Amanda and a Loudogg
Member Since 2017
June 8, 2020 Condo - 3 year Dx Anniversary w/pics!
Hello everyone!
I hope everyone is doing well, and trying to stay cool. I don't know about everywhere else, but it's been hot hot hot here in ND. Ugh, I hate baking and/or melting all the time, but I won't complain too much.
Lou's been doing well, although he hasn't been eating as well the last week or so. It seems more like it might be a mini mutiny on the food rather than being outright sick. He's earned a reduction, had a BCS dose, and is now down to 1.5u. I wouldn't be surprised if he needs to go down more, but we'll see what happens when the depot stabilizes. We had a box of grilled poultry fancy feast (12-13% carbs) that was sent to us in error. He's been eating that pretty well so we've been feeding it more than we would normally. I don't care about the higher carbs at the moment. I just want to see him eating normally. I started D-mannose this morning on the off chance that it's a UTI. We'll see what we see.
Bella went in for her repeat ultrasound last week. She was much more amenable to the process and the vet had a much easier time performing the procedure. She still couldn't see all of the spleen, but she could see some of it. She brought in another vet and they found what was likely the pancreas actually blocking part of the spleen. It looked inflammed. I had asked to add the GI panel prior to the ultrasound (Thanks for the suggestion @Wendy&Neko!), but the vet wanted to wait and see what the ultrasound said. When she called me with the results, she said she thought it would be a great idea to add the panel. They drew it and sent it out the same day. I got the results on Tuesday and Bella actually has exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, or EPI, along with severe B12 deficiency. My vet said she has never seen EPI in a cat in her 15 years of practice. Even when they thought it was EPI and sent out the blood for the test, it's always come back negative. I guess I have special kitties is all, haha. So we've started her on B12 injections once a week (she had the first this week and they'll teach me how to do them at home next week). The vet said it was likely she'd be on them long-term. We ordered a pancreatic enzyme powder supplement for the EPI and we're waiting with baited breath for it to come in. I imagine it's going to do a world of good relatively quickly. Overall, the vet said it's likely the EPI was caused by damage from long-term, chronic pancreatitis, although thankfully the panel showed no current pancreatitis. Since Bella gained a little bit of weight (6.6 lbs up to 7.0 lbs), the vet said it's likely she doesn't have cancer, which is a relief. We'll see what comes after she's gotten her supplementation for a while. I hope she gets to be fatter and happier again soon. I'm so relieved we finally have an answer to what's been causing her weight loss and severe appetite. It only took a year, but I'm glad I kept on it... especially after the original vet didn't really seem phased about it.
I'll update again after the supplements have had a chance to work. I hope you all have a wonderful day and your kitties surf safely. Sending some extra vines to both Bella and Jamie (@Bellasmom).
Hello everyone!
I hope everyone is doing well, and trying to stay cool. I don't know about everywhere else, but it's been hot hot hot here in ND. Ugh, I hate baking and/or melting all the time, but I won't complain too much.
Lou's been doing well, although he hasn't been eating as well the last week or so. It seems more like it might be a mini mutiny on the food rather than being outright sick. He's earned a reduction, had a BCS dose, and is now down to 1.5u. I wouldn't be surprised if he needs to go down more, but we'll see what happens when the depot stabilizes. We had a box of grilled poultry fancy feast (12-13% carbs) that was sent to us in error. He's been eating that pretty well so we've been feeding it more than we would normally. I don't care about the higher carbs at the moment. I just want to see him eating normally. I started D-mannose this morning on the off chance that it's a UTI. We'll see what we see.
Bella went in for her repeat ultrasound last week. She was much more amenable to the process and the vet had a much easier time performing the procedure. She still couldn't see all of the spleen, but she could see some of it. She brought in another vet and they found what was likely the pancreas actually blocking part of the spleen. It looked inflammed. I had asked to add the GI panel prior to the ultrasound (Thanks for the suggestion @Wendy&Neko!), but the vet wanted to wait and see what the ultrasound said. When she called me with the results, she said she thought it would be a great idea to add the panel. They drew it and sent it out the same day. I got the results on Tuesday and Bella actually has exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, or EPI, along with severe B12 deficiency. My vet said she has never seen EPI in a cat in her 15 years of practice. Even when they thought it was EPI and sent out the blood for the test, it's always come back negative. I guess I have special kitties is all, haha. So we've started her on B12 injections once a week (she had the first this week and they'll teach me how to do them at home next week). The vet said it was likely she'd be on them long-term. We ordered a pancreatic enzyme powder supplement for the EPI and we're waiting with baited breath for it to come in. I imagine it's going to do a world of good relatively quickly. Overall, the vet said it's likely the EPI was caused by damage from long-term, chronic pancreatitis, although thankfully the panel showed no current pancreatitis. Since Bella gained a little bit of weight (6.6 lbs up to 7.0 lbs), the vet said it's likely she doesn't have cancer, which is a relief. We'll see what comes after she's gotten her supplementation for a while. I hope she gets to be fatter and happier again soon. I'm so relieved we finally have an answer to what's been causing her weight loss and severe appetite. It only took a year, but I'm glad I kept on it... especially after the original vet didn't really seem phased about it.
I'll update again after the supplements have had a chance to work. I hope you all have a wonderful day and your kitties surf safely. Sending some extra vines to both Bella and Jamie (@Bellasmom).
