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We're slowly making progress with the 3 mogs - here's proof that they can be in the same room at the same time without ripping chunks out of each other - music, by the way, was purely background and not the usual playing at Chéz Vøltz

 
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Because OF COURSE Ted would go on holiday this week. This is exactly what happened when Charlie got ill last year. Ted was on holiday through it all, and as a result everything went to shit because too many cooks, etc.

Called the vets today to ask what now since we've stopped the metacam.

I waited all day for someone to call me back, and when they did I was in the bathroom :mad:

A nice man called James left a message, saying Ted had written in Charlie's notes that he's had prednisolone (steroid) in the past and tolerated it well, and that if the metacam didn't work we could start on that. So he said he'll write out a prescription for pred and leave it at the surgery for me. He said it is VERY IMPORTANT that he not be started on the pred until 48 hours after finishing the metacam because it can have serious complications (from what I understand it's stomach ulceration). Well it's been over 48 hours now.

BUT in the official guidance I read it says at least a week in between them. At least. I don't know what 'at least' means. And Ted isn't there to calm me down. Ted's good at calming me down. Ted's a fussy, overprotective cat owner himself, so he gets me. And he has a really nice smile.

I can't pick them up until Friday anyway, and he had his last dose of metacam on Saturday, and he's booked in to see Ted on Monday. So what does 'at least' mean? And should I heed that or should I heed James' advice? This is the surgery that says "no, give them metacam for this, metacam for that, rah rah metacam weeeeeeeeee!" in direct opposition to my perfectly rational online reading that says METACAM WILL KILL YOUR CAT NEVER GIVE YOUR CAT METACAM OMG NOPE NO DEATH DOOM DEAD.

Anyway. After his poorly poos on Saturday and Sunday (the reason I stopped the metacam) he didn't poo again until today. That's quite common for him after he's had diarrhea, he'll go a couple of days with no poo (I'm the same :oops:). He just did a poo and it was trying to be normal but ended up poorly. So now my worry about METACAM DEATH DOOM DESTRUCTION DEAD NOPE is back. On the plus side, he's eating ok. He's a bit more restless than usual, but when he does sleep he sprawls out in his usual daft fashion, which suggests if he is in pain or discomfort it's not so bad that he wants to go and hide all day. But he's grooming more than usual (not enough to lose fur or cause irritation), which is a sign of pain. But that could just be his throat. OR IT COULD BE THE DOOM DEATH HELL NOPE from metacam.

He's still getting hiccups. Today he's managed to stave them off quite quickly each time they've happened, unlike the 1.5 hour marathon sessions he had yesterday and the day before (and before the metacam; that's the kicker, the metacam was clearly helping him feel better). He did just get hiccups because he got too excited. I fed him, and eating stopped them. That seems to be quite a common thing. Then he did his mostly-poorly poo. :(

So when I pick up the preds on Friday, I'll see if anyone's around to ask about this 'at least a week' thing. Especially because Charlie's old now and it's harder for them to metabolise meds at that age, AND because he's already had a reaction to metacam that we don't know has properly ended yet. I want so very badly to stop his pain and reduce the inflammation, but balancing the risk is so very difficult.

And because he's never calmed down after the sedation last Friday, taking him back to see Ted on Monday will be SO MUCH FUN :mad:
 
Vintage Paw with Bob we had him on Lexicon - quick Google implies that it's got the same active ingredients as Metacalm - just more expensive :rolleyes: - guess which one we got then?

Anyhow - we had the same with Bob - it was pain relief for him and he got runny bottom and with Bob it was a balance between pain relief and the Lexicom really hitting his kidneys - this is a known side effect - it's NOT instant death but the med does wallop the kidneys
 
Although I get a little fed up with being woken up to her brishing against my face and getting a mouthful of fur the first thing in the morning, i'm still considering the more cat hair, the better. madamme had such a pathetically thin coat when we first took her in, and when I brushed all the loose hair out of it felt like nothing and her belly was pretty much bare. it took over a year for it to thicken out properly and gtting covered in cat fur is a reminder of how far she's come and that even when she disapears off and seems not to eat much, it tells me she's still doing Ok cause I can see she's still got that thick luxuriant fur
 
Vintage Paw said:
My mum used to hoover our childhood cat. She enjoyed it.

Freak.
Click to expand...

h6F360BB4
 
I can't really offer much advice Vintage Paw about the Metacam thing, Jakey was on it for a bit after his cancer scare surgery last year and was fine, he is a bit younger than Charlie though and hasn't had previous reactions to it. Radar has had prednisolone a few times (short courses of a few days at a time over the years, not long-term) due to his allergies and eczema flare-ups, but he's never had Metacam. When he is on the pred I have to ensure that he can't gorge himself stupid on food (husband had the same issue when he was on it for 2 weeks plus a month tapering off for his asthma, constantly hungry).

