Rexy has anemia that is of concern

[scarlett 001]

 
I'm so glad to hear that you had a good experience with this vet! And also that Rexy is not worse. This is hopeful news. 

Thank you. The vet is very optimistic that Rexy has more time of good quality of life ahead of her. She just sees nothing alarming at all. Rexy does have a multitude of issues, but it does appear that we should be able to manage most of them for now as nothing is leaping out as immediately alarming. The vet is going to send me an email in the next few days with all the before and after measurements etc. between the two ultrasounds, but she did say that she expects almost everything to be much much improved. And still no sign of cancer, so really it appears that her issues are not cancer as that is two repeat ultrasounds now. That makes me relax a lot too.

 

[cat nap]

 
Finally we got in to see that new internal medicine specialist vet. And this vet is AMAZING. She lived up to all the great things that people had said about her. Obviously very talented in terms of technical expertise and personal interactions are wonderful with both the kitty and myself. Perfect vet to work with.

We had a second ultrasound today (Rexy had first ultrasound at another specialist clinic). The good news is that most things are notably better inside of her, and nothing is worse!! And this vet let me be there with Rexy during the ultrasound, so I got see everything. Rexy placed her head in my hand during the entire thing which must have made it less scary for her (she was a perfect angel during the u/s). The bile duct issues are much better - less distension of bile ducts and other ducts, partial blockage is much improved, lymphnodes near abdomen (btw these are not cancer) were less inflamed, liver a bit better etc. Pancreas was about the same - not the worst inflammation but it was the only thing that had stayed the same and not improved. Great news is that her heart murmur appears to have no heart disease associated with it!! Xrays showed a better lung xray than the ones taken a few years ago - still signs of asthma but some issues in one lobe were no longer there. So her heart and lungs were much better than they could have been. Rexy is "very stable" in the vet's words. She is not as perky since the fever episode but it may take time for her to recover as that was tough on her. The specialist thinks that the fevers are probably not infection but are likely auto-immune related. We are doing a few adjustments to her medications (changing one thing at a time and slowly). Her WBC are still a bit elevated so the likely auto-immune response is still active but not as bad as it was a few weeks back and we are hoping it will settle in the coming weeks.

So my main hope now is that Rexy can gradually perk up a bit more so we can enjoy a fabulous spring/summer lazing on the blanket in the sunshine (she is an indoor cat with access to cat run and we have supervised garden outings in the warm months).

This is such a great update!  Thanks,@Scarlett 001  , for posting it.  "Auto-immune?"...this would explain the cylclical flare ups in the time frame you said before.  Too bad the vet can't tell what triggers it, but it can probably be anything from a virus to maybe bacteria, but then the bacteria does not show up anymore.( My friend has lupus, so that I thought cats could get it too, but usually it would have skin involvement.)

If you don't mind saying, how many specialist vets did you have to go to, before you found this one?

 

[scarlett 001]

 
This is such a great update!  Thanks,@Scarlett 001  , for posting it.  "Auto-immune?"...this would explain the cylclical flare ups in the time frame you said before.  Too bad the vet can't tell what triggers it, but it can probably be anything from a virus to maybe bacteria, but then the bacteria does not show up anymore.( My friend has lupus, so that I thought cats could get it too, but usually it would have skin involvement.)

If you don't mind saying, how many specialist vets did you have to go to, before you found this one?

The vet was trying to teach me about auto-immune issues, and she did use the human lupus analogy. She said with Rexy's multitude of issues, that this is a strong possibility (of course it is difficult to confirm for certain). Triggers are tricky to figure out, but I mentioned to her it does always seem to happen in winter months - so maybe having the windows shut more and heating on more is not great.

I went to one other internal medicine specialist first. I had always meant to use this present one when Rexy was first diagnosed, but she was away over xmas and Rexy needed an u/s etc. right away so I had to go another specialist. But when I needed to see someone for the next u/s, I went to this recommended person. I tell you, finding the right vet to work with is so important for a case like this - now if anything were to happen to Rexy, I'd at least know that she was in the best hands possible and nothing more could be done.

 

[cat nap]

I totally agree with you there, that "finding the right vet to work with is so important".  Sometimes, I think its just luck, though, and other times I think, that the vet on duty was meant to be there, at that particular time.

I'm not sure how good my vets are with referrals, since I have not used a referral yet.  My cat is 14yrs old but will need a proBNP bloodtest soon, to check for any changes from last one, for his heart murmur. He was at 102,  near border.  If more floating proteins are found, then he will also need a heart echo.

thanks again, scarlet 001.  Like I said, it really helps out alot of other people, too.