August 2009 - The Treatment Plan
[First more info about prescribed supplies mentioned in the previous post. Drs. Foster & Smith provides free shipping and handling on prescribed products. That makes the cost of the Lactated Ringers Sub-Q fluid more reasonable since the weight of this item is substantial. You may be able to find this product at a lower cost from another supplier, but the shipping and handling will hurt!]
I found out early on that Simone will not take medicines or supplements directly. In her ornery way, she would just spit them out, even if I used a supposedly tasty pill pocket. So, I decided to disguise all the medicines and supplements in some scrumptious, high-quality cat food recommended by the vet. I used Hill's a/d prescription food, which she consistently likes. This food is pretty mushy so it's easy to mix things in, and, even more important, it's syringeable (if that's a word!). At my vet's office, a case of 24 8-oz cans costs $31.00 or $1.29 per can. I don't think it can be ordered outside of a vet's office. It's very important that this food be kept refrigerated between uses. The downside is that the cat food, even when kept in the refrigerator, will go bad in 3 to 4 days as evidenced by some nasty aromas and the cat throwing up (yes, Simone taught me about food spoilage on several occasions). However, so no food is wasted, after opening a can, I freeze one-half of it. After using the first half in 3 to 4 days, I defrost the other half and get another 3 to 4 days out of it. The usage equals about 1 can per week which is very reasonable.
We have 3 cats in our household, so, early on, it was important to isolate Simone from the other cats during her treatments and feedings. Fortunately, we have a half-finished basement bathroom that did the trick. In isolating Simone, I could make sure that Simone was properly fed and that the other cats would not get into her stuff or interfere with the treatments. Simone spends anywhere from 1 to 1 1/2 hours in her treatment room for each session. She has a cushion to sleep on plus a radiator for warmth. She rarely complains about the situation and seems pretty content with the setup.
To prepare Simone's meds and supps, I add about a teaspoon of the Hill's a/d to a mixing cup. Then I syringe 1/2 mL of the Alumi-Gel into the mixing cup. Then about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of Epakitin is added. The solid pills (Rena-Kare, Rena Essentials, Rena Food, and Cypro) are crushed to a powder in a mortar, then added to the mixing cup. Everything is incorporated together using a mixing stick. Then the mixture is sucked into a 3cc syringe and fed in 7 to 9 doses to Simone, all the time giving her a positive reinforcement to accompany the forced feeding. Surprisingly, Simone is usually very cooperative and takes it like a lady, only wasting a wee amount. This is done twice daily, morning and evening. The evening feeding does not include the Epakitin. Each session takes from 15 to 20 minutes. The evening session is longer since that's when Simone gets her sub-Q injection. After this procedure, Simone gets a feeding of her favorites foods (more about that later).
Early on (August 10, 2009), I investigated another supplement that was getting positive reports on the internet. It's called Azodyl. It's a renal detoxifier that contains probiotic intestinal bacteria. As a "live" supplement, the product must be shipped cold. For about $21, I ordered a 60-dose bottle from Entirely Pets. To be on the safe side, I requested my local post office to contact me as soon as it arrived so it could be kept refrigerated. In short, they didn't. It arrived warm, and I decided not to use it. So I can't testify to the benefits of Azodyl. Simone was responding very positively to the regimen described above and that was good enough. If I had used Azodyl, the annual expense could have been $250. I certainly didn't need additional expenses.
From the journal - August 28, 2009:
Simone's behavior has returned to 80% of old time; she's following me around, snuggling, jumping on bed and food table, talking, snapping at other pets, and generally looking and acting better.
In the next blog, the topic of food will be discussed. Purr on!!!
Simone & Me
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
<> Ghandi
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