Hi everyone,
My 14 1/2 year old sweet boy has recently been diagnosed with (likely) mild CKD, an adrenal tumor, and pseudomonas. We initially took him to the vet because he lost a lot of weight, was not eating and was dehydrated. He spent 3 days getting IV fluids and came home looking better but, just a week and a half later, we had to take him back in because he was weak, walking strangely, and had ventroflexion of his head and neck. We were scared it could be fatty liver but it turned out he had bad hyperkalemia. The vet predicted this was a result of our administration of subcutaneous fluids every two days flushing out his kidneys, but in my research, I've found it could also be the result of aldosteronism due to his adrenal tumor. On a side note, his kidneys look a lot better (creatinine down from 4.9 to 3.0 and BUN down from 189 to 37). We've been giving him a potassium gluconate oral supplement twice daily and have enriched his subcu fluids with potassium and B vitamin supplements. However, after a couple days of these treatments he still has the ventroflexion, is very lethargic, looks depressed, and isn't eating much or drinking much water. Does anyone know how long it usually takes for kitties to regain their muscle strength and overcome the ventroflexion once put on potassium supplements? I just want him to be closer to normal so I don't have to worry so much! Thank you!
My 14 1/2 year old sweet boy has recently been diagnosed with (likely) mild CKD, an adrenal tumor, and pseudomonas. We initially took him to the vet because he lost a lot of weight, was not eating and was dehydrated. He spent 3 days getting IV fluids and came home looking better but, just a week and a half later, we had to take him back in because he was weak, walking strangely, and had ventroflexion of his head and neck. We were scared it could be fatty liver but it turned out he had bad hyperkalemia. The vet predicted this was a result of our administration of subcutaneous fluids every two days flushing out his kidneys, but in my research, I've found it could also be the result of aldosteronism due to his adrenal tumor. On a side note, his kidneys look a lot better (creatinine down from 4.9 to 3.0 and BUN down from 189 to 37). We've been giving him a potassium gluconate oral supplement twice daily and have enriched his subcu fluids with potassium and B vitamin supplements. However, after a couple days of these treatments he still has the ventroflexion, is very lethargic, looks depressed, and isn't eating much or drinking much water. Does anyone know how long it usually takes for kitties to regain their muscle strength and overcome the ventroflexion once put on potassium supplements? I just want him to be closer to normal so I don't have to worry so much! Thank you!