Painful cat

Re: Painful cat

Martin Atkinson — Mon, 11 May 2015 18:37:38 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]Neurological deficits are not uncommon in hypothyroid cats so I would just check that out before going much further. [/quote]Yeah but hypothyroid cats aren't exactly that common are they? One thing we haven't heard from the OP is what the cat's current TT4 is which would be useful before drawing conclusions on that. And with the cats I've treated with iatrogenic hypothyroidism I've not seen one that was showing any neuro symptoms, they universally seem unaffected by TT4 less than normal.

Re: Painful cat

Bob Russell — Mon, 11 May 2015 17:52:12 GMT

Neurological deficits are not uncommon in hypothyroid cats so I would just check that out before going much further.

I tend to try a number of licenced painkillers before heading off licence. As the cat is not going to let you know specifically where it hurts then therapeutic trials are useful.

Re: Painful cat

dachsie_4 — Mon, 11 May 2015 17:34:18 GMT

I'm going to trial gabapentin, surgery was uneventful, cat was hospitalised but there was no mention of him being stressed or difficult to handle.

Re: Painful cat

Richard Carter — Mon, 11 May 2015 13:58:59 GMT

or thyroid supplimentation

Re: Painful cat

Kate Richardson — Sat, 09 May 2015 12:26:34 GMT

Do you think it has anything to do with the thyroidectomy or just coincidental? If it was immediately following the precedure, was there any difficulty restraining the cat or anything that happened during handling during the GA or time in hosp that could have caused pain- probably very unlikely.

I guess you could MRI the cat?

But if wanting to trial different treatments, I would go with corticosteroids as my first choice unless you have a good reason not to- cheap and well tolerated and given some response to Onsior initially may suggest an inflammatory problem? Then I would go for gabapentin/amitrypilline, poss even phenobarbitone

Re: Painful cat

Lindsey Edwards — Fri, 08 May 2015 11:15:26 GMT

It appears modern diagnostics have so far failed patient so any lack of benefit is on a par with current management any even slight relief would be of benefit. OP can surely assess if he can sit down more comfortably or not

Re: Painful cat

Martin Atkinson — Fri, 08 May 2015 11:10:01 GMT

[quote user="Jo Dyer"]Should we be using it on our patients when any owner-based placebo response could be a welfare issue for the animal, both in terms of not using effective treatments and in the process itself?[/quote]Notwithstanding that, if no-one actually knows the source of pain, even if we accept the very spurious notion that acupuncture works, how can you target it effectively. Or does sticking pins anywhere have a magic effect?

Re: Painful cat

Jo Dyer — Fri, 08 May 2015 10:59:09 GMT

Re acupuncture - is there any good-quality evidence that it is effective in cats or other animals? Ernst in his 2010 review of reviews, only found evidence for a positive result in neck pain in humans. In every other situation, any positive response was no greater than placebo. Should we be using it on our patients when any owner-based placebo response could be a welfare issue for the animal, both in terms of not using effective treatments and in the process itself?

Re: Painful cat

Richard Carter — Fri, 08 May 2015 10:49:06 GMT

All the endocrine issues can cause neuro disease and if has bilat thyroidectomy, hypothyroid can cause muscular pain/ neuralgia. Try thyroid suppl?

Re: Painful cat

dachsie_4 — Fri, 08 May 2015 09:40:26 GMT

This is what i'm thinking, or a nerve root tumour, will track down some gabapentin cat size thank you

Re: Painful cat

Martin Atkinson — Fri, 08 May 2015 09:25:59 GMT

I had one like this a while ago, nothing on X-ray turned out to be a pre-pubic soft tissue tumour which was not palpable at first.

Re: Painful cat

Thomas Johnson — Fri, 08 May 2015 08:25:35 GMT

If you're worried about neuralgic pain I would try gabapentin, Summit do small tablet sizes.

Re: Painful cat

dachsie_4 — Fri, 08 May 2015 06:55:38 GMT

Owner not keen on acupuncture, but will try again, thank you

Re: Painful cat

Suzanne Kelly — Fri, 08 May 2015 01:22:30 GMT

Acupuncture, gabapentin, check for myofascial trigger points

Re: Painful cat

James Laidlaw — Thu, 07 May 2015 23:54:05 GMT

Tramadol as big as a cat?

Re: Painful cat

james herriot lied — Thu, 07 May 2015 21:56:02 GMT

Pancreas?

Meloxicam? Tramadol (Summit Veterinary Products do a cat-sized version)? Nutraceuticals? Acupuncture? Feliway? Amitriptyline?

Re: P

Michael Woodhouse — Thu, 07 May 2015 21:21:27 GMT

[quote user="dachsie_4"]So what am I missing? [/quote]

Corticosteroids,

Re: P

Neil Wheadon — Thu, 07 May 2015 21:20:41 GMT

[quote user="dachsie_4"]So what am I missing?[/quote]

More letters on the subject line

Neil