I took Boo into the vet for his ongoing problem with blood in his urine. His CBC will come back tomorrow and his X-rays were really good for his age (16yo). No bladder stones from what the X-ray could see. She then informed me that there’s a possibility it could be bladder cancer but they wont know unless he gets an ultra sound which range to 500$ and I’d have to make an out of town trip something sadly I can’t do right now. Other than this the vet says Boo looks healthy overall. He shows no signs of discomfort or pain. He eats really well, he has lost some weight since December when I first noticed the blood in his urine. Went from 16lbs to 13lbs. But this could be because I haven’t let food sit out for him to gorge himself on like before or could this weight loss be more severe?
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Blood Tests and X-Rays
- Thread starter Shalenarh
- Start Date
Hi. Did the x-ray show any inflammation in his bladder? While an ultrasound is more conclusive, there should have been some signage of inflammation/thickening of his bladder wall even in an x-ray, from what I understand. Inflammation can also cause blood in the urine. At least ask the vet about this aspect.
Also, did the vet run blood tests, including a thyroid check? Hyperthyroidism can also cause weight loss, and seems to be relatively common on elderly cats. Feeby (16+ yo) was just diagnosed with hyperthyroidism last October and is now on meds for it, which has stopped the weight loss she was experiencing before diagnosis. However, I do not know of any correlation between this condition and the blood in his urine.
If you cut his food intake by a fair amount, that could have caused the weight loss. However, 3 lbs in 3-4 months means you probably would have had to cut his calories by a fairly significant amount.
You could also ask your vet (or neighbors/family/friends/co-workers) if there might be a clinic closer by to have an ultrasound done when you can afford it.
Also, did the vet run blood tests, including a thyroid check? Hyperthyroidism can also cause weight loss, and seems to be relatively common on elderly cats. Feeby (16+ yo) was just diagnosed with hyperthyroidism last October and is now on meds for it, which has stopped the weight loss she was experiencing before diagnosis. However, I do not know of any correlation between this condition and the blood in his urine.
If you cut his food intake by a fair amount, that could have caused the weight loss. However, 3 lbs in 3-4 months means you probably would have had to cut his calories by a fairly significant amount.
You could also ask your vet (or neighbors/family/friends/co-workers) if there might be a clinic closer by to have an ultrasound done when you can afford it.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
Thank you for letting me know about this! From what she she was showing and explaining to me, she said nothing about inflammation. When she calls me tomorrow I’ll ask her about inflammation. I wish I had known about this earlier.
Just waiting on the results for his complete blood count, but if there is any blood tests other than this that I’m missing please let me know. I don’t think we ever tested for hyperthyroidism but when I took him in to the new vet for a second opinion about his bloody urine, she did examine him and I did let her know of his food changes since December and of the weight loss. Other than this I don’t think so.
Regarding his food before December for years I would just leave a bunch of food out and just filled it up when I saw it was running low. Now they are on a more controlled feeding I guess? Currently I give them food at certain times throughout the day (morning, afternoon, evening, sometimes 3am) and they’ll eat until they’ve had their fill and take off. Normally they will let me know if they are hungry before any of these times.
In my town there are at least 5 vets. And I’ve been to 3 of them. My former vet, current vet and one I take my bird to being the only one that’s as close as I could get to an avian/exotic vet. My grandma doesn’t think I should go any further as vet bills are just going to keep getting higher. I get where she coming from and even my vet let me know it’ll be pricey and if the ultrasound ends up show nothing. She doesn’t want my effort to go in vain. Unfortunately I’ve got three elderly animals 2 cats a bird that all needed medical attention around the same time. Since all of them have now been taken to the vet and found some answers to most of those. Hopefully things will calm down now and I can start saving money and I will continue to look into ultrasounds.
Just waiting on the results for his complete blood count, but if there is any blood tests other than this that I’m missing please let me know. I don’t think we ever tested for hyperthyroidism but when I took him in to the new vet for a second opinion about his bloody urine, she did examine him and I did let her know of his food changes since December and of the weight loss. Other than this I don’t think so.
Regarding his food before December for years I would just leave a bunch of food out and just filled it up when I saw it was running low. Now they are on a more controlled feeding I guess? Currently I give them food at certain times throughout the day (morning, afternoon, evening, sometimes 3am) and they’ll eat until they’ve had their fill and take off. Normally they will let me know if they are hungry before any of these times.
In my town there are at least 5 vets. And I’ve been to 3 of them. My former vet, current vet and one I take my bird to being the only one that’s as close as I could get to an avian/exotic vet. My grandma doesn’t think I should go any further as vet bills are just going to keep getting higher. I get where she coming from and even my vet let me know it’ll be pricey and if the ultrasound ends up show nothing. She doesn’t want my effort to go in vain. Unfortunately I’ve got three elderly animals 2 cats a bird that all needed medical attention around the same time. Since all of them have now been taken to the vet and found some answers to most of those. Hopefully things will calm down now and I can start saving money and I will continue to look into ultrasounds.
