I Don't Know What To Do - 15+yo Cat

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FeebysOwner

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I'm hoping there is someone else at that practice you can follow up with in case he finds something? I wouldn't want her care delayed by his vacation.
:eek: Uh, didn't think to ask that - but certainly will tomorrow. I would hope it would be his second-in-command, we have seen her before and she is my second favorite in the practice. I really never expected to hear from them this quick.
 
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FeebysOwner

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In the meantime (while waiting for the vet visit tomorrow)...

Feeby has had bone broth added to her food - maybe the first time it seemed to help. After try #1 - she seems have found a way to 'suck' the broth off of the food?!?!? :evilgrin:

Last night she got her first Sheba PP chicken pate while we had dinner. We had turkey sausage and she has never been keen on that, so I thought why not try the Sheba. She was funny - she kept watching us, knowing that she didn't have the same thing. So, my husband gave her a bite or two of the turkey sausage - and, she actually ate it. That seemed to work, and then she chowed down the Sheba.

Today, she half-heartedly ate her regular food, went off to nap forever, but came back out around the time she knows she gets her hairball treats and Glyco Flex in baby food meat - and ate that pretty well. I added some bone broth to her left over earlier meal - and she was like: meh. :yawn:

But, then the bonito flakes arrived! So, I added a few of those, mixed in with her food. She ate until she could find no more flakes and then left. :doh:
 

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In the meantime (while waiting for the vet visit tomorrow)...

Feeby has had bone broth added to her food - maybe the first time it seemed to help. After try #1 - she seems have found a way to 'suck' the broth off of the food?!?!? :evilgrin:

Last night she got her first Sheba PP chicken pate while we had dinner. We had turkey sausage and she has never been keen on that, so I thought why not try the Sheba. She was funny - she kept watching us, knowing that she didn't have the same thing. So, my husband gave her a bite or two of the turkey sausage - and, she actually ate it. That seemed to work, and then she chowed down the Sheba.

Today, she half-heartedly ate her regular food, went off to nap forever, but came back out around the time she knows she gets her hairball treats and Glyco Flex in baby food meat - and ate that pretty well. I added some bone broth to her left over earlier meal - and she was like: meh. :yawn:

But, then the bonito flakes arrived! So, I added a few of those, mixed in with her food. She ate until she could find no more flakes and then left. :doh:
I love how devoted to schedules cats can get.

And also so how delightfully picky they can be. Well, no, not so much here. Another enticement that worked for Krista was powdered freeze-dried: Stella and Chewy's or various treats like FD liver or heart. I had various baggies and spice jars of her favorite (powdered) enticements.
 
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FeebysOwner

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Back from vet visit - the check up itself went well - albeit a few hisses and squawks, especially during the blood draw. He said Feeby's ears/eyes/heart/lungs/abdomen all look/sound/feel normal. She does have gum inflammation under a single tooth. He said he would not, at her age, want to do anything about it, nor did he think it was bad enough to even consider doing anything.

He expects to get blood results later today, or at the latest tomorrow morning. While he is leaving on vacation tomorrow, he said he would still call me whenever he gets the results. He said with her blood work being near perfect last year, he is counting on no drastic changes, so didn't want to make plans just yet for any follow up with another vet while he is gone. No urinalysis - her bladder was empty.

But, so much for that blasted scale of mine - she weighed 13.4 lbs in his office. A fair amount lower than my scale. I did finally ask him what he thought she should weigh - he said her ideal weight would be 10-11 lbs. He said if he was just seeing her for the first time, he would be telling me she weighs too much!! As long as she is eating, even if it is less than she used to, he didn't seem to think it was cause for concern at this point (unless, obviously, something shows up in her blood work that would point to a related problem).

According to him, the fleas are 'alive and kicking' - when he swabbed the area with alcohol for the blood draw. So, I am totally not finding them as he did. Great. He said that if I am applying Adv II every two weeks, it is clearly not going to work for her. :thud: Time to reconsider Bravecto again...it was nice that he didn't push the issue, but did point out - again - that if he would only administer meds to his patients - and, to himself - that came with no warnings or side effects, he would have no meds to offer/take.
 

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t. He said that if I am applying Adv II every two weeks, it is clearly not going to work for her. :thud: Time to reconsider Bravecto again...it was nice that he didn't push the issue, but did point out - again - that if he would only administer meds to his patients - and, to himself - that came with no warnings or side effects, he would have no meds to offer/take.
I remember that you said you were worried to use Revolution/Stronghold, but between Bravecto and Stronghold, isn't Revolution safer? More people use it I believe so more feedback. I myself am skeptical for Bravecto. Anything that stays for 12 weeks seem too strong for my like. Stronghold is still the most popular among vets here and my personal choice for the summer. It never failed me and Hima. Different cats, different situations, and you know Feeby the best of course.
 
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FeebysOwner

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I can see its sold on the UK but cant find any reviews. I hadnt heard of it but neither had I realised there were do many flea treatments.
There are a mind-numbing amount of flea treatments. I have been researching since all of this started with Feeby's fleas and my vet's recommendations.

There will never be any one product that NO ONE has an issue with. Although, the biggest issue with Adv II is NOT side effects, it is effectiveness - at least on this site. And, yet, most 'expert' reviews still say it is effective. So, there you have it...
 
