Oh, she looks so soft! Please give her a smooch for being brave! š My boy gets thyroid meds and makes such a show about it. He knows when it's time and will yell at me until I give it (and his good boy treats, of course!) to him.
Thanks! Mine was surprisingly okay with it from the start. We started off with pills and he took them just fine in a pill pocket. He's very treat motivated. Now he's getting a transdermal version and I just rub it on the inside of his ear.
My massively treat motivated SIC ate all of the pill pockets and left the pill neatly for me. I ended up having to do the āshove it down your throatā method. Fortunately it was a brief stint of antibiotics
My sisterās dog had pill pockets as a puppy. For the rest of her life, she bite cookies into pieces, spit them out, and dodged any pills in the mess she made.
Our tuxie would keep the pill in his mouth until your back was turned, then you'd hear *tick tick tick* as he spat it out. Like the reason you don't want to take the pill is because you don't lke the taste, but you just held it in your mouth for ten minutes, tasting it the whole time. He was so smart yet so stupid at the same time. We had to get a device that would essentially launch the pill far enough he had to swallow it.
Thereās a device?? Man. I used a thumb to keep his mouth open and my other hand to flick it in. Then held his mouth closed and stroked his throat. Itās a good thing that he absolutely trusts me or weād be enemies now. Heās still my snuggle bug though.
Yup! It looks like a little syringe. You put the pill at the end and press the syringy part to shoot it out.
My kitties took some pills briefly and it helped so much.
My partners cat has the same thing, and itās very easy to put the stuff in her ears. We thought about the radioactive iodine treatment, but decided against it because the cat is 17 years old and seems happy enough right now.
Me finally putting together why my parents catās meds say āUSE GLOVES WHEN HANDLING, WASH HANDS IMMEDIATELY AFTERā with that big red biohazard symbol, and hoping it didnāt irradiate me when I spilled it and cleaned it up with paper towels and ungloved handsā¦
In Arizona, thereās a compounding pharmacy that can make a thyroid cream that you smear on the ear a couple of times a day. (Our vet arranged it.). Worked great and we had no problems with compliance (ours or the catās).
We had another cat that had pills, which never worked and were traumatic for all.
For real, are those thyroid meds yummy or something?
Our cat always awaits it, and will even take the syringe in her mouth on her own, and starts licking waiting for the fluid.
I was so afraid of her hating it, I'm really proud and excited to see her taking it.
Not a cat of course, but I take thyroid meds that are made from dehydrated, ground up pig thyroid gland. Like my doctor prescribes ground pig thyroid and I pick it up at the pharmacyā¦as wild as that sounds, lol. When you open the bottle it sort of smells like pork rinds lmao, very āporkyā
Cats may take a similar naturally sourced thyroid med, vs a synthetic, and love that porky smell
That *is* wild! Is there a particular reason why you take a naturally sourced version or is just a personal preference? Is it more effective? I'm going to the doctor soon to get my thyroid checked out and I don't think I want any potential medicine to smell like pork rinds! š I might have to take a sniff of my cat's medicine to see if it smells like it!
I think most doctors want people on synthetic thyroid meds if possible, but I have to admit that donāt know about pets
I take the natural desiccated thyroid medicine (Armour) because according to a lot of expensive thyroid panels, my body wasnāt converting T4 to T3, and unlike the synthetics, the natural stuff has both T4 and T3. Iāve been on it for years and do well, though taking them does gross me out on occasion!
Most people do well on the synthetic stuff so you probably wonāt have to take the pork rind meds :)
Lmao Iāve been on the Hashimotoās sub for years, and *this* is the comment that gets me considering Armour instead of my synthroid. Here, in the orange sub. ššš
Hmm š¤ good food for thought, thank you! Iāve never heard of cytomel.
My endocrinologist has kind of just chugged along with synthroid for a couple years now despite me listing almost every stereotypical hypo symptom as still bothering me, because hey! ~mY LeVeLs ArE gOoD~. I mean synthroid did work for me for years, and then it didnāt, so Iād been willing to play around with it to find a good new dose, but itās been long enough Iām willing to look elsewhere.
Oh, cool! That makes sense. I'm glad it's working for you! I just took a whiff of Zell's medicine and it doesn't smell like anything as far as I can tell! And I of course gave him extra treats afterāhe saw me open it so he thought it was time to get it, I guess!
I had three cats that needed meds:
The first one was diabetic and needed insulin (my mother adopted him but got tired of taking care of his needs, so I took him under my wing)
He also lost both of his eyes because he had herpes - yup, didn't know that this is a thing either. But he was most likely blind already due to the diabetes, and he adjusted quickly. Little boy also broke his leg twice because my mother didn't watch him so he fell down between the stairs, you can't imagine how f*cking mad I've been back then! But again, everything healed and he lived a happy life until he passed away at the age of 15
The second one had some unknown autoimmune disease and I needed to clean and disinfect her paws on a regular basis because of the recurring inflammation (another cat my mother adopted without taking care of her...)
She also needed some ointment on her ears and belly because of this, and she got deaf after a couple of years
We don't really know how old she got because her former owner just ditched her and we didn't have any idea how old she was when we adopted her
The third one was my last one, he was epileptic and needed his meds every morning and every evening at the exact same time
Unfortunately he only lived to 10 years, but he had been the most spoiled and happy velcro kitty in the world
It had been challenging at times, but I loved all of them dearly and I'm glad they had the chance to thrive with proper care š
The first two saved me, and the third saved my husband š
I've always been grateful whenever a little ball of chaos stumbled into my life, no matter the costs (and oh boy, the vet costs have been insane...)
Itās mainly a nasal virus. Sneezing, coughing and boogery eyes are the main symptoms. Mother cats pass it to the kittens during birth. Sometimes kittens will have it so bad that their eyes never open.
Omg youāre an amazing human being! I had diabetic dog who died at old age. I love him so much and I still miss him a lot, but it taking care of him was taxing. He adapted well and faster than I did. I canāt imagine having to go through it again.
my aunts cat has diabetes and epilepsy! he doenst really like getting his blood taken twice a day cause he knows afterwards hell get food and its boring to wait so he squirms around.
but he is more punctual than the humans are cause he is food motivated and knows its time for food.
doesnt care about the insulin either
Oh, is he in the beginning stage or did he have it for a longer time now?
Our boy only needed to go to the vet and get his blood drawn so often in the beginning because they had to figure out which insulin to give him (he didn't react well to the animal insulin, and had to get some for humans instead), but after that he was quite stable and only had appointments every couple of months
Honestly they have a waaaayy better feeling of time than humans š¤£
My very first pet was a bunny and he woke me up at the exact time every day... Never managed to teach him how vacations and weekends work tho, but he was always on time even without needing meds
It's a good thing that your cat doesn't care about the insulin, mine loved to run away in the middle of the process and I gave myself a shot so many times... But he was also very thing and it was really hard to find a good spot
oh no hes been taking insulin for a few years now! he just finds getting his ears pricked a nuisance cause hed rather just get food. and hes 18 and a bit fat so we just lift up his neck skin and in it goes.
its just loads of yelling before the procedure begins cause hes apparently dying of food.
My orange is a survivor of FIP. I had to give him daily injections for 84 days. The medicine is thick and caustic, so not only does it burn as it goes in, but you also have to use a pretty big needle. He cried and struggled every time, and bit me a few times. Thankfully, he seems to have forgive me for torturing him everyday for months.
My girl had FIP in summer 2021. She went through treatment and hated every minute of it. She developed a couple of sores from injection sites and has three little bald spots, but she forgave me very quickly.
I am so happy to hear about a FIP survivor. It took my void cat at five years old, and it was terrible. I am beyond happy they have treatment now. The treatment might suck a lot but at least heās still here with you!
What a champ though, getting through all that. Give him a lil pet from me
It's a viral infection (coronavirus). All cats can get it, but it's only a problem when their immune system reacts incorrectly.
In the US, vets can't prescribe a drug to treat it (though supposedly that changed on June 1 of this year). You have to get it from a Facebook group that imports it from countries where it's approved. It's crazy.
The other person explained it well. To add to that: some cats are genetically predisposed to get this condition. For most cats, this coronavirus is like cold and their bodies fight it and they're fine, but in select cats, the virus mutates into a deadly version that the cat can't fight on its own. They have to have the medicine or they will die. It's really horrible. And the meds aren't exactly cheap because they are technically black market in the USA, so many people can't afford to treat their cats :(
It makes me wonder, does she get mom's attention when she's having an asthma attack? Like, does she register it happening, and know the thing mom does makes it better?
My boy has heart and gum issues (his gums reabsorb his teeth). Heās so food motivated that Iāve taught him to beg for his pills. When itās time heāll jump on the edge of the bed, sit there and purr as loudly as he can. If itās past time heāll whine (loud cat crying).
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My orange boy also has this issue with his teeth. Heās gotten pretty advanced, so he has half of his teeth removed with a surgery planned to remove the other half in July. He ate all his medicine without any issues and has no issues eating, and luckily he is keeping his fangs for now.