Hope Charlie is feeling better soon xx
 
Epona said:
I can't really offer much advice Vintage Paw about the Metacam thing, Jakey was on it for a bit after his cancer scare surgery last year and was fine, he is a bit younger than Charlie though and hasn't had previous reactions to it. Radar has had prednisolone a few times (short courses of a few days at a time over the years, not long-term) due to his allergies and eczema flare-ups, but he's never had Metacam. When he is on the pred I have to ensure that he can't gorge himself stupid on food (husband had the same issue when he was on it for 2 weeks plus a month tapering off for his asthma, constantly hungry).

Hope Charlie is feeling better soon xx
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Thank you :)

Yep, Charlie was on prednisolone for quite a while when he was first diagnosed with hyperthyroidism because he had been vomiting so much in the lead up to diagnosis it had irritated his insides, producing a cycle of vom even though his T4 numbers were back under control. The preds sorted him right out. We weaned him off them very, very slowly over the course of a couple of months. He was rake thin when he was diagnosed so the weight gain was welcome. He's a heavy bugger now though, having put on quite a bit since he had his teeth out last Sept (now he can enjoy his food again!), so it's something I'll have to watch out for.

He's had 2 more poorly poos this evening. He's still eating fine. I might hold off on the steroids until I can see Ted on Monday if he's still poopy, because it could be a sign the metacam has had more of an effect on his system than we thought. And if so, he'll need kidney and liver blood tests to rule out any changes there (he had them done last Friday and all was really good, so we'll know if there's been a change), and starting steroids if he's still going through digestive issues because of the metacam is a bad idea because of the potential stomach ulcer effects.

Gawd. Poor little thing just wants some relief from his throat :(
 
Vintage Paw said:
Thank you :)

Yep, Charlie was on prednisolone for quite a while when he was first diagnosed with hyperthyroidism because he had been vomiting so much in the lead up to diagnosis it had irritated his insides, producing a cycle of vom even though his T4 numbers were back under control. The preds sorted him right out. We weaned him off them very, very slowly over the course of a couple of months. He was rake thin when he was diagnosed so the weight gain was welcome. He's a heavy bugger now though, having put on quite a bit since he had his teeth out last Sept (now he can enjoy his food again!), so it's something I'll have to watch out for.

He's had 2 more poorly poos this evening. He's still eating fine. I might hold off on the steroids until I can see Ted on Monday if he's still poopy, because it could be a sign the metacam has had more of an effect on his system than we thought. And if so, he'll need kidney and liver blood tests to rule out any changes there (he had them done last Friday and all was really good, so we'll know if there's been a change), and starting steroids if he's still going through digestive issues because of the metacam is a bad idea because of the potential stomach ulcer effects.

Gawd. Poor little thing just wants some relief from his throat :(
Click to expand...

Not teaching granny 'n' that - but could you try him on a lower protein diet - again, not on prescription and for elderly cats, the reduction in a "rich/full fat" food could give his tum a bit of a rest
 
toggle said:
Although I get a little fed up with being woken up to her brishing against my face and getting a mouthful of fur the first thing in the morning, i'm still considering the more cat hair, the better. madamme had such a pathetically thin coat when we first took her in, and when I brushed all the loose hair out of it felt like nothing and her belly was pretty much bare. it took over a year for it to thicken out properly and gtting covered in cat fur is a reminder of how far she's come and that even when she disapears off and seems not to eat much, it tells me she's still doing Ok cause I can see she's still got that thick luxuriant fur
Click to expand...
We've had Martha just over a year. She was wondering around some car parks in Pool when some friends found her. She's still pretty bare underneath but seems otherwise ok most of the time other than having to have an injection every six weeks because the neighbours dog gave her fleas and triggered some allergies that have persisted.
 
High Voltage said:
Not teaching granny 'n' that - but could you try him on a lower protein diet - again, not on prescription and for elderly cats, the reduction in a "rich/full fat" food could give his tum a bit of a rest
Click to expand...

The vet has recommended boiled chicken, which he grudgingly eats if there's nothing else but will hold out on for the most part. That and Royal Canin Sensitivity Control, which is pretty low in protein as these things go anyway.

He's had more poorly poos last night and this morning. He also did his first vom in ages at lunchtime. But he brought up a furball with it, a decent sized one (not massive but not tiny), so I'm not panicking that it's a sign he's going to start vomming all over the place. Of course, if he's irritated inside that can cause him to vom anyway, and isn't necessarily a sign of something bad -- and then vomming irritates him more.

Anyway, I called the vets again today for more advice. Spoke to Charlie (which is confusing, "hello, this is Charlie, I'm just reading Charlie's notes now"), and talked through all my concerns about starting preds after using metacam, particularly on a poorly tummy, and so on. He reassured me. If he's as he is now (still poorly poos but bright enough in himself, eating and drinking) then I'm going to pick up the preds tomorrow morning, and an extended course of antibiotics (even if the laryngitis isn't bacterial it'll ward against secondary infection while we get everything else under control), and some paste to try to bind him up in the meantime. He was hiccuping earlier and cried in pain during one of them :( We really, really need to get the throat swelling under control, but it's difficult balancing the risk involved in the meds needed for that. It's a clusterfuck, really.

