Cat with kidney disease has low potassium level under 3.0 mEq/L

[donutte]

Sending healing your way. Hopefully she'll be ok through the night. Poor little girl...

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

How's she doing today?  Did you need to take her in? 

 

[tamu708]

Sandi was admitted to the emergency vet hospital.  They found her very dehydrated, and she is now on IV fluids.  They did a blood panel before she was admitted.  It showed her creatinine had gone down to 5.4 (was 7.8 at her regular vet on June 25).  But her BUN is up to almost 100.  Her HCT is now showing at 18%.  But the emergency vet said because she is dehydrated her blood panel numbers may not be accurate.  She also said that dehydration can make RBC seem more higher than it actually is.  Her WBC count was also slightly elevated.  The vet said this might not necessarily be a sign of infection but inflammation.  Right now they want to hydrate her and rerun the tests.  They give blood transfusions when HCT is 13-15%.  If Sandi should need a transfusion, they can give it to her.  They may also do an abdominal scan to see why she has been having dark runny stools.  The vet is going to call me this evening to give me an update.  I visited Sandi before I left.  They had her wrapped in a blanket with something that was almost like a warm water bottle because she was cold.  I almost didn't have them admit her.  I am so worried that something bad will happen and she won't come back home.  The house seems so empty without her.  I just hope she gets better and comes back home.  

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Dehydration can certainly cause lethargy, so that might explain why she is acting so tired.  You can vsit her there, right?  And they will update you if she goes downhill so you can quickly return, correct?  I think her being on IV fluids may be the best thing for her right now

One time Callie's temp dropped to 93 degrees WHILE she was at the Vet getting groomed.  I thought for sure we were going to lose her.  They also put her in a "warming cube", like an incubator for a few hours and then she was fine.  but it scared me no end because she was already stage 4 kidney disease when that happened. 

 

[zed xyzed]

Sending healing vibes to Sandi 

 

[tamu708]

I called to check on Sandi.  They said she is doing the same.  They said she has only been on fluids for about 5 hours so it's still early.  The technician watching her did say her temp has come up so she is not as cold.  We'll have to wait to see what happens.  I'll probably call again in a couple of hours.  I miss her so much.  I cleaned her favorite room and her blankets so she can relax and be comfortable tomorrow.  I just hope she doesn't take a turn for the worse and that she does come home.  I keep picturing her feeling alone and depressed.  It's so heart breaking.  

 

[zed xyzed]

 
I called to check on Sandi.  They said she is doing the same.  They said she has only been on fluids for about 5 hours so it's still early.  The technician watching her did say her temp has come up so she is not as cold.  We'll have to wait to see what happens.  I'll probably call again in a couple of hours.  I miss her so much.  I cleaned her favorite room and her blankets so she can relax and be comfortable tomorrow.  I just hope she doesn't take a turn for the worse and that she does come home.  I keep picturing her feeling alone and depressed.  It's so heart breaking.  

I know when Midi was in the hospital about 8 years ago I would go and spend hours with him everyday, the vet was very nice and let me stay as long as I wanted. I hope Sandi gets better soon. 

 

[donutte]

I'm so glad to hear she's warmed up. That worried me when you said she'd gotten cold. Hopefully she still won't end up needing a blood transfusion. Sending more your way for you and Sandi.

 

[tamu708]

Sandi's temperature is now normal. She is still on iv fluids. I called a little over an hour ago and they said she is resting. She ate a couple of times throughout the night. She is scheduled for an abdominal scan in the afternoon. I was reading online about dark loose stools in cats and one of the possible causes that was coming up was tumors. I'm terrified of this test. Hopefully it will be a simple matter.

I keep forgetting that she is not home and thinking I have to go check on Sandi, I have to go feed Sandi. Even our other cat Basil seems depressed that she isn't there and the two have never been close. The last time she was out of the house overnight was when she was spayed at 6 months old. This is so stressful.

 

[tamu708]

The emergency vet just called me to tell me they may have overhydrated Sandi and put her into congestive heart failure.  This is an absolute nightmare.  They are now giving her Lasix to try and get her to pee it out.  I am so mad.  They said they went to put her on her back to do the abdominal scan and she became stressed breathing open mouthed.  The vet said she will be ok once the fluids are out.  Sandi has a grade 1 heart murmur.  They know this and they even listened to her heart yesterday and told me they were not going to hydrate her too much to a point where it will cause a problem.  I am so worried.  I will be going straight there in a couple of hours after work.  I hope she will be ok.  She is breathing is open mouthed when she is on her back; when she is sitting normal, they said she is fine. 

They also ended up giving her a blood transfusion earlier and said looks better; she is not pale anymore.  But now they are waiting for the excess fluids to be out of her. 

They vet said they plan to touch base with me in a couple of hours and will call me if something bad happens.  I'm going to call and check back in 45 min.  How horrible.  I can't wait to get her out of there.

 

[donutte]

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear she's gone into congestive heart failure Are they not constantly monitoring her to make sure she's not being overhydrated? That would make me so mad too!!

 

[tamu708]

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear she's gone into congestive heart failure

Are they not constantly monitoring her to make sure she's not being overhydrated? That would make me so mad too!!

