Something other than IBD/Small Cell Lymphoma?

[txcatlover94]

Wondering if anything other than IBD/SCL can cause thickening of the intestines and enlarged lymph nodes? I know a lot of things can cause enlarged lymph nodes but I'm not sure about the two together. We're currently treating Bendel for SCL or IBD (we don't know which) but I want to be sure we're treating the right thing!

He was sick for over two weeks with eating hardly a thing before getting an ultrasound last Friday - I wonder if that would have an effect on what they saw. It's probably IBD/SCL but again, just want to cover my bases!

 

[daftcat75]

Didn't the vet run through the possibilities with you? Sure it can be a lot of less common things. But I would think that if the vet was concerned about one of those things, they would have mentioned it and would like to test for it.

Hardly eating for two weeks could be the IBD/SCL. Or it could be pancreatitis. Or liver inflammation. Those three organs (small intestine, pancreas, and liver) are bunched up pretty tight there (share a common duct) and it's not uncommon for inflammation in one to spill over into the others. Hardly eating or not eating can lead to hepatic lipidosis. While pancreatitis is sometimes overlooked as it is not part of the standard blood tests, liver inflammation or hepatic lipidosis would certainly show up in the blood tests.

Is Bendel being treated now? Is he getting steroids? And is he eating now? You may need an anti-nausea drug like ondansetron depending on what caused him to stop eating in the first place. Many vets prefer Cerenia as do many cat parents. But some cats don't have much of an appetite with Cerenia. Cerenia is easier because it's given once a day and it has some specialized anti-inflammatory action. But ondansetron is a twice a day alternative if Bendel isn't eating while taking Cerenia, steroids, and/or an appetite stimulant. In other words, if his appetite should be there but it's not and you're using Cerenia, try ondansetron (brand name Zofran) instead.

As far as which one it might be if you're trying to determine IBD vs SCL, your vet might suggest an endoscopy. If he's young(ish) and relatively stable, that's not a bad way to go to make sure you're not overlooking SCL. If he's older and/or not stable right now, I recommend discussing an A-B treatment plan with your vet. Treat it like A first (steroids for IBD) and if that doesn't work, add in plan B (chemo for SCL.) You'll likely have to have an informed consent discussion with your vet that you're treating it like cancer without a cancer diagnosis. But the drug may very well be less risk than the diagnosis depending on your cat's age or condition.

 

[txcatlover94]

Didn't the vet run through the possibilities with you? Sure it can be a lot of less common things. But I would think that if the vet was concerned about one of those things, they would have mentioned it and would like to test for it.

Hardly eating for two weeks could be the IBD/SCL. Or it could be pancreatitis. Or liver inflammation. Those three organs (small intestine, pancreas, and liver) are bunched up pretty tight there (share a common duct) and it's not uncommon for inflammation in one to spill over into the others. Hardly eating or not eating can lead to hepatic lipidosis. While pancreatitis is sometimes overlooked as it is not part of the standard blood tests, liver inflammation or hepatic lipidosis would certainly show up in the blood tests.

Is Bendel being treated now? Is he getting steroids? And is he eating now? You may need an anti-nausea drug like ondansetron depending on what caused him to stop eating in the first place. Many vets prefer Cerenia as do many cat parents. But some cats don't have much of an appetite with Cerenia. Cerenia is easier because it's given once a day and it has some specialized anti-inflammatory action. But ondansetron is a twice a day alternative if Bendel isn't eating while taking Cerenia, steroids, and/or an appetite stimulant. In other words, if his appetite should be there but it's not and you're using Cerenia, try ondansetron (brand name Zofran) instead.

As far as which one it might be if you're trying to determine IBD vs SCL, your vet might suggest an endoscopy. If he's young(ish) and relatively stable, that's not a bad way to go to make sure you're not overlooking SCL. If he's older and/or not stable right now, I recommend discussing an A-B treatment plan with your vet. Treat it like A first (steroids for IBD) and if that doesn't work, add in plan B (chemo for SCL.) You'll likely have to have an informed consent discussion with your vet that you're treating it like cancer without a cancer diagnosis. But the drug may very well be less risk than the diagnosis depending on your cat's age or condition.

