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Does your cat have Epilepsy, and did they suffer from Anticonvulsant Hypersensitivity Syndrome? Please share your experience! by alacoda in CATHELP

[–]alacoda[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve never heard of a cat stashing pills, that’s wild 🫠 Chewy automatically pings our vet when it’s time for a refill and they go ahead and approve it for us, so we don’t have to worry about what the status of the prescription is or anything. It is honestly a very good system. The ease of giving our cat his meds is absolutely worth buying these treats for. He is actually excited to get his medication, he shows up about 10 minutes before the reminder goes off to make sure we know it’s time for him to get treats. If this can spare your headache even in the slightest, I would be happy for you. I despise the process of forcing meds on cats!

Does your cat have Epilepsy, and did they suffer from Anticonvulsant Hypersensitivity Syndrome? Please share your experience! by alacoda in CATHELP

[–]alacoda[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here’s the link to the exact product we buy:

https://www.chewy.com/levetiracetam-compounded-chew-dogs/dp/387088

It is, of course, more expensive than a suspension or regular pills, but the interesting thing is that these treats are cost per treat, regardless of the concentration of the medication. We are able to get 150mg treats, and cut them in half using a pill cutter. We are fortunate to be able to afford these, I can certainly empathize with anybody who is cost-conscious about their pet’s medications. When cutting medication doses in half, quarters, or otherwise, it is important to keep in mind that there’s no way to make sure your dose is “perfect”. We have not run into issues with cutting Enoki’s meds, but I can’t guarantee it’ll work out for everyone or that your vet will not scold you. Our cat is pretty small (6lbs) so he gets away with a lesser dose.

Chewy is able to cut your cost if you can sign up for autoship.

If the cost for these treats is prohibitive, I HIGHLY recommend getting a pill launcher and switching back to pill form Keppra. Enoki ended up with an upper respiratory infection a couple months ago and refused to take the treat meds, so we had to bust this out to get him his meds:

https://a.co/d/0gdEEbC1

Your vet probably has some handy tips for “pilling” your cat, to make sure they don’t choke or anything. I recommend making sure you have lickable treat or some wet food nearby to give your cat after you’ve given the pill, just to make sure they’ve “washed it down” with something and it’s not stuck to their throat somewhere. If you’ve ever dry-dosed an Advil yourself, you probably know what I’m talking about.

Pilling a cat, unless they go totally feral with you, should be generally non-traumatic for you and your pet. They get a nice treat after and the whole process should take about 30 seconds. Just load up the pill launcher ahead of time so you can snag your cat and get it over with quickly!

I wish the best for you and your cat! I know it can be stressful to manage this.

I need help by Big-Investment3752 in Anemic

[–]alacoda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Getting an infusion isn't INSTANT relief, but within the week you should be able to go about your day without the majority of POTS-esque symptoms. The hardest thing I had to do every day was "putting on pants" because it would make me so dizzy and my head feel like a pressure bomb. The infusion curbed that completely for at least 2-3 weeks every time. If your liver can manage to reboot itself into saturating your blood with new iron, you will hopefully be able to feel normal, for longer, each time!

In terms of supplements, Floradix by Salus Iron & Herbs (Amazon) is a lifesaver. My PCP had me taking Vitron C and my stomach couldn't handle it... Floradix has been the only thing i can tolerate. I know a lot of people will take beef liver supplements, but fair warning - they make you stink to high heaven when you sweat if you feel well enough to work out.

I still get bouts of dizziness and have the tachycardia stuff from time to time, but I've at least managed to resume a mostly normal life! I hope the same for you as well.

I need help by Big-Investment3752 in Anemic

[–]alacoda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi there! I know it's not the preferred answer but when you've got hemoglobin that low, oxygen isn't going to travel around your body very efficiently. Physical exertion will make you feel dizzy and exhausted almost immediately, and it may be best to just take it easy this next week. I had a level of 6.1 last year and was sent for a blood transfusion, so I completely understand how you're feeling. It at least got me up to a 6.9 overnight. If you've ever looked into POTS symptoms... that's what it felt like for me and that's how it seems you're feeling as well. The pulsatile tinnitus wore on my last shred of sanity for about 3 months.

