Non Sugar Baby question

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FelineFriend

FelineFriend

Member Since 2017
hi, not sure if this is the right place for this but I really need some advice about one of my other cats, Renegade. he is a 9 year old neutered male that has had crystal problems in the past and for three years has gradually been losing weight (about 1oz per year) although his behaviour has been good - eating, drinking, active and alert BUT the last couple months he has been feeling bad. not nearly as active, still eating, drinking and eliminating but sleeping lots more. he actually has hyperphagia and will push miss queen B Smokey (my sugar baby) away from her food dish when they are getting wet food twice daily.
today he is having trouble walking, it seems like something is wrong with his legs. he cries when i pick him up but is still eating and drinking. i took him outside on grass to pee and he laid in sunshine for awhile. is sleeping again while i wait for appt at vet in a couple hours. I've entered his latest blood work on his spreadsheet and was hoping someone could take a look and give me any suggestions. thanks!
 
i've published the entire doc to the web...
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i also forgot to mention that he has been eating low carbohydrate foods, thanks to Smokey, and primarily Young Again food for about a month. I still feed all five cats watered down canned pate food twice a day as a treat and to keep them hydrated and make sure Renegade gets 1/2 can each day. It may be coincidence but he has been acting 'off' since being on the YA diet.
 
A high CK is typically due to muscle wasting. Renegade's symptoms of weight loss and recent leg weakness fits that cause.
Has any imaging been done like x-rays or ultrasound? I think ultrasound would be best but is more expensive than x-rays
 
Larry and Kitties said:
A high CK is typically due to muscle wasting. Renegade's symptoms of weight loss and recent leg weakness fits that cause.
Has any imaging been done like x-rays or ultrasound? I think ultrasound would be best but is more expensive than x-rays
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Thanks for your input.
I left him at the vet and they have him on IV fliuds and pain medication. Tomorrow morning they will sedate him and do full body X-rays plus take blood. They have to bring in an ultrasound technician which costs major mullah...
On a good note, over the last two months he's gained 4 oz :)
 
I would ask for x-rays of the spine and legs to be done. The elevated CK is usually from muscle breakdown, and the rest of the labs don't really indicate any other chronic diseases (kidney, etc) that could be the cause. It's possible that he may have arthritis, fracture, or injury somewhere that is pinching the motor nerves and causing the muscle to waste away.
 
Meya14 said:
I would ask for x-rays of the spine and legs to be done. The elevated CK is usually from muscle breakdown, and the rest of the labs don't really indicate any other chronic diseases (kidney, etc) that could be the cause. It's possible that he may have arthritis, fracture, or injury somewhere that is pinching the motor nerves and causing the muscle to waste away.
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Thanks, the vet is doing X-rays in the morning.
 
Arthritis is mostly a clinical diagnosis of correlating symptoms with x-rays or other imaging. No specific test for it. It's kinda common for older cats to get arthritis in their lower spine which may or may not cause a lot of symptoms. It mostly depends on if there are nerves being compressed or irritated. Arthritis can occur in the legs and knees too. The symptoms can wax and wane, or can be pretty constant.
 
The elevated CK along with his symptoms make me wonder if there is some heart issue going on. Yes, muscle wasting will cause weak legs but so would blood clots. Don't mean to be reactionary but another kitty here had elevated CK and had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) so it just warrants checking.

If his heart is enlarged, it should show in the X-ray but an echocardiogram is usually done to take heart measurements. The other recent test that is worth it is a Cardio Pro BNP done by IDEXX. It is an indicator of HCM without having to do the echo to diagnose it.

Having said that, any injury he has sustained can cause an elevated CK. Elderly people who have fallen and laid there a while often have elevated CK.mm
 
Marje and Gracie said:
If his heart is enlarged, it should show in the X-ray but an echocardiogram is usually done to take heart measurements. The other recent test that is worth it is a Cardio Pro BNP done by IDEXX. It is an indicator of HCM without having to do the echo to diagnose it.
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Thanks Marje, I will ask my vet about that this morning.
 
Just came back from seeing vet and he is keeping Renegade another day/night on IV and pain meds. Tomorrow will do X-rays and draw blood while under sedation for following tests: CK, Parathyroid, ionized Ca, cardio pro BNP. Apparently one or more of the tests requires fasting and they fed him inadvertently. Of course he loves food so not sure how inadvertent it was... Cat-to-human hypnosis:give me food! ;)
 
FelineFriend said:
Just came back from seeing vet and he is keeping Renegade another day/night on IV and pain meds. Tomorrow will do X-rays and draw blood while under sedation for following tests: CK, Parathyroid, ionized Ca, cardio pro BNP. Apparently one or more of the tests requires fasting and they fed him inadvertently. Of course he loves food so not sure how inadvertent it was... Cat-to-human hypnosis:give me food! ;)
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Sorry to hear this. I hope you get some good news tomorrow.
 
Well, does "no news, good news" hold true for fur babies too? The x-rays show no gross abnormalities and have been sent on to a radiologist for further review. Blood was taken without a struggle due to the sedation and sent off this morning, should hear something in the next 24 to 48 hours. Renegade's been getting IV fluids all day but I'm bringing him home tonight and then will take him back in the morning for more fluids and probably pain meds.
 
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