Hi all- I came across this forum while doing some research on FD. My cat does not have an official diagnosis yet...so apologies if I’m breaking any forum rules by already posting. But I am taking him in to the vet this afternoon to have a Fructosamine Test and want to be fully prepared with the information, questions to ask the vet, etc.
A bit of history on Chip. He is a 16 years old DSH. Will be 17 in September. And he is my baby! He was diagnosed with CKD about 5 years ago. He numbers were only slightly elevated so we switched to a kidney food diet and have monitored his blood work on a yearly basis. Luckily, his kidney values on the blood work have stayed pretty steady (only slightly elevated with just slightly raises). About 10 months ago (September 2020), I realized he started to lose weight and having constant diarrhea. He was also throwing up a few times a week...but this wasn’t abnormal. He has thrown up occasionally for 10+ years. We took him in, ran blood work...everything was still only slightly elevated. We did a round of Metronidazole but no change. But he still acted normal and was eating so I wasn’t too concerned. Kind of left it at he’s 16...he’ll have some issues at this point. A few months later, he continued to have soft stool, throwing up, had lost more weight and was lethargic. Took him back in and now they thought his kidney disease might have advanced. So we put him on 50 mL sub-a fluids 2x per week. The vet noticed a heart murmur (did not provide a grade) so didn’t want to give him too much fluids. We didn’t do bloodwork still the start of the fluids but decided to check after 1 month of fluids. The fluids definitely helped with the lethargy but still losing weight, constant diarrhea, and throwing up. After the month, had the blood work drawn and kidney values were the same...only slightly elevated. We also check is thyroid and everything is fine. Now they started thinking IBD and in April put him in a “low dose” or Prednisone. After the full round that tapered down from 0.2 twice a day to 0.2 every other day, still no change. This is now May and he has gone from 8.5 lbs his whole life to now just under 5 lbs. The next steps they want to take is do a abdominal ultrasound and radiographs to look for thickening of the intestinal walls to see IBD or GI Lymphoma and then do a stronger round of Pred. I was in the process of deciding what to do when this saga really goes down hill last week...all the sudden he is under 4 lbs (3.9 at the Emergency Vet on Sunday), he is urinating all over the house, his chronic diarrhea has now gone to constipation. He is straining to have a bowel movement and getting out barely blueberry sized stool each time (but solid for the first time in 10 months). And he is acting like a different cat...barely purring, hanging his head, and so lethargic. It’s the weekend so I take him to Emergency Vet...they run blood test and urinalysis (I’ll attach results). They say they think he has an infection and give him a Cefovecin antibiotic shot, a B12 shot, and since he is so dehydrated tell me to increase his fluids to 50mL daily (instead of 2x per week as I had been doing). E-vet also said he heard no heart murmur. When I talk to them they say blood work came back as expected...elevated kidney levels and anemia. When urinalysis comes back it doesn’t mention any bacteria or infection so the E-vet says he suspects kidney infection. Since Chip didn’t seem to be getting better after the antibiotic, I posted his results in The Cat Site and someone pointed out that his urinalysis showed glucose at 3+ which was a red flag. Not sure why E-vet didn’t mention this. I checked and his blood shows glucose as well at 349 mg/dL with normal being between 71-159. This led me to look up FD symptoms: Increased appetite - check. Weight loss - check. Increased & possible in appropriate urination - check. I think also saw some websites say dehydration (check) and constipation (check). And the one that really got me thinking was the hind leg neuropathy. Chip has been falling over on his back end and is so unstable. I didn’t think much of it and just thought he’s 16.5 y/o, down to under 4 lbs, and probably exhausted from hunching and straining to poop. But when I saw that it really got me thinking.
