ultrasound report

[cellio]

The good news is that Erik's ultrasound this morning did not show tumors. Yay! So probably no kitty cancer! Whew.

It did show that his gallbladder/bile duct seems to be blocked, and this morning he started showing jaundice. (On an orange cat with yellow eyes, I'm curious how one can tell. I guess I'll find out soon when I pick him up.) So I have a 4:00 appointment with a surgeon; if it's blocked they're going to take it out, which apparently has no negative consequences for the cat, and if it's not actually blocked they're going to do a biopsy to try to figure out what's really wrong. Given that description, I'm hoping for blocked so this will be over.

Comments

[amergina.livejournal.com]

Perhaps his nose is yellow? (if it is normally pink)

But yey no tumor!

[madfilkentist]

This sounds far too much like what happened with Leonora. The jaundice was most obvious in her eyes. I hope Erik fares better than Leonora did.

[kyleri]

Woo! That's a good thing.

Here's hoping things keep going that well.

(For kitty-jaundice, do they wrap them in a glowy-blanket like they do infants? I can't see that that'd go over well...)

[cellio]

Glowy-blanket? (I've never been close to jaundice treatment before, for people or animals. Does it show? :-) )

But no, when I saw him this afternoon he was not wrapped in anything. He did, however, go to sleep on my coat while waiting for the vet.

[kyleri]

Apparently there's a particular kind of light that helps treat jaundice; used to be that infants with jaundice were stuck under one in the hospital for a few days, but these days they have blankets with the light source built in, so they can send the kid home as long as they're wrapped in the blanket for enough of the time. They glow. They're...odd.

He did, however, go to sleep on my coat while waiting for the vet.

Awww. :)

[sekhmets-song.livejournal.com]

I think most infants born jaundice (like myself) have blood types that clashed with their mothers and the jaundice is a result. The light somehow helps with that.
Yes, I know, that's a terribly unscientific description. Mostly I bring it up because I am fairly sure the light treatment is only used on infants and it doesn't work for other cases of jaundice, human or otherwise.
No matter what the treatment, I hope Erik is feeling better and looking less yellow, soon!

[schulman.livejournal.com]

When they're jaundiced, their skin turns yellow (especially visible inside the years, and on the belly if they've recently been shaved for an ultrasound), and their eyes turn coppery.

If he has fatty liver, you may need to force feed him -- ask your vet about syringe feeding.

(Disclaimer: I am still not a vet.)

[cellio]

The vet mentioned (and showed me) both ears and shaved belly, yes.

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear things are looking better. Let us know what happens.

PS: When the kitty gets an IV, they shave a patch of fur. Maybe they can see the jaundice there?

[cellio]

Not only that, but they shave them for ultrasounds, a fact that I had forgotten. (Erik had an ultrasound last winter, too. His timing sucks. :-) )

[alienor.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Good luck!