Dose? - 7/2 Charlie AMPS 383, +2 342, +4 277, +8 243 | Feline Diabetes Management Board

Dose? 7/2 Charlie AMPS 383, +2 342, +4 277, +8 243

CharliesMom22

CharliesMom22

Active member
He FINALLY POOPED!! It was 5 days pretty much on the dot. I had called the vet earlier to try and get cisapride because I’m like 90% sure it’s a motility issue, but they, of course, will not give it to me. They said they usually only use that for megacolon and not “regular constipation.” Given that Charlie has had multiple episodes of taking longer than 5 days to poop I would not consider this “regular constipation” but what do I know. And anyways I just need to rest for the night. I’m very relieved but very emotionally exhausted.

He’s due for an increase tomorrow but I’m wondering if maybe I should hold for another few cycles just to give him a little break to stabilize? He’s so sensitive to changes, and I can’t help but feel like his BG bouncing all over the place is contributing to his constipation. Curious what folks’ thoughts are.
 
Mary & Jude said:
Well, let me be the first to say, poop-poop hooray!

I know nothing about the other issues, but I know that someone who does know will weigh in.

Question: did you say he is dehydrated? I can't remember.
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Hahaha thank you!! I can’t believe I forgot to say it! Poop-poop hooray!

The vet said she suspects he has chronic dehydration based on his history of constipation. But he never has any clinical signs of it (physical exam always says he’s euhydrated) and his electrolyte levels on his lab work were normal. Even his poops are moist! So idk.
 
CharliesMom22 said:
Hahaha thank you!! I can’t believe I forgot to say it! Poop-poop hooray!

The vet said she suspects he has chronic dehydration based on his history of constipation. But he never has any clinical signs of it (physical exam always says he’s euhydrated) and his electrolyte levels on his lab work were normal. Even his poops are moist! So idk.
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FWIW, today, I was talking to a work colleague who had a FD cat. She told me that the vet prescribed sub-qs for her cat bc he had constipation caused by dehydration. She said it helped his issue 🤷‍♀️ It might be something to look into. I don't know if you've ever given sub-qs, but it's really not that difficult.

ETA: psyllium husk, yes! Much less invasive than sub-qs, and it works for a lot of kitties.
 
POOOOOOOP!!

5 days would concern me as well. After Bell’s ordeal with her anal gland ruptures, I’ve been sneaking in a little psyllium husk to her food as much as she’ll tolerate. I also give her a good multi stain probiotic. Her poops seem great with the p husk.

You may already be doing this but I’ve read folks here having success with miralax for constipated kitties.

Awesome to see some blues, poop poop hurray, take some “me” time tonight, Jess.
 
I'd be very careful about subq's for Charlie. We don't know why he needs a higher dose, since you haven't been able to get testing for IAA or acromegaly. He's a larger cat, the latter is a possibility. Acrocats have tricky hearts. Subq should not be done if there is any possible heart issue, unless are the vet has approved it and done a cardio workup, or at least a CardioPet proBNP blood test. I found out the hard way when Neko was put on subq for her kidneys - it resulted in congestive heart failure. She got over it the first time. But it was really scary.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
I'd be very careful about subq's for Charlie. We don't know why he needs a higher dose, since you haven't been able to get testing for IAA or acromegaly. He's a larger cat, the latter is a possibility. Acrocats have tricky hearts. Subq should not be done if there is any possible heart issue, unless are the vet has approved it and done a cardio workup, or at least a CardioPet proBNP blood test. I found out the hard way when Neko was put on subq for her kidneys - it resulted in congestive heart failure. She got over it the first time. But it was really scary.
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Good to know, Wendy!
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Did the vet say how they would diagnose megacolon? Or rule it out?

Ditto on the increase if he doesn't seen anything below 150 by morning.
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Of course they didn’t Wendy, we’re talking about my vet here 😂😂😂

They did do an xray before when this happened and she showed me that his colon wasn’t large or widened. I asked if that would indicate megalcolon and she said yes—so I’m assuming they’d use an xray? But, like, doesn’t mega colon happen when they get backed up for too long, too many times? So I don’t understand why they wouldn’t use cisapride as a preventative in a cat that gets repeated bouts like this.

Will do on the increase.
 
Mary & Jude said:
FWIW, today, I was talking to a work colleague who had a FD cat. She told me that the vet prescribed sub-qs for her cat bc he had constipation caused by dehydration. She said it helped his issue 🤷‍♀️ It might be something to look into. I don't know if you've ever given sub-qs, but it's really not that difficult.

