Make me feel a little better about my cat

What dose does your cat get?

My vet said .25mg. But that seems like a small amount.

I mean I can't even be sure he took the pill because the powder is so small.

Also my cat slept an unusually long time today... possible side effect?

Well things have been going ok but my cat refuses to eat his food with Pepcid in it. It is a tiny amount but he knows.

I am on day 5 of a no throw up jig the next few days will be crucial as he has been throwing up about every 5 days. I got him a pumpkin and tumeric supplement today. Not sure if he is going to like it.

I have had two cats and both lived til 25 years old. They both went blind in their early twenties. I was careful to make sure the food I fed them had low ash content. And had to give them food that was easy to eat as their teeth got less with age.

Kidney and liver are the biggies to watch out for in cats.

Wow! 25, I think this one could do it. I have fed him wet non grain food since he was a kitten and he has been overall pretty healthy. I am now switching to some raw food as well.

And now that I may be able to work from home 2 or 3 days per week, I can really keep him in good shape.

I am getting excited... we are on day 6 without a throw up... even though this is the danger time, I am feeling hopeful. His "deposits" are still full of a hair type substance but hoping that is just the last of it being cleaned out.

Day 7 without throw up.! I am getting excited...

I will note that I really cleaned up the house. Vacuming everything and even washing throw pillows.

His poo also seems less filled with fur.. I am hopeful. He is fully off pepcid but I truely think the dose was so low he might not have been getting any benefit.

I got grain free food for my cat, but he won't eat it unless I mix in the crap made with cheap corn. I think he is a carb addict!

Well day 8 and he threw up. I guess this means he does really have a problem and I have to go to the vet. Makes it easier to prepare. I purchased a gate and a new carrier I am going to see if he likes or it is on wheels so I might see if I can put the other carrier on top of it.. he hates being carried around.

Of course today Is a snow day so I can't do a dry run but this week I will give him gabapenten and see how he reacts.

Someone on another website goes .. oh 8 days isn't bad. But last night he threw up again.

I am excited about something. I have a plastic box that is his carrier. But one of the problems is that it is very bulky and with the cat in it... heavy. Also I think it scares my cat to be carried around and moved around in that awakward way when I carry the box. I also tried a soft carrier with wheels (but he wont' go in the soft carrier) well I found out the wheels of the soft carrier are removeable. And they have velcro. So I all need do it put velcro on the plastic box and I will be able to roll the kitty to the car and take the plastic box off the wheels. This will help with my cat and, my back.

Ugh I am very stressed out. So last night he threw up again and then he threw up today. Today, it was sort of green... suggesting bile. So I called the vet and asked for an earlier appointment. I got Monday. Ironically that was the day two years ago I had made an appointment to put my cat down (President's day) and then decided not to do it.

The vet is not my normal vet who is out of town and may not know anything of my cat's fractious nature.

So tomorrow I have to try out the gabapentin. I didn't want to do that while I was working as I want to be able to watch my cat but I will have to do it to give some space between the two visits.

I think I am going to try 150mg tomorrow and see how he reacts. If not much happens I will really up the dose. My doc thinks I should go over 200 mg but I am scared to.

Yesterday I tried the Gabapentin. The good news
1. He ate the full 140 mg pill I gave him in his small food.
2. He was knocked out for most of the day - 12 hours..
3. I got him into a carrier without complaint.
4. This was a soft sided carrier. Usually can't do that because he is always scratching trying to get out. But, this time, he didn't.
5. Because he was so out of it he let me cut his nails. I am hoping this will keep him from pulling one out. What typically happens at the vet.
6. I put him in the car in the carrier. And thank god I heard NO complaining. No trying to get out. Usually he is crying and trying to get out the entire time.
7. I drove around for an hour and there was no complaining.
8. I took him back in.
9. The only bad thing was that he hissed at me when I let him out.
10. He slept the rest of the day.
11. This carrier has wheels at the bottom and that really helped my back because I didn't have to carry him.
12. He was out of it but not so out of it that he was falling over or couldn't walk. So I don't think the 200 mg will od him.

So I am hopeful that
1. If I give him Gabapentin the night before, as my vet has requested, he will just sleep and there will be no danger of him hurting himself walking around the house.
2. 200 mg will really knock him back so hard that he will be able to be examined / get blood.

I remain worried:
The last time I gave him gabapentin he was fine with me... very sleepy with me.. but, once other people came around he seemed to be able to wake up and act like his usual normal cat. But I am unsure what dose he had last time as the pills were large and he didn't eat all of what was given.

I hope the gabapentin helps him be calm at the vet. My cat luckily is docile for others. He is just petrified with fear so he lets them do anything for him.

I used to have a cat like that. He was a tabby cat. I just had to lift him into a box (we used a comic book holder box) and he was happy as a clam. DIdn't move or meow. Just sat down and relaxed.

This one, acts as if I am kiling him.

The good news is that normally he is hissing and growling inside the carrier.. even with just me there... with the gabapentin, he was quiet, that could be enough.

I am also hoping that his age will make him more docile. In that at 13 he could fight , but at 16? He may tucker out more easily.

Wish me luck. The plan is that tonight I will give him about 150 mg.. and then that probably will last about 12 hours and then I will give him 200 mg about 2 hours before leaving. It does seem like it lasts about 12 hours so... it should be just wearing off about the time I give him the new dose.

I am a little worried about him not being hungry in the morning if I give him the dose... but if that fails I will just make a new appointment.

Ok, so last night I gave him 100 mg. It didn't do a lot. He was still up this morning around 4 AM crying for food. I didn't give him food in case they need to use sedation.

