No more cyproheptadine, weight down..... :(

On May 13, 2013, I decided that I wouldn't give Milk the cypro any more.  With mixed feelings, because he was as as close to ten pounds again as he'd been in almost six years......  But the behavioral stuff was becoming more frequent and the thought of his having seizures again was too much.  His phenobarb levels have dropped significantly in the past year, from being in the mid-30's to the low 22's.  More weight would mostly likely mean even further reduction in phenobarb levels, which is a risk I'm hesitant to take. And the thought of beginning the whole phenobarb dose experimentation again is almost totally out of the question.

He doesn't appear to have any kind of reaction to the removal of cypro.  He seems mildly interested in eating, usually only for one meal a day, though.  He's more of a nibbler now.  And his weight has dropped fairly drastically already - I just weighed him and he's down to 9 pounds 8 oz.  He's unfortunately most willing to eat dry cat food/Temptations and anything that I happen to be eating - ham is right on the top of his life.  Canned cat food - not so much......

The odd behaviors continue.   Three days ago, Milk spend about fifteen minutes literally attacking his tail, and in between those attempts, he was doing a neck-stretching/twisting/eye-rolling/staring-at-the-ceiling thing that was frighteningly reminiscent of a seizure.  He has been waking me up several times a night for weeks now, meowing and attacking other cats.  There are what seem like aspects of hyperesthesia and compulsion that are much more pronounced than before.  It makes me so uncomfortable that I decided to decrease the cyproheptadine from 1/4 of a 4mg. tablet daily to every other day.

Last night, the meowing and jumping around all night was virtually non-stop. (Yesterday morning was a pill day.)  While I was trying to decide what to do, I remembered that the most recent phenobarb levels were the lowest ever.  The possibility that that change in phenobarb level, most likely related to the weight gain that I was so pleased with (!) , is behind the current behavioral changes seems very real.  I was always somewhat comforted by the fact that it has been so long since Milk's last seizure - almost five years! -  but I do believe that the next one could unfortunately be right around the corner.  And  I don't EVER want him to have another seizure.

I'm hesitant to do any sort of phenobarb increase because it does affect his eating negatively, and because it makes him so wobbly and uncoordinated.  But, the cyproheptadine is definitely expendable right now.  It's wonderful for Milk to be less skin-and-bones, to be able to stroke his back without bumping up and down on his spine, but I would prefer that he be wispy again to having seizures again.

I'm going to discontinue the cypro, keep an eye on his weight, and see what the phenobarb levels are when he has his next bloodwork.