I haven’t updated you on our cat Samantha’s health for a couple of months now, and things are looking up! When we last reported, Sam was taking prednisolone to treat her possible IBD or cancer and hopefully increase her appetite. Her thyroid was back to normal with the medication for her hyperthyroid, and she had put some weight back on. There were still some issues. When I left for the BlogPaws conference, she was sometimes being difficult about taking all of her pills. The prednisolone increased her appetite but she was still fussy at times. She also had some raw spots behind one ear from scratching.
When I got home, we started weaning her off the pred, and the spots behind her ear seemed to be getting better, off and on. I spoke to our vet tech about it and we were giving it just a few more days before we’d bring her in to have them checked. They ended up clearing up completely, thank goodness. My biggest concern was that she was scratching because of the thyroid meds, but since she hadn’t been doing that from the beginning, we just weren’t sure and didn’t want to give them up just yet. I’m glad we didn’t. I now honestly think they were more stress related. One time we had to try hand feeding her the meds, and she did not like that one bit (neither did we). We gave up on that method, and eventually the pill pockets seemed to work most of the time.
Her appetite when on the prednisolone was crazy at times. She couldn’t seem to eat enough and she gained weight….more than we wanted her to really. But when she had lost so much through being sick, it was difficult to think about cutting back her food. Her appetite stayed good even as the dosages decreased. Now that she is off it completely, her appetite is far less and she’s being extremely fussy about canned food again (she seems fine about eating her dry kibble though). But it’s hard to remember what her normal appetite was like after all the time of her not eating, and then overeating on the meds! She can be difficult about taking her evening thyroid pill but her morning appetite is good, and she always takes her pill then. She hasn’t lost any weight yet so we think all is going to be OK…..knock wood of course.
We are hopeful that she is through the worst of this and that she doesn’t have cancer, or if she does it is very slow growing. As long as she continues to eat and her appetite doesn’t decrease any more we feel like we’re in a good place. It wouldn’t hurt her to lose a little weight anyway, she’s heavier than we like (over 9 lbs, she got to just under 8 when she was ill). Another good thing is that her coat looks much healthier. For a while it seemed to be getting sparse in places, and it just looked….greasy…is the only word I can think of to describe it. The vet attributed this to the thyroid but it didn’t get better right away so I was concerned. It is much better now. The other good thing is that if her appetite does wane again, we know that just a lower dose of prednisolone will probably be all she needs to get it back.
Since we missed celebrating her 13th birthday, we want to have a little bit of a celebration of her good health now, and Sam wants to give away a prize to one of her kitty friends. I won this Jackson Galaxy Cat Crawl by Petmate in the Cat Style Lounge at BlogPaws. Sam already has a tunnel, so we’d like to give this one away as a little token of thanks for everyone’s support. Just fill out the widget below for your chances to win!
No purchase necessary. Giveaway is open to all readers 18 years of age and over. Void where prohibited. Giveaway will run from Friday, July 10, 2015 through Wednesday, July 16, 2015 at 11:59pm ET. One (1) winner will be randomly selected by PromoSimple and notified via email. The winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize; failure to do so will result in forfeiture of the prize. Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram do not sponsor, administer or endorse this promotion.
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As you can tell, I’m days (weeks?) behind in my reading, again. Oh well. Cést la viê. Anyway, glad Sam is feeling and looking better! I hope that will continue!! The thyroid meds for Callie’s hypothyroidism started working almost immediately, and continue to keep her in the “all systems go” health status. She’s due for her annual exam in early August, but I have no doubt that she is still my healthy senior girl. Just wish there were a miracle treatment plan that would reverse the arthritis without any drugs!!
I also wish there were a miracle treatment for that. Right now we are lucky that we’ve still been able to keep Sheba off the meds, other than here and there. I do think the swimming might be what’s helping! We’ve been walking more too, and I think that helps to keep her joints loosened up some as well. We even walked over 3 miles yesterday and she did great.
I wish we had somewhere to walk that much – and the weather for it! Our humidity levels lately have been nearly as high as the temps themselves. UGH!
It was only 60 degrees at 11am the day we walked the 3 miles! When we walked after noon it was about 75…perfect really. We get some spells of humidity, we’re having one now, but they only seem to last 3-4 days and then it cools off again.
Time for me to move to your neck of the woods. But Sam would never agree to it. (((SIGH)))
Awe so glad Sam is doing better!
xoxo, Matilda
Thank you so much!! xxoo
I’m glad Sam’s health is improving. Also, wanted to let you know that your package arrived on Friday. Thanks so much! It was filled with so many fun treats and goodies! Thank you!