I got up at 5 and he didn't seem to have any trouble walking or anything. Though he was bit slow.

So I waited until 6:50 and gave him a small amount of food -- 1 table spoon -- and dumped in 200 mg. It worked. He ate the entire amount of food.

I actually gave him slightly more -- say 210 mg just in case some was not taken in.

One problem I might have is that he is more awake because he doesn't have food in his belly.

Well I have great news.... it worked. FINALLY something worked. 200 mgs gabapenin

I put him in the carrier and brought him in and I didn't hear a peep. Not on the ride over.. not while I was talking to the vet tech, not while talking to the vet. Usually the moment I Put him in a carrier he is crying - smashing his paws on the carrier sides.

Still though, no one had tried to get him out.

So they took him back and, I looked out the window of the little room. I was waiting for the usual situation. I would hear MAHHOOOOWWWWW and then I would see all the vet techs running back and then I would see the big cat gloves come out... but, I didn't see that.

I did get a little nervous when I saw him bring the cat carrier out -- I thought maybe they were cleaning it from my cat's blood or urine, but the vet told me later he was just weighing the carrier.

Then the vet brought him back and said he was fine. What you say? FIne?? No way. But, yes way. They got blood AND URINE!

The vet examined his eyes, which seemed fine and his teeth were ok, the doc said he didn't really need work. Everything else was fine but they were a little worried about his kidneys. That is fine by me... he is 16. Plus he isn't even on kidney food. I will take it with a grain of salt though because this same vet said he had kidney failure at 3 and, as you can see, he is 16 now soo... I suspect his kidneys might actually have strange shape naturally.

I had a cat with kidney issues before and it acted much different than my current cat and, also, it is well known that giving gabapentin with kidney issues can be a problem so... but the high dose of gabapentin yesterday wasn't enough to cause overdose symptoms like trouble walking. So I just have trouble believing he could have kidney damage. Sure he could have some dimunition in kidney function but.. the doc did say it looked like he had some muscle wasting - but he said that can just be something you see in an older cat.

But the key point is that FINALLY something worked and it means I WILL be able to take him in for regular check ups. Like a real cat!

I asked the doc why it didn't work before, he said that it was a lower dose.. I don't know about that.... as i remember asking the vets that came out to my house if she had any evidence that above 200 mgs would be safe -- presumably then I gave him 200 mgs. But it also occured to me that people who might be on "at home duty" might not be the most talented.

Great news!

That’s really good news. I’m so glad it went well.

So final results... basically, the boy is fine.

- The vet said he has kidney disease... but stage 2 (early). I am not quite buying that because this same vet said he had kidney disease when he was 3. And he was dehydrated before going to the vet. I am getting the record and reassessing. Even if true he is 16 and I feel like there are a lot more treatments now, and I probably can hold it off with just a few changes to his foods and supplements.

- The vet could not find any evidence of him having a thyroid issue with the basic panel. But he said he needed a more indepth blood test, so I authorized that. But I suspect he is NOT hyperthyroid.

- everything else was fine.

- He has no idea what is causing the hairball throwing up or why. I guess I am on my own with that one. I did order a rubber grooming glove and I am hoping that will take off a lot of the hair.

- My prior vet gave me Meloxicam and, even though I only give that about 1x per month, the vet told me that wasn't good for kidney and so I have discontinued it. He said it could cause gastro issues as well but, he didn't think that was likely not giving it frequently, but for now that is my theory.

- I was going to give pepcid AC as that does seem to be stopping the throw up but that is not great for Kidney issues.

So I got the records.

- Once again I disagree about the Kidney issues. His numbers have hardly moved at all since he was a young kitten. Creatine is 1.9. When he was 3 it was 1.6. His urine numbers haven't even moved. I will give him kidney food but nothing more. Any movement could be chance or the Meloxicam.

- I discovered that Pepcid AC is not the problem for kidney issues. So I am giving him that. The good new is, knock on wood but that seems to work. I haven't had a throw up in several days.

- The was a massive RBC value in his urine 20 and 3 is normal. I suspect however this had something to do with the way they got urine.. because the vet seemed absolutely not to mention it? But I will ask them.

- I am irritated at the vet... truthfully. I had originally asked about the pepcid ac and the vet told me... "no cat is throwing up without underlying issues" so I took him in. Turns out.. no underlying issues. So yes, it is possible to be throwing up with nothing wrong. And they have no answers for the problem I presented them. I am literally doing all the diagnosing myself.

- The records indicate, despite what I was told, that he was growling, struggling, and hissing at the exam. So the gabapentin is the great gift I was led to believe it was.

I'm glad you were able to get him checked out. Sometimes docs just don't know what the deal is. I throw up sometimes without knowing why. But I think it might have to do with gastric reflux and esophageal problems. If he has something like that, at least it's not deadly.

He could still be getting all that hair out of his stomach--and an empty stomach, without food that is, might bring up bile.

It sounds like he's okay over all. Yay!

I mean there still could be things wrong that I can't see, such as intestinal lymphoma... but I understand those are slow moving and could take years.

I am on day 5 without a throw up. I have been giving him the pepcid AC 2 times per day... and I am moderately convinced that is the key. He even seems more hungry lately. I found a way to give him the medication -- he doesn't like those pill pocket treats but, I can stick that on the back of a treat that he does like and he will eat it.

This week his poos are a lot smaller so, I am wondering if him sleeping for like 4 days last week due to the gabapentin, made it so he had less hair in his stomach. That might be a good way to monitor what is happening.