Hi, everyone,
Gosh, I haven't been here forever - I have so much going on right now, I just don't have any time for internet or e-mails. But I had to let everyone know about Simba's visit to the vet.
As many of you know, Simba is a stray we took in last year. He was pretty starved when we found him, but has done pretty well this year. We got him checked over when we took him in, and no bad kitty diseases, thank goodness!
So this year I took him to our regular vet for checkup, shots, etc. He's doing pretty well, but we found out that he is definitely a senior cat! I'm glad to know, because the vet last year really couldn't give us a good answer. Yesterday they did a bunch of bloodwork and different tests, and it looks like he's doing pretty well except for his kidneys - he had an elevated creatinine reading (2.3) and his blood urea-nitrogen was in the high-normal range.
At this time, the vet is just recommending that we switch him to senior food (less protein), and bring him in again in 6 months to re-do the bloodwork and test his urine. If things are looking worse, he may need a more specialized diet. But other than this, he is doing really well. He was pretty angry about the vet visit for a couple of hours - went and sat in the closet and stared at the wall for an hour or so, then stuck his head under the bed for a while (I don't think he realized that the rest of him was perfectly visible!). He forgave us by bedtime though, and snuggled in especially close all night. He had a rough day!
Both dogs got their checkups, too, and since they are getting up in age also (8 1/2 years old!!) we had a bunch of bloodwork done on them, too. Theirs came out perfectly healthy - yay! Although Warren had to have his anal glands expelled (yuck), and there was blood in one so he needs to get checked again in 2 weeks.
So Simba's new nickname is Gramps, and my husband and I are laughing about running a retirement home for pets. But all in all a very good vet visit for everyone!
Gosh, I haven't been here forever - I have so much going on right now, I just don't have any time for internet or e-mails. But I had to let everyone know about Simba's visit to the vet.
As many of you know, Simba is a stray we took in last year. He was pretty starved when we found him, but has done pretty well this year. We got him checked over when we took him in, and no bad kitty diseases, thank goodness!
So this year I took him to our regular vet for checkup, shots, etc. He's doing pretty well, but we found out that he is definitely a senior cat! I'm glad to know, because the vet last year really couldn't give us a good answer. Yesterday they did a bunch of bloodwork and different tests, and it looks like he's doing pretty well except for his kidneys - he had an elevated creatinine reading (2.3) and his blood urea-nitrogen was in the high-normal range.
At this time, the vet is just recommending that we switch him to senior food (less protein), and bring him in again in 6 months to re-do the bloodwork and test his urine. If things are looking worse, he may need a more specialized diet. But other than this, he is doing really well. He was pretty angry about the vet visit for a couple of hours - went and sat in the closet and stared at the wall for an hour or so, then stuck his head under the bed for a while (I don't think he realized that the rest of him was perfectly visible!). He forgave us by bedtime though, and snuggled in especially close all night. He had a rough day!
Both dogs got their checkups, too, and since they are getting up in age also (8 1/2 years old!!) we had a bunch of bloodwork done on them, too. Theirs came out perfectly healthy - yay! Although Warren had to have his anal glands expelled (yuck), and there was blood in one so he needs to get checked again in 2 weeks.
So Simba's new nickname is Gramps, and my husband and I are laughing about running a retirement home for pets. But all in all a very good vet visit for everyone!
