Best way to get vet advice while my vet is closed?
October 1, 2023 2:28 PM Subscribe
I have a question that doesn't require a vet visit but merely a relatively informed vet or reasonable facsimile thereof. Do you have an opinion on this question and/or do you know of another resource?
Okay so this totally sucks but one of my cats is dying.
She was diagnosed yesterday with aggressive lymphoma, and we have an appointment on Tuesday to discuss options, such as chemo, which I know works well for cats with lymphoma, however, I doubt that she will live until then or, if she does, whether she will be strong enough to be able to start chemo.
Yesterday she received sub q fluids, an anti-nauseate, and prednisone via injection and we brought home prednisone and antibiotics in pill form with the idea that I would start these today.
She was pretty perky on the way home but over the last 24 hours, she has faded and faded. Last night when I was washing dishes, she came into the kitchen and looked like she was wondering if dinner was on the way. I was able to get her to eat some watered down churu, but today she has had a little bit of water but is refusing even the churu. I conclude that she is on her way out.
What I don't know is: is there any point in trying to give her the meds? Is there any chance that the oral prednisone will make her feel at all better, or better enough to make it worth manually pilling her?
It's all about comfort and if the experience of having a pill forced down her throat is not going to be outweighed by the benefit of that pill, I don't want to put her through it.
My options are:
Pill her.
Wait until tomorrow, call the vet and pose this question.
If there is some benefit that she would not get because I don't pill her, I'll feel totally guilty.
Any thoughts or ideas of resources?
Okay so this totally sucks but one of my cats is dying.
She was diagnosed yesterday with aggressive lymphoma, and we have an appointment on Tuesday to discuss options, such as chemo, which I know works well for cats with lymphoma, however, I doubt that she will live until then or, if she does, whether she will be strong enough to be able to start chemo.
Yesterday she received sub q fluids, an anti-nauseate, and prednisone via injection and we brought home prednisone and antibiotics in pill form with the idea that I would start these today.
She was pretty perky on the way home but over the last 24 hours, she has faded and faded. Last night when I was washing dishes, she came into the kitchen and looked like she was wondering if dinner was on the way. I was able to get her to eat some watered down churu, but today she has had a little bit of water but is refusing even the churu. I conclude that she is on her way out.
What I don't know is: is there any point in trying to give her the meds? Is there any chance that the oral prednisone will make her feel at all better, or better enough to make it worth manually pilling her?
It's all about comfort and if the experience of having a pill forced down her throat is not going to be outweighed by the benefit of that pill, I don't want to put her through it.
My options are:
Pill her.
Wait until tomorrow, call the vet and pose this question.
If there is some benefit that she would not get because I don't pill her, I'll feel totally guilty.
Any thoughts or ideas of resources?
Best answer: Do you have pill pockets or cheese you could wrap the pill in?
I'm so sorry you're going through this. We just lost our cat to lymphoma and it was tough. He rebounded a bit on prednisone and with chemo, but only for a few months. I would try to give her the prednisone. You will at least be keeping her more comfortable until she can be humanely euthanized at the vet.
posted by chaiminda at 2:57 PM on October 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
I'm so sorry you're going through this. We just lost our cat to lymphoma and it was tough. He rebounded a bit on prednisone and with chemo, but only for a few months. I would try to give her the prednisone. You will at least be keeping her more comfortable until she can be humanely euthanized at the vet.
posted by chaiminda at 2:57 PM on October 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you both -- I have pill pockets and I'll give those a try but if she won't eat churu I don't have high hopes for the pill pockets.
I'm so glad you both responded. This gives me the information I need to stop feeling like I will torture her for no reason by pilling her.
xxoo
posted by janey47 at 3:03 PM on October 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
I'm so glad you both responded. This gives me the information I need to stop feeling like I will torture her for no reason by pilling her.
xxoo
posted by janey47 at 3:03 PM on October 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
Sorry to hear this.
When one of my cats was dying, the prednisone helped ease her suffering until we did put her down, but she was also a very compliant cat and it was easy to give her the pill.
One thing to consider is getting a plastic syringe, cutting off the end so it's fairly wide, crushing up the pill, and then mixing it with some wet food, putting that in the syringe, and then sliding the syringe to the side of the cats mouth and just pushing the food in. Obviously requires the cat not vomit, but this is how I've given pills to my one cat is not food motivated and bad with any medicine.
Also, as you may know, cats need to eat ever 24hrs or else they will quickly go down hill in terms of their liver until they die. The decline of the liver will also cause additional discomfort for them.
Again, sorry you're going through this - this stage of pet ownership is always hard.
posted by coffeecat at 3:26 PM on October 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
When one of my cats was dying, the prednisone helped ease her suffering until we did put her down, but she was also a very compliant cat and it was easy to give her the pill.
One thing to consider is getting a plastic syringe, cutting off the end so it's fairly wide, crushing up the pill, and then mixing it with some wet food, putting that in the syringe, and then sliding the syringe to the side of the cats mouth and just pushing the food in. Obviously requires the cat not vomit, but this is how I've given pills to my one cat is not food motivated and bad with any medicine.
