Taking a tic at a time

Overdue update

Hey Everypawdy, I sincerely apologize for this overdue update. It has been a brutal 6-7 months. ย I’m going to give a summary with the best part first! Purrkins is finally feeling better! He told me I better update the blog before we celebrate 5 YEARS ON THREE the 27th:)

Better update our peeps Mom
Better update our peeps Mom
See im good
Hey everypawdy im back
Ugh more pics- if you must

Our New Chapter

Our new chapter has not been brutal! For humans, it has been highly stressful, anxiety-producing, depressing, exhausting. Constantly watching and worry. For Purrkins, it’s been exhausting, not feeling well, whisker twitching, a few focal seizures & an unstable hop. Purrkins being highly whacked, wondering why his favorite peeps keep putting this better-tasting medicine down his throat.

PHENOBARBITAL TOXIC LEVELS

Purrkins ended up not adjusting to the pheno dosage. Therefore ย Dr. R started to tweak his meds in February 13.13, and it continued as he told us in no uncertain terms he did not feel well, sleeping all the time, vomiting, not wanting to eat, he would not even get up to eat his meals. Lots of whisker twitching. His hop was concerning. I was looking at the QoL scale; we were scared to death! Dr. R had us come in for more bloodwork! This bloodwork revealed the pheno was in a toxic range, poisoning Purrkins.

Peak and Trough Blood levels-

Dr. R reduced Purrkins dosage to 12mg, and we returned in 2 weeks to recheck pheno levels. We went in for a double blood draw, a peak and trough level, which means going at 12 and 6:30 for Purrkins to be poked curbside. This shows her what the meds are doing in Purrkins body after his first dose and before his next dose. If the meds are in therapeutic range or in this case toxic. Recheck reveals Purrkins is STILL in toxic range.!!

This time she cut his dosage in half to 6.25 mg, and Purrkins rallied; he started to eat again and up to eat, asking to eat, playing you name it, a switch got flipped THANK HEAVENS & so far, no focal seizures on the lower dosage. Prayers this continues!

NON-Toxic

We returned for a double blood draw again after two weeks, and Purrkins is no longer in the toxic levels. PHEW

In my opinion, the dosage has been too high for Purrkins to have any life. It has been an awful six months of monitoring, watching, and anticipatory grief!

Good Mews, no spells (seizures) & QOL

To be able to update the blog with good Mews is a glorious day! Purrkins is happy to be himself. We would say he is 95% Purrkins on this dosage & NO seizures ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป! I’m NOT looking at that QOL list and worrying as I was. He is asking for food, up to eat his food, back to having some zoomies, playing. He has been outside in his tent to hunt the chipmunks and birdies. Back to his sun puddling and window seat and even allowed to venture out of our site a little;) I can sleep a little, but yes, I still hear anything and wake to make sure all is ok. This new chapter has taken a toll and getting used to for us all. I’m still not 100% comfy yet but, we have hope again.

Fresh air
Mom says I look like a kitty again:) in this pic
The best part is I’m a cat again and playing with my brother, Not helping Mom fold towels
My kitty bonks sill one of my favorites

Beyond Grateful

Only time will tell what each day will bring; in the meantime, we are all GRATEFUL to have moved out of the toxic stage and to have our Purrkins back! Dr. R has us documenting a day in the life of Purrkins to help him better. I send her a monthly log. She is a gem!

We just tweaked his meds again to a tad lower 6.3 mg, and now we see how this goes. We have a recheck on the 20th. I get to go into the clinic with Purrkins for the first time! He can show me around;)

We are hoping to keep checking each day off with fewer meds & no seizures. I never want to see Purrkins go thru this again, Ugh my prayers are constant.

Saxton helps with our prayers.

“Seizures are like Cancer”

Dr. Matt told us seizures are like cancer; they do whatever the bleep (he–) they want to do. I appreciate the honesty, but yeah, not what anyone wants to hear, but a need to know! Purrkins now gets acupuncture for seizures with his regular tune-ups for being a tripawd. Dr.Matt adds on a few different points.

I think the hardest thing with seizures is having zero control over the situation! Not being able to help Purrkins, watching Purrkins leave in his little eyes, wondering what comes next, having no idea what each day brings, will he have a seizure today? That’s the anxiety-provoking part. We are beyond thankful each day we see Purrkins be Purrkins! Hopefully one day we can close this chapter. BUT, if not, we are on a small dose, and Purrkins is doing well; he has a QOL, that’s what counts. We accept the now and keep moving forward,” a tick at a time.”

Hoppy/Happy 11th birthday

We celebrated the boy’s 11th bday a happy day! The boys got prizes and a little whip cream for their cake this year.

Ruv tissue paper
Happy Birthday
Bday prizes
Whip cream for cake YUM
Yum can I have some more, please

Next, we celebrate Purrkins 5 year ampuversary! Whoo-hoo! I was not sure we were going to get to our 5-year celebrations!ย We do not take a single day for granted!

Words of Wisdom “Take a tick at a time”!

