It is now 5.40am.
I have just finished doing the breakfast round for Cow Mau.
This morning, as I entered the room, I was greeted by Cow Mau and his demeanour has improved so much!
He already looks so much better now. In the past two days, his face was triangular and his eyes were totally sunken.
Ever since we started on the oxygen supplementation, Cow Mau had developed a system for me to work with. If he wanted oxygen, he would come into the room and go under the bed. When he has had enough, he would get up and leave the room to go to his favourite place in the pantry. Very quickly, we adopted this mutual understanding.
Yesterday, after I managed to feed him some chicken, somehow, Cow Mau decided he didn’t need so much oxygen anymore!
Last night, I fed him a little bit more chicken with the Japanese food at 10pm. He didn’t each much then, just as much as he was willing to. The mouth pain was quite bad then. I wanted to try to decrease the pain medication, but looks like it’s too soon to do that, so I gave him back the increased dosage.
This morning, here’s Cow Mau’s breakfast tray (please do not be alarmed, though):
From top left: yellow cup of plain water, orange cup containing the Japanese liquid food, light purple container of his pain medicines (Gabapentin and Tramadol, both transdermal – not using all of it, it’s contained in syringes).
From bottom left: Hill’s KD (in case he wants), metal bowl containing a capsule of oral Tramadol, Amlodipine and NC-Scrub powder, a syringe of 1ml Vetri DMG (immune booster for FIV) and another syringe of Hyaflex for his arthritis, purple container of raw minced chicken meat.
The vet reminded me that it is very important to continue Cow Mau’s heart medications, which are the Amlodipine to control his blood pressure and Clopidogrel (given in the evening) to thin his blood. These are to prevent a heart attack and stroke.
Cow Mau was sitting near the oxygen concentrator, so I turned it on for him.
The feeding went reasonably well with some pawing at the mouth. There is still pain, but it’s been so much better than before by my own untrained evaluation. Before this, it was impossible to even open his mouth. Now, I can, to plonk in the chicken meat. I tried Hill’s KD, but the stickiness and texture made him paw even more. So I stopped that and just gave him the raw chicken.
Believe it or not, very slowly, we eventually FINISHED all the chicken this morning!!
Note: I converted all our cats to a 100% raw diet in 2019, so raw food is something very familiar to Cow Mau’s system. I do know that at an older age, perhaps cooked food would be better (the protein is broken down), but Cow Mau had always preferred raw food even at this age. Cooked chicken would have been rough in texture (not as smooth as raw) and would hurt his mouth.
There was also 4ml of the Japanese food. Now, Cow Mau prefers the chicken to liquid food. We have progressed! Or maybe the liquid food hurts him mouth more.
While feeding him I also noticed that the paleness of his gums isn’t so bad anymore. In fact, it’s turned pink!
Look at his nostril – it’s pink, right?
Cow Mau’s other vet says for heart patients, they will look pale but it does not necessarily mean they are anaemic. Now, that’s new to me. Something new to learn.
Then I had contacted the RetroMAD1 vet in Singapore yesterday and was advised to give Cow Mau 0.5ml/kg of the anti-viral liquid twice a day, through subcutaneous injection instead of orally. According to the vet, if given orally (3 times a day), the absorption is only 30%, but if done subcutaneously, I only need to do it twice daily, the absorption is higher (100%!) and there is no meal time restriction (ie. it can be given any time, before or after food). The anti-viral effect also remains for 12 hours in the body. I was worried in case the injection of so much liquid might be stressful or even painful for Cow Mau but was told that RetroMAD1 is an aqueous solution, not suspension or an oil-based liquid. The only thinner needles I have with me is the 21G (green), and the vet says those can be used. The ones I use for subcut fluids is the 18G (pink) which is quite thick – these are usually used by vets in clinics so that the process is faster.
So I gave the injection after breakfast and there was nothing untoward at all. It went well.
While feeding Cow Mau the chicken, I’ve also discovered some “sweet spots” in his mouth where there is less pain. So if I placed the chicken on these spots, he could eat it better. He even chewed on the meat!
So, it’s all good this morning! Cow Mau has been walking around and even came to the front door – that’s something he has not done for days now ever since that “downfall”. Coming to the door is HUGE!!
So, what worked to turn Cow Mau around? I don’t know for sure, was it the laser therapy, the RetroMAD1, the oxygen supplementation, removal of fluids from this chest using Furosemide and/or feeding him chicken? But I could only feed him chicken after I noticed a decrease in the mouth pain, so what helped in the mouth pain? I think it’s the laser therapy and RetroMAD1. And on my part, acceptance of the situation, but not giving up in making him as comfortable as possible and doing whatever it takes to achieve that. For this, I have our vet to thank so very, very much.
We will never know for sure which treatment protocol worked or was it a combination of everything, but we celebrate all the little moments of success! We are aiming for quality of life and not necessarily quantity, but if it comes with some quantity, we are grateful.
One day at a time!