Mancat Monday: Some News

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine!

How is everyone doing?  

Guess what?  The Mom says wes are moving soon!  The Mom has had hers name on waiting lists for three years, and hers finally got to the top of one.  

Mes sure does like the boxes that have made their way out, but mes sure doesn't like all the change.  Mes ams very stressed.  Mes is having a flare up of the pancreatitis.  The Mom has been giving mes nice pain medicine in addition to my daily anti-nausea stuff.  The pain medicine sure tastes horrible, but it does make my tummy feel good enough for mes to eat.  

The Mom bought mes a Feliway diffuser refill and hopes this will help mes be less stressed.  Hers is trying to keep hers own stress level down because hers knows it affects mes, but mes can still tell that hers is stressed, too.  

Mes and Lita will keep you posted on the move here and on the Mom's Facebook.  

Wes hope yous all are doing well.  Wes really miss visiting with yous!  The Mom is going to try helping us visit yous all a little more.  

Thankful Thursday

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine!

Yous know that rumor that Lita was spreading about mes going to the vet?  It was true!  Mes gotted scooped up and taken to the vet on Monday.  At least Lita had to come, too.

Mes spent most of the time hanging out with Lita, but theys did squeeze my anal glands like theys do every three months and weigh mes.

Last time at the vet, mes weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces.  This time mes weighed in at 10 pounds 6 ounces.  The Mom about fell overs cause mes gained almost a pound!  AND hers hasn't been feeding mes much prescription a/d these past three months.

Mes has been eating very well, and the vet decided the Mom could drop the Cerenia and give mes Zofran everyday for my nausea instead.  

It makes the Mom smile to see mes eating more and more consistently.  Now if mes can keep the weight on, that will be even better.  

You wanna hear something cool?  Since the Mom suggested Zofran for mes, our vet has been trying it with other woofies and kitties, too!  Mes hopes it helps thems as much as it has helped mes.  

See yous again soons!

It's a Fuzzy Friday with Carmine

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine!  Did yous miss mes?

The Mom has been typing a lot at the computer, but clearly hers hasn't been helping mes post on our bloggie!  Hers has been writing things for other peoples to try to keep up with the cost of all of our medicines now that Lita takes three medicines for asthma.  But hers found some time to help mes post here tonight - aren't yous glad?

At my last visit to the vet, mes had losted more weight.  In fact, mes losted 12 ounces, which alarmed the Mom and the vet.  Theys stole my blood and theys think mes might has Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, whatever that means!  All mes knows is that since then, mes has been poked a bunch of times at home, and mes doesn't like it.  

The Mom here.  Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency occurs when a cat cannot absorb the nutrients from its food because he is lacking the pancreatic enzymes necessary for the job.  This can be a complication of chronic pancreatitis, so I would not be surprised if this is what Carmine has developed.  The vet and I agreed to try B12 injections at home to see if that would help him.  He had to receive the injections one per week for six week (hence all the pokes he mentioned).  Now we are down to an injection once a month.  I hate sticking him, but I hope it helps him maintain his weight.  He is also getting Prozyme on his food.  Anyway, back to Carmine...

Tabby Tuesday with Carmine

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine!

Mes thought it was time mes said hellos to all my friends, so mes bugged the Mom until hers agreed to help mes put a post up heres.  

The Mom took mes to the vet last week since mes hasn't been eating very well for a whiles.  Theys had to stick mes on that metal scale, of course.  Mes weighed in at 10 and a half pounds - the Mom says mes has maintained my weight because D feeds mes lots of treats, MOL!  

Then Dr. M came to look at mes.  Hers felt my tummy, and mes was a patient kitty.  Then Dr. M nearly gave the Mom a heart attack and said hers didn't know if hers felt stool in there or "something else," so hers was taking mes to the back for another vet to see.

Tabby Tuesday

Hi everybody, it's mes, Carmine!

Did yous miss mes?  The Mom has been really terrible about helping us with the blog and visiting our friends lately.  

Mes never really came out of my "pancreatitis flare," the Mom says.  Hers and Dr. M decided to try mes on a new Cerenia schedule where mes gets Cerenia for five days in a row, then mes has none for two days.  Then mes gets it for five days in a row, then none for two days, etc.  Mes sure does not like that - that stuffs is so yucky!

