Re: 10/4 Gracie AMPS 280 +2 312
Dear Friends...and I say that with the utmost sincerity as that is how we have come to view you all. Gracie is at home and doing well. Just a summary:
She and Tobey were on the enclosed patio with me and it was a nice morning...not too hot. We all came in and they started chasing each other and playing and both started panting. He stopped..she continued to pant sporadically and also lick her fur like she was hot. I checked her temp and it was normal. Mike came home shortly after and even tho she wasn't panting, I had been watching her and her respirations were up. We closed all the doors/windows and turned on the ac thinking that maybe she had just gotten too hot and I put a cold cloth on her. She was acting totally normal but her respirations were still about 78/min so I called vet and took her right in. Gracie does get stressed going to the vet so I knew her temp would be up some but it was 103.7 so they immediately started cooling her down with cold cloths and alcohol pads in her ears and on her toe pads. Her respirations were the same but she had not panted since much earlier. They got her cooled to 103 and then stopped as they didn't want to overcool her; they just had us sit in a quiet room to see if she would calm down before they stressed her with tests. Her temp came down to 101.2 and they then started doing procedures...checking her temp before and after and spacing the tests out 15 mins or so to make sure her temp wasn't going up. Xrays were clear; echo/EKG/BP all WNL and same as her baseline; US...liver, pancreas, adrenals, gallbladder, kidneys, bladder...everything good. Thank God our clinic has probably the best board certified veterinary radiologist in AZ. The entire time Gracie was acting normal...she even would roam around the exam room in between waits and peed in the litter box they brought. They did a full blood panel (and hyperT) inc a whole series of viral tests and valley fever (which is very predominant here). They also checked her BG while I was there on their Alpha Trak just to be sure she wasn't doing anything wacky since our dosecrease and it was mid 300's. So...at this time, we have no answers but have ruled out alot. Tomorrow we will have the viral results. They are not ruling out respiratory issues due to diabetic neuropathy but it's probably on the bottom of their list...the radiologist worked for a lengthy time with a Dr. Ettinger who she said dealt extensively with FD and that they never had a cat with respiratory neuropathy and that most cats they saw with some neuropathy in legs had been at high levels BG for a long time. One thing about Gracie is she has a tiny, tiny nose. Her nares are extremely small and she has always had respirations a little higher than most cats but 78 was not the norm for her. I don't know if she just got too warm and it just was taking a little longer too cool herself because she has that tiny nose and can't get in as much oxygen at the rate of most cats or what. But now she is clinically normal and has eaten and is napping on the kitchen counter.
Mike and I thank you all for checking on Gracie and sending all your healing vines and prayers. It was very scary for us and you were there for us as you have been since the first day we joined this group. We are very happy that they have been able to eliminate things like cardiomyopathy and have great hopes that all her bloodwork will be normal. If that is the case, they want us to start tracking her respirations along with her BG levels as we have absolutely noticed that she feels warmer when her BG is up altho her temp stays within the normal range. And now we will be happy to take up a collection to pay for the astronomical bill I am sure I'll get :lol: :lol: :lol: Totally kidding on that...thankfully we have pet insurance.
So we'll be back later at PMPS to check in ...I hope her BG will not have taken too much of a hit and I also hope that I don't give her a fur shot which I probably did this morning. Thank you all again. :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
We hope all your kitties had nice surfing numbers today.
