Looking for homeopathic tx for a cat with possible pancreatitis/IBD

[VeroniqueM]

Hello and thank you in advance for all your help!

My 14 yr-old MN DSH cat Darwin has been chronically losing weight for the past 2 1/2 yrs, has less energy, a very high spec FPL at 27.1 ug/L and acquired that "Ain't doing right" patient look.

Blood work was done (chemistry profile including SDMA, CBC, spec FPL, B12/folate, tot T4): abnormalities: spec FPL 27.1 ug/L (n: 0-3.5), folate: 97 nmol/L, SDMA was high end of July at 19 ug/dl but back to high normal at 14.

Urinalysis (by cysto): USG 1.018 by lab, USG in house on fresh urine 1.015, pH 6.0, trace protein, trace-lysed blood/hemoglobin, WBCs 2-5/HPF, RBCs 2-5/HPF, bacteria: rare cocci (less than 9/HPF), epithelial cells: 1+ squamous epithelial cells (1-2/HPF).

Urine culture (by cysto): no growth.

Urine protein/creatinine ratio: 0.2

Radiographs end of July showed signs of constipation (fairly large amount of stools in large intestine) and arthritis in left hip (not severe) from fracturing a small pie-shape piece of bone off his left femoral head following a high fall in spring 2009 (was cage rested for 6 weeks).

Blood pressure measurement end of July was normal.

Has had intermittent diarrhea in the past, but not in the last few months.

Currently on Royal canin dry and canned senior consult diet. Would like to switch him to a raw diet if possible (if you think it would suit his condition?).

Was vaccinated FVRCP-Leukemia-Rabies every year for the first 7 years of his life, no vaccine since 2013.

He is affectionate, calm, often looking to drink from our reverse osmosis water tap (I leave a drip running whenever he asks for it), whenever he goes outside (always supervised) he immediately starts to eat grass then will vomit generally within 24 hours after.

He seems to search for heat (lying on blankets or on us), has intermittent vomiting that usually occurs in afternoon or early morning (between 4ham and 7ham), he enjoys being touched and petting him always seems to relax him.

I was very stressed at the time his condition started which may have affected him.

I suspect he has chronic pancreatitis/IBD/possible triaditis, also possible early kidney disease. I am his veterinarian .

I would really like to use a homeopathic treatment that could help lower down his spec FPL and if possible heal his condition before an acute pancreatitis/triaditis occurs, but I don't have the knowledge to know which remedy to use. Also hoping that the homeopathic treatment could protect his kidneys from kidney failure.

Thanks again!

Veronique

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Welcome to HA! Veronique, and thanks for making your first post.

Darwin is a very lucky kitty to have such a wonderful veterinarian and friend!

One of the things we teach here is called the CIE. Unlike the CIA that looks for clues to solve crimes and wrongdoings, CIE uses symptom clues to hunt for the correct homeopathic medicines. These are then put into Context and Interpreted holistically to Empower pet parents (and vets).

The remedies that are found can then resolve the putative underlying energetic imbalance that causes the abnormal symptoms. These are always evidence of physiologic imbalances such as in production of inflammatory mediators from his pancreas and the elevated specFPL, etc.

Symptoms are both externally visible as well as internally measurable (what vets may call clinical signs). The internal symptoms, like blood test results and other diagnostics can be very important, but they are also pathologic changes secondary to the physiologic fluctuation and therefore not as useful as the primary "energetic" symptoms.

Symptom significance is important, and most important are the quality of life symptoms that make up BEAM (Behavior, Energy, Appetite, Mood). Reason being is that his quality of life is the most critical thing we are treating IMHO.



Also important for choosing a curative homeopathic medicine are 4 P symptoms. Especially any that seem "unrelated" to the pathologic changes.



Regarding Darwin, please share what his ADR, or other, symptoms were when he started losing weight?

Yes, trying a fresh food or raw diet is a great idea, and could be very helpful in a lot of ways! These all start by increasing vitality and cellular energy as well as supporting his body while it heals.

No matter what you do with the fresh food, you may want to consider decreasing and stopping any dry food. These are at the very bottom of the vitality scale and the extra carbohydrates in them can be harmful.

These things are all part of the Vitality and Balance System (VBS).