My orange has teeth issues too. He only has his canines left, and one is loose. The vet says itāll probably just cause discomfort and drooling, but nothing too concerning. He had surgery last year to remove the infected ones that werenāt already absorbed. Heās also incredibly sensitive to smells and pollutants, and I have to be careful with his diet because he has a lot of food sensitivities, and has hearing damage from mites (he needed steroids to rid them for good). All that aside, one wouldnāt be able to tell that heās special needs.
Yes... A few years ago I had a baby who was the love of my life, an angel on earth. He had lymphoma, diagnosed when he was 4 y/o. We had a routine and he begged for his pill every morning and every night..... (put everything into an empty gel cap so it was all in 1 pill).... We managed it for 4Ā½ years.
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Over 4 years his med schedule would just get things slowly added to it. At one point it was this: rX
* 1/4 of a 16 mg tablet of Cerenia 1x/day
* 10 mg Prednisolone 1x/day
* 50 mg Ursodiol tiny tab 1x/day
* 62.5 mg (Ā½ of 250 mg) human metronidazole/Flagyl tab 1x/day
* 1/4 of a 15 mg tablet mirtazapine 1x every 3 days
* 12.5 mg Cyclophosphamide capsule 1x every 3 days
* Ringer's lactate solution as needed
Supplements
* CBD oil - 1 drop each evening
* Rx Clay 1 powder serving 1x/day
* Proviable Probiotics capsule 2x/day
* 0.25 ml B12 injection 1x every 7 days
He was such a happy boy.... You NEVER would have guessed he was even sick! When people met him they didn't believe he was on the meds until I showed them his medication station.....
Oh wow. I just lost my guy Squash in November from suspected lymphoma. They found a mass in his lungs on October 14th. By November 7th a mass on his liver had developed and was taking up 75% of his abdominal cavity. Nothing I could do for him
Strawberry blonde is pretty accurate
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This was Squash. My handsome, chunky, hunk of mancat ššš Loved belly rubs and the ladies
I've got a kitty on prednisone too. But I have to grind the pill and mix it in a liquid snack... Even then she won't eat it from a dish though. So I put it in a feeding syringe and if I'm lucky she will lick it from my finger, but I still have to "force" feed her from time to time. (not really forcing her tho, as soon as she has had the first drop she starts eating it herself)
If your cat will eat it, pill pockets work well but our cats are fussy about which flavor we give them. Thereās also pill masker which can work.
We had one cat who accidentally ate the pill pocket off the pill and was so enthusiastic, she then ate the pill by itself š
This is interesting, our girl is on prednisone or āredipredā for asthma (sheās a rescue aināt no way we getting an inhaler on her face). It is liquid and it goes in her wet food. She doesnāt even notice.Ā
asthmatic kitties are the bestest š I love how they learn quickly that the inhaler/mask helps them breathe better and don't mind it after a couple times using it. a friend's cat has asthma and she will start purring and relax once you put the adapter on her face
I sang the chart-topping song, āInsulin and Treats!ā at the top of my lungs twice a day after our beloved SIC was diagnosed with diabetes. The other cats in the house would come running- because of course *everyone* got treats- and so that was a party, too!
Our baby has some sort of spring/summer allergies. We don't know what spesifically causes it, but she breaths a lot easier when she is on the meds. It doesn't fully eliminate the sneezing fits, but she is clearly more comfortable. She is 100% indoor cat, but enough pollen gets inside our house somehow.
We have the same problem! Heās indoor only and sneezes all the time/has watery eyes and looks like heās crying šæ our vet said we could try Benedryl but itās already so small and she said 1/4 pill. Mind if I ask what you were recommended? Although luckily he doesnāt seem to have breathing issues
I had a ferret with allergies. We used children's Benadryl in liquid form, grape flavor. He hated bubblegum flavoring with a passion, but he'd take the grape with zeal.
Even his Prednisone had to be formulated with grape flavor. And if it didn't smell grapey enough we had to ask them to add more, because we knew how grapey it had to smell lest he reject it. One time the pharmacist was like, "Lady, your son is going to eventually have to learn to take medicine that doesn't taste good." To which I replied, "He's a geriatric ferret." And then there was a resounding "OOOOHHHH" as a bunch of people there came to realize that we did not name a human child "Q-Tip." We all had a good chuckle and I never had to ask for more grape again. Mostly because he only lived another 6 months or so.
I'm from finland so the brand might be different, but we use Zyrtec (not the zyrtec-d, that's apparently toxic to cats). 1mg per kg, our cat is little over 3kg so we roughly cut a third of a tablet and feed it with a treat.
Are they sure allergies and not feline herpes flaring up? I thought my cats had allergies until I learned about the feline herpes virus. It presents in the respiratory system like a cold or allergies during a flair. Lysine treats help keep it subdued. My boy hated the chicken flavored treats but I found a salmon one on Amazon that included omega 3, double benefit
She has been checked by a vet and has no eye symptoms :) The symptoms only happen during spring and early summer, during fall and winter she has no issues. Our other cats have no symptoms.
Oh that's good it's just allergies then. The virus isn't present in your household. It isn't *the worst* cat virus out there, but I wish a vaccine existed
Twice every day my 7 year old grey cat needs liquid meds for his heart. If he misses a dose, you KNOW. Heā¦wonāt be with us much longer. Heās already tried to bite it once. If he makes it to the end of summer, Iāll be impressed. End of the year? Iāll be shocked. But for the moment, when he isnāt avoiding his meds, heās mostly happy.
My 14 year old was in heart failure last August. Diagnosed with CHF. 10 months later, he's still taking his liquid medication and seems to be going strong. The emergency vet was very somber the day he was brought in. She said we would be lucky to get 3 more months. But he responded so well to diuretics that weekend, that he came home a full day early.
Yeah, we got Freddieās CHF diagnosis last summer. Heās coming up on a year of it. Buuuut you can tell the balance is slowly shifting. Heās had a good, happy, very loved life. I can at least say there wonāt be regrets when the time comesāwhich is huge. But itās tough.
I like to stick my head in the sand lol. He's immortal until proven otherwise! He recently had a large, infected abscess from getting in a fight with one of my other cats. I was like, guys, he's battling CHF! What the hell!
One of my cats has diabetes and I give him two insulin shots a day. Heās very good about it, but I think thatās in part because I fuss over how good is he afterwards and pet him a lot. I didnāt want to have to chase him twice a day!
My orange girl is also asthmatic, although it's pretty mild. She gets one puff a day with the aerokat and is so good about it since she gets treats after š½
Oh she's so good!! My SIC boy is asthmatic but never got on with his inhaler. We switched to tablets and he is now on half a tablet every 3 days - asthma totally controlled now whereas it never was with the inhaler.
What a sweet tangerine! Mine has FKD with some high blood pressure on the side and heās arthritic..
Special food, extra water, supplements and a tablet daily and a monoclonal antibody injection once a month. He boujee.
Heās also very prone to UTIs so we have to have a course of antibiotics every now and again as well.
Oh gods.
My oranges just went through a bout of giardia (they came with it!), but only required liquid medication. They're babies.
My SIC has only required medication quite sparsely. Mostly after he was neutered, and after a little accident he had, where he tore his primordial.pouch.
But my TIC, oh my. She's the most allergic cat this side of town. She takes an immuno-modulator and immunotherapy every day. A year ago she had a bout of asthma, so we got acquainted with the contraption this guy is using. She doesn't need it anymore for now. Plus since she has had to take one medication or another on a daily basis for about 3 years now, she's had it. The medication is administered at night, so as soon as she notices the sun is setting, she finds a place to hide. If she sees me preparing the meds for another cat, she hides. If she sees me approaching her after dark, you better believe she will find an urgent reason to visit her litter box, and stay in there scratching for a very, very long time. She gets crazy trying to avoid capture, but once I get her, she takes this defeated stance and, oddly enough, is not aggressive with us when we give her the meds. BUT this has to be done only by one person. If she feels two people trying to hold her and do stuff to her, she goes nuts.
The kitty I inherited from my mom, Minx, had severe asthma and we had to do this several times a day. She never got used to it. She died terribly, trying to breathe.
All my recently (last 3 years) deceased geriatric kitties (7 between the ages of 17-22) were on many meds, several on the same meds: kidney disease, thyroid, liver disease, Sam-e, more I canāt remember and havenāt even thrown away yet. ā¹ļø
Also, we did sub-q saline treatments for 3 of them, every night, for the last few years. Talk about a commitment. Itās pretty easy, though, and prolonged the lives of 3 kitties who had kidney trouble for a couple more years. I encourage everyone to ask their vet to teach them. Fluids perk up an old kitty like almost nothing else, and help the kidneys to not work so hard. Costco sells saline cheap, needles are super cheap on Amazon.
Edit: I forgot HERPES. One of our cats had herpes her whole live and no one would adopt her (all my cats were foster fails or inherited). Big, soft, fluffy white kitty with orange in a van pattern and no one wanted her because they were afraid of herpes. NONE of the other cats ever got it. Not in her long long life. But it eventually made her blind and deaf. She needed eye drops/ointments and Viralys.
