Cleopatra - Bloody stools and elevated calcium

She will be turning 7 in the fall, so she is not too young, I suppose. They did no testing whatsoever, apart from the fecal examination. They explained that since it had no blood inside of her poop, the chances of it being something else is not common, and anything serious, rare. Since her stools are always firm, they narrowed down other areas as well. They explained that we should try Royal Canin for a little over a month, and if there are no improvements, then we need to go back on April 4th. I was less than impressed with the ingredients, considering the price, but if it works for a while, I suppose it is okay. From now on, I will just think that she has something like IBD and research foods that are high in nutrition, but contain little or no allergies. I think the vet put her on Royal Canin because she has never had Rabbit before, so it may work. This is just so confusing, I don't see why, after 6 years of not visiting the vets, things have to get complicated now. (Apart from vaccinations, technically she has not seen the vet for anything bad).

Since November, Cleopatra has had blood in her stool, and has vomitted occasionally. Now, at first when we went, she thought it was a food sensitivity, and then we went back in today. We explained that it seems she dislikes the food, and she seems like she wants to eat EVERYTHING. Well, the vet thought that it was hyperthyroidism, and so we took blood samples. They also explained her system was in overdrive, her heart was at 220, and her nails grew at an astonishing rate. They took her samples, and found out that everything seemed normal, but that her calcium was 2/10 of a point above average. She explained that this was concerning, because there was no reason for it to be high, if everything else was normal. She explained elevated calcium levels are a sign of cancer, but that it may not be, and that definately the levels could go down. She explained that it would cost 6000 to find out if she had cancer or not, and that would not solve anything. Now I am a nervous wreck, and wondering "how long will she live"? "I thought I would be with her for at least 5 more years." Has anyone had ANY experience with this whatsoever, with ALL OTHER blood work more or less normal?

This sounds familiar.  Nat had some tummy issues, which, seemed to get some better, but that was after $600 + worth of labs and X-ray which were completely normal.  A few months later when he started having seizures, those same labs and Xray was repeated (for $600) which ONLY showed that he had a mildly elevated calcium level.  I was told the same thing, that it must be a tumor in his brain causing the seizures.  But that was almost 5 years ago now.  The next next calcium level drawn a few months afterwards was normal.  Every calcium level drawn since then have been normal too.  

I'm not saying your kitty doesn't have cancer.  God I sure hope not!  But if the calcium is only mildly elevated, then hopefully not.  Is the vet going to do a repeat Calcium in a few weeks?

She has not decided to do so yet. She has given us Prednisolone for her to take once a day for a week. They said to contact them again in a week, to update on her situation. They said if the bloody poop disapates, then we MAY have our reason for everything. I believe we may do another one relatively soon, but I do not know how long I should wait. Everything on the bloodwork seemed fine, apart from the calcium which was 2/10ths of a point above normal. She explained it could very well go down, but elevated calcium in cats is a very common occurence when they have cancer. And they explained that it concerned them, because on the bloodwork, it gives no reason for why it is. Everything else was fine. She is only 6, and I feel so frightened at the moment. I expected many more years with her! They gave us a price quote for 6,000$, in order to figure out what it was, and if it was. I will never have that money to hand out in one moment, so I feel I may never even know if she does, or what type! I am transitioning her back onto Iams, and off of Royal Canin. 

$6000 seems excessive.  What on earth do they plan to do? Where I live, an MRI AND a lumbar puncture is only $2000.  Seems like they are gouging you.  Plus the vet did say it still may not show anything conclusive.  They wanted to do those for Nat and for Gracie, even though they both had vastly different problems.  And both times they warned it might show nothing.  I elected not to do it.  

Did the vet suspect IBD?

No news is good news, in a way.  So for the moment you could take comfort in that.  And 2/10 of an elevation is not much.  I know it's hard, but try not to cross that bridge until you come to it.  