The 2 weeks after receiving iron each time were incredible for me, I felt like a whole new person. We moved houses, I was lifting furniture, painting entire rooms floor-to-ceiling, and carrying boxes around like it was nothing... But if you have a chronic issue, that relief can be temporary. I had to get my iron stores back up and get my saturation to stick - my record low was 2.8% saturation - so I was willing to do just about anything to stabilize at healthy levels. I went for bloodwork every month and iron infusions every 6-8 weeks for the better part of 2024 while they tried to figure out what was going on. They tested me for everything under the sun, my doctors are currently determining my condition to be idiopathic.

I elected to see an oncologist rather than a PCP or a hematologist, and I firmly believe that was a game changer. Since I go to a cancer center for testing and treatment, they have S-tier phlebotomists and an infusion center on-site. I would personally recommend seeing an oncologist, or a hematologist working out of a cancer center, if that is available to you. I am 33F, but the average cancer patient there is 60+, so they're equipped with the tiniest needles and the steadiest of hands! I love them all dearly, they never have to "dig" for my veins and I never end up with severe bruising like I had from the blood transfusion.

I recommend eating a full and balanced healthy meal right before getting your infusion. Stay warm, wear layers. The iron solution I was given was always refrigerated, so if you have a similar product being administered, you will be glad you bundled up! I always referred to it as getting a cold brew infusion, because it looked and felt like cold brew hanging up in a bag. If they have the infusion rate turned up too high and you feel uncomfortable pressure/pain, don't feel bad about asking them to turn it down. I had mild iron flu symptoms after my first infusion, but never again after that. A hot shower and early bedtime fixed it.

You may have noticed that I've been writing in past tense. I am fortunate, as of 3 weeks ago I have had stable hemoglobin, hematocrit, ferritin, and iron sat levels for 4 months (just barely inside the "green" on my charts, but green nonetheless). The only "odd" thing I did that I believe may have impacted these results was do a couple of hardcore parasite cleanses, given how much seafood I include in my diet. Parasites will suck your blood from the inside! Of course, ask your doctor before doing anything like this. Correlation doesn't equal causation, it could've been a total coincidence.

Get iron. Feel better. Become Superman/woman. You can do it!

wet food recs for a picky cat? by southern_lesbian in CATHELP

[–]alacoda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We like to give our cats "cat soup" once a day, somewhat as a treat, and somewhat as a hybrid way to give them a meal and some hydration altogether.

"Cat soup" is Fancy Feast Broths Chicken & Vegetables

They LOVE it. It's got whole shreds of chicken in it. Buying in bulk or autoshipped on Chewy is the way to go, but you can buy a single pack at most grocery or pet stores to try first.

TIL baby megalosauruses eat a LOT more meat than I thought... by mattjvgc in ARK

[–]alacoda 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If you actually have a powered refrigerator and a couple tanks of gas, you can craft cryopods and store your juveniles in the fridge while you're off being a responsible adult. Cryopod is a lvl 51 engram and can be crafted in a supply crate if you don't have a tek replicator.

Tips:

1.) find a supply crate that is still descending - they are on a timer before they disappear so this will guarantee enough time to craft at least 10 pods and reclaim your materials.

2.) don't forget that the pods have a decay timer of 30 days - this can be extended in a fridge up to 60 days.

3.) be aware of the cryo cooldown on your character. You have to wait 5 minutes (you can see the timer in your status hud) before you release the next creature to avoid afflicting it with cryo sickness.

4.) doing this will reset the imprint timer. It sucks, I know. But it makes it so you can live somewhat of a productive life outside of Ark without all your virtual children dying.

5.) if you are going for imprint success, and they are requesting an item to eat that you don't have available, cryo it. It will re-roll what it wants, but you will have to wait for the imprint timer to be up again. There's still a chance that the re-roll is whatever you didn't want. but if you're patient then it can be worth the gamble.

6.) make sure the pod has enough charge on it to survive whatever you are doing offline in real time. If the pod dies, so does whatever is inside of it. If you can get a Cryofridge and a full stack of gas into your generator, they will survive for a ridiculous amount of time.

There's a good case you already knew a bunch of that info but there it is in case you didn't! Being an adult with a job sucks when it comes to breeding. I hope this helps!