Hi, thanks for your response! I should have clarified more in my post; I've posted on here a couple of times about Bendel, but here is the latest thread that has some more background info: "Where Do I Go From Here?"

He did not end up in hepatic lipidosis, which is amazing considering how little he ate for such a long period! Pancreatitis was ruled out and I believe his liver looked fine on the US.He is currently being treated and is on prednisolone, Cerenia, Pepcid (will be changing to omeprazole soon), and zofran. He's recovering well and eating again, which I am very happy about.

I'm not trying to figure out whether it's IBD or SCL because I know those two are treated similarly and that's how he's being treated now. I just wanted to make absolute sure there wasn't anything other than IBD/SCL that could cause the combination of enlarged lymph nodes + thickened intestines. I mostly wonder this because he became sick within days of my coming back from a trip. And the night we returned, I discovered one of our cats' water bowls was filthy and had very little water in it, so I've always wondered if he contracted a bacterial infection from that. One vet was going to treat for a bacterial infection first but then two others (we've been to a few vets over the past several weeks...) said bacteria was not the cause of what was going on. However, he never had comprehensive testing to find out - just a blood panel and basic fecal test.

 

[daftcat75]

Hi, thanks for your response! I should have clarified more in my post; I've posted on here a couple of times about Bendel, but here is the latest thread that has some more background info: "Where Do I Go From Here?"

He did not end up in hepatic lipidosis, which is amazing considering how little he ate for such a long period! Pancreatitis was ruled out and I believe his liver looked fine on the US.He is currently being treated and is on prednisolone, Cerenia, Pepcid (will be changing to omeprazole soon), and zofran. He's recovering well and eating again, which I am very happy about.

I'm not trying to figure out whether it's IBD or SCL because I know those two are treated similarly and that's how he's being treated now. I just wanted to make absolute sure there wasn't anything other than IBD/SCL that could cause the combination of enlarged lymph nodes + thickened intestines. I mostly wonder this because he became sick within days of my coming back from a trip. And the night we returned, I discovered one of our cats' water bowls was filthy and had very little water in it, so I've always wondered if he contracted a bacterial infection from that. One vet was going to treat for a bacterial infection first but then two others (we've been to a few vets over the past several weeks...) said bacteria was not the cause of what was going on. However, he never had comprehensive testing to find out - just a blood panel and basic fecal test.

If there's thickening of the intestines, the prednisilone will help with that regardless of what's causing it.

I would caution against antacids use. Are you feeding him smaller, frequent meals? Can you give him a couple of freeze-dried pieces before his meals like starter morsels? This is a much better way to manage acid than to reduce or suppress it. The acid in his stomach is his first line of defense against food-borne bacterial infection. Correct gut pH is also necessary for proper digestion.

More reading on why antacids are probably not appropriate.
Antacids – IBDKitties

Cerenia can cause inappetence in some cats. If he's taking Cerenia and his appetite isn't there, consider ondansetron instead.

I briefly looked at your other thread. If you haven't given metro yet, skip it. It can destroy good gut bacteria and allow bad bacteria (like e. coli) to flourish. There is a correlation (even if they're not ready to say A leads to B yet) between recent antibiotic use and the development of IBD. I'm no-one but a stranger on the internet. But I'm willing to say one leads to the other because IBD is largely a disease of gut dysbiosis.

You can do a PCR test to test for the most common gut pathogens.

You can do more comprehensive testing through a company called AnimalBiome which will provide you recommendations, guidance, and a few different products to correct any imbalances reported by the testing. Chances are very good that his microbiome is already imbalanced and that he can benefit from AnimalBiome's testing and supplements. This will be a helpful add-on to his current treatment, not a replacement or alternative.