They did suspect IBD. They thought she had a food sensitivity, so she was put on Royal Canin Rabbit formula. The reason why they suspected that was because of the blood in her stools. It has been a month, and nothing has changed. I brought her back in, and they took blood work because she seems hungrier than usual and lost 6 ounces.(Although they use a basket scale, and everytime I weigh her with an electric scale, everything is the same). They tested her, and her phosphorus was slightly low, and her calcium was 2/10ths a point above average. So, they think it may be cancer. They say her kidneys are fine, her thyroid is fine, everything is fine. And, on account, of the blood in the stools, they say it is a red flag. I am thinking that I will give her the medication for the inflammation, lower her stress as much as possible, and try giving her a grain free diet limited in Calcium and Vitamin D(22). And I will test her in several weeks. There is nothing I can do until then, but now I feel bad, because she has had this problem until November. Given Albon, then a rabbit diet, and now this new medication. She just does not have any symptoms of increased thirst or urine, lethargy, or anything else. Apart from the bloody stools for several months, and the hunger after transitioning her onto Royal Canin. Thanks for chatting with me, it is calming my nerves, btw!

You're welcome, no problem!  Is the Royal Canin lower in calories than the Iams?  Kind of seems like it especially since she got an appetite after going on it.  The prednisone will really increase her appetite.  I'm sorry I just looked back and saw you had other threads started, which I haven't read, so I didn't know your backstory.  

The only thing about the Pred. is that it only reduces inflammation while you take it and you can't take it for long.  Since she had the bloody stools while still on Iams too (is that right?) and IF her diet is the cause, then maybe look at another brand.  Check out the diet pages here at this site for help.  I think @missmimz  knows quite a lot about diet and I'm sure there are others too.  I just can't think of who they are at the moment.  

As far as "nothing I can do until then", It IS a waiting game unfortunately.  I'll check back in tomorrow.  Hang in there!

Blood in stool isn't uncommon with IBD cats. Read around on this site. Most IBD cats do better on homemade or raw diets. 

http://www.ibdkitties.net/

Thanks for the responses you guys! And yes, she developed blood in her stools on Iams.I actually ordered Wellness Core grain-free Turkey and Duck blend, online. I heard it is a good food,and many cats had lowered calcium levels while on this diet. I just need to take it one step at a time. Give her the medicine, and new food, and then in several weeks test her again. Then, take it from there. If lowered, great! Then, if she still has blood in her stools. I will talk to the vet, and see about doing a homemade diet, and some "stress" chews.

missmimz, has any cat with IBD have elevated cal

Cleopatras Mom said:

 
missmimz, has any cat with IBD have elevated cal

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I'm not really an expert on IBD, but if you have a facebook join this IBD group. The members are incredibly helpful and smart. It's run by people that used to be part of this community so they're incredibly knowledgeable and they can definitely answer that question and more. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/RawFedIBD/

I don't know anything about elevated calcium levels either but Googled it out of curiosity and found, among other things, this page on the 2ndchance site, which I often find very useful: link is here. (That same site has this great page that lists normal blood test values, with links to relevant articles, for just about everything.) Apparently high calcium levels are often difficult to explain... but he does mention that some cats who have it also have digestive issues and/or IBD, which the bloody stool could definitely be a sign of. (We saw that as a first symptom with our previous cat.)

I agree with missmimz about the Facebook "Raw Feeding for IBD Cats" group: it's incredibly helpful! Our cats don't have IBD but they do have various food issues so I learn a lot.

I shall look at it, but unforutnately I do not have a facebook. X/

The only thing I am concerned about, is the fact that she has elevated calcium, which is a sign of cancer. So, to me, I feel that chances of her having it, is higher. She has only lost 2 ounces in three months, and she had an empty stomach. I heard treating small cell cancer is identical to treating IBD, so maybe....? There are so many whatifs....

She's only lost 2 ounces? Over a few months? I don't know for sure but it seems that if she had cancer she'd lose more weight than that. Not having eaten could account for those 2 ounces.

