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A quick Evan update. I’ve been sick with bronchitis for the past week, so I’m way behind on posting.

We go back to the vet’s on Thursday night for another round of blood tests. This time, I hope the vet is able get enough blood to do all the tests (CBC, thyroid, etc).

Evan is still loosing weight. On Saturday, when I weighed him, he was down to 8 lbs 0 oz. This is down another 4.5 oz in the past two weeks. Right now, the continued weight loss is worrying me more than anything else.

For about a week or so, we were able to get Evan to take the appetite enhancer. It is a real struggle to get the pill into Evan, and for the last few days, we have not been able to do it. He is getting smart and spitting it up. I’m not sure the struggle is worth it. When Evan takes the pill, he ends up vomiting during the night. I guess the pill makes him eat and eat until he simply vomits. That is not doing him any good.

He has stopped eating dry food. On a good day, Evan will eat about one can worth of wet food (5.5 oz). To do that, I have to split the can up into several feedings. However, one can of wet is still not enough to maintain weight.

Evan is still pretty affectionate (except for the times when we administer meds or fluids). On occasion he will come out of his room for some quality lap time. When he has enough, he will head back and I will let him back into his room. He is moving around better than before. The other cats pretty much leave him alone now.

It is getting harder and harder to administer the fluids. Evan will really struggle at times. For example, last night we were only able to give him about 50 ml or so. In the long term, that is not sufficient. He seems to do best at about 150 ml per day, which is a pretty large amount.

I wish I knew how to tell if it is time to help him to the bridge. When is “doing everything you can do” being done for him, or for me?

Mark

Mark, I'm sorry to hear that Evan has lost more weight and isn't eating too good.

I have access to quite a variety of foods in my area, so if there's a brand you'd like to try for him I'd be happy to pick some up and send them to you. The Solid Gold blended tuna cat food gets mine eating every time, so if you think he'd like it I can pick some up.

I honestly don't know what to tell you about when it's time to let go. I know you love Evan dearly and will do what's best for him, so trust your heart. I will keep Evan and you in my prayers.

I'm sorry to hear about Evan losing weight again. Gee....poor kitty boy. Poor you. I hope the bloodwork will be good on Thursday for you both even though that's not going to help Evan's weight issue. Does he like Fancy Feast by any chance? Mine inhale the stuff on the rare occasions that I "treat" them with it. They especially like the Sardines, Shrimp and crab. I could send you some (I have about 6 can's at home) if you'd like to try them and they are not available where you live.

Or, I could send you one can of each of the five different premium foods my cats all like. I have mostly wellness (chicken, turkey and some fish one.....) and I have Merrik's Cowboy Cookout (kind of a beef stew thing). All are "pretty wet" too..... want to try some? Send me you home address and I think I can probably get it in the mail to you tomorrow on my way to school.

Mark,

You are doing everything you possibly can for Evan. I know how much it hurts to see him like this. I will pray that you will be remain peaceful throughout the whole process. I really believe that you will know when the right time is to let Evan go. It is such an incredible struggle when you're on a continual roller coaster. However, when things don't seem to improve, it isn't good for either you or Evan.

I'm sorry about Evan, Mark.

I hope you're feeling better. I've had my share of Bronchitis, and know how it takes all of your energy, not to mention the discomfort and constant coughing.

Take one day at a time, and know that everyone here supports you and will support whatever decision you make.

Maria

Guys:

Thanks for the offer on sending food. Let me go over the things I have tried, and you can give me any other ideas.

Right now, I have the best luck using Friskies Salmon and Wellness Chicken and Herring. I wish Friskies was a better food, since he will usually eat that. He has a harder time eating the Wellness Chicken and Herring since it is thicker. Evan will only lick his food, so anything with chunks does not work.

Evan will not eat any of the Triumph brands, including the Triumph Salmon. He likes the Iams pouches, but will only lick up the gravy. He will not eat the meat chunks.

The same goes for the Friskies Turkey and Cheese. He will lick up the gravy, but will not eat the chunks.

Evan will eat Whiskas with even more gusto than the Friskies Salmon. However, the Whiskas has a consistency of finely ground hamburger, which means that most of it simply gets pushed off the plate. If I could find a way to mash it up more, that might help.

Evan will eat the two Eagle Pack seafood varieties (Ocean Whitefish and Tuna and Shrimp and Crab, I think). Some days he will eat more than others – I just never know if he will eat a lot or just a little bit. He will not eat the Chicken and Lamb or Duck and Barley (none of mine will eat the Duck and Barley).

I have several cans of fancy feast at home to give a try. I have not started to go through these cans yet – I will try that and let folks know.

For dry food, I have tired all three of the Eagle Pack brands (adult lite, adult, holistic select). Evan would not eat Chicken Soup dry. As it is, I’m not sure if he has a mouth problem - he will try to eat a feline greenie, but give up because he can’t break it. I intend to have the vets take a very good look in his mouth to see if he has a problem there.

My concern is A) even when he does eat, he still does not eat enough and B) when I force the appetite enhancer on him, he simply eats until he vomits.