If you'd like to learn more about it, this article might be useful:

Using the Vitality and Balance System in Holistic Veterinary Practice - Holistic Actions!

www.holisticactions.com

Other helpful and supportive supplements to use while you, and a vet homeopath, find useful homeopathic medicines include several from Rx Vitamins for Pets.

These include their Vitamin D liquid, Rx B12, Rx Biotic, Nutrigest, etc.

Speaking of vit. D, it's a great idea to monitor this throughout his treatment.

In addition to the Rx Biotic, it's also helpful to rotate fermented foods and other probiotics.

Answer's Goat Milk and MoringaPet Balance are especially useful.

Regarding individualizing homeopathic medicines for him, a thorough initial evaluation to assess the "gestalt" of his dis-ease (imbalance) usually takes ~2 hours.

Because of his chronic weight loss and other abnormal symptoms, close monitoring and 20-30 minute rechecks every few weeks are also usually advised. At least until he is gaining weight and has 100% normal BEAM.

I look forward to learning more about Darwin and monitoring his progress over the next months and years.

 

[VeroniqueM]

Thank you for all this great information Dr Feinman!

I read the article on Vitality and Balance system with great interest and was very interested about the part discussing the epigenetic responses of an animal to its environment.

I understand your question about the symptoms he might have been showing when his problem started a couple years ago, but unfortunately I can't answer that with precision because I was dealing with a lot of stress in our family life at the time: had 3 very young children to take care of along with my veterinary practice which I ended closing because we needed a positive change for a better balanced lifestyle and the 24/7 emergency veterinary on-call was becoming too stressful. So unfortunately I was not as observant of Darwin's symptoms until I thought he looked thinner, weighed him about 2 1/2 yrs ago and realized he had lost about 2 lbs from his regular weight. One thing I had noticed for sure back then was his increased desire to drink frequently from the reverse osmosis tap while it was dripping (and he still does that).

But since I saw your last post, I've been observing Darwin more closely and I think I'm better able to describe some of the symptoms that I instinctively qualified as "ain't doing right" symptoms. To describe his lower energy level, I find he walks more slowly and sometimes he's walking and then he'll sit down and look around as if he needs to take a break. Walking slowly is a persistent symptom (every day several times per day) and sitting down as if wanting to take a break happens less often (I may notice it once per week). It's not obvious to me that he actually has a destination set in his mind and needs to take a break, I mean he could be forgetting where he was going or getting distracted and sits down to ground himself and rethink about what he wanted to do (I don't know). Another symptom he displays is a subtle trembling or bobbing of his head while attempting to change position when he's on sternal recumbency. I don't think he's shivering (although I usually observe this from a distance so I'm not beside him to touch his body to see if he's shivering). It only seems to be his head that is moving and it only lasts maybe a second. His eyes are not as vivid looking as before. So these above-mentioned symptoms have been going on for many months and I would even say probably since I've noticed his weight loss.
More recently or in the last few months, about once a week I'll notice him lying or sleeping on sternal recumbency with his front legs crunched on either side of his chest (elbows up) with his nose down on the blanket (I've seen cats with abdominal pain adopt that position). One more position that I've seen him display this past week-end was him lying on sternal recumbency on the distal end of his tail while the proximal third of his tail was brought upward and behind him (as if trying to force his tail out from under him to free it but seems unable to do it and doesn't lift his hind legs to free his tail either, his eyes were closed as if sleeping). I had not seen him do this for many months, but it got me concerned because I remember seeing this position on another one of my cats that had kidney and heart failure and he was displaying this position when he was having syncope episodes (but Darwin did not have any syncope episode that I have seen). I guess I interpret this position as a sign of weakness.
On another note, he's definitely drawn to heat because in addition to wanting to lay down on us, I noticed he chooses to go on our leather couch to lay on an area where I've been sitting for a fair amount of time so the place is warm. I've been attending a lot of classes lately (mostly homeopathy classes ) and when I get up for a break I'll come back and find him lying down where I was sitting.
On a playful note, he has his little bursts of energy in the morning where he likes to jump on the bed and plays in the moving blankets while I make the bed. These little bursts of energy don't last long, but at least they're there!

