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

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FeebysOwner

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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.
I will do some research on the pancreas and gastritis aspects, just for educational purposes. I am a little suspect of gastritis as I thought I would see vomiting from her, and that almost never happens. That and decreased appetite (which could apply to her) are the most common symptoms of acute gastritis. She doesn't clinically appear dehydrated and is not demonstrating excessive thirst nor is she having any abdominal discomfort - some of the other signs of gastritis. As I believe, all these symptoms are also ones seen with pancreatitis.

But, all I can do is speculate - and, to your point, I should be guarded about that - until I am able to discuss her results with the vet!!
 
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Weekly update 8/17 - 8/23

I can report how much Feeby ate this past week, but her in-home weigh-ins have become pretty much meaningless given how far off these scales were compared to the vet's. But, I weighed her anyway this AM and it came out to 14.0. That is 6 oz higher than her weight at the vet's office last Thursday. I was going to compare that to her weight with the table-tray back on the scales, but as I was getting the scale ready, she retreated to her nap box. I'll let her be...

She did eat an average of 249 calories per day last week. The little 40ish calorie 'boost' from Sheba Perfect Portions seems to have made the difference.

No word from the vet to discuss her blood work. I am a little miffed that he promised to call me once the results were in - even if that meant while he was on vacation. He really shouldn't have made such a promise, as I would have never expected him to do so had he not said he would. And, I called the office to ask if there were any notes left on her chart about a follow up from another vet in his absence - NONE. No one is 'authorized' to discuss them with me other than him, which will likely not happen now until next Monday when he returns to the office. Knowing all of this, I am pretty sure that I probably shouldn't have been able to get a copy of the results sent to me like I did!!! Too bad.

As I noted before, the results were normal EXCEPT a high amylase, high PSL, and high T4. The BUN was at the top of the range, and her lymphocytes were just outside the low end of the range. Have no idea if they are all connected, or if we are looking at more than one issue. I am sure we are looking at more tests.
 

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You could "calibrate" it, in a manner of speaking to the one at the vets if you wanted to. Take it in to the vets next time and weigh something on both and make note of the difference.
 
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I swear Feeby read her blood results. And, while I am not sure how/if she reacted to the high amylase or PSL, she saw the T4 level (thyroid), and said to herself "Damn, I might be hyperthyroid. I should be eating more not less". And, so she is. She is plowing through her food!! What the heck?
 
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Yesterday evening, I decided to test just how far Feeby would be willing to go to eat more food, since she seems to be wanting food all day/evening now. Would she really eat anything I put down for her for the sake of eating, or would she be 'selective'?

As of late, she gets her C/D in the AM when she is most hungry because this has now become her least favorite food. Not more than a week ago, I would serve her FF after that, and it would take her the rest of the day and part of the evening to eat one 3oz can. Now, she is scarfing up all the FF before the afternoon is even over.

So, yesterday, after she stormed through a can of FF, and was still looming over her dish, I gave her some more C/D. She promptly walked away. A bit later, I gave her a Perfect Portions serving and when she realized what it was, she had it gone within minutes.

So, while she may be plowing through more food recently, she apparently is still going to be discriminating about what she eats when!!
 
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Weekly Update 8/24 - 8/30

After a l-o-n-g week of waiting, I spoke with the vet today. He is not concerned about the amylase count being high, nor the PSL for that matter. He said, more often than not, the amylase means very little especially when the rest of her blood work looked very good. And, he said the high PSL, which is apparently a very sensitive test, is not cause for alarm if she is not demonstrating any symptoms relative to pancreatitis - which she is not (the test results actually say the same thing too). Apparently, the number was not high enough to consider it an issue at this point. He was more concerned about the T4 level, since it was slightly higher than the range - in combination with her weight loss/age. He wants to do follow up testing in 4-6 weeks, if nothing else about her changes in the meantime. After all the research/reading I have done this past week, I tend to think he is 'on track'. :crossfingers:

Btw, the RenalTech note I spoke of on the results is just that - a note. A newer 'service' being offered by the lab that merely points out options for looking into future potential kidney issues - and it will be printed on all reports even when the kidney numbers are in range, as are Feeby's.

This past week she had no trouble eating and averaged just over 300 calories per day - which she hasn't done in 6 months. As I said before, I believe she read her T4 level and thought she should comply with the most common sign of hyperthyroidism ;)!! We'll see how it goes in the coming weeks before she is re-tested.

Also, I put the baby/pet tray back on that scale I have, just to see what would happen. Although I couldn't get her to stand or sit completely still, the reading did come in at 13.6 pounds - much closer to the vet's scale. So, I guess we are back to weighing her on the tray, instead of in my arms. Go figure. :think:
 

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Also, I put the baby/pet tray back on that scale I have, just to see what would happen. Although I couldn't get her to stand or sit completely still, the reading did come in at 13.6 pounds - much closer to the vet's scale. So, I guess we are back to weighing her on the tray, instead of in my arms. Go figure. :think:
Just some geeky facts, here...

A good scale will be accurate to ±2%. That means it can read as much as 2% high or 2% low.
That means, if your cat weighs in at 13.6 lb., according to your scale, she could actually weigh anywhere between 13.3 lb. and 13.9 lb.

Also, the readings from your vet's scale could vary by ±2%, as well.

So, if the readings of these two scales are as close as you say they are, you can probably trust the readings you are getting from your home scale.
 