They told me she would have two technicians dedicated to her.  The doctor and vet technician specifically told me yesterday they were going to be careful not to overhydrate her!  I just hope the Lasix gets the fluid out.  My head is pounding, and I feel like I'm going to have a nervous breakdown.  I can't wait to get her out of there. 

 

[zed xyzed]

Poor Sandi, I hope she is OK.

 

[zed xyzed]

Any updates on Sandi?

 

[tamu708]

I brought Sandi home.  She is looking more pink.  They said her HCT is at 23 after the transfusion.  The Aranesp is supposed to be arriving tomorrow morning.

She is still breathing like she was before I took her into the emergency vet.  It's not like an increased respiratory rate but more harder breathing like increased respiratory effort.   The emergency vet said they used the ultrasound to look at her abdomen and chest and saw fluid there.  She said Sandi may have already had developed CHF along with the kidney failure and we just didn't know about it.  The vet said she doesn't think the fluid in her chest and abdomen is due to them giving her too much iv fluids; she said Sandi was on the lowest level which is like a maintenance level of iv fluid therapy.  When I took Sandi to her regular vet on June 25 they did an x-ray and her vet did not mention seeing any fluid.  I lost my Thomas last summer to CHF and when I used to take him in for checkups, the x-rays used to reveal if he had fluid in his chest.  I'm supposed to follow up with her regular vet tomorrow.  The emergency vet recommended Sandi see a cardiologist.  This is very scary.  I was just reading on Tanya's crf website that treating the two illnesses together is very tricky because the treatments for kidney failure have a negative effect on the heart and the treatments for CHF have a negative effect on the kidneys.  

Sandi is resting right now.  The emergency vet told me she had a good size pee just before I picked her up.  When she came home she also urinated again a decent amount.  She ate a good meal also.  She was very hungry.   She seems more perky but the breathing issue is still there.  I was told by the ER vet now to give her fluids for 3-4 days to make sure all the fluid they gave her had fully absorbed.  

I am watching her and making sure she is relaxed and without stress.  We will see what her regular vet says tomorrow.

 

[donutte]

Do you mean they told you to give her fluids IN 3-4 days and nor FOR 3-4 days to make sure the fluids have absorbed? I would assume you wouldn't be giving any fluids for the time being if she still has fluids in her. If they did tell you to give her fluids I would be very shocked!

I'm EXTREMELY relieved to hear you brought her home. And so glad that aside from the breathing issue, she is behaving and eating normally. Hopefully your regular vet will have more to add tomorrow to help figure this out. I can't imagine that CHF would have been missed so easily.

And yes, it is tricky to treat both, but it is doable. It's a bit of a balancing act, and sometimes conceding to the fact that something may not be an ideal treatment, but you have to do what works for your baby. Hoping she doesn't have CHF though and this was just brought on by too much fluid. Sara was severely hyperthyroid and we had to balance that with the kidney issues, and had a heart murmur on top of that.

 

[tamu708]

Do you mean they told you to give her fluids IN 3-4 days and nor FOR 3-4 days to make sure the fluids have absorbed? I would assume you wouldn't be giving any fluids for the time being if she still has fluids in her. If they did tell you to give her fluids I would be very shocked!

I'm EXTREMELY relieved to hear you brought her home. And so glad that aside from the breathing issue, she is behaving and eating normally. Hopefully your regular vet will have more to add tomorrow to help figure this out. I can't imagine that CHF would have been missed so easily.

And yes, it is tricky to treat both, but it is doable. It's a bit of a balancing act, and sometimes conceding to the fact that something may not be an ideal treatment, but you have to do what works for your baby. Hoping she doesn't have CHF though and this was just brought on by too much fluid. Sara was severely hyperthyroid and we had to balance that with the kidney issues, and had a heart murmur on top of that.

They told me not to give her fluids for 3-4 days until her fluids are absorbed fully.  This morning her appetite is better than before I took her into the hospital.  She's resting right now.  I'm am staying home today to keep an eye on her.  Her resting respiratory rate is 25.  It's just that she seems like she is taking in deeper breaths.  But her her face looks better.  Her nose is more pink.  Before the er visit, her nose looked so pale.  

 

[foxxycat]

that's a good resting rate. You are doing the right thing. Getting her over this hump will be the hardest thing. Are they going to keep her on Lasix for good? I really wish they would in the vet world change the procedures and do more heart ultrasounds for our cats when they are ill. They don't cough like dogs do when heart issues start. And sometimes even with xrays you can't always see fluid buildup especially if it happens fast.

Keep your chin up and so glad the hemocrit has gone up to 23. Did they send you home with Pet-Tinic or something like this? its a B supplement with iron. If I remember correctly. Sometimes we have to try smelly foods to get them to eat. My old kitty seems to like fancy feast kitten food turkey flavor. I add water and mash it. she loves it. but lately its so hot and she doesn't eat well when its so hot. I got the ac running today-I will see how she does tonight for eating.

Keep up the good work!

 

[tamu708]

I am taking Sandi into her regular vet to look at her. Her respiratory effort has increased and her mouth is slightly open. I will update when we get back. Hopefully she will be ok.

 

[pushylady]

You've been on such a rollercoaster with poor Sandi.