Back from vet, overall it went really well. I'm super impressed with how the dr and staff are with cats. It's a cat only practice, which I've never experienced before. He talked to her in a calm, gentle voice, gave her pets and kisses while he was messing with her. Just general calmness, and while Asia was vocal that she wasn't happy to be messed with, she was calm too. Night and day from the place that diagnosed her with FD and held her down with the force of a linebacker just to look in her eyes and ears!
He asked me if I would like to be present for all the tests! That's a new one. I said yes, and he and the tech did it all right there so I could look at and pet Asia and comfort her. This was how my old vet that came to the house did it and it's just way less stressful for Asia that way.
He was very impressed with her, especially being 21, he said usually they have trouble getting weight on seniors (probably seniors that are fed prescription low protein diets, but I kept that to myself). Her coat was great, muscle tone good, he manipulated all of her legs and said nothing too bad going on.
He said her cloudy eyes and changing eye color is nuclear sclerosis as opposed to cataracts which is what my home vet diagnosed her with.
Had blood drawn for a "senior panel" and he uses IDEXX so this includes the SDMA. He made a good case for why an ultrasound was a good idea, and I agreed with the value of it, but I asked if it would change anything at the end of the day for how I cared for her and he agreed it probably would not. He did say the test that points to pancreatitis was elevated in the last set of labs, I discovered that on my own because the last vet sure didn't make mention of it to me, but he saw it too and brought it up before I did. So the u/s is on hold for now. Will revisit after the labs.
He spent a good long time studying my SS, a tiny version on my cell phone. He said he didn't like the 50s on there, I said me neither. He said he would never give a full dose on an 87, and I reminded him that it is a published protocol and so far it's working pretty well. But overall I think he was happy with it and said he couldn't think of anything to add and that it looked pretty good.
He got a urine sample, which is something that has never been done in front of me. He and the tech did a great job of distracting Asia and petting her head energetically and while I can't go so far as to say she wasn't bothered, she certainly wasn't bothered very much at all. Far cry from the ER that did one on her and I read in their notes later "several pokes, traumatic".
He said he can draw me up some cerenia if I ever need to take her in a car and I can inject it. Yay! No pill! He was able to get in her mouth just long enough to pick off a cap of hardened plaque, he is only the second person to get in Asia's mouth (somewhat) successfully, the other bring my long time house call vet (who got fear peed on by Asia when she did it).
We are going to see how the blood work goes, but he said even though they do dentals there, the way to go at her age and with her risks is board certified oral surgeon/anesthesiologist. He recommended one and it's one I had found as the top contender.
He did a BP at my request and said it was a good idea. He said it was normal, I think 120? Is what he said, I didn't write it down, but I will request his notes. It was normal. Yay!
So for the arthritis, not exactly was I was hoping for, but not a lost cause either. He said he hasn't seen much success with Adequan and other NSAIDs, supplements, etc. He thinks they are a slippery slope and can cause more problems than they are worth with bowel side effects and all that stuff. I'm on the same page with him there, that's why I don't really give Asia anything that isn't direly needed, like insulin, or like antibiotics for an infection. He liked the idea of acupuncture but said it would be good to address pain. He wasn't a fan of the bupe, he said you have to increase the dose over time as they build tolerance to opioids and that's another slippery slope. He said he likes gabapentin. I recall reading about that somewhere on here, and from memory I think it caused dementia like symptoms? I could be way off on that. he said he doesn't have any reason to believe transdermal preps of bupe or gabapentin work, but he was going to do some research on it since it's that or injections for us.
Practice is full of special needs looking kitties that are adoptable. I saw two very strange ones that were bony and totally muscle wasted, but they both had big old pot bellies, one was nearly dragging on the floor. I really wanted to ask what they were feeding those cats, something that can make them fat but they can't build muscle with?! Maybe it's some weird condition. Very curious.
@Ella & Rusty & Stu(GA) I liked this vet, very thorough, kind and gentle. Won't give you too much trouble about the FD stuff, seemed more curious than put off, but my initial consult with him: he doses Lantus once a day, doesn't believe in prescribing Levemir, and wanted to do sliding scale doses. Nobody's perfect. He's also very on the west side, like if he wasn't on the ground floor, you'd have a clear view of the Hudson. I can pm you his info if you're interested.
What do I win? 
ETA: unless that 87 was her 2nd dip, then you gave the am shot and she onset @+1 getting 2 doses overlap?