If he gets worse overnight, if there's blood in his poos, if he stops eating and drinking, if he vomits more, I'm to call in the morning and make an appointment instead of just picking up the tablets. Otherwise, I'm to give him the tabs, start on the preds, and tough it out over the weekend and bring him in on Monday for his scheduled appointment with Ted.
 
10400060_10153297155425412_3200698556043847902_n.jpg

My neighbour came in to see to the cats while we went to the Dales for a few days. He's just posted these photos on facebook :oops:
Presents from my damned cats :mad:
I did give him permission to post, it wasn't as if it was me that shit in the bath :rolleyes: :D I have no idea which one killed a mole :hmm:
 
Charlie's doing okay today. Still soft poos, no more vomits yet, not much hiccuping, eating okay. Refusing to eat the chicken I lovingly cooked for him though. :mad: Whenever he gets ill I end up having to eat chicken for days on end because he won't. It's like Christmas all over again.

Picked up his steroids, more antibiotics, and some binding paste (for dogs, but apparently good for cats too). I'm holding off on the steroids as long as I feel I can. Just tried to get some of the paste into him. Apparently dogs love it, and some cats do too. He licked a bit of it off my finger, then looked appalled and fucked off upstairs. To be fair it does look like his poorly poos.
 
The pissing jungle cat is still mooching around - although now he looks like he might have mange as the fur below his ears looks like it's falling out.

How bad does neglect have to be before you intervene? The owner got back to me pretty smartish when I sent the animal home with a collar. They were apologetic about it pissing in our house. But there is clearly no intent to get it neutered (I did suggest it) and it doesn't look well cared for.

Breeding aside, I'm struggling to think why you'd want an un-neutered tomcat in your life, in any capacity. They don't have a lot of redeeming features. I know it could be a cost thing, but there's a PDSA clinic very close by.

They don't seem responsible pet owners but it doesn't seem to be the kind of situation that would require a dawn raid from the RSPCA either.
 
QOTH said:
there is clearly no intent to get it neutered (I did suggest it) and it doesn't look well cared for.

Breeding aside, I'm struggling to think why you'd want an un-neutered tomcat in your life, in any capacity. They don't have a lot of redeeming features. I know it could be a cost thing, but there's a PDSA clinic very close by.
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My neighbour reckons he's not doing it because it'd 'deny his cat natural experiences'. Already said he couldn't give a toss about unwanted kittens etc :mad:
 
QOTH said:
The pissing jungle cat is still mooching around - although now he looks like he might have mange as the fur below his ears looks like it's falling out.

How bad does neglect have to be before you intervene? The owner got back to me pretty smartish when I sent the animal home with a collar. They were apologetic about it pissing in our house. But there is clearly no intent to get it neutered (I did suggest it) and it doesn't look well cared for.

Breeding aside, I'm struggling to think why you'd want an un-neutered tomcat in your life, in any capacity. They don't have a lot of redeeming features. I know it could be a cost thing, but there's a PDSA clinic very close by.

They don't seem responsible pet owners but it doesn't seem to be the kind of situation that would require a dawn raid from the RSPCA either.
Click to expand...

might be worth calling the rsspa for advice
 
QOTH said:
Breeding aside, I'm struggling to think why you'd want an un-neutered tomcat in your life, in any capacity. They don't have a lot of redeeming features. I know it could be a cost thing, but there's a PDSA clinic very close by.
Click to expand...
I knew a chap who owned an intact tom who simply refused to have him neutered, he said he couldn't face having it done and that was that.
 
What a beautiful kitty!

---

Charlie's been on the preds since Thursday night. He doesn't tend to have hour long hiccuping sessions now, but he's still hiccuping every day, sometimes in a rather sudden, violent, sneezy and coughing kind of way (wetly, in my face, on the bed this morning). He's clearly unhappy, he's been hiding now and again, which is a sure sign he's feeling shit. He still has poorly poos, but they are only once a day really, maybe twice at a push, and runny soft poo rather than pure liquid. He's eating like a fucking lion, so no problems with him losing his appetite. He's drinking the usual amount. He's more alert than usual, he's often quick to wake up and see what's going on, but when he does sleep he's sprawled all over the place, legs stretching out, and looks happy and comfortable. His breathing isn't as loud.

I really don't know whether there's an improvement or not. Maybe in some ways, maybe not in others?

I'm back with him to see Ted at 2.20 (shhhh, he suspects nothing) so we'll see what he says. I expect he'll say stay on the steroids for a while, no more antibiotics once the course has finished (can antibiotics give them a poorly tummy?), and maybe back in a couple of weeks to see him again.

I don't know if these things can cause his symptoms, but I must remember to ask about heartworm, lungworm, and potential neurological causes (he's long been an involuntary twitcher -- his legs twitch suddenly when he's standing up and he nearly falls over, it happens several times a day, has for years, I've often wondered if there's something weird going on there, and if there is it's possible it's not also affecting his diaphragm causing it to spasm).
 
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