I removed his dry food and introduced a small amount of chicken to him yesterday which he really liked. Actually, even before, he was often going on the table if I wasn't watching to eat some of the kids left over meals (mostly the meat: hamburger from a shepherd's pie, fish, ...). We used to smile at the fact that he would sit on a chair at the table with us waiting for us to get up so he could come and eat some leftover meal from our plates. He was likely telling us something and I didn't catch his message right away... He doesn't display that behavior anymore lately.
I will add yogurt to his diet and I have Proviable-DC probiotics which I might use until I can find the brands that you recommended. What dose of Vitamin D would you recommend? I will check with the labs to see where I can have his vit D measured (I guess that's what you meant by monitoring it?). Should I even have it measured before starting supplementation with vit D? And would you recommend that I give him an injection of vit B12 even if his B12 blood level is normal?

Sorry about this long post! I hope this is helpful, but that's what I'm observing so far and I will continue to observe him closely. I am looking forward to Darwin's 2 hour appt with you and I will do all the follow-ups that you think he should have following his main appt. I'm so glad he has the privilege of becoming your patient!!!

Thanks again,

Véronique

 

[VeroniqueM]

I just thought I would add a few more things:
- his haircoat looks dull and clumpy (no matts, but it looks clumpy)
- I had mentioned about him eating grass outside on my first post, well he also tends to chew at our plants inside (especially our Nasturtium plant). The other plants he sometimes chews but less often are the herbs (rosemary, parsley, mint). I see him do it at least once every other day lately. He doesn't tend to vomit as much after chewing the inside plants compared to when he eats grass outside.
- he has a mild persistent bilateral mucousy ocular discharge: it dries in the corner of his eyes as a black/brown crust, but when I see it inside is eyes it's of egg white consistency and color. Actually, when I clean his eyes (I do it every day), when I pull at the crust in the corner of his eye there is always an egg white-like line of mucous that comes out from inside his eye attached to the crust. This has been going on for many months, even over a year.
- the constipation that was showing on his x-rays at the end of July seems to be a persistent problem: whenever I palpate his abdomen there is always a fair amount of stools lined up in the colon. The pieces of stools are not overly large in size but harder than I think it should be.
- his B12 was 993 pmol/L (n: 600-1800) on Oct 8/20

Thanks again!

Véronique

 

[Dr. Jeff]

You're welcome, Dr. Veronique!

I'm sorry to hear about all of your family stress and hope that everything is "OK" now.

Thanks for sharing those important ADR symptoms, which are reflections of his BEAM and internal balance. I'll get more clarification about them when during our Skype/phone evaluation.

The "meatloaf" position you mentioned is often associated with abdominal pain/cramping in kitties.

Regarding abdominal gas, have you heard any belly noises, burping, or flatulence (noisy and/or smelly)?

Has he always been drawn to heat as many kitties are? Or is this a new behavior?

Great news about his bursts of energy because this is a great clue that he has plenty of the vitality needed to heal!

It's also great news that he like fresh food and that you stopped the dry food. The extra vitality and energy in the fresh food will help him heal.

Yes, ideally you would measure his vitamin D level before starting to use it as well as measure it every few weeks-months during treatment. The more abnormal it is, the more often to monitor.

Our friends at VDI measure vit D (among other things) accurately using their cool test kit that vets or pet parents can order:

VDI Test Submission Kit (Preventive tests)

** THIS IS NOT AN AT HOME TEST KIT - REQUIRES BLOOD DRAW FROM A VET ** VDI Dried Serum Test Kit is intended for submitting a sample to VDI laboratory for any combinations of tests offered. Select test(s) and upgrade(s) prior to checking out. Turnaround Times are from the time the sample is...

vdidirect.com

Use coupon code = holisticactions for a discount at checkout

Rx D3 from Rx Vitamins is the brand of vit D that I recommend.

Pet Disease Prevention 101: Vitamin D Edition - Rx Vitamins for Pets

Unlike humans, our pets don't convert sunlight to Vitamin D. They get it from food. Vets should routinely test your cat or dog for proper vitamin D levels.

www.rxvitamins.com

Since he's eating well and has a normal B12 value, he may not benefit from the injections.

That being said however, his tissue (vs. blood) levels may still be low, so B12 injections can't hurt.

Thanks again for the kind words!

Please keep us updated on Darwin's progress, and your journey into vet homeopathy.

