Today is Day 102 since Milk's last seizure. (I am truly afraid about acknowledging it, but it's such big news for him!) It is the longest period of time he's gone between seizures in the nearly two years he's been an epileptic.
I started to figure out how many days in 2008 he was seizure-free. The math got me down, but he had - the most notable figures - one period of 84 days, and one of 102 days, and this one (102+) that will hopefully go on and on and on. He had 13 seizures during 2008 - almost the same numbers of seizures he had during the first week or so before he started on phenobarbital in 2007! There were 37 seizures in 2007, between March 23 and the end of the year. Three cheers for large doses of Keppra?
There is a record on the right side here of his assorted dosages and any changes that were made. After the breakthrough seizures in August, 2008, I did reluctantly increase again the 1/4 tablet of phenobarb that I'd reduced previously. It's been about four months since he had his phenobarb blood levels done, so I guess that's the next task. I suppose, if they're taking blood anyway, we should get his keppra levels done, too. I would like to know first if they've completed their studies at Auburn to see what the norms for cats on Keppra are, though. I believe, however, that no matter what the Keppra levels are, I wouldn't make any changes in his dosage. Comparing the potential damage done by multiple grand mal seizures to anything that seems likely to happen from Keppra usage, I think that the seizures pose a much greater threat to his well-being.
The UGH - a week or so ago, I noticed that Burble was scratching his chin with his back leg, and that he'd yip while doing it. He's kind of an oddball, and it never occurred to me that there was a reason for the scratching, OR the yipping. Anyway, when I eventually looked at his chin, there was a huge glop of dried blood, and a sort of raw looking triangle under his chin. I cleaned it off, and assumed that it was caused by the scratching. Then a couple days later, I noticed that he had a little patch of raw skin over near his lip, too. I googled, and found references for all sorts of repulsive, difficult-to-treat stuff like "miliary something or another" and "rodent ulcers".... But, when I asked a vet tech on FDMB, she said - "Ah, feline acne." Usually caused by plastic bowls, I thought. Which was the reason I have been using paper bowls by the dozens for years. But, she said, it's not necessarily what the bowl is made of - it's the fact that the chin is the dirtiest place on a cat, and the hardest for them to clean, and a bowl makes for more unreachable food on the chin. She recommended flat dishes for feeding. (And I have $75 of paper bowls downstairs! I wonder if there's some sort of ornament I could turn them into....) My cats all like their food very soupy with extra water, which would seem to be a minor problem with using plates for feeding, but I suppose it's manageable. She also said that Stridex pads can be a useful treatment. She didn't mention that there were 443 different KINDS of Stridex pads sitting on the shelf at the grocery store. I ended up buying the one that said "Original" on the label, although I don't know if it's safe for a cat or not - considering the licking and fiddling around that goes on after cleaning the area with the Stridex. Now I've started cleaning the chin and then rinsing it with clear water to try to remove the alcohol and whatever else is in there that might be licked up.
Anyway - lost track of where I was going with this - yesterday morning, I noticed that Milkshake's little chin had a sort of gray look to it. He's normally sparkling white. And, sure enough, when I got close to it and separated the fur a little, there were the tiny little black spots. (Referred to as blackheads in some of the articles I read about feline acne.) I cleaned it up with a little soapy water, and was surprised at the amount of blood that was on the paper towel. So, I gave him two Stridex treatments over the day, and as of this morning, his chin does look a little less gray. This is really annoying. I KNEW that plastic bowls were a problem. I use a big Correlle bowl for water for them, and purposely chose the paper bowls for their food.
I did find this very good article on Omega Fatty Acids http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+1400&aid=665 which suggests that Fatty Acids are helpful in clearing up feline acne, so I guess I will start adding some to everyone's food. I'm getting quite a collection of feline supplements and medications here. There are many other benefits to the Omegas, apparently, as long as the ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 is correct.
This crew of cats has had MORE weird stuff wrong with it than any other cats I've ever had in forty years. I have a theory (one of many, sadly) that the more attention you pay to your cats, the more diseases you'll detect. Maybe ignorance IS bliss......