When Evan was diagnosed as hyper thyroid and before the CRF kicked in, he was put on 10 mg of Tapazole per day. After a month we ran a thyroid blood test at that level of medication. The thyroid results were within the “acceptable” range (I don’t have those numbers). When the CRF started, the Tapazole was reduced to 5 mg per day. We also switched from pills to the transdermal jell. His thyroid levels could still be too high. The levels of BUN and CREA levels may still be too high for him to have a good appetite. I don’t know. I hope the blood tests will give me some guidance on these.

The only think I know for certain is that, if it comes to the point where I have to syringe feed him, it’s time to help him to the bridge. As much as I want to do everything possible, in a chronic situation like Evan’s, I think syringe feeding is only prolonging things. If there were hope that he could get better, I would feel differently about this procedure.

Mark

Let's see - out of all the foods I've tried the Precise brand is the smoothest and creamiest. If he doesn't like chunks he might like the texture of that one. Mine are in the extremely picky phase now - they're turning their little noses up at anything, so I've got some extra cans of that. Also they make a kitten formula too.

Hmmm - Nutro Natural Choice has a seafood pate that's pretty creamy too, except for some peas that you might have to mash. It's pretty popular with my crew.

I'll just go through and see what I've got at home - I'm sure I've got enough for a box that I could send.

Quote:

The only think I know for certain is that, if it comes to the point where I have to syringe feed him, it’s time to help him to the bridge. As much as I want to do everything possible, in a chronic situation like Evan’s, I think syringe feeding is only prolonging things. If there were hope that he could get better, I would feel differently about this procedure.

I hope the bloodwork brings some good news. ((((((((((mark))))))))

Ok Mark - I got your physical address and right now - before I even continue catching up on the forum news, I am going to get a package together to send to you. I will drop it at the Post Office this afternoon as I have to leave early for school anyway to run to PetSmart for a new (additional) hummingbird feeder. The current feeder has 6 feeding stations and we have NINE (that I've seen at one time so far) trying to feed at it.

That package should be dropped off by about 3:00 p.m today (Tuesday). I imagine you will get it by the weekend. Just let me know when it's arrived so I won't worry about it having gotten lost somewhere.

Edited at 11:41 a.m. - ok - the package is ready to go - I've included two cans of Fancy Feast Sardines, Shrimp and Crab - MASH those up. Mine won't eat them unless they are mashed and you said Evan doesn't like chunks either - this particular food is very easy to mash as it is quite soft. The others I've got in the box are all pate style except the Cowboy Cookout but the only chunks in that are the peas and those are easily mashed. It's a pretty "wet" food. I've also included baggies of the dry that my four kitty's eat. Not the best foods but they really like them. The favorite here is Purina One Salmon and Tuna - they fly through that stuff.....then the other two - Nutro Max Roasted Chicken (he may like the chunks broken down a bit more though) and Nutro Lamb. If Evan won't eat them perhaps the other kitty's will, and if not them - well, Missy might like them as a "treat". My dogs do.

Hope Evan will like some of these new foods!!!!!! Good luck!!!!

Another Evan update – this will deal mostly with meds and fluids.

My compounding pharmacy is going to give another try at coming up with a delivery mechanism for Evan’s appetite enhancer med. The chicken flavor in an oil based suspension did not work at all. Evan refused to eat anything that I mixed up with the med, even his favorite food (Friskies Salmon). The pharmacist is going to try a different base and use a very strong tuna flavor. He tells me that he has had a good bit of luck with this formulation. This particular pharmacy does quite a but of compounding of kitty meds.

I have re-ordered Evan’s topical Tapazole. I had a bit of a dilemma. It takes the pharmacy at least three days to compound the meds, Evan’s appointment for blood work is Thursday, and I only had enough meds through Saturday. I was concerned that, if the prescription changes, the formulation I was ordering might not be correct anymore. After a bit of discussion with the pharmacist, I learned that I could control the dosage by simply giving more or less of the gel. So, if the Tapazole dosage goes up, I can deal with that with the refill.

The hunt for fluids and related supplies has not been going very well. I have not been able to find a supply of fluids locally. The vet is charging me $10 per 1000ml bag, which last only one week. All of the local pharmacies say a bag of ringers goes for $20-30 (human grade). None of them can order from a vet supply house, so I have not had any luck there. I would really like to find a fluid supply, as fluids is a pretty major cost (on an annual basis).

I did have luck in getting an order in for the Terumo 19 gage thin wall needles. The compounding pharmacy came through for me with these. They will order the needles for me and get the necessary paperwork from the vet practice. I’m looking forward to using a needle that will make a smaller hole in Evan.

So, let’s hope and pray that Evan will take the new tuna flavored meds. If that works, I can also get that tagamet done up the same way, which might even help him more. The little guy needs to have a few breaks go his way now.

Mark

Michelle:

Thank you very much. I'll let you know when the items come in and how he reacts to them. There must be something, somewhere, that he will eat!

Mark

I hope that Evan gets a break soon too and that he'll take this new formulation of meds.

I got partly done with my box yesteray and will mail it today. I put mostly canned - hopefully he'll like it, but if not... maybe the others will.