Ultrasound or TLI/PLI?

[goholistic]

 
Obi's Ultrasound results:  I wanted to post about this for all who have helped and supported me and also for information. Obi had his ultrasound on Monday.  As many of you know, I have put this off.  Anyhow the results are in.  Obi's GI tract looks good, the vet did not see any thickening.  He does have a mass on his liver, which she thinks is benign or slow growing.  Since his hairball vomiting has waxed and waned over years, really, I suspect this has been there a while.  She thinks that the mass occasionally blocks the bile duct and caused GI inflammation.  Treatment:  1/4 Cerenia for two weeks.  He is doing quite well and I dont know whether to be relieved or anxious.  What I am wondering about is whether his pred can be tapered; the vet (understandably) does not want to change anything right now.  On the plus side again, it means he can have some cat treats - as he does not have IBD or lymphoma.

So the moral of the story is that if you ( cat lovers) are debating about an ultrasound - have one done.  I dont know if I wish I had done this sooner or not, but possibly if I had, Obi might not be on pred. for IBD.   Anyhow, he is 15 and still kickin' with a shaved belly.

Actually, I bet he is liking his shaved belly with the summer heat and all! 

  Let's some air in!

That's great that his GI tract looks good! A huge relief, eh? Hmm...but that "mass" would concern me. Could be benign, I guess. Not sure what the chances are of it being a cancerous tumor. If the latter, pred would be part of supportive treatment. Finding a mass was one of my biggest fears in Sebastian's latest ultrasound. With his history, I was worried about pancreatic cancer (tumor). Luckily, they found none.

I kind of agree with your vet since Obi is doing well. It's not like he's 3 years old, in which case you wouldn't want him on pred his whole life. 5 mg a day is a normal low/maintenance dose. I suppose in due time if you and the vet decide to lower Obi's pred dose, you could do is slowly and see how he does. When we were lowering Sebastian's pred dose from 10 mg to 5 mg a day, we did it 1/4 tablet at a time because he's so sensitive (10 to 8.75 to 7.5 to 6.25 to 5) over the course of four months. Yes, the tablets are a pain to quarter, but we needed to do it slowly.

Put a big fat check mark next to "Get ultrasound done for Obi"!  

 

[stephenq]

 
Obi's Ultrasound results:  I wanted to post about this for all who have helped and supported me and also for information. Obi had his ultrasound on Monday.  As many of you know, I have put this off.  Anyhow the results are in.  Obi's GI tract looks good, the vet did not see any thickening.  He does have a mass on his liver, which she thinks is benign or slow growing.  Since his hairball vomiting has waxed and waned over years, really, I suspect this has been there a while.  She thinks that the mass occasionally blocks the bile duct and caused GI inflammation.  Treatment:  1/4 Cerenia for two weeks.  He is doing quite well and I dont know whether to be relieved or anxious.  What I am wondering about is whether his pred can be tapered; the vet (understandably) does not want to change anything right now.  On the plus side again, it means he can have some cat treats - as he does not have IBD or lymphoma.

So the moral of the story is that if you ( cat lovers) are debating about an ultrasound - have one done.  I dont know if I wish I had done this sooner or not, but possibly if I had, Obi might not be on pred. for IBD.   Anyhow, he is 15 and still kickin' with a shaved belly.

Congrats on the good news and the decision to thave the US.  Information is power :-)

 

[myrnafaye]

Hi, Go:  Yes about the pred.  I had  a beautiful, wonderful cat named Kiku years ago who developed the kind of asthma where if he was a person, he would have been in the ER regularly.   Now there are kitty nebulizers to deliver the pred to the lungs but there were not then - so it was pred, and I lowered it very slowly each time but once I started , I could not get him off.  So Yes, I know about pred.  FYI, because of Kiku, I give a new kitty a rabies and distemper, check for FLV, and no more vaccines.  That may be another discussion.  I have a message in to the vet about the pred.,  and also wondering if we should keep him premanently on the Cerenia.  Right now the plan is 1/4 pill for 2 weeks.

