Hi everyone! I posted a while ago about Gus. He's still with us, and actually might be doing a little bit better!
I have a few concerns I want to run by all of you to see what you think.
One of Gus's biggest issues has been nasal congestion. Well, the other night it was really bad...I knew others had tried pediatric Benadryl with success, so I gave it a shot. Started with .5ml dose of the 6.25mg strength. Much to my surprise, it seems to have helped quite a bit...the wheeze and huffing is still there, but he seems more comfortable and his nose isn't running all the time/sneezing is less. Less audible nasal wheezes, too, if that makes sense. It's been three days now; I've given him one dose a day, around the time he normally sleeps anyway - he's surprisingly not really nocturnal as he's out all day with me while I work.
How often can I do this? Is there any concern with long-term use? Should I try to space it out more? Re: sleepiness, he usually has one good snooze afterward, but he's not overly sedated otherwise. I dosed low to be cautious (he's right around 450-550 grams at any given time).
The other issue is that he's starting to lose patches of his hair in places where he can't reach. I'm wondering if its nutrition related, because we've had to get a bit creative with food...branching into a bit of scrambled egg here and there, mashed potato there, etc. He seems to do ok with soft stuff, but not hard, so I do mush up the Oxbow for him.
I'm also wondering if someone can check my doses for me for his meds.
- Metacam is .06ml - I believe this is the 0.5mg/ml; they gave me a separate bottle this time instead of just selling me the entire thing.
- Baytril is 0.22ml - label has rubbed off, so I don't have the strength for this one!
- Doxy is 0.35ml (10mg/ml)
I know this is a lot for a post, but Gus is my treasure and I want to do the best for him
We may go for a second opinion some time next week as the vet I see is really resistant to trying steroids or zithro...he says that the steroids would blow the infection up worse and that the zithro won't help if the current meds aren't handling it. I think it's worth a try personally, but haven't been able to find anything concrete to show him to sort of say, "look, here's the proof."
He's generally FANTASTIC, and we love him, but I'm worried we may have a difference of opinion here over what we can try...and I don't want that to harm Gus, you know?
I have a few concerns I want to run by all of you to see what you think.
One of Gus's biggest issues has been nasal congestion. Well, the other night it was really bad...I knew others had tried pediatric Benadryl with success, so I gave it a shot. Started with .5ml dose of the 6.25mg strength. Much to my surprise, it seems to have helped quite a bit...the wheeze and huffing is still there, but he seems more comfortable and his nose isn't running all the time/sneezing is less. Less audible nasal wheezes, too, if that makes sense. It's been three days now; I've given him one dose a day, around the time he normally sleeps anyway - he's surprisingly not really nocturnal as he's out all day with me while I work.
How often can I do this? Is there any concern with long-term use? Should I try to space it out more? Re: sleepiness, he usually has one good snooze afterward, but he's not overly sedated otherwise. I dosed low to be cautious (he's right around 450-550 grams at any given time).
The other issue is that he's starting to lose patches of his hair in places where he can't reach. I'm wondering if its nutrition related, because we've had to get a bit creative with food...branching into a bit of scrambled egg here and there, mashed potato there, etc. He seems to do ok with soft stuff, but not hard, so I do mush up the Oxbow for him.
I'm also wondering if someone can check my doses for me for his meds.
- Metacam is .06ml - I believe this is the 0.5mg/ml; they gave me a separate bottle this time instead of just selling me the entire thing.
- Baytril is 0.22ml - label has rubbed off, so I don't have the strength for this one!
- Doxy is 0.35ml (10mg/ml)
I know this is a lot for a post, but Gus is my treasure and I want to do the best for him
We may go for a second opinion some time next week as the vet I see is really resistant to trying steroids or zithro...he says that the steroids would blow the infection up worse and that the zithro won't help if the current meds aren't handling it. I think it's worth a try personally, but haven't been able to find anything concrete to show him to sort of say, "look, here's the proof."
He's generally FANTASTIC, and we love him, but I'm worried we may have a difference of opinion here over what we can try...and I don't want that to harm Gus, you know?