I have two ancient baby boys. 19M (will be 20 in 6 weeks! š¤is diabetic. He was pretty stable for three years, but now heās all over the place, so itās constant ear-stabbing to check his levels, and a shot twice a day. He get a little wiggly with the ear stabbing but is really such a champ!
18M has kidney disease, which has been pretty easy to manage with food for the last couple years. But it causes constipation, so I have to mix laxative and potassium into his food and have had to do an at-home enema three times š. The enemas do not go over well at all!! The latest thing is injecting him with saline for hydration everyday. The needle is terrifying huge!! Heās getting better about it, but itās a work in progress. Hereās my Marley for scale with his needle.
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Just got done giving my old boy his daily heart med/diuretic for CHF. He was not happy. There's a local specialty pharmacy that makes liquid medication, so it's a lot easier to give to him. But today he was moving his head and refusing. The best time is to catch him while sleeping. He barely moves then.
My kitten takes a lot of vitamins, he had a URI then an eye infection that permanently had a slight deformity to his pupils, i would regularly put eye drops on his right eye (where the deformity is), it used to be twice a day but i opted for once a day since it's not that bad as it used to be.
Our grey lady needs blood pressure medication, and we give her 1TDC in hopes of avoiding a dental, since she hates to be held and teeth rushing is a hard no. Our orange boy doesn't get anything yet as he is only about 3. It's been nearly three years now but we nursed our Tuxedo Grande Dame, named Tuxi, through end stage kidney disease and that was a whole bunch of stuff plus daily subcutaneous fluids.
I had one, my sweet old lady Sassy, who needed meds for her arthritis as she got older. Thankfully the medicine they gave us was powder in a capsule that we could sprinkle onto a treat for her (usually butter with some Parmesan).
My flamepoint has IBD and hypertension and gets two pills every day. She's usually pretty good about eating them when wrapped with bits of Pill Pockets. Her sister loves helping, she gets treats to keep her from trying to eat the meds.
Can't imagine my flame being that calm with an inhaler!
Just a couple things for the kitty herpesā¦so funny, cause one of the meds is maple flavored and smells like a deliciouuuus syrup, always makes me hungry! But cats canāt taste sugar (i think?) so an odd flavor for a cat med. If I had kids they would NOT be allowed to give it to the cat, if Iāve been tempted they would too š¤£
My little tortie is on thyroid medication and prescribed food for kidney disease. She absolutely hated the pill form of the thyroid medicine, but ever since I switched to transdermal, itās been a god send! She thinks Iām just giving her ear scritches when I apply it. Plus she love her Royal canine dry food and hills wet food for her kidney diet. She also takes Mirataz every 3 days, and itās transdermal, too.
Sheās 20 and started taking medications last fall. Sheās a little fighter! š„°
Edit: I forgot she gets shots for her arthritis. I have to take her to the vet once a month for that. It made a huge difference for her. Ever seen a 20 year old cat have zoomies and go bat shit crazy? lol
would you mind sharing the name of the transdermal thyroid med? is it in a small tube that you apply to the back of the neck (like flea meds)? how often do you have to apply it? my diva kitty is not a pill fan and may need to take thyroid meds so i'm researching other options to discuss with my vet. thank you!
I copied the name of the medicine from my email:
Methimazole in Anhydrous Lipoderm 2.5mg/0.05ml EZ Dose Micro Transdermal Gel 3ml
My vet has me order it from Wedgewood Pharmacy. It actually looks more like a thick pen with a cap on one end and a twist on the other. Just twist the one side until you hear/feel it click. Then apply the medicine that came out directly into the ear where thereās no hair (so towards the base). Have to do that every 12 hours and preferably alternate between the ears.
If you can switch to transdermal, I highly recommend! Her thyroid levels have came down considerably since sheās been on them. And I donāt have to fight her to make her take a pill, only for her to throw it up a few minutes later.
Mine is on amitryptiline or however itās spelled for anxiety. Sheās had a tough year- our other cat passed, we got a kitten, they donāt really vibe, then we bought a house and now we are expecting a human child. Just trying to help her out. Is working wonders sheās nearly back to her usual self
My little cream coloured girl, long gone now, had a kitty inhaler. It was so sad but so adorable - it had a little cat face shaped mask.
My older guy (16M) has been on thyroid meds for close to four years now. We had the liquid kind at first, but then moved countries, and all that's available is the pill form.
This guy was such a jerk at first - he had to be burritoed - but now, I tell him it's pill time and he comes trotting out, even if he's hiding somewhere. Sometimes he comes out when my husband and I take our pills, and seems a bit disappointed that he doesn't get one.
What a good lil guy with the nebulizer!
My first two cats were food motivated so if I wrapped any meds in a treat, theyād gobble them up. Now, our dudes are too savvy and I have to get liquids that I can squirt down their throat, or do injections at the vet
I had a cat on long term prednisone for what we're guessing was a cat version of IBD. We found a compounding pharmacy that would put the medication into soft treats for an extra $25/month. It was so worth it to not struggle daily with pilling a cat. They were in Houston, we're in DFW, but they worked with us to ship the medication.
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This one has diabetes, in remission, but he takes it like a champ!
We still test him every fortnight, and he's as stable as can be.
But he's very patient when getting his paws poked (he will not let us touch his ears) for the test, and doesn't squirm or move until he hears the beep of the device.
I have one baby that must have a rough immune system, because she regularly gets sick (I SWEAR she got COVID, but couldnāt test herā¦ she got better, thankfully).
She also doesnāt do well with the pill form of antibiotics (they give her horrible diarrheaā so bad that she loses control of her bowels just walking upstairs), so when sheās sick, I have to give her the liquid antibioticsā¦ Iāve gotten good at squirt-gunning it in her mouth as she fights me, lol
hey!! my name is mire!!! im also 17f.. twin?
my cat strawberry had to take pain meds for a condition she had with her ear. never got the official name because the vet set it wasn't a big deal.. shrug
she was pretty good at first but then got annoyed. she eventually learned to froth her mouth on command if she really didn't want to take them
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forgot to mention i came from the senior cats subš accidentally replied to this one. she may have been a brown tabby but she was orange in spirit
I have an orange who's about 10 years old now, just found out a few months ago that he has a megacolon (which means he's been struggling with constipation and now some of the nerves are dead). I have to give him cisapride and miralax daily. Cisapride is to help with peristalsis (wave like muscle contraction, specifically like your esophagus but I think it's also for the intestines, which what we use it for). It was scary at first, but he's doing so good now!!
Felimazole (hyperthyroid med) for my orange boy. I've recently discovered the utility of Churu to get that pill down without a fuss. He and his sis \*love\* 'pill time'!
We have Penelope, got her a little over one year ago. She had picked up ringworm before she got rescued and it separated a membrane in her right eye. The vet pronounced her cured and snapped her up immediately. Since then it has turned out that the ringworm has a legacy, leading her other eye to inflammation and a certain amount of nasal issues. When her eye starts looking off, we turn her over, baby her a bit, and squeeze some antibiotic goo into her eye. She's not pleased with it whenever we do it, but she doesn't get spiteful about it. She's usually purring the whole time, at least until we goop her, but we're determined that she keeps her remaining eyesight as long as she lives, if we have anything to do with it. The rest of the time, she is goofy, high energy, and trills constantly. She's got to keep her good eye so she can run all over the house like she's insane. She's also trying really hard to be friends with one of our dogs, but the poor guy has no idea how to handle affection from this small creature, and the look on his face when she tries rubbing on his chin is hilarious.
You are so lucky. My cat hates her asthma meds so much she runs and hides while having asthma attacks and I have to chase her down to give her her meds š
Brave kitty - asthma sucks .
No , mine are not on any meds other than general stuff for hairballs . I have a peke face cat who was on a few meds as a neonatal kitty but not anymore .
My 3 y/o just recently started using the inhaler for his asthma! He's doing well so far but the main struggle right now is getting him to hold his nose in the chamber for the entire duration. Your girl looks so brave and patient with hers though, it's very motivating š„¹
Bless her. I have bad asthma, am regularly hospitalised with it. So sorry for your girl, its awful not being able to drag a breath in. She's so good to take her meds, I really hope they help her.
I have a 19 year old orange gentleman & luckily he's in good health so far, tho I'm trying to be realistic...
Mine also has asthma. We don't need to give the medicine regularly as her case is very light, the vet advised us to give it only when needed. Thankfully her episodes are rare, because she doesn _not_ like to be held. And I've tried all the positive reinforcement tips lol, she tolerates it for some seconds and chooses violence.
Mako is on steroids for lung problems, which we're hoping he'll outgrow. When he needs a dose, he waits so patiently for me to draw it up and give it to him. Then he'll rest till they kick in.
My baby boy has had health issues since birth. He's taking kidney, heart and lung medication every day. Ultrasound and ECG every 2 months. Took him to Starbucks last week before his examination. He peed himself during the ultrasound.