Mes has been driving the Mom nuts cause mes will eat one thing one time and turn my nose up at it the next time.  Hers always has like five cans of noms open in the fridge trying to figure out what mes might eat, MOL!  

Tabby Tuesday

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine!

Wes know wes hasn't been around much lately, and wes is sorry about that.  The Mom is trying to do more writing for paying clients so hers can keep up with all our medical costs.  Hers says almost all of our meds are due at the same time, and that makes things difficult.

See my the Mom's pancakes?  Mes stuck my tail in them - don't worry, theys didn't have syrup or anything on thems yet, MOL!  It looked like a nice soft place to rest my tail.

Mes has not been eating that well lately.  Mes has been on pain medication for about a week nows.  The Mom consulted with Dr. M since this flare seems to be lasting longer than usual.  Dr. M told the Mom to give mes Cerenia and Cyproheptadine for four days.  That Cerenia sure does taste yucky!  It does help my tummy feel better, but couldn't theys make it taste better?  Mes eats a lot when mes has a Cyproheptadine, MOL!

Lita gotted hers new inhaler finally!  The Mom will be speaking with Dr. M to see how to get hers on the new inhaler and hopefully off of some of hers other meds.  Lita is good with the Aerokat.  The Mom says hers is surprised Lita tolerates it so well - hers was afraid Lita would really hate it.  

Mes hopes yous all is having a great week!

Mancat Monday

Hi everybody, it's mes, Carmine!

Last week, the Mom made mes go see Dr. M for my regular three-month checkup.  

The Mom was wondering whether or not mes lost any weight in the past three months, so theys weighed mes first.  Mes GAINED A POUND!!!  The Mom just about fell over when theys told hers mes weighs 10 pounds and 5 ounces, MOL.  The Mom says hers thinks wes can cut some of the prescription a/d from my diet.  

Dr. M came in to visit with mes.  Mes kept crawling toward the Mom every time Dr. M let go of mes.  Mes wanted to go home!!  The Mom covered mes up with a towel, but mes said mes still wanted to go home.  

Dr. M gave mes a thorough examining and talked with the Mom about how mes has been doing.  

The Mom asked if mes should still has my ProXyme in my foods, and Dr. M said hers didn't want to make any changes with mes because, "Every time yous look at mes the wrong way, mes has a crash."  So Dr. M and the Mom decided not to change anything for nows.  

Mancat Monday

Hi everyone, it's mes Carmine.  

Yesterday was this big game called the Super Bowl.  The Mom doesn't usually watch the Super Bowl, but hers did this year cause the Broncos were playing....and theys won!  Mes didn't have to go hide my orange furs in embarrassment again like mes did two years ago, MOL!!  Mes is proud to be orange this year!

Mes has not been eating well for about a week nows.  Sometimes mes just picks out my prescription a/d noms and leaves the other noms the Mom mixes it with, MOL.  A few times, mes has even turned my nose up at all the noms.  The Mom has to open lots of cans sometimes to find something mes will eat.  Mes ate pretty well yesterday the Mom says, so hers hopes mes will start to eat better nows again.

The Mom here: Don't worry, Carmine IS eating.  He just isn't eating as much as I'd like him to.  When we went from 10mg to 7.5mg of Prednisolone, Carmine didn't eat well for 1-2 weeks, so I'm guessing that the same is holding true now that we've gone down to 5mg of Pred.  His body seems to need some time to adjust to the medication decreases.

Like he said, Carmine ate well on Sunday, so hopefully we are on the upswing again.  If he continues to not eat as well as he should, I will definitely be calling his vet, though.

Mancat Monday

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine!

Sorry if my photo is kind of fuzzy or blurry.  Mes would not hold still so the Mom could get a better photo of mes.  And the leg in the background?  That's the Mom's friend standing behind mes near the sink, MOL!

Mes has been doing okay.  Sometimes mes eats my dinner and snacks and sometimes mes only eats a little of thems.  But the one thing the Mom says hers can almost always count on is mes eating my breaky.  I sure do like my breaky!  The Mom doesn't know why mes likes to eat in the morning better than at night though.

