Update on Puddy; she's gone*9/29* see post #421

[Medusa]

When I checked her cat chow dish this morning, I could see that she had eaten, not a lot, but given that she hasn't been eating any of it at all, I'm somewhat encouraged. She still uses the tub as her litterbox, though. She spends a lot of time in that tub, even sleeping there. I have to clean her up a lot because she has litter caked to her bottom and she leaves a trail wherever she walks. Yesterday morning I heard her walking from her room to the bathroom, then she stopped and walked into my room. She used to hop into bed w/me in the morning and let me know that it was time to get up but this time she just walked in and stopped. I thought "She doesn't know where she is" so I called her name and said "Come on in bed w/Mommy" but she just turned around and went into the bathroom.

I feel so bad about her self imposed confinement, so I wrapped her in a towel and took her downstairs to the enclosed patio thinking that we'd do a little bird watching. Well, there must have been a hawk nearby because there wasn't a bird to be seen or even heard. So I took her w/me to the outdoor patio and sat down in a chair w/her still wrapped in the towel. She didn't seem anxious at all; she looked around a little but only for a minute. Then I could tell that she wanted down and there was no way I was going to put her on the ground, so we went back inside and I took her to the safety of her bathroom.

It's when she has the lucid moments such as described above that makes me have hope but when she's out of it, she's really out of it. Anyhow, just thought I'd fill you in on the latest.

[Catty1]

Mary...just maybe the med is starting to have an effect...and the B vitamins too.

Wishing you and Puddy increasing good moments!

[Medusa]

Mary...just maybe the med is starting to have an effect...and the B vitamins too.

Wishing you and Puddy increasing good moments!

That's what I'm hoping, Candace. When I cleaned litter boxes this morning, there was a pee clump in her litter box BUT Creamsicle, the little sneak, got into Puddy's room this morning. I heard her crunching on cat chow and thought it might be Puddy but it was Cgirl. So I can't say for sure if the pee clump was Puddy's or Cgirl's except that it was at the very edge of the box which is where Puddy likes to pee for some reason. I'll tell ya, for a CH baby, Cgirl sure manages to get around, undetected, too.

[carole]

Mary my vet has just put Ash on Anaplex, it is a steriod and vitamin D pill, this is to boost his appetite, like your puddy, he eats enough to feed a mouse, however this has only gotten really bad in the last few days, so far not a great improvement, but it is early days yet.

I can well understand where you are coming from with Puddy, i am almost in the same place with my Ash, i wish you both all the best and know i am always here for you, HUGS.

[Emeraldgreen]

I found a name for the inflammed tongue regarding a B12 deficiency and it is called 'Burning Mouth Syndrome'. If this is what she has, it makes so much sense that she adores those fudgesicles because not only are they yummy but they are wonderfully cold!! And I was thinking about the tub faucet. When I turn my tub faucet on cold, it is sooooo much colder than the sink and develops this condensation on the metal and frost even. I wonder if Puddy is preferring the tub faucet because it may be colder. Maybe she would like some icecubes to lick or a shallow bowl of icewater or since she doesn't 'do' bowls maybe you could put the plug in your sink and put some water in there with a few ice cubes and see if she goes for it.
p.s. and if she is seeking out colder things, she might eat chilled Fancy Feast or other things.

[Medusa]

Wow, Lara, I don't know why I don't think to look these things up myself. My brain is so fried that it didn't even occur to me. I did try the ice cubes but, as you said, she won't drink out of a bowl. She no longer goes onto the sink countertop now; it's strictly the bathtub. She's too short to reach the tub faucet, so she drinks the water that pools near the drain, poor little girl. Maybe now that I started her on these B vitamins she'll discontinue that behavior. Thank you so much for telling me this.

P.S. I love PT! Where else can I find such wonderful friends who would take time out of their busy days to look up info like this for me?

[Medusa]

I decided to put ice cubes in a bowl in the bathtub and I guess that was the combination I had missed. I'd tried ice cubes in her water bowl, ice cubes in her fountain, her fountain in the bathtub but I'd never tried ice cubes in a bowl in the bathtub. (Getting all this?) You should've seen her drink! So I can see it now: I'll be doing ice cube runs in the middle of the night as they melt. That's ok. Anything's better than seeing her drink the pooled tub water. I wonder if all this has to do w/giving her the B vitamins. I don't know how quickly they work but it sure seems like that's the ticket. Lara, I don't know how to thank you. Maybe it's a fluke and she won't want to drink out of the bowl again but it sure did my heart a world of good. This time the tears are tears of joy. Bless you!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Mary, I've been reading this thread but I haven't had the time to post anything lately. I'm so happy to hear that the vitamin B12 seems to be helping Puddy.

As you know my Starr has colitis and IBD and he's received many vitamin B12 shots as well as acupuncture treatments with vitamin B12. It's really helped him and has given him his energy level back. I hope that it'll do the same for Puddy. She continues to remain in my thoughts and prayers. Please take care. (((HUGS)))

As far as how quickly the vitamin B12 works, I noticed it almost immediately in Starr. He was running and playing the very next day and seemed to have endless energy.