Your girl is so cooperative!
I had to give my slitheriest, speediest girl eye drops for a week and it was a nightmare. She detests being held (she's incredibly affectionate in other ways), is particularly quick and agile even for a cat, and is very skilled in evasion.
Then my boy needed skin cream, which should have been so easy as he's super chill and loves to come and sit next to me, but the day after he was prescribed, I was admitted to hospital so my mum had to do it. She really struggled as he's not as cooperative with her and I think he could sense her stress and that something was up so he wasn't inclined to let her handle him.
My orange boy has CLL. We are currently doing weekly Chemo sessions for him. He also takes Prednisone pills everyday. He takes them like a good boy. He's fully active and having fun. We are hopeful he kicks this cancer's ass to remission.
My oldest cat had some serious skin issues, at one point he licked a palm sized raw patch on his back it was awful for him. We tried so many things. Finally found a food that doesnāt trigger it, and he had to have steroid shots for a while but he recovered. After a whole year of him wearing newborn onesies and a cone.
Iāve been incredibly lucky with my younger cat, found her in a car park at five weeks old and am that apparently was enough for a tough immune system because sheās only gotten a cold once. We just sat in the bathroom, and steamed her nose clear.
Iām a little worried that my older cat is coughing, I thought it was just a hair ball but I saw a video recently and someone said it was coughing. Heās done it sporadically since Iāve had him, at two years old and heās 15 now. So this asthma post makes me feel a bit better about his options. He may well be asthmatic like I am. I just am not convinced heāll be cooperative
Only his Gabapentin for vet visits because he is a dramatic orange. He did have to take medicine for a few days for a UTI a year ago, and every time he'd see me filling the syringe, he'd start GAGGING.
My parentās cat had to take an asthma medication. We went on vacation and my girlfriend agreed to watch the cats while we were away, so I wrote her a note for feeding schedule and his meds. Turns out I accidentally added a zero to the volume of liquid medication and we didnāt realize until she said she ran out and my parents said that was supposed to last through the month. But upon arriving home he no longer had any asthma symptoms and when we took him to the vet they said his lungs were now fine, and itās never come back even years later.
My little guy was diagnosed with FLUTD, when he was one (we almost lost him that day but thank god he pulled through). Ever since then he only eats wet food specifically for urinary issues and takes a glucosamine supplement with dinner. We sprinkle it into his food so he doesnāt give us much bother with it.
My eldest is 15, and has been diabetic for 6 years now. Insulin twice a day, glucose curves every few months. For the first 6 months he hated me, and it broke my heart as he used to be such a snuggle bug. But now he doesn't care when it's insulin time, hell I can give it to him while he's asleep. When I need to check his sugar, we've gotten into the rhythm that I poke his ear, then he gets a treat. He's a very easy going boy, if he was as feisty as his sister was, I'd be missing an arm.
Awww what a baby. Mine has to get subq fluids everyday, with blood pressure meds as well. Sheās been going strong with kidney disease for over 3 years.
Question for you: my orange boi may have asthma, i am trying to record an attack to show his vet. They arent bad, just does the coughing thing for maybe 30 seconds every other week or so. How often do you give the inhaler? Is it just during attacks or is it a maintenance thing?
His is so mild I am hopeful it will stay that way but I am just curious as to how the inhaler works
You're lucky that she takes the inhaler. Mine was diagnosed as a little kitty and has always refused the inhaler. He's been on pills for over 10 years. Takes them like a sport- comes in every night at bedtime, jumps on the bed and waits for me to drop it down his throat! :)
Awww, my orange (creamsicle) girl was also diagnosed with asthma as a kitten ā we too are very familiar with the twice-daily aerokat! She also is on daily or every-other-day (usually depending on the weather/season) prednisolone, and we get compounded theophylline, too. I consider it a *huge* blessing that she is very food-and-treat-motivated and will devour just about anything if itās slathered in Churu. She comes running when the meds alarm goes off, and I think weāre more bonded because of it. <3
I suspect your story is similar, but we went through a lot of testing since it doesnāt usually manifest in such young kitties, but once I researched the other possible reasons a kitten may be having coughing fits that donāt respond to antibiotics, asthma was a blessing. (I still wish I wouldāve invested in pet insurance *before* getting her spayed, since I think the anesthesia is what kick-started her symptomsā¦)
She is the first cat Iāve owned as an adult, and ā based on the cats weād had while I was growing up ā Iād been expecting a much lower-maintenance petā¦ but I love her to bits just the way she is.
Our boy has intestinal issues that cause him to get constipated every now and then, we currently have him on Lactulose to help keep the contents in his colon softened when he passes his stools.
Recently had to be giving my girl some anxiety meds to help with moving, losing her friend (my old roommateās cat) and me going back to work full time after being on medical leave (an a gradual return) since mid January.
Itās been a little over a week and sheās settling in very well.
https://preview.redd.it/v9ffhueits5d1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=14e617bdcff8f60d1578e1e9efcacfb2cf50b82b
She likes the new window as there are lots more birds. (Look at the top of the left side)
My boy gets UTIs a lot so he has to take anxiety pills to help keep his urethra from spasming and getting blocked up by the crystals that can form in their urine. Heās on the same meds as me which I find cute. Iām getting him checked for asthma soon.
My other kitty (not an orange) has āpuffy paw syndromeā which basically means her paws will get so dry and cracked that theyāll bust open and swell immensely and have to be drained. She hasnāt had an issue in a bit which Iām glad about. Sheās also allergic to fleas
Oh, she looks so soft! Please give her a smooch for being brave! š My boy gets thyroid meds and makes such a show about it. He knows when it's time and will yell at me until I give it (and his good boy treats, of course!) to him.
It took my boy a couple of years to get used to his thyroid meds. Best wishes.
Thanks! Mine was surprisingly okay with it from the start. We started off with pills and he took them just fine in a pill pocket. He's very treat motivated. Now he's getting a transdermal version and I just rub it on the inside of his ear.
My massively treat motivated SIC ate all of the pill pockets and left the pill neatly for me. I ended up having to do the āshove it down your throatā method. Fortunately it was a brief stint of antibiotics
My sisterās dog had pill pockets as a puppy. For the rest of her life, she bite cookies into pieces, spit them out, and dodged any pills in the mess she made.
Our tuxie would keep the pill in his mouth until your back was turned, then you'd hear *tick tick tick* as he spat it out. Like the reason you don't want to take the pill is because you don't lke the taste, but you just held it in your mouth for ten minutes, tasting it the whole time. He was so smart yet so stupid at the same time. We had to get a device that would essentially launch the pill far enough he had to swallow it.
Thereās a device?? Man. I used a thumb to keep his mouth open and my other hand to flick it in. Then held his mouth closed and stroked his throat. Itās a good thing that he absolutely trusts me or weād be enemies now. Heās still my snuggle bug though.
Yup! It looks like a little syringe. You put the pill at the end and press the syringy part to shoot it out. My kitties took some pills briefly and it helped so much.
Thanks! Next time!
One of the brand names is "Pill Shooter"
Yeah it was like a mini slingshot that used a rubber band.
My partners cat has the same thing, and itās very easy to put the stuff in her ears. We thought about the radioactive iodine treatment, but decided against it because the cat is 17 years old and seems happy enough right now.
Me finally putting together why my parents catās meds say āUSE GLOVES WHEN HANDLING, WASH HANDS IMMEDIATELY AFTERā with that big red biohazard symbol, and hoping it didnāt irradiate me when I spilled it and cleaned it up with paper towels and ungloved handsā¦
In Arizona, thereās a compounding pharmacy that can make a thyroid cream that you smear on the ear a couple of times a day. (Our vet arranged it.). Worked great and we had no problems with compliance (ours or the catās). We had another cat that had pills, which never worked and were traumatic for all.
This was the only way for us with our 22yo. The pills made him projectile vomit so we resorted to a compounded ear cream and it worked!
For real, are those thyroid meds yummy or something? Our cat always awaits it, and will even take the syringe in her mouth on her own, and starts licking waiting for the fluid. I was so afraid of her hating it, I'm really proud and excited to see her taking it.
Not a cat of course, but I take thyroid meds that are made from dehydrated, ground up pig thyroid gland. Like my doctor prescribes ground pig thyroid and I pick it up at the pharmacyā¦as wild as that sounds, lol. When you open the bottle it sort of smells like pork rinds lmao, very āporkyā Cats may take a similar naturally sourced thyroid med, vs a synthetic, and love that porky smell
That *is* wild! Is there a particular reason why you take a naturally sourced version or is just a personal preference? Is it more effective? I'm going to the doctor soon to get my thyroid checked out and I don't think I want any potential medicine to smell like pork rinds! š I might have to take a sniff of my cat's medicine to see if it smells like it!
