6/19 Noodle AMPS 282 (BCS) +1 315 PMBG 92 (skip, appy issues)

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Patricia & Noodle

Patricia & Noodle

Member Since 2015
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/6-16-noodle-amps-244-2-25-322-pmps-273-3-235.139547/

Ugh, Noodle's appetite has been terrible the past two days. I had to open 9 cans of food to find something she'd eat last night & this morning and even then she won't eat too much of it. Really looking forward to the digestive issues she'll have later today thanks to a quick food switch. :confused: I didn't feel comfortable giving the full dose without her eating well, so I gave a BCS of 1u after stalling for a while to see if she'd come around. I should have increased a couple days ago, but with all these appy issues I'm holding off on giving her more juice at least until Saturday night or Sunday AM.

Thankfully, I already had a vet appointment scheduled for today, so she got a once over, a new cerenia prescription, and we sent a full blood work-up out to the lab. It had to be done to prep for the dental anyways, so it was good timing. The vet didn't feel anything obviously wrong when she examined her, so I'm going to hope its a bit of nausea and pickiness. In addition to the usual pre-surgery blood work, we're having them check her cardiac markers. She has this intermittent heart murmur that SEEMS to be stress related--they didn't note it at every 12hr check up when she was admitted for 5 days, and the vet hasn't heard it at every follow up). Obviously, we want to rule out heart disease before risking anesthesia. If anything seems off with those, she'll need an echo. Paws crossed that's ok... I felt positive in the office (her vet has GREAT bedside manner), but now that I'm home I'm stressing out. Noodle is quite the celebrity at her vet, when we checked in the receptionist said "Oh, Noodle! That's one of her favorite patients!" and her blood draw took extra long because all the techs were cooing over how great she looks. They met her in the throes of DKA, FHL, and 4 lbs lighter than she is now. Plus, they all think shes the sweetest cat in the world because she gets so scared at the vet she freezes and cuddles up to whatever body is closest to her! :joyful: As long as her blood work is all normal, we should have her dental scheduled for the first week of July, lots of nerves for lots of reasons over here. :nailbiting::nailbiting::nailbiting:

As far as her fur goes, the vet wasn't really concerned. She said sometimes the black fur just changes as kitties age and shedding probably has a lot to do with why it seems to be "growing." She mentioned they don't worry so much about changing fur color as they do when its thinning or the skin changes. Any physical reason it might be happening will show up in the bloodwork. I'll keep you updated! @manxcat419 @Wendy&Neko

Now that I've written a veritable book, its off to the office to grab some things before I work a tasting tonight. Busy weekend ahead of me, but I got some cleaning done before her appointment this morning and immediately felt calmer. Vines to all in need!
 
@Tricia & Cinco From Wednesdays thread, I actually go by Tricia or Trish with most long term friends and family members! I must not enunciate well though, because when I introduce myself that way, I usually get a "huh?" so I always introduce myself as Patricia. I found if I make a point to say "Patricia," people will at least ASK before they call me Pat--and I can say "heck no!!", I've never been one either, my mom made sure of it!

Speaking of mom, thanks for sending your regards, Serryn @Vyktors Mum ! I'll pass them along when I see her tomorrow. :cat:
 
When Max's murmur was more pronounced my vet sent me to a cardiologist and it was benign. The type of murmur he has will be worse when under stress. I'm thinking the same is true for Noodle. Vines for good bw and appy.
 
Awww - Noodle sounds like she's a complete sweetheart at the vet. :) How lovely that they were so impressed with how well she's doing - it really helps when it's so obvious to others that your hard work in getting her feeling better has paid off. :D

Fingers crossed for good blood work results! Our Shadow has had a heart murmur all her life we think (certainly since she was about a year old - she's 18 now). It was checked out to make sure there wasn't a real problem, especially with her having it so young, but it's benign and has never caused her any problems at all so hopefully Noodle's will be the same.

It will be interesting to see if anything comes back on her blood work to explain the white hair, though if it can just be normal ageing as well I'd imagine that's probably what it is for my Regan as she's never had anything odd come up on blood work. If it does turn out to have another cause for Noodle though, it's something I'll ask my vet to look for when my 2 have their annual check up, just in case!!

Now, come on Noodle...eat your fuds! It might be fun for you to make mama open every can of food in the house before you'll eat one of them, but there are much better (and less worrying) games you could play!
 
Aw, sweet Noodle :bighug: That is so cool that everyone at the vet office loves her. She sounds like such a precious little thing. Hoping that everything is fine with your little girl and all blood work results are great.
 
Hi (Pa)Tricia, totally agree on the name. My DB is a Pat - it's a guys name.

