Tommy And Blood Work - Not Good

[Freedom]

Tommy is age 11 years. He has lived w/ me as an indoor only cat, since he was about 4 months old. Recently, he has been losing weight and muscle mass. Had him in to the vet for blood work on Tuesday. I will attach the report.

Vet has suggested an ultrasound, which is currently set for next Tuesday. I'm just not finding much info online that says this will help any; not likely to show a treatable condition. Would appreciate thoughts from others.

I will recap the report here:
ALT low
AST low
What I am finding is, this means starvation and malnutrition. So he is eating but not benefiting.

Protein and Globulin are high.
Monocytes: high

Vet said FIP is a possibility.

 

[KarenKat]

So sorry to hear about Tommy! Sounds like you (and the vet) are taking good care of him. We are going through something similar with our 10-year tabby Trin, and the not knowing how to help him is one of the hardest parts.

I'll share my current experience in case it helps, but I am sure each case is different and by no means am I attempting to tell you what your cat's diagnosis will be. Follow the vet's advice and recommendations.

For Trin, he was having chronic diarrhea (he may have lost weight, but 3 years ago we changed to a higher quality kibble and he naturally lost about 3 lbs. So it's hard to say if that is a symptom). Bloodwork showed elevated liver enzymes (ALT and AST) but everything else was fine. The three likely culprits were IBD (maybe from a food allergy, he seemed to have terrible diarrhea after a chicken treat), lymphoma or pancreatitis. An ultrasound didn't show anything unusual, and further bloodtests showed low cobalamin (B-12). Our next step is to give him cobalamin shots weekly and to do an endoscopy to diagnose if it's IBD or something worse.

All of these things are scary and sound like they can be very serious. We found that the ultrasound was no big deal at all, they didn't even need to sedate him and he seemed pretty happy after. While ours did not show anything, I think if the intestines are inflamed it can point to IBD, which to my knowledge can be treated with diet changes quite easily. Try to remain hopeful and don't stress until you find out what's going on. Tommy is lucky to have someone that cares so much to notice problems, hopefully early enough to catch something before it progresses. Good luck, and let us know if you learn anything on Tuesday!

 

[Freedom]

Thanks KarenKat. Trin has the opposite - elevated liver enzymes. My Tommy has low liver enzymes.

Yes, I had asked and was told there was no need for anesthesia or sedation for the feline ultrasound. But the issue is that, since it won't show anything easy (or even possible) to treat, I'm just not sure why to bother with it.

Blessings to your Trin.

Let's see what others have to suggest.

 

[KarenKat]

Ah, sorry I read that wrong. I understand trying to balance the medical cost (both on the kitty and the wallet) with treatable conditions. We have struggled with that too.

Blessings to your Trin.

Thanks, same to Tommy. I wish Trin could give Tommy some of his liver enzymes. I hear he has extra ...

Hopefully someone has more familiarity with low enzymes. The best to you and Tommy!

 

[Freedom]

Tommy ended up spending most of today at the vet. He had the ultrasound; nothing unusual. Then he had xrays of lungs, again. Asthma and the results of that, nothing more shows up.

The vet said that when he is coughing and has raspy breathing, that takes a LOT of energy, so this may be why he is losing weight. It may also be a side effect of the prednisolone.

So Tommy is home and very happy to be here. He yowled the entire day at the vet; I heard him when I walked in to collect him home! He also escaped from them TWICE and had everyone dashing about to corner him, slamming doors to keep him in - or out - of areas. All in all, a very busy day for Tommy, not the best thing for a kitty with asthma, but he showed them what he is made of for sure ha haaa.

 

[KarenKat]

Aww, I'm so glad Tommy is back home with you! I know how frustrating it can be that they don't find something, but also a good thing. I'm glad he didn't make it easy for those "terrible" vets that kidnapped him from his family . Welcome home Tommy!