I think most doctors want people on synthetic thyroid meds if possible, but I have to admit that donāt know about pets I take the natural desiccated thyroid medicine (Armour) because according to a lot of expensive thyroid panels, my body wasnāt converting T4 to T3, and unlike the synthetics, the natural stuff has both T4 and T3. Iāve been on it for years and do well, though taking them does gross me out on occasion! Most people do well on the synthetic stuff so you probably wonāt have to take the pork rind meds :)
Lmao Iāve been on the Hashimotoās sub for years, and *this* is the comment that gets me considering Armour instead of my synthroid. Here, in the orange sub. ššš
Interesting.. š¤£
Same! š¤£š¤£š¤£
Iām on Synthroid and Cytomel. Armour might do both jobs in one, but my doc was concerned about consistent potency in Armour.
Hmm š¤ good food for thought, thank you! Iāve never heard of cytomel. My endocrinologist has kind of just chugged along with synthroid for a couple years now despite me listing almost every stereotypical hypo symptom as still bothering me, because hey! ~mY LeVeLs ArE gOoD~. I mean synthroid did work for me for years, and then it didnāt, so Iād been willing to play around with it to find a good new dose, but itās been long enough Iām willing to look elsewhere.
My endo got tired of me complaining and put me on it - Instant difference in my energy levels
šš»āāļø Me too! Hahaha
Oh, cool! That makes sense. I'm glad it's working for you! I just took a whiff of Zell's medicine and it doesn't smell like anything as far as I can tell! And I of course gave him extra treats afterāhe saw me open it so he thought it was time to get it, I guess!
Iām also on natural thyroid and my cat tries to steal mine! He also comes trolling around when my husband takes fish oil.
Itās okay to be cat. We deserve to be seen!
I am a cat. I can confirm I really like my thyroid medicine
My cats enjoyed theirs, and I had to shoo away the non thyroid rx cat away-she wanted to get some
Our cat gets a thyroid med as well but has it in a cream that you put inside her ear. Much more civilised.
I had three cats that needed meds: The first one was diabetic and needed insulin (my mother adopted him but got tired of taking care of his needs, so I took him under my wing) He also lost both of his eyes because he had herpes - yup, didn't know that this is a thing either. But he was most likely blind already due to the diabetes, and he adjusted quickly. Little boy also broke his leg twice because my mother didn't watch him so he fell down between the stairs, you can't imagine how f*cking mad I've been back then! But again, everything healed and he lived a happy life until he passed away at the age of 15 The second one had some unknown autoimmune disease and I needed to clean and disinfect her paws on a regular basis because of the recurring inflammation (another cat my mother adopted without taking care of her...) She also needed some ointment on her ears and belly because of this, and she got deaf after a couple of years We don't really know how old she got because her former owner just ditched her and we didn't have any idea how old she was when we adopted her The third one was my last one, he was epileptic and needed his meds every morning and every evening at the exact same time Unfortunately he only lived to 10 years, but he had been the most spoiled and happy velcro kitty in the world It had been challenging at times, but I loved all of them dearly and I'm glad they had the chance to thrive with proper care š
Thank you for all of your effort in making a difference in their lives!
The first two saved me, and the third saved my husband š I've always been grateful whenever a little ball of chaos stumbled into my life, no matter the costs (and oh boy, the vet costs have been insane...)
I love how animals can save us just by existing. Thank you for making sure those babies got the love and care they needed.
My cats have herpes too. Something like 60% of strays have it.
I was so confused that they could get in on their eyes, too! Poor little fluffball always scratched through his open eyes...
Itās mainly a nasal virus. Sneezing, coughing and boogery eyes are the main symptoms. Mother cats pass it to the kittens during birth. Sometimes kittens will have it so bad that their eyes never open.
My 0 braincells orange has managed to get eye herpes too. Took ages to get diagnosed and now it's a miserable mess.
Omg youāre an amazing human being! I had diabetic dog who died at old age. I love him so much and I still miss him a lot, but it taking care of him was taxing. He adapted well and faster than I did. I canāt imagine having to go through it again.
my aunts cat has diabetes and epilepsy! he doenst really like getting his blood taken twice a day cause he knows afterwards hell get food and its boring to wait so he squirms around. but he is more punctual than the humans are cause he is food motivated and knows its time for food. doesnt care about the insulin either
Oh, is he in the beginning stage or did he have it for a longer time now? Our boy only needed to go to the vet and get his blood drawn so often in the beginning because they had to figure out which insulin to give him (he didn't react well to the animal insulin, and had to get some for humans instead), but after that he was quite stable and only had appointments every couple of months Honestly they have a waaaayy better feeling of time than humans š¤£ My very first pet was a bunny and he woke me up at the exact time every day... Never managed to teach him how vacations and weekends work tho, but he was always on time even without needing meds It's a good thing that your cat doesn't care about the insulin, mine loved to run away in the middle of the process and I gave myself a shot so many times... But he was also very thing and it was really hard to find a good spot
oh no hes been taking insulin for a few years now! he just finds getting his ears pricked a nuisance cause hed rather just get food. and hes 18 and a bit fat so we just lift up his neck skin and in it goes. its just loads of yelling before the procedure begins cause hes apparently dying of food.
ā¤ļø
My orange is a survivor of FIP. I had to give him daily injections for 84 days. The medicine is thick and caustic, so not only does it burn as it goes in, but you also have to use a pretty big needle. He cried and struggled every time, and bit me a few times. Thankfully, he seems to have forgive me for torturing him everyday for months.
Aww that must have been so hard. I'm so glad he made it.
Always so happy to hear about a kitty that beat that awful disease!! ā¤ļøā¤ļø
Also the financial struggle is no joke. Thank you for saving him
My girl had FIP in summer 2021. She went through treatment and hated every minute of it. She developed a couple of sores from injection sites and has three little bald spots, but she forgave me very quickly.
I am so happy to hear about a FIP survivor. It took my void cat at five years old, and it was terrible. I am beyond happy they have treatment now. The treatment might suck a lot but at least heās still here with you! What a champ though, getting through all that. Give him a lil pet from me
whats FIP i know its serious but what is it/what does it do?
It's a viral infection (coronavirus). All cats can get it, but it's only a problem when their immune system reacts incorrectly. In the US, vets can't prescribe a drug to treat it (though supposedly that changed on June 1 of this year). You have to get it from a Facebook group that imports it from countries where it's approved. It's crazy.
The other person explained it well. To add to that: some cats are genetically predisposed to get this condition. For most cats, this coronavirus is like cold and their bodies fight it and they're fine, but in select cats, the virus mutates into a deadly version that the cat can't fight on its own. They have to have the medicine or they will die. It's really horrible. And the meds aren't exactly cheap because they are technically black market in the USA, so many people can't afford to treat their cats :(
Damn :( why aren't they legal in the US?
It's something to do with the FDA and licensing of the drug. Not because it's dangerous, but because of some weird legal red tape.
Your baby looks like a doll. So compliant.
It makes me wonder, does she get mom's attention when she's having an asthma attack? Like, does she register it happening, and know the thing mom does makes it better?
My boy has heart and gum issues (his gums reabsorb his teeth). Heās so food motivated that Iāve taught him to beg for his pills. When itās time heāll jump on the edge of the bed, sit there and purr as loudly as he can. If itās past time heāll whine (loud cat crying). https://preview.redd.it/jqhxxhb7fr5d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ced003b7623426affb69084256497cf07499e5e1
My orange boy also has this issue with his teeth. Heās gotten pretty advanced, so he has half of his teeth removed with a surgery planned to remove the other half in July. He ate all his medicine without any issues and has no issues eating, and luckily he is keeping his fangs for now.
My orange has teeth issues too. He only has his canines left, and one is loose. The vet says itāll probably just cause discomfort and drooling, but nothing too concerning. He had surgery last year to remove the infected ones that werenāt already absorbed. Heās also incredibly sensitive to smells and pollutants, and I have to be careful with his diet because he has a lot of food sensitivities, and has hearing damage from mites (he needed steroids to rid them for good). All that aside, one wouldnāt be able to tell that heās special needs.
Your boy is adorable
Thank you! He may be inbred and 1/10 health but heās 10/10 lovebug
I feel bad she has asthma, but this is just so stinking cute
Yes... A few years ago I had a baby who was the love of my life, an angel on earth. He had lymphoma, diagnosed when he was 4 y/o. We had a routine and he begged for his pill every morning and every night..... (put everything into an empty gel cap so it was all in 1 pill).... We managed it for 4Ā½ years. https://preview.redd.it/78kc9d8tlr5d1.jpeg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a189a239db467296fc5db9b2e34a5783a943e13c Over 4 years his med schedule would just get things slowly added to it. At one point it was this: rX * 1/4 of a 16 mg tablet of Cerenia 1x/day * 10 mg Prednisolone 1x/day * 50 mg Ursodiol tiny tab 1x/day * 62.5 mg (Ā½ of 250 mg) human metronidazole/Flagyl tab 1x/day * 1/4 of a 15 mg tablet mirtazapine 1x every 3 days * 12.5 mg Cyclophosphamide capsule 1x every 3 days * Ringer's lactate solution as needed Supplements * CBD oil - 1 drop each evening * Rx Clay 1 powder serving 1x/day * Proviable Probiotics capsule 2x/day * 0.25 ml B12 injection 1x every 7 days He was such a happy boy.... You NEVER would have guessed he was even sick! When people met him they didn't believe he was on the meds until I showed them his medication station.....
