Fanny Update -Week 7

Hello and thank you for coming back.
🙋

Just wanted to give a quick update. 

Fanny is having good days and bad days. Much like I do. But I digress.

Here she is drinking from her water fountain. Sometimes I actually have to carry her to it. I'm not sure if it's too painful for her to walk to it or if she has become so spoiled that she just expects me to carry her to everything.😕

She may be a little "off" from the medication as well. It's hard to tell. But I'll continue to help her in any way I can.

This is kind of funny.... After she was done drinking, she flopped down, placed her head on the fountain, and fell asleep. Yes, she is asleep 💤in this photo.

Fanny has been a little stubborn when it comes to taking her meds lately. I may have to use the word "spoiled" again. 

Above are 2 examples: She limps her way close to where I place her food dish and she stops and lays down. She will lay there, tuck herself in, and wait. Since there is medication in the food I want to make sure she eats it. I pick her up and place her by the dish and she eats with no problem.

My husband laughs at her quirky behavior, but I'm not finding it so cute anymore.😉

But she is using her steps and coming up on the beds. We bought another set of stairs so she can go on either bed on her own.

As far as using the opiate, I don't give it to her every day. Just when she looks like she is uncomfortable or struggling. But I do give her the Gabapentin twice a day.

It seems like she is adapting her stride to avoid putting too much pressure on her right leg. She loses her balance occasionally but doing much better in that sense.

Well, that's it for now. I hope you and your fur babies are doing well.  

Fanny sends her love.

Please feel free to leave a comment and share this blog.
Hugs!

Darlene

Fanny Update

Hi everyone.

Just wanted to give you a quick update.

Fanny appears to be in less pain but her back legs are very weak. She takes only a few steps and then seems to collapse. She ends up lying in the middle of walkways (see photo above)  so we have to be very careful not to step on her. We can't chance tripping over her either... at our age. But not going to discuss our age at this time. 🤣 Let's just say our bones are old. 👫

She has good days and bad days. On good days she looks alert, drinks plenty of water, and wants to be around my husband a lot.

On bad days she looks sad, listless,

 and just lays in her bed in the closet or by her water fountain. She doesn't interact with us as much.

Cats hide their pain so I give her the pain medication (Buprenex) when she acts like this, especially if I see her struggling to stand. She's still on Gabapentin every 12 hours. Also, I give her Lactulose to soften her stool and avoid straining. I only give her about 1/4 the prescribed dose because the full dose (or half dose) gives her belly cramps.

Last week she had one really good day. She responded to catnip and played with her toys. But she remained laying down during the entire play session.

Since that day she is no longer interested in the catnip.

Interestingly, she does communicate with me. She cries when she needs me to do something for her. Like, "take me to the litter box" or "can you bring me some food?" (Room Service)

She does use her steps to get up on the bed most of the time. And if we leave her on the bed we are confident she will use the steps to get down and not try to jump down and possibly hurt herself.

Well, that is my update for today.

Remember: Hug your pet...show them some love❤

Darlene

 

Fanny rechecked by Vet

Well, this morning (Saturday) at 9:30am, I took Fanny to the Vet to get rechecked. Here she is in the car, looking all calm and relaxed. She had received her pain medication around 2am, so I think it still had some effect on her.

Here she is, patiently waiting to be seen by the doctor. She already had her vital signs done and was still being "chill".

Here she is AFTER the exam. Not happy. The doctor palpating her back and legs increased her pain. 

The doctor was happy that I showed her videos of Fanny walking up her steps to the bed and her using the litter box. That gave her a better idea of her mobility at home, which is not that good. She barely puts any weight on her right leg, and it looks like her left leg may be getting weaker.

I explained to the doctor that she seems to have increased pain when she has a poop. Most likely it causes pressure on her lower back when she bears down and her poop is firm.

Here's what the doctor and I discussed and agreed upon as to Fanny's plan of care:

1) Giving her subcutaneous fluids (under the skin) since cats with renal disease tend to pee frequently and can get dehydrated. Even though she does drink from her fountain, it may not be enough.

2) Spot check her blood sugar with a little prick of her ear. It was normal. They check it due to her age and the renal disease.

3) Start her on Lactulose to soften her stools so she doesn't have to strain. It's liquid and I'll mix it with her food twice a day.

4) Cold laser treatment. A non-invasive way of reducing inflammation and swelling in cats with arthritis. Can be done once a week or as needed.

5) Get her Gabapentin changed to 50 mg mini pill form in case we need to board her or if someone else needs to give her the med at any time. Right now we could only get 100 mg capsules which I empty out and try to divide the powder in half and put in pill pockets. I don't trust anyone else to do that. I give it to her twice a day.

6) Continue the Buprenex (opiate) every 8-12 hrs as needed.

She did very well with the cold laser treatment and seemed to feel more comfortable, but she kept to herself more today after we came home. I think she was just upset with all the activity today. 

We'll see how she does with the new plan of care.

I'll keep you updated.

Always remember: Don't be afraid to have a two-way discussion with the Veterinarian. You are your pet's advocate.

Until next time.

Darlene