cats: life is never boring :-)

[cellio]

My vet suspected from his weight loss and high heart rate that Baldur was joining the hyperthyroid club (the other cats have it; why should he feel left out?). While the relevant measure is technically within normal range (T4 of 3.9; normal caps at 4), it's been going up and he has other symptoms, so she's inclined to treat and I don't disagree. I have the relevant drug on hand (the pharmacy long ago switched the text on the label to "use as directed" :-) ), so that's easy.

The vet was concerned about my giving him pills. At the office all the cats needed a de-worming pill (because one had evidence of a problem), and he fought it pretty hard. (And due to his size he needed two pills.) I was afraid he was going to bite someone. But I told her I wasn't worried so long as I could mix the medicine into food as I do for Erik. Baldur never met food he didn't like. :-) (Well, once. Iams, years ago.) As predicted, I had no trouble at all giving him his first dose this morning.

Erik's results were pretty much what we expected. His bilirubin is high (and high for him); my vet speculates that this could be related to the suspected gallstone he has. Dealing with it would require surgery which is risky (especially for him); she is waiting for a call back from a specialist on whether other factors could be causing that. So long as he's eating and eliminating normally, and not turning oranger than usual, we're just monitoring for now.

And then there's Embla. Embla, my "basically no problems (now)" cat... apparently has kidney disease. There have been absolutely no symptoms, like litterbox problems; my vet said the first sign is usually in the bloodwork and you don't even get that until it's fairly far along. Whee. So there are two toxins, "BUN" (?) and creatinine, that the kidneys are supposed to filter out, and she has high levels of those so the kidneys aren't performing up to spec. The good news is that this can often be controlled by diet, so I'll be picking up some prescription food for her. (They'll give me samples of all the options first so we can find out which ones she'll eat before I buy big bags of the stuff.) My vet said there will be no harm (other than expense) in the other cats eating this too.

The less-good news is that I am to start giving Embla subcutaneous fluids to help flush things out. Embla is less skittish than she used to be and I can even hold her for short periods, but holding her to stick needles in her will be new.

There is the remote possibility that this could be caused by an infection; we'll get a urine sample to test. But my vet seems doubtful, particularly as (she says) weight loss is consistent with kidney problems. (I'm not sure why that should be and didn't ask.)

Meanwhile, all the cats seem basically happy and comfortable (aside from Erik's problems), so it sure doesn't seem like things are about to go pear-shaped or the like. This is why we do routine maintenance -- so we can catch these things as early as possible. I'd rather catch them than not, but I'd be thrilled if there were fewer things there to be caught. :-)

Comments

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

I hope they all continue to be reasonably healthy for a long time.

[alienor.livejournal.com]

as (she says) weight loss is consistent with kidney problems. (I'm not sure why that should be and didn't ask.)

Another effect of kidney problems is that they tend to get a lot of acid indigestion in their stomachs, so they don't feel like eating quite as much, so they loose weight.

If the weight loss is troublesome, some owners of cats with kidney failure give their cats pepcid daily, which makes them feel better so they're more likely to eat. Chance responded well to it for the short time we had him (he ate about 2x as much when he had pepcid as when he didn't, but he had pretty advanced kidney failure).

Good luck with Embla; we had to E-collar Chance sometimes to give him fluids (when we've done it with Yates he's been fine).

That's the reason I'm working so hard with Juliet though - my vet is pretty sure that she's going to turn up diabetic in a few years. Sticking needles into a skittish cat who doesn't like to be messed with is *not* something I'm looking forward to.

[scaharp.livejournal.com]

I had to give my cat Tori sub-cutaneous fluids for a few months. It's not all that bad - the back of the neck and shoulders is very loose skin, with few nerve endings, and they pretty much don't feel it. The fact that you can't hold her for anything but short periods worries me....is there a kitty-bed or chair that she really likes, and will stay in if you're petting her? We always just picked up Tori and put her on a table, but she was pretty easy-going. If you can have two people to do the sub-q it's better - one to soothe and hold/keep in place the kitty, the other to get the needle in, open the fluid line, etc.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

[mrpeck.livejournal.com]

I had to give Sinbad AlternaGEL to bind the phosphorus so it would pass in the stool rather than be an additional load on the kidneys. My parents found something that could be put on the cat's food that did the same thing without the hassle of trying to squirt liquid down the cat's throat (it wasn't a problem for me but Sinbad really started to dislike my dad doing it). When Sinbad's health improved he didn't receive the subcutaneous fluids anymore since the special food with the additive were sufficient to keep his numbers down. If you are interested, I could find out what that stuff was.

[sue-n-julia.livejournal.com]

You also might try giving her a treat of wet kidney-cat food while she gets the subcutaneous fluids (also, gently squeeze the bag to help it go in a little faster. Another tip: always(!) use a fresh needle; if you re-use the needle (which the vet said some people do and we tried), over time the tip will clog.

Also, depending on the cat, you might find she responds better to the needle down the side instead of over the back better.

S

[eub.livejournal.com]

That sure is a lot of not-boring, isn't it. I hope they and you all do well!