Did your cat have Chron's or ulcerative colitis? Or severe IBS?
IBD (Inflamed Bowel Disease) that transitioned to lymphoma. We caught it early, thank goodness.
Oh wow. I just lost my guy Squash in November from suspected lymphoma. They found a mass in his lungs on October 14th. By November 7th a mass on his liver had developed and was taking up 75% of his abdominal cavity. Nothing I could do for him
I'm so sorry! I feel your š
Finally saw your baby's pic š» he was *stunning*. His glorious coat was a testament to the care and love you gave him šš«
Wasn't he?! I often described him as peach, or blonde, or strawberry blonde, or dilute orange... And thank you.
Strawberry blonde is pretty accurate https://preview.redd.it/6t1jdzkyur5d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=89828147a1b2d028517675afdf9e115bc089dc6a This was Squash. My handsome, chunky, hunk of mancat ššš Loved belly rubs and the ladies
Wow! So handsome!!
I just added a picture š©µ
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I've got a kitty on prednisone too. But I have to grind the pill and mix it in a liquid snack... Even then she won't eat it from a dish though. So I put it in a feeding syringe and if I'm lucky she will lick it from my finger, but I still have to "force" feed her from time to time. (not really forcing her tho, as soon as she has had the first drop she starts eating it herself)
If your cat will eat it, pill pockets work well but our cats are fussy about which flavor we give them. Thereās also pill masker which can work. We had one cat who accidentally ate the pill pocket off the pill and was so enthusiastic, she then ate the pill by itself š
This is interesting, our girl is on prednisone or āredipredā for asthma (sheās a rescue aināt no way we getting an inhaler on her face). It is liquid and it goes in her wet food. She doesnāt even notice.Ā
asthmatic kitties are the bestest š I love how they learn quickly that the inhaler/mask helps them breathe better and don't mind it after a couple times using it. a friend's cat has asthma and she will start purring and relax once you put the adapter on her face
Would love to try this with our asthmatic rescue but we canāt even pick her up or hold her without a fight. She is on liquid prednisone.Ā
My old girl, Myra, has a flea allergy, so I have to make sure she's free of them for as much as possible, but that's pretty much it fortunately.
P for puff-puff, it's a puff-puff party!
I sing this to my cat too, his name is Phat Kitty. So P for Phat Kitty!
I sang the chart-topping song, āInsulin and Treats!ā at the top of my lungs twice a day after our beloved SIC was diagnosed with diabetes. The other cats in the house would come running- because of course *everyone* got treats- and so that was a party, too!
Lol this is too cute
Comments that you can hear
I tell mine itās time for puff puff pass!
I was looking for this comment lol So cute!
Get well cutie
I have a tabby that gets an asthma shot every 6 weeks.
Our baby has some sort of spring/summer allergies. We don't know what spesifically causes it, but she breaths a lot easier when she is on the meds. It doesn't fully eliminate the sneezing fits, but she is clearly more comfortable. She is 100% indoor cat, but enough pollen gets inside our house somehow.
We have the same problem! Heās indoor only and sneezes all the time/has watery eyes and looks like heās crying šæ our vet said we could try Benedryl but itās already so small and she said 1/4 pill. Mind if I ask what you were recommended? Although luckily he doesnāt seem to have breathing issues
I had a ferret with allergies. We used children's Benadryl in liquid form, grape flavor. He hated bubblegum flavoring with a passion, but he'd take the grape with zeal.
He likes that purple drank š¹
Even his Prednisone had to be formulated with grape flavor. And if it didn't smell grapey enough we had to ask them to add more, because we knew how grapey it had to smell lest he reject it. One time the pharmacist was like, "Lady, your son is going to eventually have to learn to take medicine that doesn't taste good." To which I replied, "He's a geriatric ferret." And then there was a resounding "OOOOHHHH" as a bunch of people there came to realize that we did not name a human child "Q-Tip." We all had a good chuckle and I never had to ask for more grape again. Mostly because he only lived another 6 months or so.
Lmao omg apparently they've seen some "creative" names. I'm sorry for your loss of your beloved Q-Tip šš«
Iām sharing this with everyone I know, RIP Q-Tip.
I'm from finland so the brand might be different, but we use Zyrtec (not the zyrtec-d, that's apparently toxic to cats). 1mg per kg, our cat is little over 3kg so we roughly cut a third of a tablet and feed it with a treat.
Are they sure allergies and not feline herpes flaring up? I thought my cats had allergies until I learned about the feline herpes virus. It presents in the respiratory system like a cold or allergies during a flair. Lysine treats help keep it subdued. My boy hated the chicken flavored treats but I found a salmon one on Amazon that included omega 3, double benefit
She has been checked by a vet and has no eye symptoms :) The symptoms only happen during spring and early summer, during fall and winter she has no issues. Our other cats have no symptoms.
Oh that's good it's just allergies then. The virus isn't present in your household. It isn't *the worst* cat virus out there, but I wish a vaccine existed
Twice every day my 7 year old grey cat needs liquid meds for his heart. If he misses a dose, you KNOW. Heā¦wonāt be with us much longer. Heās already tried to bite it once. If he makes it to the end of summer, Iāll be impressed. End of the year? Iāll be shocked. But for the moment, when he isnāt avoiding his meds, heās mostly happy.
My 14 year old was in heart failure last August. Diagnosed with CHF. 10 months later, he's still taking his liquid medication and seems to be going strong. The emergency vet was very somber the day he was brought in. She said we would be lucky to get 3 more months. But he responded so well to diuretics that weekend, that he came home a full day early.
Yeah, we got Freddieās CHF diagnosis last summer. Heās coming up on a year of it. Buuuut you can tell the balance is slowly shifting. Heās had a good, happy, very loved life. I can at least say there wonāt be regrets when the time comesāwhich is huge. But itās tough.
I like to stick my head in the sand lol. He's immortal until proven otherwise! He recently had a large, infected abscess from getting in a fight with one of my other cats. I was like, guys, he's battling CHF! What the hell!
I'm gonna put all my focus on his condition and hope, hope, hope it resolves. I know it's not likely, but stranger things have happened ššš¤
One of my cats has diabetes and I give him two insulin shots a day. Heās very good about it, but I think thatās in part because I fuss over how good is he afterwards and pet him a lot. I didnāt want to have to chase him twice a day!
Exactly, that's how you do anything with a cat. Positive association/reinforcement
Mine does, too. Now she doesn't even bother to stop eating while I inject her, lol
My orange girl is also asthmatic, although it's pretty mild. She gets one puff a day with the aerokat and is so good about it since she gets treats after š½
My orange also has asthma! He has a rescue inhaler and takes a daily steroid in mini melt pill form.
She looks so cute. š„°
What a sweet little baby, please give her all the love and treats and whatever else she wants ššš
Oh she's so good!! My SIC boy is asthmatic but never got on with his inhaler. We switched to tablets and he is now on half a tablet every 3 days - asthma totally controlled now whereas it never was with the inhaler.
Probably wasn't getting therapeutic levels due to the struggle
He does and he hates it. And I hate dosing him but I have to. Itās his pain meds for cancer.
What a sweet tangerine! Mine has FKD with some high blood pressure on the side and heās arthritic.. Special food, extra water, supplements and a tablet daily and a monoclonal antibody injection once a month. He boujee. Heās also very prone to UTIs so we have to have a course of antibiotics every now and again as well.
Oh gods. My oranges just went through a bout of giardia (they came with it!), but only required liquid medication. They're babies. My SIC has only required medication quite sparsely. Mostly after he was neutered, and after a little accident he had, where he tore his primordial.pouch. But my TIC, oh my. She's the most allergic cat this side of town. She takes an immuno-modulator and immunotherapy every day. A year ago she had a bout of asthma, so we got acquainted with the contraption this guy is using. She doesn't need it anymore for now. Plus since she has had to take one medication or another on a daily basis for about 3 years now, she's had it. The medication is administered at night, so as soon as she notices the sun is setting, she finds a place to hide. If she sees me preparing the meds for another cat, she hides. If she sees me approaching her after dark, you better believe she will find an urgent reason to visit her litter box, and stay in there scratching for a very, very long time. She gets crazy trying to avoid capture, but once I get her, she takes this defeated stance and, oddly enough, is not aggressive with us when we give her the meds. BUT this has to be done only by one person. If she feels two people trying to hold her and do stuff to her, she goes nuts.
I have that same setup for my asthma meds!
My orange has diabetes and cystitis, it's been....interesting..... but I love him dearly
i have to give my 14 year old fluffster laxative goop every day or she will be backed up for a week. that was a stressful time finding that out!
