cellio | cats: life is never boring :-)

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cats: life is never boring :-)

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. :-)

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

You and me both. :-) Thanks.

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.

That might explain why Vandal was pukey-kitty so much -- though that significantly predated any kidney disease, so maybe not.

S

Pukey-kitty can have SO many reasons... Yates has allergies, Juliet is nervous... hard to say why your cat was pukey.

He had an amazingly touchy tummy. Started with hairballs and just continued. There's be times he'd bolt his food to make himself throw up. But the vet couldn't find any reason for it.

Don't get me started on antibiotic reactions.

S

Antibiotics... oh goodness.

Hunter has a respiratory infection now and we're trying to find an antibiotic that I can get in him (i.e. not a liquid) and won't make him puke.

With 3 pukey-kitties currently, the house is sometimes full of landmines when we get home from work!

We are now, unfortunately, pukey-kittie free (since Christmas). We miss him dearly -- he was our trip-buddy (this weekend was a long trip so it's still in our minds).

S

Sorry to hear that. :-(

Thanks for the tips. So far Embla's eating fine and generally keeping it down, but if that changes I'll try pepcid.

Good luck with Juliet! In addition to your reasons for doing so, it's just more pleasant to have a cat who doesn't run from you all the time, so socialization is good even when there's no medical driver for it.

Thought of something this morning... once at the vet when Hunter was having trouble staying still (I think for his temperature - Hunter is extremely active and does NOT like staying still or being restrained), the vet used a light on the table in front of him to keep his interest (so he was willing to stay in that spot and not wiggle out).

It worked for Hunter because he *loves* play, but I don't think it would have worked for either of my other two. I thought I'd mention it in case it it's something you could try for Embla.

Thanks! I'll see what I can distract her with for tomorrow night's dose.

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!

I already give fluids to Erik, so I've got the basic drill down with him. Every cat is a little different, though. I did Embla for the first time tonight and got about 50ml in her before she squirmed away. (I decided not to fight.) I need to get bigger needles; as Erik has lost weight I had to go to a finer needle, but smaller means slower flow and Embla is bigger than Erik, so I could speed this up with the right tools.

Embla isn't a lap cat at all. She likes to sprawl on the bed, but there's no place nearby to hang the bag. I might try enlisting Dani's help so we can try a chair or couch (I would need someone else to manipulate the flow control and give the bag a squeeze as needed, at least initially.)

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.

Thanks for the info. My vet did mention that there were medicines that might come into play later, but she didn't name them. If you can find out what the food additive was I'd appreciate it, thanks! (Was it prescription?)

Apparently it's not a prescription even though my parents bought it through their vet.

http://www.amazon.com/Epakitin-Dogs-Cats-50-gm/dp/B000COAE2I

I'd note that this stuff and the AlternaGel are antacids as well. If you need to go the antacid route, be sure to pick something that binds the phosphorus. I'm not sure of the phosphorus binding properties of pepcid. I think it's this stuff that enabled Sinbad to live as long as he did.

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

Thanks for the food tip! That sounds like a good idea.

It never occurred to me not to use a fresh needle. I just assumed that sterility would be a factor, though since it's always (until now) been the same cat maybe that wasn't such a concern. On the other hand, clogged tips sound bad...

I haven't learned a down-the-side placement for the needle. Where do you do that? (I'll ask my vet to show me next time I see her.)

Some vets say you can re-use the needle a time or two, but we found they tend to get clogged.

On the flank isn't much different than on the back and provides a change if her skin doesn't seal quickly (we had a friend's cat with this problem -- the next dose of fluids would come out the unhealed hole). Just move down the side, pull the flap of skin and insert needle. This can be a little more painful than the scruff (more nerves and tissue), but can prevent other problems.

S

Over time (I think it took a couple of years or so) the skin on the back of the neck gets thicker and it hurts more to insert the needle there. My vet said that basically anywhere you can pull up some skin is fine.

Wow, I didn't know that. Thanks. (Poor Erik!)

I'm sure you'd notice if it became a problem (although one boarding vet I used didn't so Sinbad had some sores). The needle gets harder to insert.

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

Thanks, and same to you and your kitty.

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cats: life is never boring :-)

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