 

[kristen_acri]

Thanks for the resource on Vitamin D. Helpful for Charlie's fluctuating values.

Kristen

 

[VeroniqueM]

Thank you Dr Feinman!

I ordered the vitamin D test kit to verify his blood level before starting supplementation. I also ordered the vitamin D3, oral vitamin B12, Nutrigest and Biotic from the company you recommended.

Unfortunately I can't order Moringa Pet Balance in Canada (the company was telling me that they can't get it to pass through the border). And I'm still waiting to hear back from Answer's Goat Milk company as I would like to know if they have a distributor in Canada.

As for Darwin's desire for heat, it has definitely increased in the past few months. I never really hear him burp or have flatulence and I seldom hear intestinal sounds from him. The only bad smell I sometimes notice from him is from his mouth (for ex. when he's lying on me and grooms himself I will notice the bad smell) and I think it's from his dental tartar, but he doesn't have severe gingivitis and I don't really want to put him under anesthesia for a dentistry at this point.

I can't wait to dive deeper into all the great information that your site offers! Right now I'm still catching up with the 3 year homeopathy course in which I just enrolled in October (a bit of a late enrollment so I need to catch up with the September lectures). Homeopathy certainly is fascinating and it will be so interesting to learn more about its applications in the veterinary field!

Looking forward to virtually see you tomorrow for Darwin's consultation!

Véronique

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Good morning Veronique-

Thanks for spending so much time with me on Skype yesterday. It was great getting to know your beautiful and happy kitty better!

I am super excited to help Darwin, and you to learn vet homeopathy, in any way that I can. The more vets practicing using vitality, balance and homeopathy, the better IMHO!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Thanks for the resource on Vitamin D. Helpful for Charlie's fluctuating values.

Kristen

You're welcome Kristen. VDI is a great lab and offers some unique, and well priced, tests.

 

[VeroniqueM]

Hello Dr Feinman!

Following our consultation on Thursday Nov 12th, I gave Darwin a q-tip dose of his Mercurius vivus after 15 succussions instead of just 10 as was recommended.

No change that same day, but the next day he was more quiet although his appetite was still good. Today Nov 14th, I found vomit early morning (I have to assume it's Darwin because our other cat hardly ever vomits). The vomiting occurred between 4ham-7ham and contained bile and stomach foam, no hairball this time. Since this morning, his appetite is now down by about 30-40%, his energy is lower (he walks more slowly again, sleeps more, doesn't sleep in his preferred cat bed anymore but rather sleeps downstairs by the woodstove) and his behavior is changing: he's not as affectionate and sociable as he has been since we began his homeopathic tx, I don't see him playing anymore since yesterday. He used to get so excited about eating his chicken, running between my legs as I was preparing it, but today he just sits and waits while I prepare it and sometimes he was not even around when I prepared it (which is unusual). He does eat some of it right away but leaves some in the plate which he was not doing lately (he was eating the whole plate).

This afternoon though, he did display a behavior that he used to do constantly when he was younger: he jumped on my back as I bent down to pick up something and he rubbed his face against the back of my head, purring.

And I did receive good news yesterday! His specFPL is now down to 12.1 pmol/L, was 14.5 end of July and was 27.1 on Oct 10th. With the normal being 0 to 3.5, it's still considered high, but at least it's coming down!!

I'm just not sure how to go about dosing since his BEAM has been down since the last dose: do I give him another dose of the Mercurius vivus 15 succussions? Or go back down to 10 succussions or just wait and not give another dose for now?

Thank you so much for all your time,

Véronique

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Thanks for your update Veronique. Great news about the pancreatitis test decreasing!

Did you do any other testing that changed from the last result?

It doesn't sound like he had an immediate medicinal aggravation after the remedy, so you are either seeing symptoms of his natural dis-ease, or he needs a redose or new potency/remedy.

A 15/Q-tip redose should help you decide what to do after that.

Please let us know and keep up the wonderful work being both his pet parent and vet.

 

[VeroniqueM]

Thank you for your fast response!