ETA: psyllium husk, yes! Much less invasive than sub-qs, and it works for a lot of kitties.
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Noted. I actually watched Marje’s video the other night because I was curious! Haha. I’ll keep that in mind as well as Wendy’s note about having his heart checked first if it comes to that.
 
Seth&Bell said:
POOOOOOOP!!

5 days would concern me as well. After Bell’s ordeal with her anal gland ruptures, I’ve been sneaking in a little psyllium husk to her food as much as she’ll tolerate. I also give her a good multi stain probiotic. Her poops seem great with the p husk.

You may already be doing this but I’ve read folks here having success with miralax for constipated kitties.

Awesome to see some blues, poop poop hurray, take some “me” time tonight, Jess.
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Whenever you yell POOOOOOOP!!! It cracks me up 😂😂 dunno if you’re a studio ghibli fan but for some reason it reminds of Ponyo yelling “itsssss HAMMMMM!!!!”

He’s actually gone longer than 5 days before, unfortunately. When he was first diagnosed he was only pooping every 6-7 days for about a month. It was ROUGH for me being such an anxious person.

He does get miralax yeah. And probiotics, and pumpkin added to most meals. And it was all working great for a while! Maybe I need to switch his food back again. It seems like the on and off constipation has increased since switching his diet post-pancreatitis, which is unfortunate because he loves the new food and I love cooking for him 1751512034296.png
 
Wendy&Neko said:
I'd be very careful about subq's for Charlie. We don't know why he needs a higher dose, since you haven't been able to get testing for IAA or acromegaly. He's a larger cat, the latter is a possibility. Acrocats have tricky hearts. Subq should not be done if there is any possible heart issue, unless are the vet has approved it and done a cardio workup, or at least a CardioPet proBNP blood test. I found out the hard way when Neko was put on subq for her kidneys - it resulted in congestive heart failure. She got over it the first time. But it was really scary.
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I’m so sorry, I can imagine how terrifying that must have been. You’re really strong for everything you went through with Neko. Some of the stories you’ve shared have made me clutch my proverbial pearls, haha.

I’m planning on bringing him back in to check on that elevated BUN at the end of the month. I’ll call well beforehand and ask again about the Acro test. I asked last time I was there but they were so rushed, the tech didn’t know what it was and the doctor disappeared. Crazy question but is it possible for a cat to be on a high dose for no reason? I guess I just need some hope to hold onto.
 
CharliesMom22 said:
Whenever you yell POOOOOOOP!!! It cracks me up 😂😂 dunno if you’re a studio ghibli fan but for some reason it reminds of Ponyo yelling “itsssss HAMMMMM!!!!”

He’s actually gone longer than 5 days before, unfortunately. When he was first diagnosed he was only pooping every 6-7 days for about a month. It was ROUGH for me being such an anxious person.

He does get miralax yeah. And probiotics, and pumpkin added to most meals. And it was all working great for a while! Maybe I need to switch his food back again. It seems like the on and off constipation has increased since switching his diet post-pancreatitis, which is unfortunate because he loves the new food and I love cooking for him View attachment 780
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I love it and I love Miyazaki!! Now i have the ponyo theme stuck in my head. Ponyo ponyo ponyo fishy in the sea.

Charlie, buddy, you don't have to store all that in the vault. Share the wealth daily!

Jess, hope you can figure out why he's constipated, sounds like you are way on top of it.

Knowing your vet, you may have to hand-hold them through the process of sending out a blood sample for IGF-1 and IAA testing, that is... after you convince them to do a blood draw. Make sure you get both IAA and IGF-1 tested, since it will go to Michigan State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, and they can just do both tests on the one blood sample.
 
CharliesMom22 said:
Crazy question but is it possible for a cat to be on a high dose for no reason?
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Possibly, but hard to tell. I've seen kitties on high doses that didn't get tested so we don't know about them. I think I've seen one in my years here that another condition causing insulin resistance that wasn't acro, IAA, or Cushings. Make that two, we had a other member who had a diabetic bobcat with a higher dose. The good thing about knowing if acro, is there are treatments. And what Seth says about IAA - many vets poo poo (on theme here!) getting it done, but we currently have 4 kitties here with IAA only and not acro.
 
Interesting (and great) that he is back in the blues after his constipation episode. Wonder if high BG is contributing to the constipation, or constipation causing the high BG, or completely unrelated 🤔
 
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