Paws crossed for good b/w results. Neko has a heart murmur and the echo showed it's likely just something that happens with aging cats. Cardio vetty said only to worry if it changes location or intensity. Not that I'll stop worrying with the acro tumor there. :rolleyes: Anyway, she still has anesthesia, but I go to a dental specialist and they have someone in charge of anesthesia, monitoring the Doppler on her during the operations. That's why I chose a dental specialist. Another option is to get a traveling certified vet anesthesiologist to attend the operation.

Sending tons of appy vines your way, we've got more than we need here.
 
Now I'm really going to feel weird, calling you Tricia (if I may)!! Most people automatically call me Trish, even though I refer to myself as Tricia. That's just fine. Just don't call me Pat (to be clear, I don't dislike the name - my favorite aunt was a Pat. It's just not my name). I once sat in my dentist's waiting room while a new tech call three times for "Pat". I didn't even hear it, because it's not my name. She finally came out and said "Patricia", and I jumped right up. When she commented she'd called me three time, I told her I don't go by Pat and never have, so she wrote "Tricia" in big letters on my file (even though everyone else there already knew that)!

Vets and their staff just love cats that are calm and cuddly. My girls are both big hits, largely for that reason. It doesn't hurt when they are beautiful, like Noodle is. I'm glad you felt good about the visit, and that the vet didn't find anything obvious. Paws crossed and good vines for all good news when the results come back.

Sending appy vines, too. Noodle, this is not a contest to see how many cans you can get Mama to open! (My cats try that one, too! My record is six - you win!). :joyful:
 
Patricia (and please let us know if we can call you Trish so we don't get you and Tricia mixed up or whether you'd rather remain Patricia to us).

Sending many healing vines for Noodle. I hope her tummy starts to feel much better.

I agree with Wendy that murmurs can be benign (we've had three cats with them and there was no associated heart disease) but it's smart to have it checked out.

You know Gracie had a dental in Feb and I was :nailbiting::nailbiting: because of the anesthesia even though we have an amazing board certified vet anesthesiologist here who has done the anesthesia for all our cats for literally 15 years. But Gracie has always been so sensitive to meds, etc, that I worried. Dr. L explained to me that the FDA just had approved the use of Alfaxalone for induction in Dec, 2014. It's been used widely in Europe and the UK for eons but not in the US. Her premeds were Midazolam and Butorphanol. And the anesthesia was isofluorane gas. Dr. L said it was just amazing how smooth her induction was and that from induction through the entire procedure with the anesthesia, Gracie was the most stable of any cat she'd done. Evidently the Alfaxalone makes a huge difference. Just passing it on as something you "might" want to ask your vet about. Because that is Dr. L's specialty and she stays on top of the latest, than it's possible other vets are not yet using those drugs and in that case, they should use what they are comfortable with. Again....it's just info.
 
Oh! Everyone please feel free to call me Patricia--lots of people do & my Grandmother ALWAYS called me Patricia so I do like it. I'll respond to Patricia, Trish, or Tricia (or either of my sister's names if its my mom calling us!), I don't mind any of those variations, they all hold a special place because of what different loved ones called me.
Tricia & Cinco said:
Just don't call me Pat (to be clear, I don't dislike the name - my favorite aunt was a Pat. It's just not my name).
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MY favorite aunt was my (great) Aunt Pat, too!!!! I'm named after her and her sister (Patricia Carol -- can you tell its the Irish Catholic side of the family?). I'd tell Noodle about your compliment, but she's already got a pretty big head from her adoring fan club at the vet. :p The best part is that she is NOT happy to be there, it's just her fear default, she clams up, freezes, and leans against whatever is closest to her, and that's usually the vet or tech! They think she's loving on them, but I'm pretty sure she thinks she's hiding.

Thanks for all the info on murmurs, everyone! There's no way I would move forward with the dental without looking into it, but I've been getting progressively more stressed out as the day goes on. It helps a great deal to read your experiences. She's already mentioned a great dental specialist nearby and is really all-around wonderful to work with. She knows how involved I am and is completely willing to go above and beyond for us. Since the office is also a VCA ER & Hospital, they have a lot of good relationships with local specialists and I'm confident we'll have a good plan going forward no matter the outcome. My vet is also an ultrasound specialist, so she knows EVERYONE locally, it definitely helps me feel better!

@Marje and Gracie Thanks for all the detailed information. I'm going to save it in my Noodle Google Doc (say that five times fast) for reference when we start discussing the nuts and bolts of D-Day. I'm hoping to have her pre-Dx records picked up this weekend. She had a couple cleanings when she was younger, but I have no idea what sedation was used for them and would like to have it on hand.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
the FDA just had approved the use of Alfaxalone for induction in Dec, 2014. It's been used widely in Europe and the UK for eons but not in the US.
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It's also been used in Canada for a while. Neko's anesthesia's have been pretty much non events. The only time she had a reaction was one day at Colorado State University, back before Aflaxalone was approved for use in the US. A side benefit of Aflaxalone is that it doesn't seem to affect the BG like the previous meds did.
 