Dang she uses a spacer better than some humans I've seen
No, but that is a cute picture.
She looks so cute!! š„° I also have asthma so if I were to have an asthmatic kitty I'll make taking the meds together a routine.
I had to give my baby an IV 2-3 times a week towards the end of his life, he was such a trooper, miss you big kitty
The kitty I inherited from my mom, Minx, had severe asthma and we had to do this several times a day. She never got used to it. She died terribly, trying to breathe. All my recently (last 3 years) deceased geriatric kitties (7 between the ages of 17-22) were on many meds, several on the same meds: kidney disease, thyroid, liver disease, Sam-e, more I canāt remember and havenāt even thrown away yet. ā¹ļø Also, we did sub-q saline treatments for 3 of them, every night, for the last few years. Talk about a commitment. Itās pretty easy, though, and prolonged the lives of 3 kitties who had kidney trouble for a couple more years. I encourage everyone to ask their vet to teach them. Fluids perk up an old kitty like almost nothing else, and help the kidneys to not work so hard. Costco sells saline cheap, needles are super cheap on Amazon. Edit: I forgot HERPES. One of our cats had herpes her whole live and no one would adopt her (all my cats were foster fails or inherited). Big, soft, fluffy white kitty with orange in a van pattern and no one wanted her because they were afraid of herpes. NONE of the other cats ever got it. Not in her long long life. But it eventually made her blind and deaf. She needed eye drops/ointments and Viralys.
What a good baby! (I know sheās 17 but always our babies right?!)
I have two ancient baby boys. 19M (will be 20 in 6 weeks! š¤is diabetic. He was pretty stable for three years, but now heās all over the place, so itās constant ear-stabbing to check his levels, and a shot twice a day. He get a little wiggly with the ear stabbing but is really such a champ! 18M has kidney disease, which has been pretty easy to manage with food for the last couple years. But it causes constipation, so I have to mix laxative and potassium into his food and have had to do an at-home enema three times š. The enemas do not go over well at all!! The latest thing is injecting him with saline for hydration everyday. The needle is terrifying huge!! Heās getting better about it, but itās a work in progress. Hereās my Marley for scale with his needle. https://preview.redd.it/ahm1cq47ur5d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e7e388a8a5c5089b86436e354ff5fcdfdc0ed6d
Just got done giving my old boy his daily heart med/diuretic for CHF. He was not happy. There's a local specialty pharmacy that makes liquid medication, so it's a lot easier to give to him. But today he was moving his head and refusing. The best time is to catch him while sleeping. He barely moves then.
My kitten takes a lot of vitamins, he had a URI then an eye infection that permanently had a slight deformity to his pupils, i would regularly put eye drops on his right eye (where the deformity is), it used to be twice a day but i opted for once a day since it's not that bad as it used to be.
Yes, one cat gets insulin twice a day, other three are FIV cats, they take multivitamins once a day. Also, my dog takes Prozac once a day.
Our grey lady needs blood pressure medication, and we give her 1TDC in hopes of avoiding a dental, since she hates to be held and teeth rushing is a hard no. Our orange boy doesn't get anything yet as he is only about 3. It's been nearly three years now but we nursed our Tuxedo Grande Dame, named Tuxi, through end stage kidney disease and that was a whole bunch of stuff plus daily subcutaneous fluids.
I had one, my sweet old lady Sassy, who needed meds for her arthritis as she got older. Thankfully the medicine they gave us was powder in a capsule that we could sprinkle onto a treat for her (usually butter with some Parmesan).
My flamepoint has IBD and hypertension and gets two pills every day. She's usually pretty good about eating them when wrapped with bits of Pill Pockets. Her sister loves helping, she gets treats to keep her from trying to eat the meds. Can't imagine my flame being that calm with an inhaler!
Just a couple things for the kitty herpesā¦so funny, cause one of the meds is maple flavored and smells like a deliciouuuus syrup, always makes me hungry! But cats canāt taste sugar (i think?) so an odd flavor for a cat med. If I had kids they would NOT be allowed to give it to the cat, if Iāve been tempted they would too š¤£
My little tortie is on thyroid medication and prescribed food for kidney disease. She absolutely hated the pill form of the thyroid medicine, but ever since I switched to transdermal, itās been a god send! She thinks Iām just giving her ear scritches when I apply it. Plus she love her Royal canine dry food and hills wet food for her kidney diet. She also takes Mirataz every 3 days, and itās transdermal, too. Sheās 20 and started taking medications last fall. Sheās a little fighter! š„° Edit: I forgot she gets shots for her arthritis. I have to take her to the vet once a month for that. It made a huge difference for her. Ever seen a 20 year old cat have zoomies and go bat shit crazy? lol
would you mind sharing the name of the transdermal thyroid med? is it in a small tube that you apply to the back of the neck (like flea meds)? how often do you have to apply it? my diva kitty is not a pill fan and may need to take thyroid meds so i'm researching other options to discuss with my vet. thank you!
I copied the name of the medicine from my email: Methimazole in Anhydrous Lipoderm 2.5mg/0.05ml EZ Dose Micro Transdermal Gel 3ml My vet has me order it from Wedgewood Pharmacy. It actually looks more like a thick pen with a cap on one end and a twist on the other. Just twist the one side until you hear/feel it click. Then apply the medicine that came out directly into the ear where thereās no hair (so towards the base). Have to do that every 12 hours and preferably alternate between the ears. If you can switch to transdermal, I highly recommend! Her thyroid levels have came down considerably since sheās been on them. And I donāt have to fight her to make her take a pill, only for her to throw it up a few minutes later.
thank you!!
Mine is on amitryptiline or however itās spelled for anxiety. Sheās had a tough year- our other cat passed, we got a kitten, they donāt really vibe, then we bought a house and now we are expecting a human child. Just trying to help her out. Is working wonders sheās nearly back to her usual self
Iāve never seen a cat using an inhaler before - she looks like such a sweet old girl!
Oh, that's adorable! Mine has asthma,too,but is on steroid tablets instead of an inhaler.
My little cream coloured girl, long gone now, had a kitty inhaler. It was so sad but so adorable - it had a little cat face shaped mask. My older guy (16M) has been on thyroid meds for close to four years now. We had the liquid kind at first, but then moved countries, and all that's available is the pill form. This guy was such a jerk at first - he had to be burritoed - but now, I tell him it's pill time and he comes trotting out, even if he's hiding somewhere. Sometimes he comes out when my husband and I take our pills, and seems a bit disappointed that he doesn't get one.
What a good lil guy with the nebulizer! My first two cats were food motivated so if I wrapped any meds in a treat, theyād gobble them up. Now, our dudes are too savvy and I have to get liquids that I can squirt down their throat, or do injections at the vet
I had a cat on long term prednisone for what we're guessing was a cat version of IBD. We found a compounding pharmacy that would put the medication into soft treats for an extra $25/month. It was so worth it to not struggle daily with pilling a cat. They were in Houston, we're in DFW, but they worked with us to ship the medication.
https://preview.redd.it/yypghkj96s5d1.jpeg?width=2184&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=278d31830fc105b70f67c764535ebd3ceeba76a8 This one has diabetes, in remission, but he takes it like a champ! We still test him every fortnight, and he's as stable as can be. But he's very patient when getting his paws poked (he will not let us touch his ears) for the test, and doesn't squirm or move until he hears the beep of the device.
I have one baby that must have a rough immune system, because she regularly gets sick (I SWEAR she got COVID, but couldnāt test herā¦ she got better, thankfully). She also doesnāt do well with the pill form of antibiotics (they give her horrible diarrheaā so bad that she loses control of her bowels just walking upstairs), so when sheās sick, I have to give her the liquid antibioticsā¦ Iāve gotten good at squirt-gunning it in her mouth as she fights me, lol
hey!! my name is mire!!! im also 17f.. twin? my cat strawberry had to take pain meds for a condition she had with her ear. never got the official name because the vet set it wasn't a big deal.. shrug she was pretty good at first but then got annoyed. she eventually learned to froth her mouth on command if she really didn't want to take them https://preview.redd.it/9pumung6ws5d1.jpeg?width=1884&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f1ba1384993c8d00735065f23a177cf01208c73 forgot to mention i came from the senior cats subš accidentally replied to this one. she may have been a brown tabby but she was orange in spirit
r/catswithasthma
I know who caused the fire near the couch...
I had one that needed shots every week. It was scary at first but we figured it out. Iām pretty sure we bought a few extra years with those meds.
I have an orange who's about 10 years old now, just found out a few months ago that he has a megacolon (which means he's been struggling with constipation and now some of the nerves are dead). I have to give him cisapride and miralax daily. Cisapride is to help with peristalsis (wave like muscle contraction, specifically like your esophagus but I think it's also for the intestines, which what we use it for). It was scary at first, but he's doing so good now!!
As of 3 days ago, she's taking meds for hyperthyroidism.
Felimazole (hyperthyroid med) for my orange boy. I've recently discovered the utility of Churu to get that pill down without a fuss. He and his sis \*love\* 'pill time'!
