- Joined
- Jan 9, 2016
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- 3
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Hello everyone,
I'm new to this site but it seems like a wonderful resource and support network for cat lovers :-)
My issue is my 13-year-old male indoor/outdoor cat (Kitty) who until last week had never been to the vet since he has never had any health issues - and I never wanted to go looking for problems when he seemed so bulletproof ;-)
Over the last month or two he's been losing weight, has slowed down a lot, and has become increasingly constipated in the last few weeks. 10 days ago I got a housecall vet over to check him over and to do blood/urine work. That showed some signs of mild kidney function impairment (they seemed a little swollen on examination), but the elevations were mild. The vet said she did not expect this mild of a change to cause the amount of weight loss and lethargy he has. He also had some white blood cells and calcium oxalate crystals in his urine, but no signs of bacteria (although a culture wasn't done)..
As the results were inconclusive she recommended an ultrasound which we undertook at a San Francisco clinic last Wed. The diagnosis from that appointment was basically IBD. As well as an accumulation of feces (not megacolon) the vet saw a thickening of the intestinal wall. He said only a surgical biopsy would determine if the cells were cancerous but he didn't usually recommend those.
Kitty is eating fine and drinking water as far as I can tell, although he is obviously in some discomfort as he moves position a lot. The main issue I have right now is dealing with his 4-day lack of poop. Over the past week or so I did add pumpkin to his food (and some pre and probiotics) and put Vaseline on his paw last week that did make him go then - but not this time (yet). I heard that Miralax (?) can bring water into the colon - assuming he has enough water in his system to spare. Would that be worth trying at this stage..? As we're heading into enema territory I fear otherwise.
Regarding the IBD diagnosis the vet said Prednisone and Vit B12 would be the standard treatment - but I'm not sure if this would help out his constipation in any way. I do think the steroid could be useful just to get him moving around more and putting some weight back on. But wouldn't B12 need to be bloodtested to see if he's short of that first?
I have to say, as I'm sure every pet lover does, I'm finding this all very distressing and upsetting. I'm a single late 40s guy, and he's my best buddy, a total cuddle bunny that I can't imagine losing after all these years together. He's not even that old really and has been super active and frisky all his life - until the past few months. I really don't want to get sucked into a diagnostics rabbit hole but obviously I will spend more money if it helps him be more accurately diagnosed.
By the way, I should mention that a few months ago he was exposed to a fungicide spray that my roommate used to get rid of some mildew on the sofa. She said it was non-toxic but I think that probably meant for humans. I sorta noticed that the symptoms began sometime after he was regularly lying on this couch after it was cleaned.. so I guess it's not impossible that toxins started this whole thing off.
Thanks your help everyone.
Jason
I'm new to this site but it seems like a wonderful resource and support network for cat lovers :-)
My issue is my 13-year-old male indoor/outdoor cat (Kitty) who until last week had never been to the vet since he has never had any health issues - and I never wanted to go looking for problems when he seemed so bulletproof ;-)
Over the last month or two he's been losing weight, has slowed down a lot, and has become increasingly constipated in the last few weeks. 10 days ago I got a housecall vet over to check him over and to do blood/urine work. That showed some signs of mild kidney function impairment (they seemed a little swollen on examination), but the elevations were mild. The vet said she did not expect this mild of a change to cause the amount of weight loss and lethargy he has. He also had some white blood cells and calcium oxalate crystals in his urine, but no signs of bacteria (although a culture wasn't done)..
As the results were inconclusive she recommended an ultrasound which we undertook at a San Francisco clinic last Wed. The diagnosis from that appointment was basically IBD. As well as an accumulation of feces (not megacolon) the vet saw a thickening of the intestinal wall. He said only a surgical biopsy would determine if the cells were cancerous but he didn't usually recommend those.
Kitty is eating fine and drinking water as far as I can tell, although he is obviously in some discomfort as he moves position a lot. The main issue I have right now is dealing with his 4-day lack of poop. Over the past week or so I did add pumpkin to his food (and some pre and probiotics) and put Vaseline on his paw last week that did make him go then - but not this time (yet). I heard that Miralax (?) can bring water into the colon - assuming he has enough water in his system to spare. Would that be worth trying at this stage..? As we're heading into enema territory I fear otherwise.
Regarding the IBD diagnosis the vet said Prednisone and Vit B12 would be the standard treatment - but I'm not sure if this would help out his constipation in any way. I do think the steroid could be useful just to get him moving around more and putting some weight back on. But wouldn't B12 need to be bloodtested to see if he's short of that first?
I have to say, as I'm sure every pet lover does, I'm finding this all very distressing and upsetting. I'm a single late 40s guy, and he's my best buddy, a total cuddle bunny that I can't imagine losing after all these years together. He's not even that old really and has been super active and frisky all his life - until the past few months. I really don't want to get sucked into a diagnostics rabbit hole but obviously I will spend more money if it helps him be more accurately diagnosed.
By the way, I should mention that a few months ago he was exposed to a fungicide spray that my roommate used to get rid of some mildew on the sofa. She said it was non-toxic but I think that probably meant for humans. I sorta noticed that the symptoms began sometime after he was regularly lying on this couch after it was cleaned.. so I guess it's not impossible that toxins started this whole thing off.
Thanks your help everyone.
Jason