Vibes needed please - all 3 cats poorly - Page 3

Luv Furbabies - Thank you very much for your nice comments, I have been caring for oldies for 6 years now, and have a lot waiting at the bridge for me, but the pain is worth it to know that another oldie has had a warm, loving home environment for the end of their life, which they all deserve. Most of my friends can't understand how I can keep putting myself through this, but I do it for them, not me. Fostering helps though, as I do have young cats passing through that help take my mind off things (got a nervous 2 year old at the moment). The girls are insured, and the insurance company has paid out quite well for them this year, unfortunately Sam already had health issues when he was picked up off the streets, so I couldnt insure him.

Otto - Again, thank you for your nice comments, and I am glad I could be of some inspiration, so many oldies sit unwanted in rescues, and they do give so much. IT is hard, and heartbreaking, but you know you have made a difference.

WEll, Zi's results were pleasantly surprising. Her urea is 12.3 (it was 15.9 in Jan) - still high, as the top end of the scale is 9.9.
Her creatnine is 174 (was 193), and the top end of the scale is 179, so she is just within normal limits.
Her phosphorus is a bit low, but the vet isn't overly concerned.

We are very puzzled by this, as she doesn't eat the renal wet anymore (and she mainly eats adult rather than senior), although her dry is a mix of renal and senior. I thought they would have gone up as she does seem to be drinking more but the vet is wondering if her drinking is keeping her kidneys flushed enough. So, she is happier for her to be on Metacam, and unless she shows signs of getting worse, she doesn't want to see her for another 3 months, when we will do repeat bloods.

As there is nothing to indicate why her poos had blood in them and she doens't seem to have done it since Mon, we think it was just one of those things. I am going to monitor her poos though, as apparently MEtacam can cause bleeding in the stomach, which results in dark, tarry stools.

Thanks - it is Sam's check up tomorrow, so hopefully that will go well. he has started sleeping in odd places though!!

I do hope not, poor thing has enough health issues already!!

Thanks everyone. Farley - diabetes is the one thing I dont want to ever deal with.

Not the best vet visit ever - I was right with his weight, he has lost 400g since his last weigh in a month ago - that is the most he has ever lost, and very worrying, as it is nearly half a kilo in a month - I am hoping he is just burning up more calories with being out more, and I just need to increase his food, his heart rate is faster than a month ago, so the vet is concerned that his meds aren't controlling his thyroid well enough, and I can't get Felimazole into him twice a day, so we might have to swap to Vidalta, I just hope he can tolerate it. His mouth was pretty much the same, the vet said it might stay at that level of inflammation, but still doesn't see a need to put him on a/b's ( I suppose cos they are ulcers). I asked what effect his mouth/calici would have on his lifespan, and as long as it stays in his mouth, it shouldn't affect things too much (although I suppose that depends on him being able to cope with an inflamed mouth), but what I didn't know is that calici can affect the internal organs, and that is when it can start affecting things - he doesn't think it is the calici that is causing his high liver enzymes though, but he is having a full blood test rather than just his thyroid levels. Vet is off today and tomorrow, so we wont get the results till Mon.

ETA - forgot something - he came out with blood round his mouth again, despite having had his mouth looked at, so it is looking like the pressure or something from having his bloods taken makes his ulcers bleed - luckily it didn't stop him eating his breakfast, but not good if we are struggling with his meds.

Thanks very much. Sam is acting his normal self, but Molly is worrying me, she isn't eating as much and taking a lot longer to eat her food (so not sure how much of her steroids she is getting), and not quite as cuddly with me. Hopefully it is just a small blip, and that she is fed up of the food, so am going to get her a couple of different flavours today.

Thanks, it does seem to be - I gave her a small amount of a new flavour food with her steroid in, which she ate, and has eaten the rest of the pouch. I left her some biscuits so I could have a lie in, but they all got eaten and she woke me up trying to get food, so i gave her more biscuits, plus she has eaten some wet food - not all of last nights chicken got eaten though. She doesn't seem to have poo'd, and her belly feels a bit hard, so I have given her some Lactulose, but she seems quite perky today, even if she was a bit restless at sleeping with me - patting me and miaowing for me to move the covers and then not interested!!!