Also, as you may know, cats need to eat ever 24hrs or else they will quickly go down hill in terms of their liver until they die. The decline of the liver will also cause additional discomfort for them.
Again, sorry you're going through this - this stage of pet ownership is always hard.
posted by coffeecat at 3:26 PM on October 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Prednisone has a good chance of making her feel better. It's worth some fuss to get it in her. So sorry for the heartbreak.
posted by Dashy at 6:14 PM on October 1, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Dashy at 6:14 PM on October 1, 2023 [6 favorites]
My dog had a very similar symptom course in the week before she died, though from liver failure and not lymphoma (that we were aware of - we were not aggressive with diagnostics, as we would have done nothing aggressive with the information).
We concluded that the discomfort of the pills wasn't worth it, in what was obviously her last days. It broke our hearts when she refused food, but was also clear information on where she was in her illness. I'm sorry you're going through this - the tone of your post makes it clear that you prioritize your fuzzball's comfort over all, and I applaud you for that. It is a horrible position to be in.
posted by Pantengliopoli at 8:18 PM on October 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
We concluded that the discomfort of the pills wasn't worth it, in what was obviously her last days. It broke our hearts when she refused food, but was also clear information on where she was in her illness. I'm sorry you're going through this - the tone of your post makes it clear that you prioritize your fuzzball's comfort over all, and I applaud you for that. It is a horrible position to be in.
posted by Pantengliopoli at 8:18 PM on October 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Agreed with above that Prednisone can be a real palliative drug at times, and an appetite stimulant, so worth considering. You'll find your threshold for benefit v. discomfort. Sounds like you may have already.
posted by Pantengliopoli at 8:21 PM on October 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Pantengliopoli at 8:21 PM on October 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I hate that this is happening to you. Hugs :(
The best way to get veterinary advice when you can't reach your vet is to call a 24/7 animal clinic. The front desk can answer many questions because they see a lot, but you can also beg to be allowed to talk to an actual vet. I've had good luck with that in the past, though I'd like to add that this takes away resources from the animal patients and should only be done when there's really no other option.
For your specific question: there are mobile vets that could absolutely administer a prednisone injection. If you find one who's local, that wouldn't be expensive and might be a good option to avoid unnecessary stress.
If you end up trying to feed the pill: when my childhood cat stopped eating, the one thing she would eat was egg yolk. You can poach an egg in boiling water or in the microwave (crack egg in mug of water, one minute). I'd cook her an egg, slightly runny, mush up the yolk, and add the pill.
And if you do need to use force: coating pills in butter or margarine makes them go down more easily.
posted by toucan at 11:31 AM on October 2, 2023
The best way to get veterinary advice when you can't reach your vet is to call a 24/7 animal clinic. The front desk can answer many questions because they see a lot, but you can also beg to be allowed to talk to an actual vet. I've had good luck with that in the past, though I'd like to add that this takes away resources from the animal patients and should only be done when there's really no other option.
For your specific question: there are mobile vets that could absolutely administer a prednisone injection. If you find one who's local, that wouldn't be expensive and might be a good option to avoid unnecessary stress.
If you end up trying to feed the pill: when my childhood cat stopped eating, the one thing she would eat was egg yolk. You can poach an egg in boiling water or in the microwave (crack egg in mug of water, one minute). I'd cook her an egg, slightly runny, mush up the yolk, and add the pill.
And if you do need to use force: coating pills in butter or margarine makes them go down more easily.
posted by toucan at 11:31 AM on October 2, 2023
Response by poster: Update -- by late last night, it was clear that she was not going to come back from the edge. She could barely hold her head up. I had her euthanized a few hours ago. I am certain that this was the right thing to do. I already miss her but I know that she is no longer struggling. Thank you all for your thoughtful and caring replies.
posted by janey47 at 1:23 PM on October 2, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by janey47 at 1:23 PM on October 2, 2023 [8 favorites]
I'm so sorry to hear that. It sounds like you truly did everything you could to make the end of her life the best possible.
The time with our beloved pets is too short. My thoughts are with you.
posted by past unusual at 2:53 PM on October 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
The time with our beloved pets is too short. My thoughts are with you.
posted by past unusual at 2:53 PM on October 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
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I am not a vet. I'm definitely not your vet. And my cat certainly had something different than your cat had, possibly a brain tumor as best the vet could guess without an 8-hour round trip and thousands of dollars of diagnostics. That said, my cat who I thought we were going to have to let go turned around dramatically on prednisolone. He wasn't eating at all, and was to the point where he'd walk into a corner and couldn't figure out how to get out from the trap of literally standing with his head pointed in the corner. It was heart breaking. We put him on a daily dose of prednisolone and within 2 days, he was back to his normal self and lived another 3 good years.
I don't know if you have a chance of seeing the same results, but it seems at least worth a try to me.
posted by past unusual at 2:55 PM on October 1, 2023 [6 favorites]