- Joined
- Jan 19, 2024
- Messages
- 194
- Purraise
- 396
I cannot catch a break with my kitties over the past few months…
Bitsy had a routine wellness urinalysis a few months ago and was shown to have a UTI despite no symptoms. After it was cleared up she was still presenting with microscopic blood in her urine after both needle retest and an at home collection, so we’ve been investigating that further. She was actually supposed to have a dental yesterday but I called it off last week after learning she still had blood in her urine from the at home collection test. I wanted to figure out what was going on there before putting her under anaesthesia since that’s always risky, especially in senior cats, but even more so if some unknown underlying condition is going on, so I took her in for a bladder X-ray yesterday instead. I’ve just heard back from my vet with the results and it is showing stones in her kidneys. Vet is pretty positive that’s the source of the blood. Almost guaranteed to be calcium oxalate, so not dissolvable with food. Her kidneys are also small/irregular in size, so probably CKD too, despite blood/urinalysis not showing that, but from what I’ve read those tests will still show as normal until the kidneys drop below 40%-ish functionality, so there’s that.
When Bentley was alive (my sweet old boy who had to be put to rest in January) he was on Urinary S/O food for a blockage he had years ago. Bitsy was on it too because she liked it and she’s a picky girl and it was just convenient… I found a normal food she liked once Bentley passed and switched her to that because I thought it would be healthier for her and now I’m kicking myself thinking that has caused the stone formation over the past few months. However, maybe not, because the blood was already present in her urine just two-ish weeks after the food switch, but I can’t help but think this is at least partially my doing.
Vet has said she can contact a large speciality clinic a few hours away to see if she’d be a candidate for shockwave therapy to try to break up the stones. Apparently it isn’t nearly as effective with cats as it is dogs, though, and then that would also run the risk of dislodging the stones and possibly blocking her ureters with the pieces or full stones trying to pass, which could lead to a big emergency, surgery, and possibly death. I don’t want to do more harm than good here. She has not said anything about a food switch yet but I will ask about that to see if it could at least stop the growth of additional stones or help her overall kidney function.
I don’t know what to do for her. She will be 13 this summer and is for the most part herself, but “herself” has also been different in general since her best friend Bentley passed away. She’s also been a little more grumpy than usual lately with Moose so I’m worried maybe that means she’s in pain and not just generally annoyed with him (they’ve never been the best of friends, I’ve only had him a few months), but he IS being more annoying towards her, so maybe it’s just that.
Has anyone done shockwave therapy on the kidneys or bladder before for their cat? How did it go? How would you proceed if you were in this situation? Any advice/recommendations regarding CKD kitties/kidney stones in general or the general prognosis? I really don’t know what to do and have never dealt with anything like this before so any advice is appreciated, at the end of the day I want the best QOL possible for my girl, regardless of how long it’s for.
Bitsy had a routine wellness urinalysis a few months ago and was shown to have a UTI despite no symptoms. After it was cleared up she was still presenting with microscopic blood in her urine after both needle retest and an at home collection, so we’ve been investigating that further. She was actually supposed to have a dental yesterday but I called it off last week after learning she still had blood in her urine from the at home collection test. I wanted to figure out what was going on there before putting her under anaesthesia since that’s always risky, especially in senior cats, but even more so if some unknown underlying condition is going on, so I took her in for a bladder X-ray yesterday instead. I’ve just heard back from my vet with the results and it is showing stones in her kidneys. Vet is pretty positive that’s the source of the blood. Almost guaranteed to be calcium oxalate, so not dissolvable with food. Her kidneys are also small/irregular in size, so probably CKD too, despite blood/urinalysis not showing that, but from what I’ve read those tests will still show as normal until the kidneys drop below 40%-ish functionality, so there’s that.
When Bentley was alive (my sweet old boy who had to be put to rest in January) he was on Urinary S/O food for a blockage he had years ago. Bitsy was on it too because she liked it and she’s a picky girl and it was just convenient… I found a normal food she liked once Bentley passed and switched her to that because I thought it would be healthier for her and now I’m kicking myself thinking that has caused the stone formation over the past few months. However, maybe not, because the blood was already present in her urine just two-ish weeks after the food switch, but I can’t help but think this is at least partially my doing.
Vet has said she can contact a large speciality clinic a few hours away to see if she’d be a candidate for shockwave therapy to try to break up the stones. Apparently it isn’t nearly as effective with cats as it is dogs, though, and then that would also run the risk of dislodging the stones and possibly blocking her ureters with the pieces or full stones trying to pass, which could lead to a big emergency, surgery, and possibly death. I don’t want to do more harm than good here. She has not said anything about a food switch yet but I will ask about that to see if it could at least stop the growth of additional stones or help her overall kidney function.
I don’t know what to do for her. She will be 13 this summer and is for the most part herself, but “herself” has also been different in general since her best friend Bentley passed away. She’s also been a little more grumpy than usual lately with Moose so I’m worried maybe that means she’s in pain and not just generally annoyed with him (they’ve never been the best of friends, I’ve only had him a few months), but he IS being more annoying towards her, so maybe it’s just that.
Has anyone done shockwave therapy on the kidneys or bladder before for their cat? How did it go? How would you proceed if you were in this situation? Any advice/recommendations regarding CKD kitties/kidney stones in general or the general prognosis? I really don’t know what to do and have never dealt with anything like this before so any advice is appreciated, at the end of the day I want the best QOL possible for my girl, regardless of how long it’s for.
Attachments
-
1.4 MB Views: 15
-
1.5 MB Views: 19