Update On Starr-10-25-08

[krazyaboutkatz]

I thought I'd give you an update on Starr. As most of you know he's been battling colitis and IBD for about 2 years now. He's been seeing both my regular vet and holistic vet and has been on prednisolone and the primal defense and GI Encaps.

I thought that I would be able to wean him off of the pred and then by feeding him some raw chicken or other meat that this would help him improve. It took a little over 1 year but he was finally weaned off of the pred. Unfortunately he continued to have diarrhea accidents and lately they've been getting worse.:(

Storm has also been causing him stress which doesn't help him and all of this has been causing me a lot of stress. I was ready to throw in the towel and I even contacted his former foster mom. She now lives in Arizona but she still knows how to contact her old rescue group. I was ready to give him back to them.

Adoptions have been very slow so they really didn't have the room for him but they did contact a vet that used to work with them. I called her and she was the only vet on call that day so she was too busy to talk to me at that time but she'd call me back later. This was on Friday.

She called me back Friday night from her home at about 8:30pm or so and we had a wonderful conversation. She really made me understand Starr's disease a lot better and now I know what to do and how to deal with it. She's such a nice compassionate woman.:) Too bad that her practice is so far away from me or I might consider taking Starr to her.

She did say that if I still wanted to give Starr back to his rescue group that she would find the room for him but with his medical condition he most likely would never be adopted. I know he'd be much happier here with me and his siblings so he's not going any where.

As per her instructions I'm putting Starr back on the pred. I started on Sat. morning and this is what I'm going to do:

1. give him 5mg of pred 2 times a day for 3 days
2. then give him 5mg of pred 1 time a day for 3 days
3. then give him 5mg of pred every other day for at least 2 weeks or longer
4. then give him 2.5mg of pred every other day for the rest of his life
5. I'll be keeping records of how he responds to each doseage and if he does have an accident then I'll increase the doseage for a few days and see how he does

She said that cats with Starr's disease can rarely be controlled just by a special diet alone. She always tells her clients that if she can get their cats doseage of pred down to 5mg every other day or 2.5mg every other day that this is great. Keeping Starr off of the pred is unrealistic. She also sometimes uses the depo medral injections and they work well for some cats but not for others. I may look into this in the future even though my current vet doesn't think that these work as well as the pills do.

Starr will continue to eat the Innova Evo dry and he'll also continue to receive his primal defense powder and GI Encaps. I'll mix these and his pred with the Turkey or Chicken Beechnut baby food. I'm also looking into buying a carpet steam cleaner so that I'll be able to clean up any accidents whether it be hairballs, vomit, pee, or diarrhea because I'll be getting new carpet installed some time soon. I hope that I'll be able to get Starr's system stabilized and his diarrhea under control. Please send some good vibes his way. Thanks.:)

[Medusa]

You got it! My Creamsicle is on Prednisolone which is a derivative of Prednisone. Maybe Starr can be on that, since it isn't quite as potent? I tried backing Cgirl off Pred, too, but she's on it for a different ailment, a skin allergy, and it came back w/a vengeance, so she'll probably have to stay on it forever, too. Hey, we do what we have to in order to keep the furbabies well, right? At any rate, keep up the good work and Starr is definitely in my prayers. :)

[krazyaboutkatz]

You got it! My Creamsicle is on Prednisolone which is a derivative of Prednisone. Maybe Starr can be on that, since it isn't quite as potent? I tried backing Cgirl off Pred, too, but she's on it for a different ailment, a skin allergy, and it came back w/a vengeance, so she'll probably have to stay on it forever, too. Hey, we do what we have to in order to keep the furbabies well, right? At any rate, keep up the good work and Starr is definitely in my prayers. :)

Thanks.:) Yes, he's on the prednisolone and all of the vets keep telling me that cats do much better on this than dogs or even humans. He'll most likely gain some weight back but if that's all of the side effects then it's worth it.

[jenluckenbach]

KAK, my own vet also told me (when I spoke about Jasper's diarrhea) that getting a cat like my Jasper, or your Starr, OFF pred. entirely, was highly unlikely. :( But the good news is, that (at least in Jasper's case) we've had no diarrhea or accidents in quite a while. Hoping you see the same results with Starr.

Oh, BTW, Jasper has also been eating the Innova Evo dry food. It seems to agree with him.