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Weekly Update 8/31 - 9/6

Hill's C/D is fast becoming a distant memory. I tried giving Feeby some just twice this past week and she wasn't having it! Now she is happily eating FF for all her meals. The funny thing is, she is much less interested in eating bites of our food. She still comes to check it out, but generally picks at it and walks away - besides an occasional bite of fish. Much of the time she walks right back to her own food bowl for some more FF. :rolleyes2:

She ate an average of 284 calories per day this past week, and weighed in this AM at 13.4 pounds (again using the scale with the baby/pet tray on it).

With the vet believing there isn't really anything concerning about the blood work results (except the T4 which will be re-checked), I refocused on the flea issue. Did another flea combing and found a few nearly-microscopic fleas on her. If there were any bigger fleas, they were dead - or at least not moving. I am happy about that, but still wish for the day I find NONE on her. However, she hasn't been given a flea treatment for 3 weeks, which makes me feel better as I was starting to get a bit hesitant about treating her every 10 days or so. I will probably flea treat her this week though, just because I don't want to 'push my luck'. Still vacuuming frequently and cleaning whatever bedding/blankets that she spends time on - that will have to continue. :ohwell:
 
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Haven't had any updates for a while, how are you and Feeby doing?
Thanks for asking. We seem to be in status quo mode.

The past couple of weeks she averaged around 272 calories per day. Last week she weighed 13.4 pounds again - haven't bugged her for a weigh in yet today. She's been too busy sleeping on the patio, and didn't even bother to come in for a bite of my brunch. We've cooled down a bit (from low 90s to mid/upper 80's), so I am sure she is enjoying the break in the heat!

Did a flea treatment almost 2 weeks ago. All we saw was one sickly flea fall off of her about 4 days later. But, I need to do another flea combing before I contemplate another treatment this week.
 
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At a 'cool' 82 degrees today, this is where Feeby has spent all but a few minutes (to either eat or use the litter box inside). Btw, she weighed in at 13.3 lbs, so she is hanging in there!
 

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After posting a separate thread (https://thecatsite.com/threads/6-months-later-fancy-feast-apparently-sucks.419670/) about food options for Feeby, I've decided to try and go through all the FF flavors she was eating before to see if any of them are still 'amenable' to her.
This will allow me to try 'new' stuff but still keep some of the food that she has been used to eating - hopefully avoiding any digestive issues that could be caused by a full fledge transition of foods.

Today, she willingly ate FF beef & liver, but yesterday and again this morning she totally rejected the FF beef & chicken. In looking at the ingredients, I really can't decipher much of a difference other than the one contains liver - they both contain not only beef, beef broth, and meat-by-products, but chicken as well. I will continue to compare ingredients between what she will and will not eat, but based on this first comparison I am not sure it is going to tell me much. :think:

I am also still feeding her Sheba Perfect Portions and she is plenty happy to eat those! Having some of her 'old' foods to rely on (until I no longer can) will be helpful while I try to slowly introduce other foods.

I managed to get her to eat about 245 calories per day this past week, so about 25 or so less per day than the previous two weeks. So, it stands to reason that she's down an ounce from last week - weighing in today at 13.2 pounds.
 

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I bought a box and of 44 sachets of Kiwi's usual food and she turned her nose up at it (opened and threw away about 7 sachets). I phoned the supplier to ask if maybe it was a bad batch so they refunded me and didn't want them back. Low and behold, the following week she is eating them so who knows what they are up to these fickle cats of ours.
I sympathize with you when Feeby won't eat, it's hard on you. As long as she is eating a reasonable amount of food, just keep doing what your doing. I seem to remember you had her teeth checked so I wonder how if her sense of smell is going.
 
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the following week she is eating them so who knows what they are up to these fickle cats of ours.
That is kind of strange, but probably not as much as we might think! I am thinking of trying Feeby's urinary care food again, since she hasn't eaten any for a few weeks - just because, as you pretty much said, you never know...
I seem to remember you had her teeth checked so I wonder how if her sense of smell is going.
Vet sees some gum irritation under just one tooth, so he doesn't think that is an issue at this point. Would have no idea of how to test her sense of smell. I do know that she was eating her very fishy smelling Glyco Flex, but now I have to mix it with baby food meat to get her to eat it. But, that could go either way in terms of smell - she either no longer likes the smell, or no longer can smell it as well and therefore doesn't want it. Since I give her Glyco along side of her hairball treats (before adding any baby food meat), and she picks out the hairball treats, I am guessing she smells well enough to know the difference between the two!
 
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Very weird week, especially the last 4 days.

Tried a couple of different foods, and while Feeby will eat some early on in the day, she pretty much rejects them thereafter. She is back to not eating much after 1-2 pm, so I am guessing she is pretty hungry by the following morning, and that is why she eats any of them at all.

While she averaged 242 calories per day over the past week, she has been under 200 calories 3 of the past 4 days - the worst being yesterday at somewhere around 150 calories. She just weighed in at 12.8 pounds (13.2 last week), so I am guessing the last few days without eating a lot has had an impact.

She is due for a follow-up thyroid test - and a urinalysis that the vet couldn't do last time (empty bladder). I don't know what else - if anything - he might want to do this time. I hate the idea of multiple trips to the vet in a short time frame trying to figure out what's going on. She really got worked up during the last visit.
 
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Awww, poor sweetie! I apologize that I don't recall, but you've tried calming products?
Never really thought I needed them for her before this last time, so I've never tested any of them on her. She calmed down pretty quickly afterward, but vet said her heart was racing while he examined her. And, then when they took her in the back to draw blood, you could hear her 'squawks' out into the lobby!
 
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