping out of her mouth. I've seen that happen to cats before when you give them medicine. I believe it's a reaction they get to eating poison, to help them eliminate the poison from their mouths. So naturally I did not try to give her the pill again, but left her alone other than affection.
She continued to get the odd salivation reaction every half hour to hour that entire day from 7am to midnight. I called Dr. George and he said not to give the pill again. The next day, she had stopped salivating every hour, and she did fine for a few more days without the tagamet, but then she lost her appetite and started vomiting again. I was afraid that would happen.
Dr. George suggested I give 1/4 tablet of Zantac a day, which I started doing. I did that for about a week and her appetite was slowly returning. Today was the first day she really ate well again. Unfortunately, totally unassociated with the pill, she began salivating and foaming at the mouth again today, constantly. This time it's not episodic, it's like all the time. She's angry at me and scared about what's happening to her, so she's also growling and hiding. The saliva is pink, as though something is bleeding inside, and she's gagging sometimes too.
For the last week she's been acting like the right side of her face and mouth are hurting. The sore on the outside healed up, thanks to some cortisone cream that I rubbed into it. But I think there's something going on inside, because she makes a weird chewing from time to time that sounds just the way it sounds when she shears off pieces of meat with her side teeth. I hope she's not chewing on the inside of her mouth or something. And she cries like she's in pain. And she scratches at her face with her back paw, and rubs with her front paw.
I don't know what to do. I have about 4 calls in to Dr. George. I hope he will call me back with advice, but he doesn't work on the weekends. (Despite the fact that he has come over here several times on the weekends to help poor sick Drive By through various crises. Twice when he came, I think he was sicker than she was.)
If this keeps on, I'm thinking of taking her to the emergency clinic, but I don't know that there's anything they can do to help, and it would be pretty traumatic for her. So I can't decide.
She's acting like she's rabid or something, with the growling and salivating, but that makes no sense. She hasn't left her room in years, except to go to the clinic for tests that time. Where would she have contracted rabies? For now I'm just leaving her alone, since she doesn't want me to touch her. She's going to be quite dehydrated if she keeps salivating that much. Luckily she ate a good elevenses right before it started happening.
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I can try calling my vet tomorrow to see if they still have the information and can tell me what antibiotic it was.
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I'm glad she's feeling better.
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I can't seem to do anything for her that doesn't make her worse in some way!
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