Update on our cat, Budley -- he's getting better! THIAMINE!!

[Traveler]

I've posted before about our cat Budley and his current health struggles with seizures. It now appears his problem was not epilepsy or brain tumor causing seizures after all. A couple of months ago, back in June, my daughter ran across a medical article about 2 cats that presented with seizures where seizure medicine really didn't resolve symptoms and MRIs showed no indication of epilepsy. Turns out both were seizing because of thiamine deficiency. One had been eating old stale kibble and the other raw fish (depletes thiamine). Seizures and circling are a symptom of thiamine deficiency. They were treated with therapeutic doses of thiamine first intravenously and then subcutaneously and then at home and they recovered.

So I ordered some sublingual thiamine 100mg tablets that we dissolved in water to dispense 50mg twice a day with an oral doser. I figured if it didn't help, it couldn't hurt. He started improving a bit. I dropped the GABA to see if that helped some of the lethargy and weakness because GABA has a sedating effect. And we slowly started dropping his phenobarbital dose. We started at 2 1/2 tablets a day (1 1/4 every 12 hours), we are down to 1 3/4 tablets a day (1 tablet and then 3/4 tablet 12 hours later). We will be at that does for another week and then we'll drop it another 1/4 tablet to 3/4 tablet twice a day.

We worked up to 75mg thiamine twice a day too, which is where we've been and probably will stay for the rest of the month and then drop down. He's not circling as much nor does he stare into the distance or appear to get disoriented or lost. No signs of seizures either (aka absence seizures).

We think he picked up a stomach virus from hubs (hubs was sick first) last week so he had a bout of not eating and loose stools and diarrhea and lost about 8 ounces but he's feeling better and his appetite has come back. We're still dealing with what my daughter calls 'wet farts', lol so he's still getting the herbal antibacterial remedy we gave him initially to get over his c. perferenges infection. We're trying to figure out if the taurine we're giving him is too much and cause of it or he's still dealing with the stomach bug.

It turns out there are antibiotics that block thiamine absorption and can actually cause thiamine deficiency. The cephalosporin convenia long action injection and the metronidazole are two that do. Those were the two antibiotics that he was given right before he started his seizures. He got the shot about three weeks beforehand for a UTI but the antibiotic stays in the body upt to 3 months. Then we found out about the C. perferneges. He had 2 doses of the metronidazole and he spent the next day seizing. I thought he was dying. I don't think many doctors (for animals or humans) know about this connection between thiamine and these antibiotics.

And speaking of thiamine, turns out it can be helpful in a lot of maladies like ME/CFS (chronic fatigue), POTS (post orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) and even long covid symptoms.

Very good im happy!

Please give kitty a big hug for me

[Miss Hepburn]

THAT was was one great post of information! Wish we could give 'Likes' here!

BUT, at the end the surprise was this...the icing on the cake - so unexpected!!: "And speaking of thiamine,
turns out it can be helpful in a lot of maladies like ME/CFS (chronic fatigue), POTS (post orthostatic tachycardia syndrome)
and even long covid symptoms."

May I explain, POTS basically/simply means extreme LBP, low blood pressure, when
you stand up the heart beats extremely fast trying to get the blood 'up' to your organs and brain! ---fancy words.
PS: Rosemary tea daily and of course - increase salt intake, big time - as in, salting salty broth...table salt, not pink salt. :)

Interesting that B1/Thiamine is a main ingredient in Hangover Remedies!

I'm happy it turned out alright and one can tell such love you have for your cats to take all this time to figuring out the answer. Important too you get the message out here/there :)

[Native spirit]

Im happy to read that your cat is getting better.


Namaste

[Traveler]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

THAT was was one great post of information! Wish we could give 'Likes' here!

May I explain, POTS basically/simply means extreme LBP, low blood pressure, when
you stand up the heart beats extremely fast trying to get the blood 'up' to your organs and brain! ---fancy words.
Interesting that B1/Thiamine is a main ingredient in Hangover Remedies!

There is growing consensus that POTS may be an autoimmune disorder. Thiamine also helps the heart. Severe thiamine deficiency can lead to heart failure. Who knew? Not me. Frankly I am really gobsmacked (love that word!) to read about thiamine and the role it plays in the body. I have another cat who was born with cerebellar dysplasia. The cerebellar part of his brain did not grow normally. That part of the brain govern motor coordination. Even though he's 7 years old, I started giving thiamine to him daily. It's helping his nystagmus (eyes involuntarily jerking up and down).

[Traveler]

Originally Posted by asearcher

I'm happy it turned out alright and one can tell such love you have for your cats to take all this time to figuring out the answer. Important too you get the message out here/there :)

Thanks, but we're not there yet. We still need to wean him off his seizure med - phenobarbital and with the slow weaning schedule we're following: dropping down 1/4 tablet and staying there for 2 weeks before dropping another 1/4 tablet so it's gonna take a long while, like another 11 weeks, I think. But so far we've had a slow up trend of positive behavior and reduction of symptoms.

I'm super proud of my daughter too. She used to have such anxiety about researching and I would have to be her research assistant when she had to write papers for school. She uncovered the possible link to thiamine, not me. And she's been totally dedicated to being his caretaker, which I appreciate because it was a bit more than I could handle all by myself. She maintains his med schedule and takes care of him. I give him sub-cue fluids when he needs it, which he hadn't for a long time until he got that stomach virus. And I assembled the supplements and started mixing them in his food and she took that over once we got in a groove and I figured out how much and wrote it on a post it on the kitchen cabinet for her. When he first got sick she camped out with him on her bed watching over him. She's done a really good job taking care of him and being there for him when I know he was probably scared about what was going on with him.

[Traveler]

Originally Posted by Bambo

Very good im happy!
Please give kitty a big hug for me

Thank you.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Traveler

There is growing consensus that POTS may be an autoimmune disorder.

What the heck fixes auto-immune issues, gee...got any info on POTS??

I would love knowing how to get rid of an auto immune condition !

I have had 1 now several years