Anyone here knows to savor every minute with our furry and human loved ones, and do our best to take each tick at a time! Sometimes that tick-tock of the clock is more than enough!

My Aunt Janice’s words of wisdom – ” take a tick at a time ” had a massive heart attack and died suddenly at home on June 25th. She is & will continue to be greatly missed by us all. I know she continues to be with us, helping us every day as she did in her earthly clothes. I will never forget her unyielding faith and wisdom. We Love & thank you, Janice, for all you have done for all of us! We will carry you in our hearts every day!

Some cute pics to closeย of the boys being brothers in the shared sun puddles;) Taking a tick at a time;)

you make a good pillow Saxton
brothers
Sun puddling
The world looks better upside-down sometimes:)

Thanks, fur reading, loving & caring!
Loads of love and appreciation from all of us at Purrkins Palace.

6 Month Recheck and New Chapter

We can use some pawsitive thoughts here at Purrkins Palace

We ask the tripawd nation for prayers, pawsitive thoughts, good juju, for Purrkins, please!

6 Month Recheck

December 3, we had our six-month recheck appt curbside.
I have no idea the odds here, but that morning of the appt. Purrkins showed me something was wrong; what we thought was his mouth. He did a painful yawn type thing, his eyes looked off to me, and I went to look in his mouth, and he growled at me. (Never Purrkins unless he is in pain). ย The Vet took a look at Purrkins mouth and suspected a tooth is bothering him. (He has had reabsorption lesions in the past. Happy Hoppy Eighth Birthday. He would need dental & radiographs to confirm.

The Vet did the recheck – bloodwork, chest X-rays, urinalysis, and bp sent us home with a low dose of gabapentin for the tooth pain. (another story entirely) grrr. Controlled substance!!

Purrkins bloodwork was great, chest X-rays clean, urinalysis clean, and bp great!

The soonest they could do a dental is in February because appts are all backed up from covid. The Vet gave us several other dentists to phone again, all booked until February. That was not an option for us, so we dug further and found a gold kitty hospital (one of a few in Michigan); they would love to see Purrkins that Friday.

Switching vets curbside, oh yes. Not getting a dental appt until February forced our hand, and for that, we could not be more thankful!

New Kitty Only Hosptial

The kitty only hospital has been the biggest blessing and NO comparison to a traditional high volume practice. No comparison to a kitty friendly practice either. ย We have tried two kitty, friendly practices! No comparison; we have not even been inside, mind you. They have taken so much time with us and have been available to us anytime we have needed them by phone, email, etc. If you have a cat, please do your cat and yourself a favor and find a kitty only clinic Cat-Friendly Veterinarian.

I was so nervous for Purrkins having to go into a new place, new people on his own. When we pulled into the parking spaces, they are all marked to know where each patient is. New of course, for these times, and when I looked up and saw a number 3, We felt a sense of relief, our sign!!

Our sign!

Curbside Appointment

Our appt could not have gone better! They start the appt with Purrkins in the car; we talked to the tech and Vet first. Then they came to get Purrkins and the Vet phones again. We were on the phone most of the visit with the Vet. She is LOVELY. What a massive change speaking to a cat only vet. She knew every term I was using as I described what Purrkins was experiencing what pain signals he was showing me.

She can see the same as our Vet; one tooth likely will need to come out. But again, requires the dental and radiographs to confirm! We booked the dental for January 11. She will ensure Purrkins is comfortable until our next app. I told her what our Vet sent home and that I BUMPED up his Gaba dose on my own, knowing Purrkins did well on Gaba in recovery and wanting to make him comfortable until we saw her!! She was glad I did ๐Ÿ™‚ She sent him home with 200 mg of Gabapentin a day. 100 mg every 12 hours and will check on us in a few days and see how Purrkins was doing,

My Gaba

Purrkins did ok on the Gaba but started having these twitches – whiskers, eyes. I took videos for the Vet; she took a look and said it’s nothing to be concerned with and thought it was mild tooth pain even on 200 mg of Gaba. So we continued the Gaba, and these twitches become more frequent; I sent more videos. She said she wanted to send the video to a neurologist to confirm she is not missing something and did! I had already googled all this and researching the what-ifs. Ugh, don’t do my friends!

Focal seizures

So I get the call from the kitty Vet; the neurologist is afraid Purrkins is having partial seizures/focal seizures. (MY FEAR) They want to see him and rule this out. The vet wants to postpone the dental until we know more. The fear Purrkins could have a grand mal seizure being sedated.

We had the choice to start antiseizure meds right away or wait to see the neurologist. We chose both to start meds phenobarbital and booked the neurologist appt. The pheno was like a little miracle; the periodic twitches stopped until January 12th – 12 days into the meds.

Purrkins had three more of these in a row! A head tilt- cocked to one side along with a head quiver. I panicked, grabbed my phone, recorded, tried to help Purrkins, but there is no way my panic helped. I have my phone 24/7 because the vet needs to see these as they happen. Thankfully they only lasted seconds. I called the Vet and sent a video of this entirely different twitch, seizure. Dr.R, the kitty vet, sees a typical focal seizure in the video and what the neuro was afraid might be happening. She increased his phenobarbital that evening.