It is, although I have clipped her claws today so she is a bit sulky, bless her!!

WEll, his results weren't great - his thyroid levels are 65, up from 52 (top end of the scale is 60) - so only just hyper-t again, but unfortunatley not enough to cause ravenous hunger, and due to the weather, he wants to be outside all the time and taking hours to eat a meal, so no idea how I am going to get him to put on the weight he lost this month!! We are going to try him on 10mg Vidalta, and I hope he can tolerate it, as he was poorly on Felimazole after 3 weeks. I have done a deal with the vet though, as I dont want him blood tested in 4 weeks unless absolutely necessary - he hates his blood being taken, and the last 2 times he has struggled so much he has made his mouth bleed, and I am concerned that next time might be more severe (as the second time there was more blood than the first), and that it might impact on his eating, so if he has gained weight, heart rate down and I am happy with him, he will leave them. His liver enzymes, cholesterol and wbc were also slightly elevated, but the vet is happy that they aren't serious, and probably hyper-t related.

ITs not something I normally mind, but am just concerned that if he is struggling so much he is making his mouth ulcers bleed, then another blood test so soon might aggravate them immensely, and a hyper-t cat with raised liver enzymes who cant eat will be a very poorly cat!! Picked up the new tablets last night, they are a bit bigger than the others, but he took them in his Primula the same, but his tummy was churning quite a bit last night. All 3 cats are being a bit picky with food this week, hopefully it is just the weather.

Well, they put a local anaesthetic cream on his neck so he doesn't feel as much, but he still struggles!! He is much more food orientated on these new meds (he is a contrary hyper-t cat in that he isn't that food orientated, I think the Felimazole initially increased his appetite too), I even got him to eat some of his breakfast before going out this morning, and he had 2 pouches plus some biscuits for his tea, so hopefully he will put on some of that much needed weight. New meds are more expensive than old meds though unfortunately.

Molly is eating really well, I split her wet food up, and it seems she is getting her steroids earlier, so trying to eat me out of house and home, but she wont eat certain flavours anymore!!

Not having such a good time with Zia though, she has gone really picky with her eating, although hopefully it is just cos I forgot her Metacam on Thurs (dont know how I only remembered to medicate two cats!!) and she had Friday's late cos she kept running away from me :-( She is sitting on windowsills enjoying some sun so I took her outside with me yesterday, and seeing her outside in the sun highlighted just how thin her back end has gone, and her back is dipping as well - but she is 20 next month with lots of health issues. Tried to give her some different wet this morning and she is hardly touching it, then wasn't interested in her renal dry, so relented and gave her some adult dry with it - first time I have had to do that in 2 weeks, but the phosphorus in that dry isn't much more than her renal (renal is 0.3, the adult is 0.7), so it isn't that bad.

Can I have some good vibes for the girls please, both have been sick overnight. Doesn't seem to have affected their appetite much though, and Zi's even eaten some renal wet. Am praying it is just a one off for both of them.

Zi will be 21 next month (I take her birthday as the day she came into rescue, so she could actually already be 21). No one would guess she is as old as she is, unfortunately I am struggling with my photobucket account, so can't post a recent pic for you.

Thanks, i gave her smaller rations for 24 hours, and put her back on full rations last night, she hasn't been sick since, and neither has Zia.

Thanks, it means a lot - none of mine have eaten a lot today, all are lying around snoozing at the moment, bless them!! Sam is really clingy today (I was out Fri night, and then fundraised all day yesterday, so needed a lie in this morning), so going to go and lie on the sofa with him!!

Thanks, Sam was so incredibly clingy last night, and he is drooling more now, so am definitely not going to take him back for his bloods, I think his poor mouth needs a bit of a break. Will get him weighed this month tho