[Catty1]

Oh, Mary...eyes stinging just a bit here... How wonderful to see Puddy drink and drink - which is really good for her, of course, with the kidney problem. And maybe some of her yelling is from the 'burning mouth' - who knows?

Lara, you are a GENIUS!

Hmmm....try the cold smooth wet food, maybe? Cold baby food?

I think there's some better news ahead....

[Medusa]

I was just nodding off in bed when I heard "tap tap tap" on the floor and I thought "Ok, here we go. Another night of yowling or maybe I've got to do an ice cube run". But no! Puddy came scampering in my bedroom, up the little ramp that I made for her and into bed w/me! She only stayed a few seconds and then went into the bathroom and drank out of the ice cube bowl but this is the most encouraged I've been in a week or more. I don't know if the Selegiline is working or the B vitamins or both but whatever it is, I'm so thankful. I AM SO THANKFUL! Lara, again, thank you for taking over where my fried brain left off. Ok, so I'm off to get another round of ice cubes and I'm putting some Fancy Feast in the fridge to chill for tomorrow's breakfast for Puddy. <<< Never thought I'd be posting one of these smilies in this thread.

P.S. It just dawned on me that she hasn't yowled at all today!

[Catty1]

Think you could install a Puddy-size ice cube maker by the tub faucet?

Wow...Mary...I guess it IS darkest before the dawn...and remember the Beatles: "Here comes the sun"

[jenluckenbach]

WOW, such promissing reports! Way to go Puddy!

[pomtzu]

That's great news to read this morning. It's heartwarming to see you post in a positive way, and I can almost picture you looking somewhat relieved and optomistic. Hopefully Puddy will continue to improve - poor girl has been thru sooo much! As has Mom!!
I don't mean to sound disrespectful with what I'm about to say - but why hasn't your vet been able to see the whole picture of what's going on with Puddy?? You'd think with the tongue/mouth issue would have been a clue in regard to the B12 - and it appears to be working for her. Maybe he was too focused on one problem and completely missed another?
Whatever - I'm just glad someone found this info for you and that it appears to be helping. Still keeping fingers, toes, and poochie paws crossed in hopes that Puddy continues to improve!!

[Medusa]

I don't mean to sound disrespectful with what I'm about to say - but why hasn't your vet been able to see the whole picture of what's going on with Puddy?? You'd think with the tongue/mouth issue would have been a clue in regard to the B12 - and it appears to be working for her. Maybe he was too focused on one problem and completely missed another?

You're not being disrespectful. Believe me, this is something I intend to discuss w/him tomorrow. He's been on vacation all week. I've always been his biggest champion; he has always appeared to have such good instincts. To be fair, I don't know if it's the B vitamins or the Selegiline or the combination of both that has worked and I'm not willing to risk Puddy backsliding to find out by process of elimination. I'm inclined to think that it's the B vitamins, though. (It isn't just B12; it's all the B vitamins that I'm giving her because my other vet, the local one, said that she feels Puddy could need all of them.) Maybe my vet is burning out, too. When I first took Puddy to him a couple of years ago, she was screaming in pain. He said that he had never heard a cat scream like that. My regular vet had retired and the new owners of the clinic, there were 4 of them, looked at her x-rays and watched her for 3 days in their hospital and still couldn't come up w/a diagnosis. I finally said "Either you figure this out or I'm taking her out of here now", which is what I did. Dr. Lee had saved Yodie's life so I took Puddy to him and, as soon as he pulled her x-ray out of the envelope, he said "She has an inflamed colon, you know that, right?" I said "No, I don't know that. How is it that you can see that so readily and 4 other vets couldn't?" He said "I can't explain that but she needs surgery now". When he opened her up, he said she had peritonitis. Why those vets couldn't see that, I have no idea. So, I'm willing to cut Dr. Lee some slack but not much because if her lack of B12 could've been solved months ago, then she's been put through this misery needlessly.

I'll post again later. I want to see how she does w/breakfast. She didn't touch any of her cat chow during the night but I baked a chicken breast for dinner and gave her some and she ate quite a bit of it, so maybe she just had enough to eat and didn't need the cat chow.

[Medusa]

When I cleaned the boxes this morning, there was a pee clump and a poop. (I don't believe the things that get me excited now.) And this time I'm sure it was hers because there's no way Creamsicle could've gotten into her room.

She didn't eat the chilled Fancy Feast but I'm thinking that she just wasn't hungry because she had chicken for dinner last night and that filled her up. I'll try it again later. She kept the Selegiline down w/no problem this morning. Yesterday she threw it up just seconds after I gave it to her and I didn't have the heart to give her more later in the day, so we skipped a day. It just must taste awful even w/the chicken flavoring added. The way the pharmacist explained it to me is "The cherry Nyquil tastes better than regular Nyquil but it's still Nyquil". Makes sense. So I imagine that the Selegiline must taste pretty awful w/out flavoring.

Well, a friend is picking me up shortly; we're going to browse a flea market today. Sure hope Puddy will let me use the shower.