AnimalBiome - Our Science

 

[txcatlover94]

If there's thickening of the intestines, the prednisilone will help with that regardless of what's causing it.

I would caution against antacids use. Are you feeding him smaller, frequent meals? Can you give him a couple of freeze-dried pieces before his meals like starter morsels? This is a much better way to manage acid than to reduce or suppress it. The acid in his stomach is his first line of defense against food-borne bacterial infection. Correct gut pH is also necessary for proper digestion.

More reading on why antacids are probably not appropriate.
Antacids – IBDKitties

Cerenia can cause inappetence in some cats. If he's taking Cerenia and his appetite isn't there, consider ondansetron instead.

I briefly looked at your other thread. If you haven't given metro yet, skip it. It can destroy good gut bacteria and allow bad bacteria (like e. coli) to flourish. There is a correlation (even if they're not ready to say A leads to B yet) between recent antibiotic use and the development of IBD. I'm no-one but a stranger on the internet. But I'm willing to say one leads to the other because IBD is largely a disease of gut dysbiosis.

You can do a PCR test to test for the most common gut pathogens.

You can do more comprehensive testing through a company called AnimalBiome which will provide you recommendations, guidance, and a few different products to correct any imbalances reported by the testing. Chances are very good that his microbiome is already imbalanced and that he can benefit from AnimalBiome's testing and supplements. This will be a helpful add-on to his current treatment, not a replacement or alternative.

AnimalBiome - Our Science

I'm sorry for the delayed reply, but wanted to say thank you again for your input! I

I took him off the antacids for a few days but just put him back on today because he had a bad day yesterday. I can't do the freeze-dried pieces because he would never touch them - he's super picky! :/ However, I am going to look into more natural ways of managing the stomach acid because I don't want him on antacids long-term.

I had taken him off the Cerenia and was giving him Ondansetron only (he was previously taking both) but again, after his bad day yesterday, put him back on. Right now everything is a bit of trial and error, seeing what helps and what doesn't.

Regarding the antibiotic, my only thought there is if he is dealing with IBD due to bacterial infection - again, I would certainly test first - wouldn't that still have to be dealt with? That's why I've considered doing the PCR test because I feel like it was never definitively ruled out. I would hate for him to still be dealing with that.

I've come across AnimalBiome before and considered ordering their test, but there's only so much I can afford and I'm not sure which would be more helpful - the PCR test or the microbiome.

We ordered digestive enzymes yesterday and are going to give those a try. He's eating but still not a lot, unfortunately. Hoping to possibly work with another vet and see what ideas they can offer in the way of treatment. This is a difficult disease to deal with!

 

[daftcat75]

The PCR will test for a subset of harmful strains. It is more expensive than the AnimalBiome Gut Health Test. But you will get your vet's support and help with interpreting the results.

The Gut Health Test from AnimalBiome will be far more detailed than the PCR and will contain a lot of information about both harmful strains of bacteria and the beneficial ones. It will also have a brief description of each of the Core Bacteria in the microbiome of healthy cats and how your cat stacks up against a healthy cat. There will also be some mention of ways to reduce or increase certain strains (add fiber, add inulin, more protein, etc...) AnimalBiome as a company and a product is newer than most veterinarian's education. Your vet may not know very much about AnimalBiome and their testing and supplements. AnimalBiome has their own fantastic customer support, though. They usually respond within a day.