[Emeraldgreen]

I'm so glad you were able to have a good converstation with that vet. And I hope the prednisilone helps Starr get back on track. Someone was recently telling me about a dry food that is somehow raw called Orijen or something like that. Have you tried that one? I know between us, we've tried so many foods. LOL But that is one I haven't tried. But perhaps the EVO and the pred will make a good combination for Starr.
I wish there were treats designed for IBD cats. And better yet, pill pockets made especially for them. We can dream, can't we?? lol :)
Prayers that Starr will get better in the coming weeks.

[Catty1]

Orijen is made in Alberta - a kibble "raw" food.

There are different types - here's a link:
http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/orijen/

Here's the link to stores in the USand International:
http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/storeLocator/

[AmberLee]

~~~ healthy ~~~ vibes for Starr (and you, too, weren't you under the weather recently???)

~~~ Hang in there ~~~ vibes for you

~~~ be a better big brother ~~~ vibes to Starr and the rest of the fur kids, too, I guess :D

{{{hugs to all who could use 'em}}}

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks everyone.:D Starr's been extra clingy to me and he also seems to wants a lot of extra loving. I hope that this means that he's starting to feel better. I don't want to try changing too many things with him so I'll keep him on the Innova Evo for now but the Orijen does sound like it could also be an option for him.

[jazzcat]

I sure hope Starr being clingy means he is starting to feel better. I'm sending you both lots of good vibes that this will be the solution. Sounds like you've been going through some tough stuff with Starr and it's time both of you get some peace (and good health).

[rg_girlca]

I'm happy to hear that speaking with the other vet made you feel better.

Prayers on the way that this new routine with the meds and food, will help stabilize Starr's diarrhea situation.

And major {{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}} for the stressed out meowmie.

[krazyaboutkatz]

~~~ healthy ~~~ vibes for Starr (and you, too, weren't you under the weather recently???)

~~~ Hang in there ~~~ vibes for you

~~~ be a better big brother ~~~ vibes to Starr and the rest of the fur kids, too, I guess :D

{{{hugs to all who could use 'em}}}
Thanks AmberLee.:) I've been healthy but under an extreme amount of stress these past few months. Every time I think that things will get better something else comes along to keep me stressed out.

Storm is still picking on poor Starr.:( He chased him into a litter box tonight and I heard a big hiss which Storm was doing towards Starr.:( Storm is already on 3 calming pills a day. I think that the older he gets the grumpier he gets and I know he now wants to be an only cat but that's not going to happen. I also have 3 feliway plugins going all the time and I just changed them on Saturday. I really don't know what else I can do at this point.:(

Thanks again everyone for all of the prayers and hugs. I sure hope that they'll work. Both Starr and I need a break. So far he's doing great.:)

[rg_girlca]

Storm please leave your brother alone. Don't make me come down there and give you a good talking too. (I wish)

Tracey, is there a room that you can put Storm in when you catch him harassing Starr. I use to have to do this when Sades went after Mooky.
I would grab him and yell, "NO" and close him in a room for a while and when he did it again, he would be put in the room for a few days with a litter box, food and water and each time it happened he got closed in the room longer. This took only 4 times, when things finally settled down. Also, when I would see them near each other, or pass each other without any hissing or swatting, I would praise them for being good boys. It's just a thought.

I pray that Starr continues to do great. Fingers and paws crossed here and more {{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}} for you.

[jennielynn1970]

Poor Starr, being picked on by a bully!

I do a time out with Zach too. When he gets on a bullying streak I pick him up, tell him no (and of course he grumbles at me while I'm doing this), and then he goes into the one spare room I have. I just wish it would sink into his thick little head that when he keeps misbehaving this is what happens. So far, he hasn't put two and two together, lol, and is still a bully. We can only hope that he'll finally figure it out.

Big hugs going out to all of your kitties! Hope Storm will calm down more and bully Starr less.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Storm please leave your brother alone. Don't make me come down there and give you a good talking too. (I wish)

Tracey, is there a room that you can put Storm in when you catch him harassing Starr. I use to have to do this when Sades went after Mooky.
I would grab him and yell, "NO" and close him in a room for a while and when he did it again, he would be put in the room for a few days with a litter box, food and water and each time it happened he got closed in the room longer. This took only 4 times, when things finally settled down. Also, when I would see them near each other, or pass each other without any hissing or swatting, I would praise them for being good boys. It's just a thought.

I pray that Starr continues to do great. Fingers and paws crossed here and more {{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}} for you.

Thanks Lorraine.:) I don't have a spare room that I can put Storm in because there's only my bedroom and the other bedroom is off limits because it will be rented out soon. Storm would become too stressed out if I did this any way. I do put him back in bedroom for time outs but it still doesn't help much.

