Squallie went to the vet today

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Squalliesmom

Squalliesmom

Member Since 2015
Today Squallie had a visit with his wonderful new vet. He took blood and did labs on him. Squall's glucose was only 255, that was a surprise for me. His globulin was high but all the other liver-related values were good. His BUN and creatinine were both good (hooray!) and his GGT (don't remember what that is, just know it relates to the liver) was also a little high. His WBC was low and his potassium level was low. The bottom line is, he's pretty sure Squallie has a UTI, possibly a kidney infection, so he put him on Clavamox for 7 days. He thinks this is likely the cause of the high BG and the nausea. He gave me a potassium supplement to give him for a week and we will re-evaluate then to see if he needs to stay on it or not. He also gave him some sub-Q fluids, because he thought, as did I, that Squall was a little dehydrated. He already seems better. I am to call on Monday - barring him getting any worse, heaven forbid - to let the doc know how he's doing, and we'll go from there.

He gave me all the print-outs with all of the lab values, and went over each one with me. He explained the ones that worked in conjunction with others and told me why he came to the conclusions he did. I was concerned because my tablet is on the fritz and I wouldn't have Squallie's SS to show him; not to worry, he had already printed it up before I got there, and we went over it together (he didn't know what some of my abbreviations were, no surprise there). He says he's pleased with the way I've been handling the changes in Squallie's insulin dosage, and the fact that I've been watching closely (testing) to stay ahead of any potential problems.

WOW! What a difference from my former vet! I left there today feeling like Squallie had gotten a solid diagnosis and the appropriate treatments, without a whole lot of extraneous ($$) stuff thrown in. I feel like I played a part in his his Dx and treatments, and like I have control over health choices for him. Such a great feeling!!! I am SO glad I found this vet!
 
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How wonderful to find a good vet!!
Congratulations!!

Antibiotics take out the good bacteria as well as the bad. You may find a little diarrhea or GI upset as a result. Adding something like Forti Flora a couple hours after the antibiotic can help restore the good bacteria.
 
BJM said:
How wonderful to find a good vet!!
Congratulations!!

Antibiotics take out the good bacteria as well as the bad. You may find a little diarrhea or GI upset as a result. Adding something like Forti Flora a couple hours after the antibiotic can help restore the good bacteria.
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Thank you! I have probiotics for him, I'll re-start him on those. :)
 
Hi Lucy,
I'm glad Squallie's new vet is so good and that overall Squall is in such good health! Just a heads up: Clavamox really upset Marshmallow's stomach and she got diarrhea and threw up on it. I had to switch her after about two days on it and I know it bothers a fair number of kitties. However, Mr. Bear is one tough kitty so he might be just fine!
 
granadilla said:
Hi Lucy,
I'm glad Squallie's new vet is so good and that overall Squall is in such good health! Just a heads up: Clavamox really upset Marshmallow's stomach and she got diarrhea and threw up on it. I had to switch her after about two days on it and I know it bothers a fair number of kitties. However, Mr. Bear is one tough kitty so he might be just fine!
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Thanks for the heads-up, Shane. The vet asked me if Squallie had ever had it before, or if I knew if he'd ever had a problem with it, but I honestly didn't know. So he said to give it a try and if it bothers him we'll try a different one.
 
Hiya, Lucy - Wow, what a difference a new vet makes, huh? So glad to hear you've found a good one!
We have all fingers toes & paws crossed out here for you & Squallie; sending healing vibes for a quick recovery & continuing good #s. :):cat: You're doing a great job, Lucy!:bighug:
 
Squalliesmom said:
Oh my, so nice to start seeing blues and even greens showing up on Squall's SS! Fingers and paws crossed for continued lower numbers!!
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YAY! I know you were worried about him. And I know you didn't want to have to take him in this month for an unbudgeted vet appointment but it sounds like you have a great vet and soon Squallie will be on the mend.

Stay blue and green, Squallie!
 
Robin&BB said:
Hiya, Lucy - Wow, what a difference a new vet makes, huh? So glad to hear you've found a good one!
We have all fingers toes & paws crossed out here for you & Squallie; sending healing vibes for a quick recovery & continuing good #s. :):cat: You're doing a great job, Lucy!:bighug:
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Thanks, Robin. Yes, this vet is awesome, just a world of difference! :cat: :cat:
 
granadilla said:
YAY! I know you were worried about him. And I know you didn't want to have to take him in this month for an unbudgeted vet appointment but it sounds like you have a great vet and soon Squallie will be on the mend.

Stay blue and green, Squallie!
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Thanks, Shane. I can't believe how much better he is already (although he did throw up again this morning, nothing like he had before, tho - figured it might be from the Clavamox?), getting back down into those lovely colors!
 