Besides knowing where his imbalances are through testing, AnimalBiome sells a handful of supplements that can help correct the imbalances. Their flagship product (besides the testing) is their Gut Restore Supplement. This is like probiotics on steroids (no pun intended.) Probiotics are a handful of helpful strains, usually not in large enough quantities to move the needle. They may be helpful. But only as long as you continue to give them. The Gut Restore Supplement is a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) from carefully screened, healthy donor cats. It's not just a handful of strains. It's all of them. In addition to their Gut Restore Supplement, they have a couple of saccharomyces boulardii products to help reduce/eliminate harmful strains like clostridium and e. coli. The difference between these two products, as I understand it, is that one is just a bit better at e. coli. All cats have e. coli in their gut. But metronidazole, the frequently prescribed antibiotic for diarrhea/IBD, does not kill e. coli. In fact, by killing other beneficial strains (metro isn't picky), it creates an environment where e. coli can flourish. My Betty had a course of Veraflox for a fever of unknown origin and it really did a number on her gut. Indeed, there seems to be a correlation between antibiotics use and the development of IBD or IBD-like symptoms.

IBD is a disease of gut bacteria imbalances and antibiotics won't fix that. Likely for the cost of a PCR, you should be able to get one Gut Health Test and one bottle of the Gut Restore Supplement. The Gut Restore Supplement will almost certainly help him regardless of whether you wait for the test report to start it. I saw an improvement in Betty's nausea and appetite in the first week. We finished a month and I gave her a break while waiting for her report. I almost immediately saw her appetite drop off and nausea return. It is expensive at $95/month for the pills. But they do so much for her. Every couple of months or so, I will send in a new sample for testing and eagerly await the report. The last report showed great progress in restoring richness and diversity. But there were still some problematic populations of e. coli and clostridium. For that, she's taking their Gut Maintenance Protocol supplement. I hadn't been giving her enough because I had to repack the capsules. The size 3 capsules from AB were a little big for her. I repacked them into size 4's (bigger number = smaller capsule) but I have only been giving her 1 repacked size four a day. That's half the dose. She takes other capsules and so I didn't want to spend all med meal shift trying to get capsules into her. Now she's a pro at taking them herself so I've upped her GMP dose and look forward to re-testing her at the end of the month.

I'm attaching a couple sample reports for you. 5/23 report is her first report. Have a look at page 6 and page 7. Compare those with the most recent report. Even though they tell me she's even more imbalanced, I don't think so. Look at those phyla that are filling in. Yes, we're still missing some and the inverted Christmas tree on page 7 looks nothing like it should. But between these two reports was a course of antibiotics that completely flattened her phyla chart. So to me, this looks like improvement. But we have a ways to go.

 

[txcatlover94]

The PCR will test for a subset of harmful strains. It is more expensive than the AnimalBiome Gut Health Test. But you will get your vet's support and help with interpreting the results.

The Gut Health Test from AnimalBiome will be far more detailed than the PCR and will contain a lot of information about both harmful strains of bacteria and the beneficial ones. It will also have a brief description of each of the Core Bacteria in the microbiome of healthy cats and how your cat stacks up against a healthy cat. There will also be some mention of ways to reduce or increase certain strains (add fiber, add inulin, more protein, etc...) AnimalBiome as a company and a product is newer than most veterinarian's education. Your vet may not know very much about AnimalBiome and their testing and supplements. AnimalBiome has their own fantastic customer support, though. They usually respond within a day.

Besides knowing where his imbalances are through testing, AnimalBiome sells a handful of supplements that can help correct the imbalances. Their flagship product (besides the testing) is their Gut Restore Supplement. This is like probiotics on steroids (no pun intended.) Probiotics are a handful of helpful strains, usually not in large enough quantities to move the needle. They may be helpful. But only as long as you continue to give them. The Gut Restore Supplement is a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) from carefully screened, healthy donor cats. It's not just a handful of strains. It's all of them. In addition to their Gut Restore Supplement, they have a couple of saccharomyces boulardii products to help reduce/eliminate harmful strains like clostridium and e. coli. The difference between these two products, as I understand it, is that one is just a bit better at e. coli. All cats have e. coli in their gut. But metronidazole, the frequently prescribed antibiotic for diarrhea/IBD, does not kill e. coli. In fact, by killing other beneficial strains (metro isn't picky), it creates an environment where e. coli can flourish. My Betty had a course of Veraflox for a fever of unknown origin and it really did a number on her gut. Indeed, there seems to be a correlation between antibiotics use and the development of IBD or IBD-like symptoms.