How funny. I never realized it until a few years ago, but my sister has always called me Patricia - the only one in the family to do so (unless I was in trouble, and then it was usually Patricia Anne!). I, too, answer to the names of my siblings. In fact, once my then-boss called me Kathy and I answered immediately. She realized what she'd done and asked why I responded. I told her my mother calls me that all the time (my sister's name)! :joyful: She even called me Bob once, which really got my attention! :eek::p

I forgot to mention that Minka has a heart murmur, too. They did an echo on her at UCD after the first time they heard it (which was after several visits, so it is not always noticed) and found no issues. I have one, myself. I think they are more common than most people realize.
 
Tricia & Cinco said:
How funny. I never realized it until a few years ago, but my sister has always called me Patricia - the only one in the family to do so (unless I was in trouble, and then it was usually Patricia Anne!). I, too, answer to the names of my siblings. In fact, once my then-boss called me Kathy and I answered immediately. She realized what she'd done and asked why I responded. I told her my mother calls me that all the time (my sister's name)! :joyful: She even called me Bob once, which really got my attention! :eek::p

I forgot to mention that Minka has a heart murmur, too. They did an echo on her at UCD after the first time they heard it (which was after several visits, so it is not always noticed) and found no issues. I have one, myself. I think they are more common than most people realize.
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My Mom is Kathy! These Catholic families need to branch out on their name choices! :joyful:

I think the plan is now to do an echo if the IDEXX Cardiac test shows anything abnormal in her blood work. Anyone have any experience with it? She said she was wary of using it diagnostically at first, but consulted with a few cardiologists and feels confident using it as a pre-screen to determine if the echo is needed. She showed me how she used it for another patient with a similar murmur to Noodle.
ETA: Not sure exactly which test we're doing, but here's a link to some peer reviewed info from IDEXX https://ca.idexx.com/pdf/en_ca/smallanimal/reference-laboratories/cardiac-blood-tests-in-cats.pdf
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Sienne once posted about this cardiac test. Is it the one the vet is doing? I've wondered whether I should get it done for Neko.
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It looks like the paper provided by IDEXX does refer to testing NT-proBNP like that study. I assume that's what it will test, but I didn't write down the exact markers. I'll try to dig into it a little more.

As for Noodle, she is 92 at PMPS, I've been trying to get her to eat for a half hour, and it's just not happening easily. I'm near tears and I just don't think I feel safe giving her insulin tonight. I guess I could do a BCS again, but I'm so nervous of her dropping and not eating. Thoughts? We're at +12.5 now, with the stall this morning she got that shot at +12.5, too.
 
Well you have certainly got a lot of cardiac info from the board...how fantastic. I know what you mean about feeling fine about something at the vets ( or doctors) then coming home and worrying about it...I think we all do it. I certainly do.
Hope Noodle's appetite comes back soon...it is always a worry when they won't eat and you have to give the insulin.
 
She dropped so much today and if you are really worried about her appy, I think you'd be OK with skipping tonight. But, with DKA in her history, you do want to keep a close eye on that...have you gotten a ketone test today (or lately)?

Please eat, Noodle...it will make your MamaBean and aunties very happy, OK?
 
Amy&TrixieCat said:
She dropped so much today and if you are really worried about her appy, I think you'd be OK with skipping tonight. But, with DKA in her history, you do want to keep a close eye on that...have you gotten a ketone test today (or lately)?

Please eat, Noodle...it will make your MamaBean and aunties very happy, OK?
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I got one a couple days ago, negative. I actually just ran out to grab more ketone strips for that reason and locked myself out of my apartment..... when it rains, right? (and it was raining, too). It's too late to give the shot and catch up. I need some wine.

ETA: At least I just got a negative ketone test! (For her and me, haha).
 
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Here ya go. Always happy to help. Have all you want - I have lots more. :bighug:

Eat, Noodle, eat! Make your Mama happy!!!!!!!! And you aunties, too.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Sienne once posted about this cardiac test. Is it the one the vet is doing? I've wondered whether I should get it done for Neko.
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I've been doing a little more research and it seems the NT-proBNP is more useful as guidance for further diagnostics than as a diagnostic tool itself. Higher concentrations indicate the cat is at an increased risk of having heart disease, but you need to get further tests to confirm disease and severity, all it will do is tell you if you should do that. If you are concerned that her cardiac health is getting worse (are cats with murmurs already more prone even when its benign at first?), it might be useful to add that test to future full blood panels to see if you need to get another echo. IDEXX has several PDFs online summarizing (sponsored) studies, the test itself is called IDEXX Cardiopet proBNP. It seems to be the only cardiac biomarker test they offer.

I'm actually finding the research pretty comforting to an extent. Some studies have shown over 80-90% of cats with murmurs did not have cardiomyopathy or other heart disease, so odds are good!
 
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