Once again asking for vibes / prayers / good thoughts for my little Cindy

ldg

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Glad to hear she healed up well!

I know this is frustrating - but at least there are things to keep exploring (in that weird way). :hugs: I do hope you're able to get to the bottom of this. :heart2: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes: !!!!!
 
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misty8723

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Cindy's thyroid is fine.  She had a superchem panel, which came back all in the normal range (yay!). So now they're looking at pancreas - sending some blood to Texas A&M lab, where apparently they have a fantastic GI lab.  They've put her on prednisolone (1/4 table) and metronidazole (0.3 mls), until we see the results of this test.  I hope this comes up with something we can treat!  She's still losing weight, and she's so tiny already, it's just got me so worried.

You should have seen me earlier. We had her for her checkup, they took the blood and said the Dr. would call when the results were in.  Instead, DH called and said Dr. wants to see us over there.  I said Oh No! When?! He said right now, as soon as possible.  So you know I just totally freaked out, just dropped everything I was doing and didn't even tell anyone I was leaving.  Good thing they're pretty understanding at work.  I was just a ball of anxiety until we talked to her and found out it really was just a consultation on which option we wanted to try.  Poor little sweetie has been through so much. 
 

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You might want to ask the vet about B-12 shots. It may help both boost her appetite and her absorption of nutrients while working on pinning down just what is going on. I know her condition isn't IBD, but this is a really good read on B-12: http://ibdkitties.net/B12.html

:hugs: I'm sorry you had to go through all of that anxiety, but glad everything looked good!

...I know this is incredibly frustrating though, not having anything to treat. :rub:

:vibes: :vibes: :vibes:
 

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Oh my goodness, I don't think I'd have been able to breath getting there after that call!  You are all doing so well and Cindy is such a determined little cat. She really must be feeling your love at this point.  Hoping for some good news for you guys. Sending loads of hugs for Cindy and Swanie and support for you as you need to be taking care of your selves so you have the energy to stay strong. 
 

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I second the B 12 injections. Hope you get some answers soon!
 
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misty8723

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You might want to ask the vet about B-12 shots. It may help both boost her appetite and her absorption of nutrients while working on pinning down just what is going on. I know her condition isn't IBD, but this is a really good read on B-12: http://ibdkitties.net/B12.html
I will check the site about B-12.  We don't need to boost her appetitie - she follows me around meowing for food and she's eating more than she ever has in the past.  She just isn't absorbing the nutrients to be able to put on weight.  I guess what I'll do since we should hear back about the pancreas test by the end of the week, if that also comes back negative, I'll get another appointment to discuss what's next and bring up the B12.  I may discuss that with my regular vet as well.  Poor Cindy has to go there Saturday to get her stupid, unnecessary, law mandated rabies vaccine.  I just want her to stop losing weight for a while so we can have time to figure out what is going on, I'm so scared she's just going to keep losing until she is no more.  The good thing is that they really are invested in her recovery at the hospital, they all really love her, and I think they like us and know how much we love her.
 
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misty8723

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Oh my goodness, I don't think I'd have been able to breath getting there after that call!  You are all doing so well and Cindy is such a determined little cat. She really must be feeling your love at this point.  Hoping for some good news for you guys. Sending loads of hugs for Cindy and Swanie and support for you as you need to be taking care of your selves so you have the energy to stay strong. 

Trust me, i was just one big ball of anxiety.  DH was acting like it was no big deal, that the vet probably just wanted to talk to us, and I was getting all worked up over noting.  But come to find out , he was worried they found something like leukemia or something. I guess he figures one of us has to put on a brave face and it's probably not going to be me.
 

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..............  The good thing is that they really are invested in her recovery at the hospital, they all really love her, and I think they like us and know how much we love her.
That is probably the best thing any cat could hope for and Cindy is so lucky to have you all around her, to have so much emotional care and investment in her is more precious than anything. Hope she's OK with the rabies vac' - I'm so relieved we don't need that here in the UK (for now at least).
 

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I was wondering if you could post a picture of your kitties...I'd really love to have a face to add to this story. If not then that's perfectly fine...I just live for cat pics lol
 
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misty8723

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I was wondering if you could post a picture of your kitties...I'd really love to have a face to add to this story. If not then that's perfectly fine...I just live for cat pics lol
I've been meaning to do that, but it seems I never have any time. The problem is that my old computer died and I had to get a new one.  I have all of the pictures saved to CDs, but I have to upload them (and the newer ones on the camera) to the new computer, and I've just been busy / too lazy to do it up til now.  I'll get one on here soon. I love showing off my beautiful fur babies!
 

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It is great so be able to picture them both together now, and with their matching eyes! They are so lovely. 
  Cindy has the cutest little face and little pink nose. 
 
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Thank you! I think they match together perfectly


If only Swanie could donate a little of his excess poundage to Cindy...
 
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Part of the pancreas test came back - normal! The other part (tomorrow or Monday results) have to do with absorption.

I'm going to try changing her diet, if I can get DH on board with that.  I don't know what else to do. Oh, and I'm asking my vet on Saturday about B-12.
 