IBD is a disease of gut bacteria imbalances and antibiotics won't fix that. Likely for the cost of a PCR, you should be able to get one Gut Health Test and one bottle of the Gut Restore Supplement. The Gut Restore Supplement will almost certainly help him regardless of whether you wait for the test report to start it. I saw an improvement in Betty's nausea and appetite in the first week. We finished a month and I gave her a break while waiting for her report. I almost immediately saw her appetite drop off and nausea return. It is expensive at $95/month for the pills. But they do so much for her. Every couple of months or so, I will send in a new sample for testing and eagerly await the report. The last report showed great progress in restoring richness and diversity. But there were still some problematic populations of e. coli and clostridium. For that, she's taking their Gut Maintenance Protocol supplement. I hadn't been giving her enough because I had to repack the capsules. The size 3 capsules from AB were a little big for her. I repacked them into size 4's (bigger number = smaller capsule) but I have only been giving her 1 repacked size four a day. That's half the dose. She takes other capsules and so I didn't want to spend all med meal shift trying to get capsules into her. Now she's a pro at taking them herself so I've upped her GMP dose and look forward to re-testing her at the end of the month.

I'm attaching a couple sample reports for you. 5/23 report is her first report. Have a look at page 6 and page 7. Compare those with the most recent report. Even though they tell me she's even more imbalanced, I don't think so. Look at those phyla that are filling in. Yes, we're still missing some and the inverted Christmas tree on page 7 looks nothing like it should. But between these two reports was a course of antibiotics that completely flattened her phyla chart. So to me, this looks like improvement. But we have a ways to go.

This is so helpful, thank you for sharing!! I'm certainly going to look into all this.

Thank you so much again!

 

[lisahe]

Did the ultrasound find anything other than enlarged lymph nodes and thickened intestinal walls? And did the ultrasound report mention any potential diagnoses other than IBD? (If the vet hasn't sent you the report, definitely ask for it: absolutely any detail in that report could help!)

Like daftcat75, we've also had recent experiences with digestive issues... Among other things, Edwina's ultrasound showed thickening of her intestines (no surprise) and, far more important, very bad stomach inflammation that our regular vet thought might be cancer. We elected for exploratory surgery since we had a hunch something would need to come out. Fortunately, the stomach inflammation turned out to be benign inflamed tissue. (Two pieces of her stomach came out, as did her ruptured spleen and two enlarged lymph nodes.) The kicker here is that we'll never know what caused that inflammation, though our regular vet, the ultrasound vet, and the biopsy vet all said parasites could be the cause. So Edwina had three days of Pancur, which is a broad-spectrum parasite killing med. We're going to give it to her three times a year, as a preventive measure. She's an indoor cat but she loves eating crickets, which somehow come inside. And can carry some sort of parasitic nematode.

Edwina's symptoms (vomiting) were very different from Bendel's but her appetite was also on-and-off. And we were very fortunate that the vets didn't focus on the thickened intestines and an IBD diagnosis. Edwina's damaged spleen, by the way, was a big surprise since it apparently didn't even look bad in the ultrasound!

I guess I mention all this because I think it's great that you're planning to look for another vet. Our regular vet is very, very good and the ultrasound vet got high praise from her as well as Edwina's surgeon. We're grateful for the detailed ultrasound report and grateful that our regular vet pushed to get Edwina in for quick surgery. The only thing that's a bit discouraging is that there's absolutely no way of knowing what went wrong in Edwina's gut. Which means we also don't know how to sure we can prevent it from happening again. That, however, is apparently not an uncommon outcome in these sorts of cases.

Good luck! I hope you're able to figure out some ways to help Bendel!