I'm waiting for VDI test results: B12, folate will be a comparison from previous tests, vitamin D and cancer panel will be new results. Because his SDMA was back down to high normal on Oct 10th, I did not retest yet, but I plan to recheck it when I retest his vitamin D after starting vitamin D supplementation (I'm waiting for VDI vitamin D test result before starting vitamin D supplementation). Because they were basically normal last time, I didn't do a chemistry profile/CBC this time, but also plan to redo those with the next bloodwork.

I think he's definitely better hydrated because I used to have a hard time finding a vein for his past bloodworks, sometimes had to try multiple times (poor cat) and this time his jugular vein looked really good and I got it first try.

Again, thank you! I will give him another dose.

Véronique

 

[VeroniqueM]

Hello!

Here is an update on Darwin: thanks to Dr Feinman's great work along with the Mercurius vivus remedy, Darwin's spec fPL value which was 27.1 ug/L in October (n: 0-3.5) is now 8.7 so almost back to normal! I'd like to think that this probably saved him from a raging pancreatitis. He had a really good month of November (although with some down days) where he vomited a high amount of hairballs, sometimes once a day, but he also started to display behaviors that he was displaying when he was younger, playful behaviors, it was as though he was getting younger again. The dose was gradually increased from a 6c to a 12c and then the number of succussions were increased.
In December, he had a mix of good days/not so good days. He vomited less hairballs, but still did on occasion and he tends to chew at our Nasturtium plant and parsley so sometimes he vomits plant pieces also. On December 21st in pm, he had a symptom (see photo below): left eye yellow/white discharge with discomfort (he was blinking more, keeping the eye partly closed, more quiet). The eye symptom lasted 6-8 hours then disappeared by itself, could have been a symptom from his past. Coincidentally, he had blood work done in the morning of that same day and the results indicated kidney changes:
SDMA 19 ug/dL (n: 0-14)
Creatinine 218 umol/L (n: 80-203)
BUN 17.2 mmol/L (n: 5.7-13.2)
folate also high at 69 nmol/L (n: 27-46)
Cobalamin too high, over 1800, so I stopped oral B12 supplementation (his cobalamin was on the low end before which is why I had started supplementation)
USG 1.022
UPC ratio 0.1
Urine culture: negative

I had his blood kidney values rechecked 9 days later, hoping that they might have been part of his symptoms from the past and that they would get back to normal. Values were a little lower:
SDMA 18
Creatinine 203
BUN 16.8
Cholesterol now mildly high 8.1 mmol/L (n: 2.4-7.9), was 7.7 on Dec 21st and 5.7 in Oct/20
I started giving him Plasmalyte subcutaneous fluids 175-200ml EOD.

He also had another symptom on Jan5/21: a small lesion in front of his left ear, this is something he has had repeatedly in the past (I never really found out why), this time the back of his left ear had a small lesion as well (photos below taken Jan 7th). The lesions are scabbing over nicely, healing on their own.

Here is what Darwin currently takes other than the Plasmalyte:
Rx Biotic one scoop per day, Rx Essentials for cats 1/2 tsp per day, Rx D3 vitamin 2 drops per day but I reduced to 1 drop per day.

He currently eats cooked or partially cooked chicken, veal liver and chicken hearts sometimes combined with a raw quail egg, also eats Hills canned k/d chicken/vegetable stew and Royal canin canned renal support E.

Concerned about the rising kidney values as the pancreatic values are almost back down to normal, I was wondering if Darwin, on a homeopathic standpoint, might be dealing with 2 dissimilar diseases and Dr Feinman then recommended testing the Mercurius vivus remedy 12c Q-tip on gums method 20 succussions per dose: I gave it for 3 consecutive days last Thursday-Friday-Saturday and observed him closely through those 3 days and through the week-end. On the days he was receiving his fluids and his remedy dose, I was giving them several hours apart.

