Injecting Lasix in a Cat Troubles, Vet Visits, Bowel Movements, and other Wonderful Cat Issues

The vet gave us 25 gauge needles to use and we use two at a time: one for the bottle to draw up meds; the other to inject into Myrna.  The first two days my husband assisted and we stuck her and all went well. Then the rest of the week, I was able to do it on my own. She felt no pain, walked away as if nothing happened.  I prepared the med the night before and injected her after giving her the other meds, gave her some food afterwards, etc.  Then, after seven days of no hassles, she suddenly winced on Sunday and struggled.  We got it in but it wasn't easy.  Then it happened again on Monday.

On Tuesday, my husband helped again but it was still not working.  Yes, I had chosen different spots along the neck/scruff line and wasn't repeating myself.  But still, the moment I touched her, she winced, cried, and struggled.

On Tuesday, Jimmy Stewart and Elizabeth Taylor went to the vet for annual check-ups.  By the way, because Bette had an allergic reaction to her shots-rabies and distemper-we had the vet pretreat JS and ET with Benadryl.  The only reaction we had later was that they slept most of the evening but easily woke up to eat and never had a negative reaction.  However, while at the vet getting examined, Lizzie through a fit again. (Last year she almost took out a vet tech when she scratched her face near an eye.  Now her chart is marked "CAUTION."  How embarrassing!)  They put the plastic collar on Lizzie to keep her from biting and it took three to hold her for shots and two for the exam.  Jimmy was a bit better but did protest and struggle a bit when getting shots.   While at the vet, I asked a tech why Myrna was hurting and where else to give a shot and how to go about it.  Basically, she's in pain because an area has been touched more than once-even if not injected-and she's pain sensitive.  They said to work my way around the body-the shoulders, scruff, sides, and flank, just not the spine.  So, I have tried it and it sort of worked. Her shot Wednesday was fine but Thursday was not. She struggled again today even when I tried a new spot.  My technique might need work but I am sure I'm not piercing anything other than skin. I am not getting resistance from her body when I inject.

I'm not giving up but I just think we were fooled into thinking this would be easy because the first week was easy. If she is sensitive to pain, the only thing to do is try to give her the shot regardless.  I struggle to get her each morning just for the pills as it is.  I can't have her anxiety of getting pills made worse by an added fear of getting a shot when she gets her pills. I will instead, do what I did today: get her eventually (but I always get her between 7:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. at the latest although in the past it was sometimes not until 10 a.m.); give her the pills and treats;  then prepare the shot and breakfast; find her later for the shot and then feed her.  If I make sure she has her shot by 9:30 a.m. then she won't be too far off her schedule.  As for her pain, I hate to say it, but we both will have to bear with it.

The other option might have to be using smaller needles and that would mean using the insulin needles that do not change and run the risk of the point dulling after piercing the rubber stopper on the bottle.  We'll just have to wait and see.

Lizzie at the vet hiding under a towel but hissing all the time

Jimmy at the vet hiding under his towel but being quiet and polite

The other thing is her bowel movements, which were very loose early last week after more lasix had been given that previous weekend, are better formed now that she eats bananas in her food. However, I will also try to make rice this week and add rice water to her food.  Rice water has the fibers from rice and is a great natural alternative for anyone and pets when they have loose stool.

Myrna has been doing much better with injectable lasix.  She bounced back last Sunday and has been breathing very well ever since. Problem is, she now goes much more often in the a.m. and I have to time her reactions to what I am doing.  If she went overnight by 5 a.m., she'll need to go again about 8 a.m. but after her shot, she'll go two more times, about an hour apart.  So, 8 a.m., 9 a.m., and 10 a.m. before settling down.  Keeps me hopping as she either needs coaxing, asks for my assistance, or needs reminding and treats of course.  If we don't, she's likely to have an accident.  I'd rather she not.  

Three Little Kitties Went to the Vet Thursday-Oh My!

Three cats went to the vet yesterday: Cooper for a two month check-up on his blood and urine due to hypercalcemia;  Baby due to Wednesday's BM issue; and the vet called Wed. when I called in a renewal for a script to say it had been 6 months since they had seen Bette Davis and she had to be seen before they could renew the script.  Luckily, my husband was already taking in Cooper so I went along to handle the other two (although I'd like to point out that there has been a couple occasions when I've taken in three at the same time by myself but women are much more organized and hardier than men-but I digress.)

Cooper's blood work we'll know about later today.  Bette's fine and got the renewal (it was a physical and a urine test only.)  However, she has a lesion on her tooth-a.k.a. resorption-she is losing a tooth.  This is what Baby had last fall and the reason she went to MSU (MI State Univ. Vet school)  in December for a dental cleaning and to have a tooth removed.  So, I will make an appointment for Bette and for Cooper since he's due for a cleaning and has a lot of tartar on his teeth.

Baby on the other hand, not only got a physical but had to have her anal glands emptied and had to have her rear end checked out for impacted material.  Both glands were impacted and one was emptied and the other was injected with something to break up the material.  Since her urine test was clean and she didn't need a broad spectrum antibiotic like Clavamox for an UTI, she was given a shot of Convenia which is a 10-14 day antibiotic, given just in case the glands are infected or will become infected-something they can't test?  She's to return in 2 weeks to see if the other gland has emptied.  Her bm issue is a form of constipation-bits and pieces sometimes, twisted sometimes, normal sometimes, but a few times something gets stuck coming out the anus which means she smears it all over herself and the floor (or the chair the other night) trying to remove it.  Last summer and fall it had a lot of hair in it and became like plugs that we had to pull out of her (talk about a mess!)  We had been giving her fiber but had to stop that and began using Laxatone daily and Forta Flora, the vet assuming Laxatone would help her pass and digest the hair and the Forta Flora would provide probiotics to help the digestive track.  That worked except lately.  It all seems to suggest she is now dehydrated or not enough water is in the colon which does correspond to lately she has had smaller urine output (although the frequency has not increased to suggest an UTI or illness.)   So, now she's on-in addition to the other two-Miralax-which should act as a stool softener.  1/8 of a tsp over the entire day so over three meals is the suggestion.   We'll see how it all goes. Only time will tell.  She was not happy at the vet; screamed the entire time; came home grumpy as hell. We gave her a large .2 dose of Buprenex when we got home and more in the evening and again this morning.  For some reason, she seems to blame me. She was lovey-dovey with my husband but not me. Of course she blames me-I was the one in the room.  Big Sigh.

Baby-looking like an owl AND a pussycat!

And Myrna?  Doing well I believe.  She has needed one extra dose of lasix earlier in the week but none since.  We'll see if this is a pattern or just an irregular occurrence.