Monday, April 21, 2014

Mancat Monday: Carmine Update



Hi everyone!  The Mom here with another update on Carmine.

Carmine went to the vet last Tuesday for another weigh in and B12 injection.  Before we went, though, Alana from Cat in the Fridge sent us an interesting article on Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency she thought might help Carmine.  Thank you again, Alana, for thinking of my baby! :)

I brought the article to my vet to discuss with her (you can read the article here if you like).  She told me that she is already treating Carmine for Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) on a trial basis.  She says that the test for it is quite expensive so we are treating for EPI along with Carmine's IBD to see how he responds to the treatment.

When she put Carmine on the scale, she had to double check his numbers; she was pretty shocked, as was I when she told me what it said!  Carmine now weighs 9 pounds 6 ounces!!!  This means he gained 6.5 ounces in two weeks!  He's reached his goal weight, but we are continuing with the appetite stimulant for now to make sure he maintains the weight (and if he gains more, great!).

We discussed how Carmine had been doing.  Unfortunately, we had a little incident where a friend of mine made dinner, but he forgot to cover it up on the stove before we ate, and Carmine snatched a piece of chicken out of it.  There was pasta sauce and tomatoes in the pot along with the chicken, and Carmine's tummy didn't like that at all!  He threw it up on the stove right after he ate his piece of chicken.  Poor kitty!  (My friend felt very bad about it, and he's making sure to cover anything he cooks now!).

We called the hospital to see what to do, and they said he'd be okay, so that was a huge relief!  However, he wasn't eating much after that (it happened a few days before his appointment) so we told the vet about it, and she gave Carmine some kind of shot (something like Pepcid, she said) to calm his tummy.

That shot helped immediately!  Carmine was back to wanting to eat his wet foods and everything that night :)

The vet says that now that Carmine is stable, the next thing we will do is to take away the treatment for the EPI - he takes Prozyme for it - to see how - or if - that affects him.  If he starts losing weight again, we'll know EPI is what he has in combination with the IBD.

Carmine will go back to the vet for another check in and B12 injection next Thursday (May 1).

It makes me so very happy that he is doing so much better!  Praying this will continue for him. :)

18 comments:

  1. We're glad Carmen is doing better and has gained some weight. We're purring that he continues to do well.

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  2. We hope Carmine carries on eating well and gains some more weight.
    Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx

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  3. Hurrah for a good update! Purrs and paws crossed that he continues to be stable and to do well.

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  4. we are glad he is doing well (less the tomatoes of course). :)

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  5. It's an Easter miracle!
    We are so glad to hear Carmine is doing better...

    Lot's of Noodle hugs,

    Noodle

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  6. OH so glad he's doing better! We hope he continues to gain some weight!

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  7. Way to go Carmine! Keep up the good work!

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  8. That is awesome that Carmine has already hit his goal weight! Paws crossed that he continues to go well.

    Crepes' human, btw, knows a lot of things about kitty heath that most humans don't - she is very good about finding information, especially holistic remedies!

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  9. dood....we hope thiz good mews continews az well, grate job puttin on sum poundage...well, kinda....

    N we toll ya burd wood make ya hurl.....

    :)

    ♥♥♥

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  10. Yay ! Glad to read these good news ! Go on, Carmine ! Purrs

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  11. That is good news that Carmine has put on some weight.

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  12. Keep up the weight gain, Carmine, but no more tomatoes!

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  13. Thank goodness Carmine is responding to treatment! That is such good news, but we will keep purring until he is well. Poor guy! We bet that chicken smelled good!

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  14. I'm glad to hear that Carmine is doing better. It stinks that he got sick from that chicken though. Hopefully his health will only continue to improve from here. It was super nice of Alana to send you that supplement.

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  15. That's really great news about Carmine! Now stay away from human foods unless they'r given it you, Carmine!

    Purrs,
    The Chans

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  16. Such wonderful news!!! We will be thinking of Carmine and sending him love and purrs for continued improvement!

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  17. We are praying it continues too!!!!! That is great news!

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  18. We're sooo glad to hear all this! Yes, it's nice when a vet is willing to treat empirically when possible and there's no harm in doing so - some of those tests are very spendy!

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