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misty8723

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Part of the pancreas test came back - normal! The other part (tomorrow or Monday results) have to do with absorption.

I'm going to try changing her diet, if I can get DH on board with that.  I don't know what else to do. Oh, and I'm asking my vet on Saturday about B-12.
 

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:hugs: I'm happy it's looking normal so far - but on the flip-side, that means there's nothing identified to treat. :sigh:

Assuming the other comes back normal too ( :cross: ), B-12 and a food change may be your only options. :(

Actually, I just remembered some of the work I've been doing on probiotics. I found a blog that references studies:

http://www.knowguff.com/2011/04/probiotics-for-weight-management.html

According to results published in the British Journal of Nutrition, supplementation with a bacterial strain of Lactobacillius plantarum resulted in less weight gain, compared to the control group. Furthermore, rats supplemented with less friendly E. coli bacteria experienced significantly more body fat, compared to the controls.

The first breakthrough link between gut microflora and weight was published in Nature in December 2006 where researchers at the University of Washington in St Louis found that microbial populations in the gut were different between lean and obese people. What's more is that when the obese lost weight, their microflora reverted back to that observed in a lean person.

Since then, there have been a number of studies showing similar effects (such as this study [in the blog, there is a link to the study] I covered in a tweet last year for those who follow me on Twitter). There have even been studies on pregnant women, which have shown that probiotic supplementation may reduce the risk of obesity in their children later in life.
And a post about probiotics and nutrient absorption: http://www.knowguff.com/2011/06/probiotics-improve-nutrient-absorption.html

You may miss the link at the end of the post. This is it: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2011/05/03/ajcn.110.010132

Obviously this is research in humans and rat studies, but the little work that's been done in animals in probiotics is finding the same principles to hold true for animals and probiotics as for humans and probiotics.

Also, even if she doesn't show any signs of pancreatic enzyme insufficiency, I think digestive enzymes might help. :nod: (Probiotics and enzymes actually seem to work together, which is why they're so often packaged together).

These seem to put weight on kitties fed the same amount of food. We're using them in Ming Loy, and while I don't have a scale, she does seem to be gaining weight and I think I'm going to have to cut the amount of food she eats further. I've only been using them since she had pancreatitis in June. An interesting side-effect that may have no cause and effect: since using them, she hasn't gotten constipated, which used to be somewhat difficult to manage with her. :dk:

I use Prozyme original, which is a plant-based enzyme. It takes a VERY small amount for each meal (she eats 1 ounce meals, three times a day. But even for larger meals, it takes very little powder). Because the job of enzymes is to predigest food, even though the directions are to sprinkle it on at the time of the meal, the advice for use of enzymes in people is always to let the food "marinate" in the enzymes for a little while, so they start doing their job before you eat the food. So I always make her meal before the others and sprinkle the enzymes on there. This means they sit on the food for about 10 minutes or so before she eats it. I know you don't have 8 cats ;) , but just letting you know if the vet thinks trying digestive enzymes might help, then you might want to let them sit on the food for 5 or 10 minutes before feeding her.

Just a few more things - with studies - to put on the list of things to discuss with the vet. :rub:
 
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misty8723

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Thank you Laurie! I'm so frustrated, and scared about her continued weight loss.  I was actually sobbing on the way home from work today.  That doesn't help, I know, DH tells me that, but I just so badly want to at least get her weight stabilized so we can hopefully find something to treat.  I'm going to read / print out the stuff you've mentioned.  We have an appointment with our regular vet Saturday, so I'll run it all past her.  I will also run it past the specialist, next time I speak with her (soon).

Today I got a can of green pea and venison and Evo Venison.  She seemed to enjoy them. I don't know how I feel about giving her so much protein, but  those were the only two limited ingredient novel proteins I could get for the moment.  I'm pretty sure that Petco sells Instinct, so I may head down there this weekend.  The specialist is okay with us trying to change her diet to see if it might be allergies, but she said to do it gradually.

Meanwhile, other than not liking to get her twice daily meds, and pooping in random places, she's doing fine.

Thank you so much for sending me this information and links, they give me some hope that maybe we can find something that will stabilize her weight.
 

ldg

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Aw hun... :hugs: :hugs: :hugs: :hugs: :hugs:

Because one of the links to research in the blogs is broken, here are direct links to the research (though the blogs provide a really nice, to-the-point summary!)

This one requires a subscription - perhaps the vet can find the research. It's Nature News http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7122/full/4441009a.html

This also requires purchase. Again, the vet may have free access. It was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2011/05/03/ajcn.110.010132

The British, of course, make the studies available for free in full once they're a year old. This is from the British Journal of Nutrition: http://journals.cambridge.org/actio...6081&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0007114511001036

I think there's more research in the area, and probably newer publications.

Hang in there, sweetie! :hugs:
 

ldg

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Oh - the probiotics and weight gain studies were done with "energy dense" diets. Luckily, cats typically do very well on high fat diets - without the side-effects these diets have in humans.
 
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