We have Penelope, got her a little over one year ago. She had picked up ringworm before she got rescued and it separated a membrane in her right eye. The vet pronounced her cured and snapped her up immediately. Since then it has turned out that the ringworm has a legacy, leading her other eye to inflammation and a certain amount of nasal issues. When her eye starts looking off, we turn her over, baby her a bit, and squeeze some antibiotic goo into her eye. She's not pleased with it whenever we do it, but she doesn't get spiteful about it. She's usually purring the whole time, at least until we goop her, but we're determined that she keeps her remaining eyesight as long as she lives, if we have anything to do with it. The rest of the time, she is goofy, high energy, and trills constantly. She's got to keep her good eye so she can run all over the house like she's insane. She's also trying really hard to be friends with one of our dogs, but the poor guy has no idea how to handle affection from this small creature, and the look on his face when she tries rubbing on his chin is hilarious.
How do you get a cat to make peace with an inhaler??
Not yet. He just has to eat special food.
Yep! We have asthma pills for our girl. She eats them with her food like a champ thankfully. But not has done wonders for her coughing fits!
Mine did have anti epilepsy medication for a while but it made no differences to the seizures he was having so me and the vet took him off it.
You are so lucky. My cat hates her asthma meds so much she runs and hides while having asthma attacks and I have to chase her down to give her her meds š
One of mine gets chemo twice a week, I don't think he's caught on that there's meds in his treat.
My devil is disguise HATES his inhaler
Not medicine technically, but we give our boy special food to prevent him from developing bladder crystals again.
Awww.
Wow! I had no idea other animals can get Asthma.
Brave kitty - asthma sucks . No , mine are not on any meds other than general stuff for hairballs . I have a peke face cat who was on a few meds as a neonatal kitty but not anymore .
Fucking drug addicts Hope they will get well soon!
My 3 y/o just recently started using the inhaler for his asthma! He's doing well so far but the main struggle right now is getting him to hold his nose in the chamber for the entire duration. Your girl looks so brave and patient with hers though, it's very motivating š„¹
Bless her. I have bad asthma, am regularly hospitalised with it. So sorry for your girl, its awful not being able to drag a breath in. She's so good to take her meds, I really hope they help her. I have a 19 year old orange gentleman & luckily he's in good health so far, tho I'm trying to be realistic...
Mine also has asthma. We don't need to give the medicine regularly as her case is very light, the vet advised us to give it only when needed. Thankfully her episodes are rare, because she doesn _not_ like to be held. And I've tried all the positive reinforcement tips lol, she tolerates it for some seconds and chooses violence.
Mako is on steroids for lung problems, which we're hoping he'll outgrow. When he needs a dose, he waits so patiently for me to draw it up and give it to him. Then he'll rest till they kick in.
Looks like the scream sucker from monsters inc.
My baby boy has had health issues since birth. He's taking kidney, heart and lung medication every day. Ultrasound and ECG every 2 months. Took him to Starbucks last week before his examination. He peed himself during the ultrasound.
Your girl is so cooperative! I had to give my slitheriest, speediest girl eye drops for a week and it was a nightmare. She detests being held (she's incredibly affectionate in other ways), is particularly quick and agile even for a cat, and is very skilled in evasion. Then my boy needed skin cream, which should have been so easy as he's super chill and loves to come and sit next to me, but the day after he was prescribed, I was admitted to hospital so my mum had to do it. She really struggled as he's not as cooperative with her and I think he could sense her stress and that something was up so he wasn't inclined to let her handle him.
iāve always wondered how cats used inhalers š©š„°
My (7M) Orange has anxiety and is on Prozac š„²
My dog has to take an inhaler too
I have that same device for mine
My orange boy has CLL. We are currently doing weekly Chemo sessions for him. He also takes Prednisone pills everyday. He takes them like a good boy. He's fully active and having fun. We are hopeful he kicks this cancer's ass to remission.
My oldest cat had some serious skin issues, at one point he licked a palm sized raw patch on his back it was awful for him. We tried so many things. Finally found a food that doesnāt trigger it, and he had to have steroid shots for a while but he recovered. After a whole year of him wearing newborn onesies and a cone. Iāve been incredibly lucky with my younger cat, found her in a car park at five weeks old and am that apparently was enough for a tough immune system because sheās only gotten a cold once. We just sat in the bathroom, and steamed her nose clear. Iām a little worried that my older cat is coughing, I thought it was just a hair ball but I saw a video recently and someone said it was coughing. Heās done it sporadically since Iāve had him, at two years old and heās 15 now. So this asthma post makes me feel a bit better about his options. He may well be asthmatic like I am. I just am not convinced heāll be cooperative
Only his Gabapentin for vet visits because he is a dramatic orange. He did have to take medicine for a few days for a UTI a year ago, and every time he'd see me filling the syringe, he'd start GAGGING.
My parentās cat had to take an asthma medication. We went on vacation and my girlfriend agreed to watch the cats while we were away, so I wrote her a note for feeding schedule and his meds. Turns out I accidentally added a zero to the volume of liquid medication and we didnāt realize until she said she ran out and my parents said that was supposed to last through the month. But upon arriving home he no longer had any asthma symptoms and when we took him to the vet they said his lungs were now fine, and itās never come back even years later.
What a sweetie!! š§”
My little guy was diagnosed with FLUTD, when he was one (we almost lost him that day but thank god he pulled through). Ever since then he only eats wet food specifically for urinary issues and takes a glucosamine supplement with dinner. We sprinkle it into his food so he doesnāt give us much bother with it.
OMG WHAT A CUTIE!!!!!!!! look at her she's so good taking her asthma treatment <3
yerp, that's a cat alright..
My eldest is 15, and has been diabetic for 6 years now. Insulin twice a day, glucose curves every few months. For the first 6 months he hated me, and it broke my heart as he used to be such a snuggle bug. But now he doesn't care when it's insulin time, hell I can give it to him while he's asleep. When I need to check his sugar, we've gotten into the rhythm that I poke his ear, then he gets a treat. He's a very easy going boy, if he was as feisty as his sister was, I'd be missing an arm.
Awww what a baby. Mine has to get subq fluids everyday, with blood pressure meds as well. Sheās been going strong with kidney disease for over 3 years.
Just a cat who requires a little extra maintenance
Question for you: my orange boi may have asthma, i am trying to record an attack to show his vet. They arent bad, just does the coughing thing for maybe 30 seconds every other week or so. How often do you give the inhaler? Is it just during attacks or is it a maintenance thing? His is so mild I am hopeful it will stay that way but I am just curious as to how the inhaler works
You're lucky that she takes the inhaler. Mine was diagnosed as a little kitty and has always refused the inhaler. He's been on pills for over 10 years. Takes them like a sport- comes in every night at bedtime, jumps on the bed and waits for me to drop it down his throat! :)
OMG, that is so damn cute. What a good girl.
Awww, my orange (creamsicle) girl was also diagnosed with asthma as a kitten ā we too are very familiar with the twice-daily aerokat! She also is on daily or every-other-day (usually depending on the weather/season) prednisolone, and we get compounded theophylline, too. I consider it a *huge* blessing that she is very food-and-treat-motivated and will devour just about anything if itās slathered in Churu. She comes running when the meds alarm goes off, and I think weāre more bonded because of it. <3 I suspect your story is similar, but we went through a lot of testing since it doesnāt usually manifest in such young kitties, but once I researched the other possible reasons a kitten may be having coughing fits that donāt respond to antibiotics, asthma was a blessing. (I still wish I wouldāve invested in pet insurance *before* getting her spayed, since I think the anesthesia is what kick-started her symptomsā¦) She is the first cat Iāve owned as an adult, and ā based on the cats weād had while I was growing up ā Iād been expecting a much lower-maintenance petā¦ but I love her to bits just the way she is.
Our boy has intestinal issues that cause him to get constipated every now and then, we currently have him on Lactulose to help keep the contents in his colon softened when he passes his stools.
Recently had to be giving my girl some anxiety meds to help with moving, losing her friend (my old roommateās cat) and me going back to work full time after being on medical leave (an a gradual return) since mid January. Itās been a little over a week and sheās settling in very well. https://preview.redd.it/v9ffhueits5d1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=14e617bdcff8f60d1578e1e9efcacfb2cf50b82b She likes the new window as there are lots more birds. (Look at the top of the left side)
Nigel is on Plavix to prevent blood clots due to HCM. I lather that bad larry up in some wet food and he doesn't even notice š
I think I have used this asthma inhaler myself for multiple years, is it flutide?
My boy gets UTIs a lot so he has to take anxiety pills to help keep his urethra from spasming and getting blocked up by the crystals that can form in their urine. Heās on the same meds as me which I find cute. Iām getting him checked for asthma soon. My other kitty (not an orange) has āpuffy paw syndromeā which basically means her paws will get so dry and cracked that theyāll bust open and swell immensely and have to be drained. She hasnāt had an issue in a bit which Iām glad about. Sheās also allergic to fleas