Hi Lucy! I am just seeing this post today, don't know how I missed it yesterday. Your new vet sounds wonderful! It is nice to have one that doesn't act indignant when you want to understand the tests. As far as the clavamox, Bubba had no trouble with it post dental. I did have one cat that couldn't take it, diarrhea and vomiting. BJM had a good point about the probiotics while on the antibiotic. Glad you have an answer to the higher numbers and the nausea. Here's hoping that he's on the mend ASAP :):bighug:
 
Lucy, can you clone the vet and send him to me!!!! Although mine is good, sometimes it takes forever to get an appointment with him. He calls me once a week to go over Smokey's ss. I send it to him weekly. Glad to hear Squallie is feeling better. I've had 3 cats that received clavamox. All of them threw up and got diarrhea. So I won't use it anymore. The 3 I have now never received it so don't know how they would react. But I won't use it. There is a antibiotic injection that lasts 2 weeks. I don't know what it is but that never seemed to work for me.
 
woodsywife said:
I've had 3 cats that received clavamox. All of them threw up and got diarrhea. So I won't use it anymore. The 3 I have now never received it so don't know how they would react.
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Yes, some cats have more trouble with side effects than others. Bat-Bat was on Clavamox the first time she had a UTI; I seem to recall that she did have some runny "poopage" at the start and tossed her cookies after the first dose ... but then it stopped. I think I waited about an hour after feeding her to dose her with it, and that appeared to help ... so I guess it all depends: ECID, right? We used Orbax when she got the UTI in February; we had no problem at all with that antibiotic. (Sometimes just having the UTI can cause vomiting, too ... that was what had first alerted me that she wasn't feeling well last February.)
 
woodsywife said:
Lucy, can you clone the vet and send him to me!!!! Although mine is good, sometimes it takes forever to get an appointment with him. He calls me once a week to go over Smokey's ss. I send it to him weekly. Glad to hear Squallie is feeling better. I've had 3 cats that received clavamox. All of them threw up and got diarrhea. So I won't use it anymore. The 3 I have now never received it so don't know how they would react. But I won't use it. There is a antibiotic injection that lasts 2 weeks. I don't know what it is but that never seemed to work for me.
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Honestly, I wish everyone had a vet like this one, he is just great. Your vet sounds pretty great, too, tho'. :) Squallie threw up this AM and I don't know whether or not it was the Clavamox, but that's my best guess, for now.
 
woodsywife said:
Lucy, can you clone the vet and send him to me!!!! Although mine is good, sometimes it takes forever to get an appointment with him. He calls me once a week to go over Smokey's ss. I send it to him weekly. Glad to hear Squallie is feeling better. I've had 3 cats that received clavamox. All of them threw up and got diarrhea. So I won't use it anymore. The 3 I have now never received it so don't know how they would react. But I won't use it. There is a antibiotic injection that lasts 2 weeks. I don't know what it is but that never seemed to work for me.
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Paula, you don't want to use the Convenia, 2 week injection. If your cat has a reaction to it, there is no way to retrieve it out of the body, all that can be done is support in the hospital. That is what caused Exon's problems. Don't know if you were following those threads. My vet gave it to Bubba pre-dental and I was very nervous after I found out that is what they gave him. Never again.
 
Robin&BB said:
Yes, some cats have more trouble with side effects than others. Bat-Bat was on Clavamox the first time she had a UTI; I seem to recall that she did have some runny "poopage" at the start and tossed her cookies after the first dose ... but then it stopped. I think I waited about an hour after feeding her to dose her with it, and that appeared to help ... so I guess it all depends: ECID, right? We used Orbax when she got the UTI in February; we had no problem at all with that antibiotic. (Sometimes just having the UTI can cause vomiting, too ... that was what had first alerted me that she wasn't feeling well last February.)
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He hasn't thrown up again today or had any diarrhea, so I'm hoping that's all there is going to be to it. The difference in him is like night and day, I can't believe how much better he got, so quickly, I mean almost before we left the vet's office. Maybe he just needed an outing in the fresh air, lol. :)
 
woodsywife said:
There is a antibiotic injection that lasts 2 weeks. I don't know what it is but that never seemed to work for me.
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Bobbie And Bubba said:
Paula, you don't want to use the Convenia, 2 week injection. If your cat has a reaction to it, there is no way to retrieve it out of the body, all that can be done is support in the hospital. That is what caused Exon's problems. Don't know if you were following those threads. My vet gave it to Bubba pre-dental and I was very nervous after I found out that is what they gave him. Never again.
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Paula, I think you're referring to Convenia. It stays in the system for a little over two months and, as Bobbie says, it can't be flushed from the system if your cat has a bad reaction to it. Some cats have gone into anaphylactic shock and died after being injected with Convenia.
 
Squalliesmom said:
He hasn't thrown up again today or had any diarrhea, so I'm hoping that's all there is going to be to it. The difference in him is like night and day, I can't believe how much better he got, so quickly, I mean almost before we left the vet's office. Maybe he just needed an outing in the fresh air, lol. :)
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This is great news, Lucy! I remember that the first time I ever gave Bat-Bat Clavamox, she fought me tooth and nail! (She was even foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog - she was that freaked out.) But the funny thing was ... by the next dose, she must have figured out that it was actually making her feel better, because she didn't fight me at all from the 2nd dose on!:D
 
Squalliesmom said:
He hasn't thrown up again today or had any diarrhea, so I'm hoping that's all there is going to be to it. The difference in him is like night and day, I can't believe how much better he got, so quickly, I mean almost before we left the vet's office. Maybe he just needed an outing in the fresh air, lol. :)
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Did he get fluids at the vet? Sometimes just getting fluids makes them perk up quickly. I'm so glad he's doing so much better! You'll be back to micro doses before you know it!
 