Yes, she has only lost 2 ounces in two months. And, she had not eaten anything for over 8 hours(she dislikes eating during the morning hours). I would think so, too. So, that weight loss is the least of my concerns, but when a cat shows symptoms of either cancer or IBD, and has elevated levels of calcium...I just do not know.

my little snick had elevated calcium levels, very elevated for a while. she also had IBD as well as CKD.

our vet originally diagnosed cancer, probably lymphoma. snick was taking prednisone for must have been well over a year, probably around a year and a half or so, until she became borderline diabetic (a possible side effect of long term prednisone). snick was tapered off the prednisone, and did not progress into full blown diabetes.

one of the things our vet told me during that time was that if it was cancer, snick's calcium level would continue to rise -- even taking the prednisone. after snick had been tapered off the prednisone, several months later i discussed with my vet that snick's calcium levels had not continued to rise. our vet reviewed snick's file (must have been as thick as a book at that point), then called me and told me that she was changing snick's diagnosis to idiopathic hypercalcemia -- idiopathic being medical lingo for, unknown cause/reason(s).

it's important to recheck/retest the calcium level for two reasons:  to see if the level continues to elevate or not, and if the calcium level becomes elevated too high there can be calcification of tissue and internal organs.

in my little snick's case, the elevated calcium level disappeared as mysteriously as it had first started.

and, i did some online searching and found a website that has a lot of info about feline idiopathic hypercalcemia. here's a link to it, if anyone is interested -- http://felineihc.org/index.html

my understanding is that your vet will need to rule out other possible reasons/causes for the elevated calcium level, then you may be left with a diagnosis of idiopathic hypercalcemia.

Ginny said:

 
$6000 seems excessive.  What on earth do they plan to do? Where I live, an MRI AND a lumbar puncture is only $2000.  Seems like they are gouging you.  Plus the vet did say it still may not show anything conclusive.  They wanted to do those for Nat and for Gracie, even though they both had vastly different problems.  And both times they warned it might show nothing.  I elected not to do it.  

Did the vet suspect IBD?

No news is good news, in a way.  So for the moment you could take comfort in that.  And 2/10 of an elevation is not much.  I know it's hard, but try not to cross that bridge until you come to it.  

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My thoughts exactly.  6 grand to find out if a cat has cancer or not, without treatment involved, seems beyond steep. 
 

Years ago, I had a dog with elevated kidney numbers during a routine blood draw.  He was about 2 years old, and immediately I freaked.  The elevation was 3 points higher than the "WNL's" range, but was still cause for concern, at least to me!  They told me they wanted to re-check his blood work in about a month, so for about a month I sweated and worried and fretted and drove myself mad.  A month later his blood work came back perfect.  Several years later he had blood work done for an unrelated issue; his kidney levels were absolutely fine!  For now, try not to worry yourself to pieces...easier said than done, I know!  

Thank you everyone! Although it does not fix my issue, talking and conversing with everyone raises my spirits. I have decided that I will not biopsy her, for whatever reason.  I would rather her live a relatively stress-free life, than add an extra year. The vet seemed nearly certain it was cancer, and she gave Prednislone to make 'her feel as comfy as possible'. I knew that high calcium was a sign of cancer, but I read that she probably has either IBD or cancer, with the raise in calcium...

I have to pick my battles,and although no weight has been loss, she cannot afford it. She has never had weight to lose, being more or less 6 pounds her whole life. So, does everyone think my steps for her are good Iis there anything I should change? Currently she is taking 2.5 mg a day.

• Start giving her Prednisolone
• Transfer her Royal Canin diet to Wellness Core, so it adds a btter diet and narrows grain allergies.
• Test her blood samples in two weeks, so she may gain weigh. AND not in house
• If calcium has lowered, weight is gained, and symptoms dissipate, continue course of action.
• If not, add Leukeran as last step, and up Prednisolone, and change diet once more to perhaps home cooked.

I think the reason why it is so steep, is that in our state, we only have one or two vets qualified to do biopsy. That may be why? I dunno..

And the vet could find no reason, other than cancer, why her calcium could be high. Everything else was normal, including her thyroid, which was why we tested her in the first place, because of her issues. Other than a once time thing, she had just eaten, or maybe a mess up in the testing. Or a dietary problem perhaps, but no other illness.