 

[Astragal14]

Did the ultrasound find anything other than enlarged lymph nodes and thickened intestinal walls? And did the ultrasound report mention any potential diagnoses other than IBD? (If the vet hasn't sent you the report, definitely ask for it: absolutely any detail in that report could help!)

lisahe has some very good questions here. One thing to look for in the report is if any potential causes are described as "probable" vs "possible" because these two terms have different medical distinctions. I'm also very curious as to why an infection was ruled out. Did the other vets indicate why they thought it didn't warrant testing?

He is currently being treated and is on prednisolone, Cerenia, Pepcid (will be changing to omeprazole soon), and zofran.

Why was he prescribed both Cerenia and Zofran?

I mostly wonder this because he became sick within days of my coming back from a trip.

Did Bendel's diet remain the same while you were gone? Does your other cat eat anything Bendel isn't allowed to have that he could have eaten by mistake?

 

[txcatlover94]

Did the ultrasound find anything other than enlarged lymph nodes and thickened intestinal walls? And did the ultrasound report mention any potential diagnoses other than IBD? (If the vet hasn't sent you the report, definitely ask for it: absolutely any detail in that report could help!)

No, it didn't. I'm attaching a photo of the report - everything else looked fine. I presume they were really going off of his symptoms, age, and maybe the degree of thickening of the intestines. When I asked if it could be anything else the vet said other than possible fungal disease (which he gave a less than 2% chance of it being) said no. At that time, though, I think he was really just going off what the visiting US vet was telling him (I think he may have thought it through a little more after). Also at that time, they didn't even think it was IBD and did not think he would respond to treatment. However, they offered to do an FNA and thankfully my mom encouraged me to do that, so we did and I'm so glad. Not because it revealed anything - it came back inconclusive - but because it gave us a chance to try steroids and anti-nausea meds while we waited for the results and he responded very well! So here we are two weeks later and he's doing so much better. The only thing that still concerns me is he still isn't eating as much as he used to, has some trouble eating dry food, and has to now have his food dishes raised. He's getting anti-nausea meds so if nausea is the cause of that, not sure why they're not helping there. However, he's not dropping weight and in fact, gained a little back, so I'm happy about that.

Like daftcat75, we've also had recent experiences with digestive issues... Among other things, Edwina's ultrasound showed thickening of her intestines (no surprise) and, far more important, very bad stomach inflammation that our regular vet thought might be cancer. We elected for exploratory surgery since we had a hunch something would need to come out. Fortunately, the stomach inflammation turned out to be benign inflamed tissue. (Two pieces of her stomach came out, as did her ruptured spleen and two enlarged lymph nodes.) The kicker here is that we'll never know what caused that inflammation, though our regular vet, the ultrasound vet, and the biopsy vet all said parasites could be the cause. So Edwina had three days of Pancur, which is a broad-spectrum parasite killing med. We're going to give it to her three times a year, as a preventive measure. She's an indoor cat but she loves eating crickets, which somehow come inside. And can carry some sort of parasitic nematode.

Edwina's symptoms (vomiting) were very different from Bendel's but her appetite was also on-and-off. And we were very fortunate that the vets didn't focus on the thickened intestines and an IBD diagnosis. Edwina's damaged spleen, by the way, was a big surprise since it apparently didn't even look bad in the ultrasound!

That's great that your vets didn't jump to one conclusion - something that so many are quick to do, unfortunately. It's also interesting that it did not turn out to be either IBD or cancer for Edwina and that the spleen didn't show up in the US. I do wish I could find a vet that would at least be willing to explore some more possibilities. I know it very well might be IBD/SCL but I just wat to make sure. Unfortuately, due to Bendel's age, surgery is not an option.

Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it!

 

[txcatlover94]

I forgot to attach the US report. It says Bendel had intermittent vomiting but that really wasn't the case - he vomited once or twice in the beginning and that was it until a couple of weeks later when we were syringe-feeding him. Also, it says that he has a history of borderline chronic kidney disease but that's not true.