The Mom talked with Dr. M last week.  Dr. M talked with my Internal Medicine Specialist.  Theys want the Mom to lower my Pred dose from 7.5mg a day to 5mg a day.  The Mom agrees with that, but hers is nervous about it, too, since mes crashed so hard months ago when theys lowered my Pred dose.  Maybe yous all can send some purrs and prayers that mes will do okay on the lower dose? 

The vets want to get mes off the higher dose as soon as possible because theys worry about mes becoming a diabetic kitty if mes stays on the higher dose for too long.  Mes doesn't know what a "diabetic kitty" is.  Mes just wants to be a regular ol' kitty.

Lita hasn't had any asthma attacks for at least three weeks, so the Mom lowered her Pred dose back to 5mg like the fill-in vet suggested.  

Mes has had fun this last week bothering Lita.  Mes will jump up on the bed when the Mom reads.  If Lita is in my spot, sometimes mes will sit ON hers!  The Mom says that isn't very nice, but mes thinks it is pretty funny!  Don't worry, mes doesn't sit on hers very often, but you know....Lita is getting old isn't a Spring chicken anymore; some kitty has to keep hers on hers toes, right?

Mes hopes yous all has a great week!

Mancat Monday

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine!

Mes thought mes was done visiting the vet for a whiles since the Mom needed to find us a new Dr. Stabby to see, but no, mes luck wasn't that good.  The Mom went into action and found mes a new vet last week and off mes went to see hers.

Wes has always gone to cat-only clinics, but this new one takes dogs, too.  Thankfully theys has separate waiting spots for the woofies and kitties.  The Mom's friend had to fill out some papers about mes, and then wes went back to the exam room.  

The vet assistant was nice to mes.  Hers even asked the Mom if mes would let hers take my temperature before hers did.  The Mom was very happy about how respectful theys were of mes.  The assistant and Dr. M even did most of my exam while mes was under my towel.  

Unfortunately Dr. M agreed that mes needed to get my ALT (liver enzyme) level checked again since it was high a month ago before my ultrasound and diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.  

Dr. M was kind.  The Mom seems to like her.  Hers answered all the Mom's questions and was not in a hurry or anything.  The Mom asked hers about how theys might work with Lita, and Dr. M said we should try to give her the Neurontin the fill-in vet at our old clinic prescribed before coming in.  Dr. M immediately said that it is definitely a balancing act with anesthesia.  Hers seems to understand and empathize with the Mom's concerns about that.  So the Mom will take Lita to see Dr. M next month (but don't tell Lita, okay?).  The Mom will take hers in for a wellness exam so theys can prescribe Lita hers Prednisolone since hers has no refills left at the pharmacy.  

The Mom and Dr. M talked about my Pred dose.  Theys agree that 10mg is a lot for a kitty and want to get mes back down to 5mg again.  Theys told the Mom to lower my dose to 7.5mg for nows.  

Dr. M called the Mom on Friday with my blood test results.  My ALT was 71 (last time it was 201) - back in normal range!  It seems that my pancreatitis was affecting my liver.  The Mom is very happy my liver is doing well again.  Hopefully theys won't be poking mes with any more needles for a whiles nows!  

The Mom continues to be concerned about my weight.  Mes lost another ounce.  Mes is 9 pounds and 2 ounces nows.  Dr. M says mes is not *too* skinny, but the Mom doesn't want mes to *get* too skinny.  Hers is trying to keep mes over 9 pounds and would like to see mes gain at least a little weight.  For years and years, mes was 9 pounds and 6 ounces, and while the Mom thought that was a bit skinny, hers was happy with that.  Hers would like to see mes get there again at least.

Lita didn't have any asthma attacks last week!  Mes ams happy about that and so is the Mom.  

Mes hopes yous all has a great week!  

Mancat Monday

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine!

Remember that pretty house Lita told you about last week?  Well, here it is!  By the way, that orange stub in the bottom left corner of the photo is my tail, MOL.  

Mes bets mes knows what some of yous mancats is thinking, "Carmine, pink is for ladycats!"  But mes says that real mancats like pink.  

The Mom put a little towel in the bottom of the house to make it comfy for mes, and mes has been in the house a few times already (the humans just got it set up last night).  

