2/8 Tommy AMPS 379 1.5R, +2 293, +5 380 Test Results!

[Lauren&Tommy (GA)]

2/6

After not receiving a phone call about the blood results Thursday night and going to bed at about 2am on Friday morning from stressing over not knowing, I felt like a zombie yesterday. Got up early and went in to pick up Tommy's Clavamox and spent about 45 minutes going over results of Belle and Tommy's blood work.
They both got a Chem 12 and Tommy also got a T4 Panel done because of his heart rate while she was here.
I managed to get a "labs" tab put on his SS and have it filled out if you would like to take a look and give any input you might think I should know.
Essentially what she told me, Tommy's T4 is "NORMAL" . The bad news is she thinks I should have his heart looked at, which unfortunately at this time I just can not afford. I am going to try and get a heart rate count myself just to be sure, because last night he sure seemed to breathing very deep and peaceful.She does NOT feel he is in the CRF category as of yet, which again is good news.
Belle does have early stage CRF but for the most part both of there numbers haven't changed much since the last blood work was done.
Just to add to the drama, ohmygod_smile after coming out of the back room from talking with my DH on the phone yesterday, I was greeted by a nice urine sample on the counter, couldn't have been there more than an hour, so knowing who it was (Lil G Girl) I took a syringe, sucked up what I could and put it in a container and took it to the vet......... Ta da, she has another infection, Struvite crystals and just a trace of blood :roll: Second round of this, culture was done after the last infection and it was clean so we thought behavioral issues. So clavamox for my girl then a retest. She has been peeing outside of LB for quite a while, but not all the time. Doc thinks she is trying to be Alpha over the 2 senior kitties. She picks on them a lot.
She also told me that OTC foods to address Urinary issues don't work! Could I get some insight on that as well if any of you have experience with that. The 3 prescription canned foods she gave me prices on :shock: . So over the past week I now have 5 of my 8 inside kitties with some issue going on.
Sorry for going on so long and thank you all again for the well wishes and the good thoughts for the vetty visit.
Have a wonderful Saturday LL Beans :YMHUG:

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

great news on Tommy's thyroid . . . at 20, i'm not sure what would be done for his heart. did she suggest anything?

i'm not experienced with the struvite crystals issue, lauren. sorry. how about putting it in your subject line so the people with experience on it will see it? smart of you to suck up her "gift" on the counter with a syringe! i wouldn't have thought of that!

yay on the new spreadsheet! well done! i think you mean 2/6/2014 on the most recent labs. ;-) i'm also not the expert on looking at labwork and analyzing it, but i think you having it in the subject line will get attention.

i think i would increase his L dose, unless you're holding in case the ABs kick in.

 

[rhiannon and shadow (GA)]

I don't have experience with crystals but I thought any sample older than 30 minutes always formed crystals.
Hopefully someone else will come and say yay or nay on that issue.

 

[Tricia Cinco(GA) & Harvey]

No advice from me, but wanted to say "yay" on the negative T4. You really didn't need to add hyperthyroid to the list of issues you deal with, did you?

I wouldn't have thought of the syringe to get a urine sample, either. Very quick thinking. Did you tell the vet how you got it and how long it might have been there? He/she would have known if that would taint the results.

Sending good vines for Tommy's heart, and yours, as I'm sure it's been pounding lately, too. :YMHUG:

 

[Lauren&Tommy (GA)]

Good afternoon all, thanks for stopping by and good questions about the urine. Yes, I did tell them that it had been on the counter probably no more than an hour and that I used a syringe and a clean container to put it in. They said to bring it in. I was not aware of the time frame and crystals forming, I did know that putting it the fridge for some time would cause them to form.
Julie, the vet did mention getting an EKG and blood pressure. As always, you are correct, I'm going to hold off just for a few more days on upping the dose in hopes the AB's start to kick in then I will adjust if I need too.
I didn't think there would be enough room to in the subject line to ask all the questions I had and didn't want people to think that Tommy was the one with the Crystals. @-) I don't know how else to ask since Lil G Girl is a civie! Good catch on the wrong year on his labs tab. Thank you for caring :smile:

 

[Rachel & Chyna (GA)]

I'm glad you got the test results and they were so positive! I hope that Tommys heart is just a reaction to stress that day and that you can maybe count it yourself. I'm sorry that your civie has an infection and I hope it clears up soon with the ABs. I don't know about the fuds...but I know cosequin (for joints) is good for bladder lining/health apparently? Sending vines to all your kitties. And hugs to you, what a rough while you've had. :YMHUG:

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Happy Caturday Lauren! Good to hear that most of the results for Tommy are good. The heart is one thing I'm paranoid about for Neko. She has had an echocardiogram and the cardio vetty thought she was OK at the time and her heart murmur was due to age related heart changes. I lost a Maine Coon cross to HCM so cardiomyopathy is always on my mind. I hope there's something easy that can be done to help Tommy. :YMHUG: :YMHUG: Pepper/Nancy is on heart meds.

In addition to an acrocat, I also have one with idiopathic cystitis - that means occasional crystals or mucus plugs jamming things up. For diet the recommendation for crystals is the same as for Tommy, low carb and low phosphorus wet food with extra water added. You want their urine specific gravity (USG) to be on the low end - the extra water helps keeps things flushed. I add a small pinch of cranberry powder and a Cosequin to the civie's food and each day he gets a Pet Naturals UT support treat for some cranberry, glucosamine and d-mannose. I've found these at my local pet fuds stores.

Last time he had an episode, his vetty gave him a a series of 4 Cartrophen shots, once a week. Cartrophen is what we get in Canada that is the equivalent to your Adequan. Again, that is for bladder support. And I've got a Feliway plug-in going, Episodes can be caused by stress and as the vet says, it's the skitty ones who usually get this. Good luck with Lil G Girl.