So here are my unprejudiced observations (at least I hope they are unprejudiced ) :

Jan 7th: around 00h30-1ham: Mercurius dose
8ham: active/meowing in my bedroom to wake me up: hungry (good sign)
9h45am: asked once to drink from reverse osmosis tap while tap is running (had not asked since before Christmas, used to ask that numerous times per day before starting homeopathic treatment)
- then was sleeping on my bed lying on his side comfortably, purring easily when I would pet him
- eating fairly well that morning, but not quite finishing his plates
lunch time: played with one of his toys and fairly playful in pm playing in the blankets on my bed and having little running fits around the house.
- better appetite for supper

Jan 8th: 00h30: weird meow as if will vomit then walking fast/pacing, changing location, seemed uncomfortable but did not vomit (I gave him his Mercurius dose right after this episode which lasted several minutes) then a little later he was cuddling in bed with me, running/jumping on the bed energetically as I entered my room to go to bed.
- came in our bed to cuddle several times through the night purring easily (and it was not because he was hungry, he had food in his plate and bowls), at one point he was purring so loud he woke me up (this is very rare, he somehow seemed happier than usual that night)
- appetite lower in am and asked to drink water from reverse osmosis tap around lunchtime
- overall not sleeping as comfortably on his side today, more sternal position instead, even adopted a version of the "meatloaf" position in pm (had not seen that since last October before the beginning of homeopathic treatment, photo posted below)
- had a couple playful behaviors later on, received SC fluids that evening

Jan 9th: around 1h-1h30am: Mercurius dose
4h15am: went to pet him before going back to bed: no reaction, no purring, didn't move (unusual), only came to see me in my bedroom around 9h30am as I was getting up (later than usual for him)
-overall not purring as much, especially in pm and evening, appetite not as good in am but increased as the day went by
- lots of urine in litterbox (had subcutaneous fluids yesterday evening)
- overall walking more slowly, not as talkative as usual (usually meows and talks to us often, tends to interact a lot with us when he's feeling good), just a couple short playful episodes, not himself
- now weighs 10.4 lbs (was 9.7 lbs Dec 30th), I have been monitoring his sleeping resp rate: 16

Jan 10th: - came to see us in bed during the night purring, was purring in our bed early morning
- ate fairly well, but quiet, not really playful nor talkative throughout the day, walking slowly
- asked to drink from reverse osmosis tap in pm, slept downstairs by himself most of pm and evening
- received SC fluids that evening
- was also quiet last night and not coming to see us in bed this morning
- appetite is decreased by about 30% this morning, later in the morning was lying comfortably on his left side purring when I would pet him.

Darwin left eye discharge Dec21 2021


Darwin lesion in front of left ear Jan7 2021


Darwin lesion back of left ear Jan7 2021


Darwin version of meatloaf position


Sorry about this long update... Looking forward to hear about your next recommendations!
Thank you so much Dr Feinman!

Véronique

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Wow, thanks for your detailed post Dr Veronique!

It sounds like he's had symptoms coming and going, as they will do, while his body heals. This is a good sign!

Great news that he has gained some weight. The biggest problem seen in cats with kidney dis-ease is weight loss and emaciation from not wanting to eat. Does he look or feel sturdier?

Since today is only day 2 after your series of doses (it can take up to 3 days for the healing counter-action of the body to start), the best thing to do now is to continue to wait and see where his BEAM is by Thursday.

I look forward to hearing how he seems then!

Thanks again for taking the time to write this all down for us.

 

[VeroniqueM]

I'm glad he seems to be heading in the right direction!

To answer your question, I think he feels sturdier when I lift him, but it's hard to say since I'm with him every day. He weighed 10.4lbs 24 hours after receiving his subcutaneous fluids. He gets his fluids every 48 hours so far so next time I'll weigh him just before he gets his fluids which should be his most accurate weight.

I'm monitoring his sleeping resp rate to monitor for fluid retention and/or pleural effusion. So far so good, he stays around 16 resps.

I will update later this week.

Véronique

 

[VeroniqueM]

Hello again!

Here is a detailed update on Darwin as we previously mentioned:

January 11th:
- appetite was down in the morning, but increased as the day went by
- quiet in the morning but lying near where I was working and purring easily
- playful in pm, running around the house and playing in the blankets on my bed (his favorite game)
- gave him raw chicken instead of cooked late pm
- playful in evening also
- sneezed several times today, no nasal discharge