In other news, mes has been eating like a cow, the Mom says.  Mes demands wet noms every few hours, which makes the Mom quite happy.  Hers always stops what hers is doing and comes to feed mes when mes demands food, like hers used to do with Jewel.  The Mom says hers isn't so sure mes is gaining much, if any weight, though.  

The Mom says wes are going to a new vet soon (long story).  If yous wants my opinion, hers can take hers time finding us a new doctor!  Hers says mes has to get my ALT level checked again soon.  Mes isn't too sure what that is, but the Mom says it's an important liver value, and hers and the Internal Medicine vet mes saw want to make sure it has gone down since theys found out mes has chronic pancreatitis, and it's been treated for about a month nows.  

Lita has been well.  Hers had an asthma attack a few days ago, but that was the only one this week.  Mes sure is happy my sisfur is feeling better!  Mes loves hers.  

Mes hopes everyone has a wonderful week!  

Milita's Monday

Hi everyone, it's Milita today.  

Last week the Mom took me to Dr. Stabby to make sure the Coccidia was gone.  Remember in one of my last posts when I asked when three weeks was?  Cathy Keisha said, "Three weeks is too short, that's how long it is."  She was right - it was too short!!

I was pretty quiet on the way to Dr. Stabby's, but I sure made my displeasure known when I was taken out of my carrier!  I hissed and growled, but they took another fecal sample anyway.  How dare the Mom allow them to do that!  

It turns out the Coccidia is all gone, though, so no more icky pills (of that kind at least) for me or Carmine.  

It was also discovered that I lost 5 ounces.  The vet tech was pleased by that, but the Mom doesn't know how to feel about it because she hasn't changed my diet any.  She has noticed, though, that I am eating fewer kibbles, and maybe this is why I lost some weight.  

The Mom also brought Carmine to Dr. Stabby's just to weigh him.  He only gained an ounce or two.  The Mom was disappointed that he did not gain more since she is feeding him some a/d mixed into every wet meal and snack he has, but she is very thankful that he did not lose any weight.  He has been eating pretty well for the most part.  Sometimes he needs a bit of convincing, but many times these days, he demands to be fed.  Maybe I've taught that orange one something after all.  

We have been getting Christmas cards from a lot of our friends.  Thank you all for the beautiful cards - we just love getting them and putting them on our wall!

The Mom wants to give you a quick update about that orange one, so I guess I'll be going for now.  

The Mom here: The vet and I had a conversation about Carmine's treatment.  She wants to begin to taper Carmine down on the Prednisolone, but she wants me to talk to the specialist first and make sure she is fine with me and the primary vet tapering the dose to the lowest most effective one.  I am nervous about tapering again as the last time we did Carmine crashed so hard.

We also talked about Cerenia, and she is not familiar with the protocols for it.  So she is going to talk to the specialist about what to do regarding that.  A lot of people use it for 5 days and then take a 2 day break and repeat that cycle over and over.  Carmine certainly seems to benefit from it.

Hopefully the specialist will call this week so we can move forward with Carmine's treatment plan.  He has been off the Cerenia for about five days now.  I've been giving him Slippery Elm Bark for nausea (like we did with Jewel).

I will continue to keep you posted.  Have a great week, everyone!

Mancat Monday

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine!

Since we found out the results of my ultrasound last week, mes has been feeling a LOT better!  If you missed it, you can read all about my ultrasound results here.  

The Mom thinks mes must have been pretty nauseous befores cause ever since mes started taking Cerenia, mes has been eating nearly all my meals.  Mes doesn't know what this Cerenia stuff is, but my tummy sure doesn't feel so upset anymores!  The Mom says it is like a miracle how much better mes is doing.  Every time mes eats my noms now, the Mom gets all happy.  Mes even went on top of the kitchen cabinets the other day like mes used to!  That sure made the Mom smile, too. 

The Mom is mixing this stuffs called prescription a/d into my regular wet noms for mes.  Hers said it will help mes gain some of my lost weight back.  Mes doesn't mind - it is pretty tasty stuffs.  Lita gets upset that the Mom won't let hers eat any of it, though, MOL.  

