High Calcium Levels

wealthy1

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I had a blood panel done on Missy so she can get her teeth clean. The results were good except for her calcium levels. According to the vet, 11.2 is the "normal" range and Missy was 12.9. I'm bringing her to the vet tomorrow to run more tests. Her kidney and urine levels were normal.

Does anyone have any experience with this?
 
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wealthy1

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Hi!
Can I ask for more information? What are you feeding her?
She primarily eats Nutro cuts in gravy (chicken, turkey, beef). But I have started feeding her Merrick Backcountry Grain Free (duck, chicken, turkey). Every blue moon she will get Fancy Feast in gravy. Dry cat food is Only Natural Pet Feline Power Food.

Snacks: Tempetations

My cat is only 2 1/2 years old.
 
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wealthy1

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Did your vet explained what possible causes might be behind a high calcium level?
Did you see any other sign or symptom or unusual behavior in your Missy?
The vet said there could be any number of possible causes however high calcium levels can lead to kidney failure, thyroid issues, tumors, etc. In my research, it's unknown what causes high calcium in cats.

Missy has been vomiting off and on for the last 7 days. But she wasn't lethargic. She has been eating, drinking and playing as her habit.

I took her in today for a deeper test it's called PTH w/ionized Calcium - it just checks for calcium in her blood.

Crossing my fingers the test comes back with good results.
 

linzy383

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We are in the same situation—took cats in for their routine blood work and Thorin (11y/o male) has calcium at 11.8. Our vet says that 10.8 is normal. One of his anal glands might be impacted, but the vet is concerned it is a tumor. They are doing the same ionized calcium test on Saturday along with an x-Ray. 🤞🏻 For both our kitties!
 
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wealthy1

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We are in the same situation—took cats in for their routine blood work and Thorin (11y/o male) has calcium at 11.8. Our vet says that 10.8 is normal. One of his anal glands might be impacted, but the vet is concerned it is a tumor. They are doing the same ionized calcium test on Saturday along with an x-Ray. 🤞🏻 For both our kitties!

Well I received Missy's test results and the vet says the levels are still high. The next step is to do a ultra sound next week to see if there are any tumors. Which we all know could mean cancer/lymphoma I may ask the vet if its a possibility that Missy has an impacted anal gland.

But I'm going to do some research because Missy is her regular active self.

linzy383 linzy383 did you get your kitty's results?
 

linzy383

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We're in the same situation. The ionized calcium came back high. The x-ray came back with something unidentified in his stomach (he fasted, but I guess he was still digesting?) and poop in his intestines that looked hard. We were afraid he was constipated, so we gave him pumpkin and he was already on clavamox. We watched him for two days and his litter box habits/eating was normal, so we took him off the clavamox and pumpkin. Today he threw up liquid (before eating breakfast) twice -- once right after going to the litter box. I took him back to the vet for x-rays and fluids, and his stomach was empty (good news) and there was soft poop in his intestines. We are scheduled for an ultrasound on Tuesday. They felt like his intestines were a little thick. It could be lymphoma or IBD. Cats are surprisingly complicated.
 
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wealthy1

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Update: My cat had the ultra sound nothing obvious. however her intestines were a little thick; that has the vet a little concern. So she can't rule out if it's cancer or something else. The vet is going to do a chest x-ray and a GI panel.

The vet is hoping it's malabsorptive disease - which is treatable. But she won't get the test results back until next week.

linzy383 linzy383 How is your furbaby?
 

daftcat75

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A thickening of small intestine can be IBD or lymphoma. Your vet can't tell which without a biopsy. If your cat can gain or maintain her weight, it's probably not cancer. When she starts losing weight despite eating a normal or more than normal amount, that's the time to suspect cancer. Vets are starting to believe that IBD and lymphoma are two points of progression of the same illness. So what may be IBD today may turn into lymphoma down the road. I recommend finding an internal medicine specialist to work with.

If your vet does start your cat on steroids, please make sure she has a plan to either taper her off the steroids at some point, or eventually change her dose to something that is sustainable in the long-term--preferably not a daily dose. I am convinced that a large part of my Krista's inability to come back after she finally achieved remission (that's another story why it took so long) was that she was on daily steroids for too long. It stressed out her little body and left her too weak to fight the bladder infection that ultimately took her.

Work with a specialist or make sure your vet has a plan other than pumping your cat with steroids indefinitely. If she does have to remain on steroids long-term, please ask about getting her off daily steroids once the initial trial period has passed. Every other day dosing is safer for the long-term.
 
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wealthy1

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A thickening of small intestine can be IBD or lymphoma. Your vet can't tell which without a biopsy. If your cat can gain or maintain her weight, it's probably not cancer. When she starts losing weight despite eating a normal or more than normal amount, that's the time to suspect cancer. Vets are starting to believe that IBD and lymphoma are two points of progression of the same illness. So what may be IBD today may turn into lymphoma down the road. I recommend finding an internal medicine specialist to work with.

If your vet does start your cat on steroids, please make sure she has a plan to either taper her off the steroids at some point, or eventually change her dose to something that is sustainable in the long-term--preferably not a daily dose. I am convinced that a large part of my Krista's inability to come back after she finally achieved remission (that's another story why it took so long) was that she was on daily steroids for too long. It stressed out her little body and left her too weak to fight the bladder infection that ultimately took her.

Work with a specialist or make sure your vet has a plan other than pumping your cat with steroids indefinitely. If she does have to remain on steroids long-term, please ask about getting her off daily steroids once the initial trial period has passed. Every other day dosing is safer for the long-term.

Thank you! After I get Missy's test results back. I will find a specialist for her.
 
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wealthy1

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Just giving an update:

Missy's GI panel came back normal. Now the vet wants to do a biopsy so I'm going to find a hospital to do that part. However, I don't understand the need for a GI panel if a biopsy needed to be done anyways.

Daftcat75 the vet does want to start my cat on steroids. I will discuss a plan with her and look for a specialist.


A thickening of small intestine can be IBD or lymphoma. Your vet can't tell which without a biopsy. If your cat can gain or maintain her weight, it's probably not cancer. When she starts losing weight despite eating a normal or more than normal amount, that's the time to suspect cancer. Vets are starting to believe that IBD and lymphoma are two points of progression of the same illness. So what may be IBD today may turn into lymphoma down the road. I recommend finding an internal medicine specialist to work with.

If your vet does start your cat on steroids, please make sure she has a plan to either taper her off the steroids at some point, or eventually change her dose to something that is sustainable in the long-term--preferably not a daily dose. I am convinced that a large part of my Krista's inability to come back after she finally achieved remission (that's another story why it took so long) was that she was on daily steroids for too long. It stressed out her little body and left her too weak to fight the bladder infection that ultimately took her.

Work with a specialist or make sure your vet has a plan other than pumping your cat with steroids indefinitely. If she does have to remain on steroids long-term, please ask about getting her off daily steroids once the initial trial period has passed. Every other day dosing is safer for the long-term.
 
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