So, anyways...novel almost over. I obviously know no one here can diagnose Chip based off the info above. Like I mentioned, we go in this afternoon for the test at the vet. In your opinions (and again, knowing you can’t for sure say) does this sound on par with FD? And what should I be prepared for at the vet today? Certain questions I should be asking or tests I should be requesting. Or even tests that are a waste and I should decline. Thank you so much in advance! And again, I hope I didn’t break any rules by posting prior to a diagnosis
A bit of history on Chip. He is a 16 years old DSH. Will be 17 in September. And he is my baby! He was diagnosed with CKD about 5 years ago. He numbers were only slightly elevated so we switched to a kidney food diet and have monitored his blood work on a yearly basis. Luckily, his kidney values on the blood work have stayed pretty steady (only slightly elevated with just slightly raises). About 10 months ago (September 2020), I realized he started to lose weight and having constant diarrhea. He was also throwing up a few times a week...but this wasn’t abnormal. He has thrown up occasionally for 10+ years. We took him in, ran blood work...everything was still only slightly elevated. We did a round of Metronidazole but no change. But he still acted normal and was eating so I wasn’t too concerned. Kind of left it at he’s 16...he’ll have some issues at this point. A few months later, he continued to have soft stool, throwing up, had lost more weight and was lethargic. Took him back in and now they thought his kidney disease might have advanced. So we put him on 50 mL sub-a fluids 2x per week. The vet noticed a heart murmur (did not provide a grade) so didn’t want to give him too much fluids. We didn’t do bloodwork still the start of the fluids but decided to check after 1 month of fluids. The fluids definitely helped with the lethargy but still losing weight, constant diarrhea, and throwing up. After the month, had the blood work drawn and kidney values were the same...only slightly elevated. We also check is thyroid and everything is fine. Now they started thinking IBD and in April put him in a “low dose” or Prednisone. After the full round that tapered down from 0.2 twice a day to 0.2 every other day, still no change. This is now May and he has gone from 8.5 lbs his whole life to now just under 5 lbs. The next steps they want to take is do a abdominal ultrasound and radiographs to look for thickening of the intestinal walls to see IBD or GI Lymphoma and then do a stronger round of Pred. I was in the process of deciding what to do when this saga really goes down hill last week...all the sudden he is under 4 lbs (3.9 at the Emergency Vet on Sunday), he is urinating all over the house, his chronic diarrhea has now gone to constipation. He is straining to have a bowel movement and getting out barely blueberry sized stool each time (but solid for the first time in 10 months). And he is acting like a different cat...barely purring, hanging his head, and so lethargic. It’s the weekend so I take him to Emergency Vet...they run blood test and urinalysis (I’ll attach results). They say they think he has an infection and give him a Cefovecin antibiotic shot, a B12 shot, and since he is so dehydrated tell me to increase his fluids to 50mL daily (instead of 2x per week as I had been doing). E-vet also said he heard no heart murmur. When I talk to them they say blood work came back as expected...elevated kidney levels and anemia. When urinalysis comes back it doesn’t mention any bacteria or infection so the E-vet says he suspects kidney infection. Since Chip didn’t seem to be getting better after the antibiotic, I posted his results in The Cat Site and someone pointed out that his urinalysis showed glucose at 3+ which was a red flag. Not sure why E-vet didn’t mention this. I checked and his blood shows glucose as well at 349 mg/dL with normal being between 71-159. This led me to look up FD symptoms: Increased appetite - check. Weight loss - check. Increased & possible in appropriate urination - check. I think also saw some websites say dehydration (check) and constipation (check). And the one that really got me thinking was the hind leg neuropathy. Chip has been falling over on his back end and is so unstable. I didn’t think much of it and just thought he’s 16.5 y/o, down to under 4 lbs, and probably exhausted from hunching and straining to poop. But when I saw that it really got me thinking.
So, anyways...novel almost over. I obviously know no one here can diagnose Chip based off the info above. Like I mentioned, we go in this afternoon for the test at the vet. In your opinions (and again, knowing you can’t for sure say) does this sound on par with FD? And what should I be prepared for at the vet today? Certain questions I should be asking or tests I should be requesting. Or even tests that are a waste and I should decline. Thank you so much in advance! And again, I hope I didn’t break any rules by posting prior to a diagnosis