Back to the kitty Hospital

We went back to the kitty hospital yesterday to check the plasma levels of the pheno in Purrkins blood. It needs to reach a certain therapeutic level to be effective, and we have room to move up in the meds. Since the increase, today is day four so far, so good. Purrkins is resting a little more but no twitching. KNOCK ON WOOD!

The bad news is a side effect of the meds is weight gain. Purrkins gained ounces since his last appt. Kitty vet said not to worry right now about the side effects they will subside, sedation, starving, weight gain, peeing more, increased thirst. She asked me to send her the nutritional analysis of the food we feed and how much etc., she would take a look and see how we can counteract the meds and help Purrkins in the future. NEVER have we had someone care and take the time to go this far and want all these details. I know she will have some input for us. She truly cares about her patients and wants the best absolute best for them, she continues to tell me she is there for us, and these are not just words. She has been here for us 1000% HUGE BLESSING!

Neurology

Our neurologist appt is Monday, the 18th at 9:00. In Farmington Hills, Dogwood Veterinary about an hour and a half drive for us. We are scheduled for an exam and MRI. We are preparing (the best one can) for the worst and praying/hoping for the best. (Admin’s words:) The cause could be several things and many non-life-threatening! However, it can be our worst fear, too, yes _ in the brain! We are holding on to all the pawsitives until we know more. Purrkins could have a grand mal seizure while being sedated, and we hold onto that if this would occur, Purrkins will be in the best place possible to get the care he would need.

The rest of the answers may or may not come! And we will take each thing as it comes. We will do our absolute best for Purrkins. We have the best team going into this Kitty vet, dr matt (holistic and traditional vet), and the neurology group, who are all diplomats in the field. The results will go to both vets, the kitty Vet & Dr. Matt. Dr. Matt being our beloved Dr. Matt, has already spoken with us and talked us off the cliff for now. Again huge blessing to have this team for Purrkins.

Tripawd Ambassador

Purrkins goes wearing his tripawd gear, bandana on his carrier, and Aunt Rene’s protecting this cat charm! We will be carrying you all with us on Monday. We will not jump into the deep end just yet, Although, of course, I already have and clawed myself back out! ย Now that I’m out, I’m staying out and will take each tick at a time. (my aunt Janice sage words)

Protect this cat๐Ÿ™๐Ÿป
Always a Tripawds Ambassador

We hope and pray today and tomorrow remain uneventful for Purkins, no twitches, no seizures๐Ÿ™๐Ÿป, and we get to our appt w/o a hitch!!

Mark and I have been on watch 24/7! We know what to watch for and when we need to go to the ER. If the twitching lasts longer than one min, we wrap Purrkins in a blanket and race to MSU. Our prayer this does not happen, but we have to know what to do and when.

Preparing for our long day away!

What? All-day no one to feed me?

Sexy Saxton will have to be on his own for the day we bought a Cat Mate timed feeder for him so he will not miss a meal. Cat Mate C300 Automatic 3 Meal Pet Feeder with Digital Timer for Cats and Small Dogs

Cat Mate Feeder

It has a little ice pack to serve wet food (we do raw but will use can for this day, it holds three meals, one instant and two on a timer.

ice pack inside
Ice pack

We bought it just for this day trip, and thankfully both the boys are not afraid of the sound and will use it. I don’t care for plastic, but it is BPA free. I can’t suggest it highly enough; it works like a dream right on time, no issues whatsoever, and a huge peace of mind knowing Saxton will get his meals on time. (sorry, I should have clipped Saxton’s video a bit:) too late.

We also installed a little Wyze camย to check in on Saxton and make sure all is ok.

The neurology appt is also curbside, so we will be in the car the day we cannot even use the restroom.

Here is our to-go bag Tripawd Cats Have Fun Tote Bag for Monday;)

All Purrkins records and supplies for our long day

I will do my best to keep you all posted as we tread into another unknown. If I go mia, it is because I will need to regroup, ok.

A picture worth a thousand words๐Ÿ’

Stay pawsitive with us, please.

Super Kitty
Our superhero

Purrkins hunting a mouse on the back porch!

I will get that mouse Mom YUM
the highlight at 1:30 a.m; the mouse comes out on the back porch! Our sweet boys

Special heartfelt thank you to our family, peeps, and friends who are holding us up through this difficult time. Although we are all distanced, we feel the love and strength! We are blessed beyond measure to have you in our lives.

One of many prayers

my ongoing prayer

Love you all, and thank you in advance for sending Purrkins all your tripawd magical power & love!
๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ’๐ŸŽ—๐ŸŽ—๐ŸŽ—๐Ÿ™๐Ÿป๐Ÿ™๐Ÿป๐Ÿ™๐Ÿป๐Ÿš‚๐Ÿš‚๐Ÿš‚