Cole had his checkup today

[Queen of Poop]

The metacam should make Cole feel better. Hoping Oscar's little lump is nothing serious. Hugs for all your babies.

[smokey the elder]

Please be careful with the Metacam. It can be toxic for cats over the long term.

[Pinot's Mom]

Hope Cole feels better and that Oscar's check up comes out fine. {{{hugs}}} all 'round.

[Catty1]

smokey, I did know that - actually, thanks to Pet Talk, I know a LOT of things to ask my vet! Pet Talk rocks!

So I mentioned it to her. We are going to reduce his dose after a time - perhaps the wild salmon oil will do the job by then (as it did for Oscar). What my vet said is that while Metacam won't actually cause problems by itself, if and when kidney/liver issues develop the Metacam will make it worse.

We'll see how Cole does; this is kind of an emergency use in this case to get his weight down by easing the pain. My vet is not a med pusher and we have good discussions about how to proceed.

As for Oscar, this growth does not bother him at all. I'll be glad to have it gone though, if it's just gonna keep growing. Thanks for the good thoughts; I'll keep you posted.

[Jessika]

I know you have him on a hypoallergenic diet....... but just wanted to throw out there, there is a new rx diet called Metabolic Diet made by Hill's... we have seen AMAZING results with weight loss on this food, and better yet, cats (and dogs) LOVE it. Owner compliance is usually the hardest thing with getting pet's to lose weight.... this diet is a God-send to the vet med world for safe weight loss in pets. And it's not a "starvation" diet, either, like all of the other weight-loss or light diets on the market today.

[Catty1]

Thanks, Jessika. I'll ask my vet.

Oscar's weight and arthritis were managed well by diet and fish oil. Cole was always a bit heavier, and the most rigid monitoring seemed to do little. My vet thought that the pain he was in was a major factor in him not moving more, though he will ask me to come play with him!

He has been so much calmer, not over-grooming. We'll stay with the Metcam and hypo food for a while. What I want to ask my vet is if the food you mention can be tolerated by a cat who is food-allergic. Cole threw up another hairball over a week ago and gagged up two mornings in a row. My vet said that can indicate food allergy, even if there ARE hairballs. I was dosing Cole with the Petmalt from the vet! Since he's on the hypo food - no problems whatsoever.

So we'll see.