January 12th:
- one playful episode around 1h30am, otherwise quiet night, didn't come to see us in bed during the night and neither did he come to see us in the morning, was lying sternal on a dining room chair watching me when I came out of the bedroom that morning
- didn't eat breakfast right away, had to get him from downstairs 9ham and bring him to his food, only ate about 30% of regular portion
- around noon, was lying comfortably on his side on the living room couch but for a while was making a moaning sound in his sleep at every inspiration (uncommon, but he has done it before). Purring when I started petting him though.
- only one little playful episode this pm, not purring as easily, but used my leg as a scratching post right after (another playful behavior)
- appetite better later pm, but asked twice to drink from reverse osmosis tap
- socializing a bit, but more quiet, walking slowly
- weighs 10.2 lbs just before next fluid treatment (so about 48 hours after last treatment)
- received 200cc Plasmalyte sc around 8hpm
- came to sleep with me in my kid's bed as I put them to sleep
- short playful episode later at night

January 13th:
- came to see us in bed purring in the morning, quiet for the rest of the morning
- appetite lower in morning but improved later in pm
- asked to drink from reverse osmosis tap several times today
- for supper, mixed in a raw quail egg with his fresh cooked meat, didn't eat it, ate more canned food instead (the Hills k/d chicken vegetable stew and Royal canin renal formula E)
- followed me around energetically running in the different rooms as I put the kids to bed (pupils dilated as if was hungry and wanting food), but was purring, affectionate and a little more talkative, never ate the fresh meat mixed with the quail egg (although had eaten that before)

January 14th:
- 3ham: gave him fresh meat without egg and he ate some
- came in my bed purring in the morning
- didn't eat anymore fresh meat until 2hpm (uncommon), but was eating the canned food
- slept most of the morning as usual
- asked to drink from reverse osmosis tap several times today
- walking slowly, quiet, not talkative, but sleeping comfortably in his side curled over chin on his tail
- ate smaller amount of fresh meat than usual today and not playful
- received Plasmalyte 240cc sc around midnight

Would you prefer that I also fill out a web update form from your HomeVet site?

Thank you kindly,

Véronique

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Thanks for the update!

Yes, it would be wonderful if you have time to submit a web form update for Darwin's records.

 

[VeroniqueM]

Good afternoon,

I was just wondering, in light of the new information I provided for Darwin, what is the next step in his homeopathic treatment? His last dose of Mercurius vivus was given January 9th around 1ham.

His BEAM is staying about the same, it turns out his lack of appetite for his meats improved when I cooked a fresh batch of liver and chicken hearts (he didn't seem to want the meat that was a few days old but will eat the freshly cooked meat).
He vomited once yesterday afternoon, bile with plant material in it (he was chewing at the parsley and Nasturtium plants).

I realize that I should also schedule for another follow-up appt, maybe early February once I get the new blood work results? I was just wondering what you would recommend in the meantime. If you think the follow-up should be done earlier, I can also do that.

Thanks again for the great care!

Véronique

 

[Dr. Jeff]

You're welcome, Veronique. Darwin is one lucky kitty to have such a loving and attentive mom!

It doesn't sound like any progress after your series of Merc doses so will review and reply to your patient update for a possible Merc 30c dose or a new remedy.

 

[VeroniqueM]

Hello!

I'm just unsure if I should redose Darwin with his Sulphur 12c at this point.
His last dose was yesterday 5h30pm: since then, his BEAM slowly increased although he never ate his meat with the Rx Renal supplement for his supper yesterday, but he ate his meat without supplement later on and was almost running for it. So his BEAM went from a grade of about 5.5 yesterday pm to about 6.5 almost 7 through the night (he was purring/cuddling, no episode lying sternal with dilated pupils), then his appetite was down this morning and his BEAM was down to about 6 and increased to about 6.5 in pm (appetite increased also).
He did have a little running fit with our other cat shortly after receiving his dose yesterday (they seemed to be somewhat fighting more than playing).
He started having terrible breath this pm and I don't see any obvious reason orally to explain that sudden change. The superficial red lesion in front of his right ear noticed yesterday is gone since this morning (last similar lesion was in front of left ear on January 7th).
I gave him his Aminavast and Rx Renal supplements orally as a capsule today instead of mixing it in his food.
He received Plasmalyte SQ fluids tonight (last time was 2 days ago).
His BEAM went back down to 4 this evening as he was lying sternal pupils dilated not purring at all for about 1 1/2 hour. He's now curled up into a more comfortable sleeping position, but still not wanting to purr and not himself.
I'm just not sure if he improved enough before going back down to give him another dose of Sulphur at this point.

Thank you so much for all the great support!

Véronique