The mass does worry me some but as long as he is eating well, drinking, alert, playful, etc - I am going to try to not have it concern me much.  I know in a person, liver cancer is generally fast growing.  So I think if it was cancer, Obi might be long gone.  I will have blood work done on him every few months going forward.  Yah, he might like his belly buzz cut.  In any case, he wont be overgrooming there for a while.

Thanks, Stephen. 

-----Original Message-----
From: TheCatSite.com Notifications <[email protected]>
To: myrnaspaws <[email protected]>
Sent: Thu, Jun 4, 2015 12:52 am
Subject: GoHolistic quoted you

 

[myrnafaye]

I have a question or 2 about Clavamox related to this thread.  Since Friday, Obi has been on a course of Clavamox ( he also gets pred, Cerenia, and pepcid).  His ultrasound was a week ago today.  Since before the US, his appetite was "off"; meaning he showed interest in food but did not finish a meal.  He is interested in food but eats some, leaves the bowl, returns but does not finish.  Usually after a meal he goes under the bed.  The vet thought he might have an infection of the liver so she rx'd clavamox, and I understand why.  However, I am also reading that Clavamox is notorious for causing digestive upset including inappetance.

So I dont know if the Clavamox is the culprit  here, or the mass on Obi's liver.  I realize that no one here can diagnose the problem, but I was hoping that if others have experience with Clavamox to treat a liver issue, or just experience with Clavamox, would you please post here?

 

[goholistic]

 
I have a question or 2 about Clavamox related to this thread.  Since Friday, Obi has been on a course of Clavamox ( he also gets pred, Cerenia, and pepcid).  His ultrasound was a week ago today.  Since before the US, his appetite was "off"; meaning he showed interest in food but did not finish a meal.  He is interested in food but eats some, leaves the bowl, returns but does not finish.  Usually after a meal he goes under the bed.  The vet thought he might have an infection of the liver so she rx'd clavamox, and I understand why.  However, I am also reading that Clavamox is notorious for causing digestive upset including inappetance.

So I dont know if the Clavamox is the culprit  here, or the mass on Obi's liver.  I realize that no one here can diagnose the problem, but I was hoping that if others have experience with Clavamox to treat a liver issue, or just experience with Clavamox, would you please post here?

It's been awhile since any of my cats have had Clavamox. But yes, it can cause an upset stomach and sometimes diarrhea. As you know, I am not a vet, but I can give you my best guess. Considering Obi was acting "off" long before starting Clavamox, chances are its something else and not the Clavamox. Although, it is possible it could be upsetting his stomach.

Is he still behaving strangely?  

 

[stephenq]

 
I have a question or 2 about Clavamox related to this thread.  Since Friday, Obi has been on a course of Clavamox ( he also gets pred, Cerenia, and pepcid).  His ultrasound was a week ago today.  Since before the US, his appetite was "off"; meaning he showed interest in food but did not finish a meal.  He is interested in food but eats some, leaves the bowl, returns but does not finish.  Usually after a meal he goes under the bed.  The vet thought he might have an infection of the liver so she rx'd clavamox, and I understand why.  However, I am also reading that Clavamox is notorious for causing digestive upset including inappetance.

So I dont know if the Clavamox is the culprit  here, or the mass on Obi's liver.  I realize that no one here can diagnose the problem, but I was hoping that if others have experience with Clavamox to treat a liver issue, or just experience with Clavamox, would you please post here?

If given with food i've almost nevr seen stomach upset, but on an empty stomach isn't advised.  I would never characterize clavamox as "notorious" for causing upset stomach.

 

[myrnafaye]

Go:  Up until yesterday, Obi was eating less and after eating he might retreat to under one of the beds for a while.  When he was up and around he would be fine.  Then yesterday, he started eating his normal enthusiastic self; I mean, he chowed down.  I was so happy to see this!  Same today.  His stools are a little loose so I upped his probiotic.  He seems better now.  I am not sure  what it was that was ailing him but it had been going on for about a month.  Since his GI tract looked good on the US, I am now able to feed him different formulas of the Nature's Variety, so they dont get bored with their food; the salmon formula has been introduced and both Obi and Mittens really like that.

Thanks so much, all, for your help here.  This is such a great site.