You’re very welcome!!
We have had many health scares here as Carmine is a special needs kitty. Thankfully he is stable now and doing well. I’m glad to hear that Sam is doing better, too!
Sounds like Sam is doing better with many of her issues. I hope she continues to improve and stay healthy.
Mom had two cats with hyperthyroid. The first was on meds for a long time when the vet said they weren’t helping and to have surgery. He was 16 and did fine. The second cat mom did surgery right away and the kitty never really recovered. Wondering if your vet has suggested removing the thyroid or not. There is also the radiation treatment which mom wishes she would have done instead but at the time didn’t think it was the right treatment from them. The greasiness is how cats get that can’t groom themselves any more. She had a cat groomer that she took the cats to a few times for this. Love Dolly
Thank you for that information, Dolly. My vet never even mentioned either surgery or the radiation, though I did read about both online. If the meds weren’t working we might consider it, but the radiation especially seems like a lot to put an older cat through (they have to be gone from home for 2 weeks or so I think).
I imagine Sam was not grooming herself just because she wasn’t feeling too great, but hopefully that has all passed now, and she looks much better.
We got some wipes for cats at BlogPaws though so I can use those if it happens again!
Glad Sam is doing better! Kitties are so hard. When Soth had to be on anti-anxiety meds, trying to give him the meds gave him so much more stress that he started hiding from me all the time–we decided he didn’t really need those meds. And I totally understand the appetite thing, too. I think we’ve finally figured out what’s normal for him, but he used to eat nonstop, then he stopped eating almost altogether, then he switched up what type of food he wanted to eat and his weight was fluctuating so much; for a long time I was just so happy he was eating again that I let him have whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it. Hope that you and Sam find normal again soon!
We think we’ve come up with a plan that will hopefully work, keep her taking her pills and maybe lose just a little weight too.
On the evenings she just won’t take a pill, we just try not to worry about it. We don’t think missing a pill here and there will hurt that much, and she’ll have her thyroid checked again pretty soon anyway, so then we’ll know for sure. Just like we passed on invasive tests for her we’re not going to make her life miserable by forcing pills on her either. After all, it is about quality of life, so that’s our priority…keeping her happy and as healthy as possible!
Well,there is lots of good news in there and we are sure happy she is doing good too. Happy Birthday from all of us Sam!
We’re so glad Sam is doing better and we purr that it continues.
So glad to hear that Samantha is doing better. She gets good care.
I am really glad she is better now. Wish you many happy years with a lot of games and smiles. Keep blogging too! 🙂
Thanks for the update, I’m glad she is doing well. Happy 13th belated birthday, hope there are many more. I would love to win this contest as I was thinking about getting something like this for the puppies.
Good luck….I’d love to see those puppies playing in the tunnel!!
Happy birthday Sam. Wishing you many more. 🙂
Thanks so much for the update! I’m so glad things are going well!!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
We have a tunnel for the boys when the weather is too messy for us to play outside, we plat hide and seek in the basement!
We have a large and a small tunnel for the dogs. The large is too big to set up in the house, but I never thought of setting up the small one inside…good idea!
We have a cat tunnel but can’t use it because Bailie insists on dragging it around the house! Hope Sam continues to do well. Pred is nasty stuff, so hope she is off it.
I’m so glad she’s feeling better! It’s tough watching them when they aren’t feeling well. It’s really nice of you to give one of these away, I’m thinking if I win, I’ll give it to my daughter’s cats.
I’m glad that Sam is doing better! Happy belated birthday and what a fun cat crawl prize!
Sam I’m so glad that there is literally light at the end of the tunnel and that you feel much better. I sure will celebrate with you in honor of your 13th. Meowday… so Happy Healthy Kitty day to ya :o)
Good luck to all kitties, such a teleport tunnel is great to visit your friends :o)
So glad she is feeling better and hope she keeps that way. Happy Birthday Sam!
Happy Belated Birthday again Sam!!!! Glad you are eating better!!!! Cody takes Pred a few times during the year for his allergy flare-ups and it makes him RAVENOUS!! He is always willing to eat but Pred increases his appetite for sure!
Good luck to all who enter your give-away, Cody had that tunnel and it is great, but Cody isn’t a “tunnel guy” so we gave ours away.
Purrs and prayers to Sam!
Thank you, Caren! Sam doesn’t actually use her tunnel all that much either. She’s like that with everything….she’ll play with a new toy when she first gets it (most of the time) but then she quickly gets bored and they get neglected after that! 🙂