Tonight is going much better. I made sure to give Storm lots of canned food tonight so that his tummy was full. He's now sleeping on a cat bed which is on my bed and he hasn't bullied any one so far tonight.:)

Starr is sitting on my lap purring away. He's been so loving towards me. I think we're forming an even stronger bond now.:) I know in the past when one of my furkids was sick, I'd give them medicine to make them feel better. Then they would also become more loving as if to say thank you. I feel that Starr is finally feeling much better now. I hope this continues.:)

Thanks again everyone.:)

[krazyaboutkatz]

I thought I'd let you all know how Starr's been doing since he started back on the pred again. So far he's been doing well. He has a big appetite again and he did have one accident some time late Thurs. night or very early Fri. morning. His stool accident was firm though so I decided to keep him on the new doseage schedule so he's now on 5mg of pred every other day.

Just like the last time, he's now been sneezing off and on.:( The last time he was on large doseages of pred he also began sneezing but it only lasted about 4-5 days. I was ready to bring him to my vet but he stopped sneezing on the morning that I would have brought him in. I'm hoping that he'll stop sneezing this time too. He's been sneezing off and on since Thurs.

I think that I'll continue to keep him on the 5mg of pred every other day for quite a while unless he suddenly starts having mushy stools again. Please send some good vibes his way. Thanks.:)

[jenluckenbach]

Jasper has 2 identical "symptoms"
#1 when he first got the larger dose of pred he STILL had an accident even though the poop was formed. But the accidents have stopped with this dose. My assumption.....was that Jasper was still not "FEELING" well, and pooping on the bed is his outcome.

#2 ever since Jasper has been on the pred he sneezes A LOT!! I never actually had the opportunity to mention this to the vet (oops, bad mommy). What could the sneezing have to do with this medicine?

I guess our boys are just going to have to live taking this medicine. Might not be the ideal solution, but sometimes you just gotta do what works. And for Jasper, 5mg of pred per day works!

[Barbara]

Sending all my best wishes for Starr. You know Tigris picks on Filou as well. It is as if the big healthy cats knew there is one weaker and that this is not ok. Make sure Starr has enough places where he can hide from the bully brother.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Jasper has 2 identical "symptoms"
#1 when he first got the larger dose of pred he STILL had an accident even though the poop was formed. But the accidents have stopped with this dose. My assumption.....was that Jasper was still not "FEELING" well, and pooping on the bed is his outcome.

#2 ever since Jasper has been on the pred he sneezes A LOT!! I never actually had the opportunity to mention this to the vet (oops, bad mommy). What could the sneezing have to do with this medicine?

I guess our boys are just going to have to live taking this medicine. Might not be the ideal solution, but sometimes you just gotta do what works. And for Jasper, 5mg of pred per day works!

Jen, Starr's done this many times in the past where he poops outside of the litter box and it's firm. He's even done it right in front of me. Luckily he's never done it on my bed. I've still never understood the reason behind it.

I think that since pred suppresses their immune system that this is what's causing the sneezing. It's only happened to Starr when he's been taking higher doseages of pred so this is why I continued with the new regimen and now I'm only giving him 5mg of pred every other day. He's still having some sneezing fits and I hope that this will go away soon.

I had to put him back in my bedroom this morning for a bit with his baby food and supplement mixture while I fed the other cats some left over raw chicken. Starr pooped near my bedroom door and it was firm. There are 2 litter boxes back in my bedroom so I know that he did this to let me know that he wants to eat out in the main room with his siblings. He's done this in the past and he's also pee'd back there before to let me know that he doesn't like being back in the room by himself.:rolleyes:

I'm going to be finally painting my bedroom soon so I've moved out a lot of the furniture and both litter boxes. My furkids are wondering what's going on. I just hope that they'll all be good cats and learn to get along in the main part of my condo because my bedroom will be off limits soon. Please wish me luck. Thanks.:)

[krazyaboutkatz]

Sending all my best wishes for Starr. You know Tigris picks on Filou as well. It is as if the big healthy cats knew there is one weaker and that this is not ok. Make sure Starr has enough places where he can hide from the bully brother.

Thanks Barbara.:) Storm was picking on him this afternoon. I've just accepted the fact that Storm is a very grumpy old cat. There are plenty of places for Starr to hide but since he's a bit on the chubby side he can't squeeze into smaller places like he used to.