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Aside from the flea issue, perhaps I should take Feeby to the vet everyday. :lol2: She has eaten more so far today than she has in any recent 24 hour period. She even ate all but one piece of her Glyco without baby food meat. I know it's consolation eating, but still...
 

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I fell behind reading your thread, so I was about to say "good luck at the vet" and realized you'd been and gone. Glad you were able to go in with her. And that the vet was pleased with her weight. Hopefully the blood work results will be fine as well.
 
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I got the blood work results. Not from my vet, who is on vacation but nonetheless promised to call me with the results. When I didn't hear from him today, I just called the office and asked them to send me the results, which they did. Good thing (or bad, I don't know) that his office would send them before he has had a chance to talk to me about them - LOL!

It would seem she might be on the forefront of some kind of kidney issue. Her amylase was high (has run high in the previous two tests - but within range), and her PSL (pancreatic enzymes) is high as well, but for the first time. It would seem that when both are high it typically points to kidney function. And, of course, they weren't able to get urine sample for a urinalysis when she was in for her vet visit - so, I am guessing that will now become priority.

Her thyroid level was higher, but I will have to wait to find out what the vet wants to do with that. I also have no idea if that is impacted by a kidney function issue.

All other blood results were good.
 
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Her amylase was high (has run high in the previous two tests - but within range), and her PSL (pancreatic enzymes) is high as well, but for the first time. It would seem that when both are high it typically points to kidney function
Was her creatinine fine? You know amylase is about pancreas. To a certain level elevated amylase is said to have little importance for cats. My Hima's amylase was high as well back when she was hospitalized. The normal range was 300-1,100 and Hima's was 1,311. Her BUN and creatinine were in the normal range though and you know those are the first indicators of kidney issues. She had other elevated things during that time, she had jaundice at the time too. But the vet didn't read anything about her kidneys there.
 
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Was her creatinine fine? You know amylase is about pancreas. To a certain level elevated amylase is said to have little importance for cats. My Hima's amylase was high as well back when she was hospitalized. The normal range was 300-1,100 and Hima's was 1,311. Her BUN and creatinine were in the normal range though and you know those are the first indicators of kidney issues. She had other elevated things during that time, she had jaundice at the time too. But the vet didn't read anything about her kidneys there.
Feeby's creatinine was within the normal range. Her BUN was barely in range 35 (14-36), and much higher than in past tests. Her liver readings were all within normal range. The amylase was 1,321 (100-1,200); it is a digestive enzyme produced by the pancreas, small intestine, and liver, but it is also excreted through the kidneys. So, a high reading may be related to any of the above noted organs. A high PSL can also be related to kidney, liver, or pancreas.

And, that is about all of the assessment I can make being a layperson! However, the final factor that lead me down the path of kidney issues was this note on her test results:

"REPORT NOTES - RenalTechAlert. This patient may receive a RenalTech status approximately 24 hours after diagnostic results are reported. RenalTech predicts whether or not cats will develop chronic kidney disease with the next 2 years. To receive a RenalTech status, feline patients must have two minimum diagnostic databases, spaced 2 - 24 months apart, including urinalysis."

I need to have the vet explain the above note to me, but I surmise it to mean that not only do we definitely need to get that urinalysis, but we might be repeating blood work to compare kidney levels sooner than later. It could merely be a new service he is using that he didn't have at the time of Feeby's previous tests, but I don't think that notation would have been added if it didn't mean something related specifically to her blood work.

I will just have to wait to hear from the vet to get a clearer picture of what all this could mean.
 

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Feeby's creatinine was within the normal range. Her BUN was barely in range 35 (14-36), and much higher than in past tests. Her liver readings were all within normal range. The amylase was 1,321 (100-1,200); it is a digestive enzyme produced by the pancreas, small intestine, and liver, but it is also excreted through the kidneys. So, a high reading may be related to any of the above noted organs. A high PSL can also be related to kidney, liver, or pancreas.

And, that is about all of the assessment I can make being a layperson! However, the final factor that lead me down the path of kidney issues was this note on her test results:

"REPORT NOTES - RenalTechAlert. This patient may receive a RenalTech status approximately 24 hours after diagnostic results are reported. RenalTech predicts whether or not cats will develop chronic kidney disease with the next 2 years. To receive a RenalTech status, feline patients must have two minimum diagnostic databases, spaced 2 - 24 months apart, including urinalysis."

I need to have the vet explain the above note to me, but I surmise it to mean that not only do we definitely need to get that urinalysis, but we might be repeating blood work to compare kidney levels sooner than later. It could merely be a new service he is using that he didn't have at the time of Feeby's previous tests, but I don't think that notation would have been added if it didn't mean something related specifically to her blood work.

I will just have to wait to hear from the vet to get a clearer picture of what all this could mean.
Hima's BUN was 60something to normal creatinine level the last time we were at the vet. She wasn't worried about it but I checked with other vets just to be sure and found that creatinine is a much more important indicator of kidney issues and BUN could elevate like this with dehydration alone and/or a high protein diet. (And in fact I forgot I wasn't supposed to feed Hima and gave her a bit chicken that morning before we went to the vet.)

You are right liver and alike also produce some amalyse but if I'm not mistaken a little amount. These results sound like about pancreas. Maybe gastritis. I'm not sure about the connection between gastritis and pancreas. Either way I really wouldn't be worried for kidneys until you hear from the vet. It's wonderful her other results were all within the normal range.
 
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