Cabotine - PT - She's gone

[Unepuce]

I called the clinic and here's the picture: there are 2 types of Bromo. The one they can get causes lots of side effects, so they don't use it. They said the other one, without side effects, we cannot get in Québec. Does that make sense to you? I only spoke to the receptionist (who had to ask one vet about it), so I didn't go deeper, but she told me she would ask my vet to do more research on it. This is very frustrating...

 

[lilspaz68]

I called the clinic and here's the picture: there are 2 types of Bromo. The one they can get causes lots of side effects, so they don't use it. They said the other one, without side effects, we cannot get in Québec. Does that make sense to you? I only spoke to the receptionist (who had to ask one vet about it), so I didn't go deeper, but she told me she would ask my vet to do more research on it. This is very frustrating...

Bromocriptine is bromocriptine...they are probably thinking of bromocriptine and cabergoline...sigh.

 

[Unepuce]

she didn't speak to my vet directly as she was in surgery, but I know my vet was to check price on Cabergoline, so she knows it's not bromo. I'm confused. I hope she'll call me today, otherwise it will wait tomorrow night for my appointment...

And Cabotine is over 2... unless the sides effects are savage and immediate, I could consider...

 

[lilspaz68]

she didn't speak to my vet directly as she was in surgery, but I know my vet was to check price on Cabergoline, so she knows it's not bromo. I'm confused. I hope she'll call me today, otherwise it will wait tomorrow night for my appointment...

And Cabotine is over 2... unless the sides effects are savage and immediate, I could consider...

there are definitely more side effects from bromo than cabergoline but as a less expensive and still good option for people who cannot afford $400 a month, bromocriptine can work very well

 

[Unepuce]

Will get in fighting mode then! :batbeat:

 

[Godmother]

With Bromo, I found that my first two rats must have had GI distress from it; they developed strong taste aversions for everything I had mixed it with. Even so, because I could not get it into them after a few days, it helped them live another three months.

So the next time I started with a quarter dose and worked up gradually to see if I could avoid the side effects. Stella got good results with a half dose plus Pred, and she has been almost completely normal since February 13.

 

[Unepuce]

Oh my! Wow! Since February??? :bow: Can't wait to see what my vet will say about that! Very impressive!!!

Here, Cabotine just finished eating - I guess the Pred really kicked in because she ate like a little piggy! :giggle: She is happily trotting all around the rat room in straight lines - she still looks good! And I still love that she is around and acting normal :heart:

 

[Unepuce]

I'm late updating but...

Cabotine saw the vet last Friday, after 2 weeks on Pred. My vet went towards my own thinking in saying that she was looking so much better, maybe we could try and wean her off the Pred so... she's on a half dose since Friday night, and things are still looking quite good, besides a new issue with her teeth, but a good trim should take care of that.

Regarding the Cabergoline and Bromocriptine - we decided that if the symptoms were back, we would start Bromo. It's a huge relief, at least I know I have a way to give a PT rat a chance. Now, the most interesting news - Cabergoline. Apparently, there is a generic version of the drug, and this one is about half price compared to Cabergoline - a month on the generic would cost around $175 as opposed to almost $400 on the original Cabergoline. I don't remember seeing anything on here about that... does that sound familiar to you guys?

So... Cabotine is doing well enough, we are playing the waiting game and still have a bit of hope that's it was all nothing more than a ear infection... my instincts are telling me I was right the first time with PT and they are most often right, I really hope I had it wrong this time!

 

[victoria]

Glad to hear Cabotine is doing so well and it's nice to know about Cabergoline.

 

[lilspaz68]

Great news for both things!!! :joy:

 

[jorats]

Cabergoline is very expensive so this generic brand is great news. I do believe that Cabergoline is better than bromocriptine. We have not had any good results with bromo here, but I know that many did have good success with it.
I'm so glad Cabotine is doing better!!!

 

[Godmother]

Very good news! You'll need to be ready with the Cabergolime very fast if she starts having symptom, though.

A relief to know about the generic form.

 

[Unepuce]

Actually, right after I posted, I noticed she was not as good as I first thought. Her teeth are bad and I am trying to get an appointment for a trim today (BF is leaving work early to take her if need be, isn't he a darling?) but either the PT symptoms are back or she's starting HED in a weird way on top everything... If I say that it looks like one of her back leg is weaker than the other and she seems to use her tail to compensate for direction (she gets it at about 70 degrees on that side), does that sound like PT, HED or something else to you? She does it on the floor (wood, so slippery), and remember she's obese eventhough she lost about a 100 g since April. She also fell from the table a couple of times so I feel very very guilty about her legs and teeth, thinking it's all my fault for trying to do 3 things at once in order to be able to spend some time with the rats during out time.

Gosh... neverending...

ETA - forgot to mention - she is still able to walk in a straight enough line

 

[mamarat]

Sending good thoughts for your sweetie.

 

[victoria]

The falling off the table screams PT to me... I think it's probably a good idea to go back to a full dose of Pred and hope it works as well as before.

I'm sorry :hugs:

 

[lilspaz68]

I agree with Vic, put her back on full dose pred and order your PT medication.

 

[Unepuce]

When I first saw your posts, Victoria and Lilspaz, I thought no way, I'm will not continue risking the side effects of Pred before I'm sure. Now, I doubt. I see her move about the "rat room" and get where she wants to go, but I also see that she is getting weaker and limber again, and starting to be restless - again. ((sigh)). I still want to wait and see, but I have to see what is there and not what I wish were there.

I'll start her back on full dose tomorrow and will call the clinic for the meds. I'll confirm price for both the Bromo and generic Cabergoline, but I think my action plan will be
1. Try Bromo and see what happens;
2. Switch to Cabergoline if relief is not satisfactory.

I will need guidance from here though, as this is my first PT-treating experience and I have no clue what to expect from those drugs.

 

[lilspaz68]

With both you will just start to see improvements IF she responds. It all depends on teh tumour type I believe as there are several pituitary tumours. You will see her eyes brighten, she will gain back weight she has lost (for me this is key...as with the steroids they continue to lose body weight and condition slowly, whereas with the meds you actually get a much more normal rat overall. Some things might take longer than others...Shade's front paw dexterity took a couple of weeks to come back. I also saw real improvements by Day 3 with Shade and Issa.

 

[Unepuce]

Just called the clinic - they will get back to me on price, but I did order the Bromo to start with. Should I try it for 2 weeks and then switch if it's not working, or is it too long a wait? Victoria changed my mind about waiting for getting back to full dose with the Pred, so I am now aware of how sensitive that time issue is...

 

[lilspaz68]

Very sensitive...and in a week you will know its working or now.