 

[lisahe]

I forgot to attach the US report. It says Bendel had intermittent vomiting but that really wasn't the case - he vomited once or twice in the beginning and that was it until a couple of weeks later when we were syringe-feeding him. Also, it says that he has a history of borderline chronic kidney disease but that's not true.

Well, that's my favorite trick: forgetting to attach attachments!

That report really doesn't have much to add, does it? I do wonder what "moderately distended" gallbladder might mean, though. (Edwina's surgeon liked to say things about how strange things happen with cats...) No matter what, I'm glad to hear that Bendel is doing better and even gaining some weight back. Raising the dishes is very familiar: we have to do that for Edwina, too, since she loves to eat too fast and regurgitate her food. Since she loves to eat in various places, I spent an hour last weekend making a few more eating stations for her, where her dishes can be tilted at a 15 degree angle.

I hope Bendel continues to feel better!

 

[txcatlover94]

lisahe has some very good questions here. One thing to look for in the report is if any potential causes are described as "probable" vs "possible" because these two terms have different medical distinctions. I'm also very curious as to why an infection was ruled out. Did the other vets indicate why they thought it didn't warrant testing?

I believe infection was primarily ruled out based on a basic fecal test and blood work. I don't know every number they look at for bacterial infections but one mentioned his WBC looked good so no infection. However, I've heard that alone is not enough to rule it out.

Why was he prescribed both Cerenia and Zofran?

Cerenia has anti-inflammatory properties which is the primary reason I gave it to Bendel, but Zofran is actually better for nausea. Cerenia is more for vomiting, which Bendel really hasn't had much of. I did take him off the Cerenia and switched to Zofran until he had a bad day a couple of days ago, so I put him back on it temporarily.

Did Bendel's diet remain the same while you were gone? Does your other cat eat anything Bendel isn't allowed to have that he could have eaten by mistake?

Yes, his diet remained the same - all of our cats eat the same food, so no trouble there. The only thing I can think of is the dirty water dish. It was a family who took care of the pets so there were kids in the house a couple of times but even if that stressed him out I don't think it would have caused what he went through.

 

[txcatlover94]

I do wonder what "moderately distended" gallbladder might mean, though.

Yes, I noticed that when looking over the report again before posting. Whether it's with his current vet or a different one, I'm definitely going to ask about that. Apparently, that can be an indicator of infection. Also, if it started in the gallbladder, it can travel to the small intestines and cause thickening, which is interesting.

No matter what, I'm glad to hear that Bendel is doing better and even gaining some weight back. Raising the dishes is very familiar: we have to do that for Edwina, too, since she loves to eat too fast and regurgitate her food. Since she loves to eat in various places, I spent an hour last weekend making a few more eating stations for her, where her dishes can be tilted at a 15 degree angle.

Yes! He's still not where I would like him to be but it's such an improvement from before! I have a feeling the raised dishes might be a permanent thing - I spent some time trying to find dishes that were tilted just so and the right depth, lol. Like Edwina, has been eating in various places too.

I hope Bendel continues to feel better!

Thank you!!

 

[lisahe]

Yes, I noticed that when looking over the report again before posting. Whether it's with his current vet or a different one, I'm definitely going to ask about that. Apparently, that can be an indicator of infection. Also, if it started in the gallbladder, it can travel to the small intestines and cause thickening, which is interesting.
Yes! He's still not where I would like him to be but it's such an improvement from before! I have a feeling the raised dishes might be a permanent thing - I spent some time trying to find dishes that were tilted just so and the right depth, lol. Like Edwina, has been eating in various places too.

Thank you!!

I'm glad to hear you're going to ask about the gallbladder... After our spleen surprise, I'll always ask about anything no matter how minor. Edwina did have a blood count number that was just slightly off a few weeks before her ultrasound but nobody would have predicted a rupturing spleen!

I'm glad to hear that our cats aren't the only freaks who eat in multiple locations! Both our cats do it and they are very set in their wandering ways.

I hope you and Bendel are having a good weekend.