Squalliesmom said:
Today Squallie had a visit with his wonderful new vet. He took blood and did labs on him. Squall's glucose was only 255, that was a surprise for me. His globulin was high but all the other liver-related values were good. His BUN and creatinine were both good (hooray!) and his GGT (don't remember what that is, just know it relates to the liver) was also a little high. His WBC was low and his potassium level was low. The bottom line is, he's pretty sure Squallie has a UTI, possibly a kidney infection, so he put him on Clavamox for 7 days. He thinks this is likely the cause of the high BG and the nausea. He gave me a potassium supplement to give him for a week and we will re-evaluate then to see if he needs to stay on it or not. He also gave him some sub-Q fluids, because he thought, as did I, that Squall was a little dehydrated. He already seems better. I am to call on Monday - barring him getting any worse, heaven forbid - to let the doc know how he's doing, and we'll go from there.

He gave me all the print-outs with all of the lab values, and went over each one with me. He explained the ones that worked in conjunction with others and told me why he came to the conclusions he did. I was concerned because my tablet is on the fritz and I wouldn't have Squallie's SS to show him; not to worry, he had already printed it up before I got there, and we went over it together (he didn't know what some of my abbreviations were, no surprise there). He says he's pleased with the way I've been handling the changes in Squallie's insulin dosage, and the fact that I've been watching closely (testing) to stay ahead of any potential problems.

WOW! What a difference from my former vet! I left there today feeling like Squallie had gotten a solid diagnosis and the appropriate treatments, without a whole lot of extraneous ($$) stuff thrown in. I feel like I played a part in his his Dx and treatments, and like I have control over health choices for him. Such a great feeling!!! I am SO glad I found this vet!
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Lucky to find a vet like that.hang on to that one.i have been to 3 in the town I live in and still looking.one I liked a lot but they cost a lot to go to.
 
Cat girl said:
Lucky to find a vet like that.hang on to that one.i have been to 3 in the town I live in and still looking.one I liked a lot but they cost a lot to go to.
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Yes, I got very lucky! When I was looking for a new vet I used BJM's Vet Interview notes, added some other questions I had, and wrote it all down before I called, and that was very helpful!

Some of them here can be outrageously expensive, too. I live way out in the country so none of them (except the one I no longer take Squallie to) are nearby and that limits my choices a bit. My current vet is about 45-50 minutes away, longer if traffic is heavy.
 
Marsh got super dehydrated on Clavamox, as well as having nausea and diarrhea. If he's having a reaction to the Clavamox, that could be why his BG is up. I'm guessing your vets office is closed by now since it's 6 pm on the east coast. If he's dehydrated tomorrow, do you know how to give fluids? Maybe you could buy some from a vet office that's closer. I hope it's a fluke but if not, he may need fluids and to switch to a different med.
 
granadilla said:
Marsh got super dehydrated on Clavamox, as well as having nausea and diarrhea. If he's having a reaction to the Clavamox, that could be why his BG is up. I'm guessing your vets office is closed by now since it's 6 pm on the east coast. If he's dehydrated tomorrow, do you know how to give fluids? Maybe you could buy some from a vet office that's closer. I hope it's a fluke but if not, he may need fluids and to switch to a different med.
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I've never given fluids before. So far he hasn't had any more vomiting, and no diarrhea, so I'm guessing he's tolerating the Clavamox fairly well. I have been adding a lot of water to his food, basically giving him cat food soup, lol, which, thankfully, he seems to like well enough. I also bought a new water fountain to put in my room, where he sleeps almost all the time, day and night, hoping to encourage him to drink more. So far, he's only looked askance at it, as if to say, "What is THAT doing here?"
 
Oh giving fluids are easy.. you hang the bag, get your fur child comfortable and you too this can take some time. I did it nice and slow less sting that way, make a tent at the scruff and insert the needle kinda like your giving insulin but the needle is bigger and has a tube attached. Keep on hand on cat and needle and slowly open the drip. I would give a max of 100 units the first time, Peppe my kitty that needed that support was on 300 units a day due to kidney failure.
 
Julia Rae said:
Oh giving fluids are easy.. you hang the bag, get your fur child comfortable and you too this can take some time. I did it nice and slow less sting that way, make a tent at the scruff and insert the needle kinda like your giving insulin but the needle is bigger and has a tube attached. Keep on hand on cat and needle and slowly open the drip. I would give a max of 100 units the first time, Peppe my kitty that needed that support was on 300 units a day due to kidney failure.
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Thank you, sounds about like what I figured, and not too difficult, thankfully! I hope it won't come to that but better to know how, anyway, you never know when you might need that information! :)
 
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