Lita is going to Dr. Stabby later this week to make sure hers Coccidia is all gone.  I hear that mes has to go, too.  The Mom says mes has to get weighed to make sure mes is gaining weight instead of losing mores.  

You will never guess what mes gotted to do last week!  The Mom took mes shopping with hers!  Mes gotted to see where all the stinky goodness comes from.  Wes can't wait to tell yous all about it on Friday!!

Mes hopes everyone has a good week.

Thankful Thursday (Carmine Update)

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine!  Yous gets to hear from mes twice this week.

Today mes and the Mom and Lita are very thankful.  

On Tuesday mes had my ultrasound.  My friends who said it wouldn't hurt were right!  But theys did shave my tummy.  Now my tummy is naked!

We were supposed to see Dr. W for the ultrasound, but hims broke hims foot, so wes saw Dr. T instead.  

When wes gotted into the exam room, Dr. T's assistant gotted my weight.  Mes lost 7 ounces in the past two weeks, so nows mes weighs 9 pounds 3 ounces.  That really upset the Mom.  

The nice lady said mes is very handsome and a good boy!  Mes knew that, of course, but it is nice to hear.  Hers took my file with all the notes and blood work Dr. Stabby sent over for Dr. T to look at.  

Whiles wes waited, mes shook very hard cause mes was SO scared!  The Mom remembered that once they took my blood pressure at Dr. Stabby's and mes kept trying to crawl under the towel theys had put on the table for mes.  So the Mom finally got the brilliant idea of putting a towel over mes.  Hers covered mes all the way up so mes couldn't even see out, MOL.  Hers kept hers hand on mes so mes would know hers was still there.  After a few minutes, mes calmed down and stopped shaking.  The Mom says hers is glad that hers knows how to help mes stay calm at the vet nows.

Dr. T came in and asked the Mom a bunch of questions.  Hers also said mes is very handsome and good kitty!  Hers purritoed mes up and took mes to the back to has my ultrasound where theys shaved my tummy.

When mes came back, Dr. T immediately told the Mom there is NO indication of cancer in my tummy!  The Mom was VERY HAPPY about that!!

Nows I will let the Mom tell you about the results.  Thank yous all for all the continued purrs and prayers.  Mes loves yous all!

The Mom here: I am thrilled  that Carmine does not have cancer - that was my biggest fear going into this.

The vet said she thinks Carmine has chronic pancreatitis.  She said the only way to know for certain is to do a biopsy on Carmine, but neither the vets nor I want Carmine to endure that.  So we are taking the "practical" approach and treating it as chronic pancreatitis.  She also said Carmine's bile duct is dilated, but I'm not sure what that means exactly in regards to clinical significance.

She told me to stop Carmine's Budesonide and restart his Prednislone.  We had a long discussion about Carmine's history with Prednisolone and how I think that lowering it to 2.5mg a day is what made everything crash.  We are trying him at 10mg a day for a week and going from there.

We also talked about Carmine's eating habits.  Carmine gets very excited about his wet food dinner and breakfast, but when it's put down for him, he either sniffs it and walks away or takes a few bites and walks away - even food he usually loves.  The vet thinks that nausea may be a factor here, and I agree.  So we are trying him on Cerenia for that.  It is also an anti-inflammatory and works to reduce GI pain.

She suggested we switch Carmine from Cyproheptadine to Mirtazapine for his appetite, but when we told her how Carmine reacted to the Mirtazapine, she agreed that staying on the Cypro was the best thing to do for him.

VRCC had a tree in their waiting room.

Dr. T is going to check in with us in a week.  She was VERY helpful, kind, and patient.  She listened to all of our concerns and answered all of our questions.

I seriously hope this new course of treatment works for Carmine.  Of course we want him on as little Prednisolone as possible, but for now, we need to get him stable and put weight back on him.  He has had two doses of Cerenia so far, but he is still eating very little.  I'm hoping it just takes a few days to kick in.

I called our regular vet to ask her if a/d would be appropriate right now for Carmine so we can get some weight on him.  We will see what she says.  I am incredibly concerned about how much weight he's lost.

Thank you again to all who have donated to Carmine's tests - this would not have been possible without you!  Thank you to all who are purring and praying and sending good thoughts to Carmine as well.  We love you all and are very lucky to have you in our lives!