Erica & Carter
Member Since 2016
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to give an update on what has been going on with my kitty crew. I haven’t been active posting here but I do read threads from time to time, and I’m usually more active on a lot of the cat Facebook groups.I apologize if this is long, but I’d love any advice or opinions!
Re: Carter -
Back in May, Carter had a senior screen that revealed a few things:
ALT - 671 (5x the normal range)
Thyroid - 3.8
He had fur loss, a ravenous appetite (he loves food, but he literally broken into the pantry and bit through a can of Tiki Cat...), and had lost weight rapidly in the time span of a month - he was down to 10 pounds, and he had been hovering around 12 prior. He also had regurgitation/vomiting issues that had been on and off for about a year that were initially thought to be food intolerances but it would only be whenever he would have any type of raw, but not on canned. He’d also been battling some environment allergies.
Carter had an ultrasound that did not find an anything conclusive on the liver other than it appearing coarse, and IBD was ruled out, phew! We treated the liver with antibiotics (Amoxicillin and Metronidazole) for about a month, started Denamarin, and rechecked his bloodwork 6 week later and 2 weeks off antibiotics - his liver values were back to normal at 54! Which had we not seen improvement, a liver biopsy would have been the next course of action. Since then, he has gained about a pound and a half back, fur has grown back, not ravenously hungry, and has not vomited in 5 months - currently eating EZ Complete w/ boneless meat. He will remain on Denamarin daily and is also on Chlorpheniramine for allergies once to twice daily as well. Overall, he is doing great and we plan to retest his T4/liver panel in September - to see if he is a good candidate to do i131 at that time, or depending, start the transdermal methimazole gel if my finances are tight due to my civvie’s health issues that have come into light. Right now he’s not symptomatic and is still in grey-zone numbers, so we will see what the specialist says come September. 14 months in remission too, yay!!
Re: Simon -
Simon went for his senior screen this week, which revealed a few things:
BUN - 36
Creatine - 2.7
Thyroid - 2.5 (normal, but going to monitor annually…)
Cholesterol - 230 (was up from last year, but he also wasn’t fasted, which could contribute…)
USG - 1.020
Urine Culture - Positive
Blood Pressure - 199 (average, some readings were in the 200s…)
So, diagnoses is likely stage 1-2 CKD, severe hypertension, and he has some sort of bacterial infection either in his kidneys or bladder that could be elevating those numbers. I sent off an MIC to find out what bacteria it is, and started him on antibiotics for 14 days; MIC results can take up to 5 days. It was also recommended I do an ultrasound to take a look at his kidneys and ureters themselves, so that will be happening in the next 2 weeks. I took the blood pressure machine home to retest his BP in a calmer setting and see if I could get a different reading but my spouse was not comfortable holding him and it ended up stressing him out more - so I’m taking him back to work with me on Wednesday and we’re going to try it in a room and give him 10-15 minutes to calm down before hand. Unfortunately, his BP is much too high to be solely influenced by stress, so we will also be starting Benazeprill this week, retesting BP in 2 weeks, and possible adding in Amlodipine if he’s not responding. I also scheduled him for a dental on September 5th that may have to be post-poned until we can get his BP under control, which sucks because I feel like he's having some issues eating (nothing appeared out of place during his annual oral exam other than G2 calculus and tarter) but he definitely eats a lot slower than my other two boys, and he struggles to eat his ground meat unless it's super soupy.
Right now the plan is to have him on:
Clavamox (for 14 days, depending on MIC/ultrasound results…)
S. Boulardii (to off-set any GI issues from the Clavamox...)
Calcitriol
Benazepril
+/- Amlodipdine
EZ Complete w/ boneless meat or Rad Cat (both use eggshell calcium vs bone)
Krill Oil
Green Lipped Mussel powder
I brought him in because he was due for his annual senior screen anyways but also because I noticed him drinking more than my other two cats, and they are all raw fed so realistically I never really see them drink, and it wasn’t his glucose, so it makes sense now since his urine is so dilute - but I would have never expected him to have a positive urine culture, nothing has been out of the ordinary. His labwork looked great last year, super disappointing to see how much can change in 10 months. He is 13.5 half, and he is my heart cat; I’ve been crying on and off this past week because I’m so overwhelmed, and I know he is not bad off by any means - he appears totally outwardly healthy and happy, but he had gone almost 14 years without any health issues so I guess we are still lucky. I handle end stage CKD cats every day but when it comes to my own, it is a different story.
He is not at the point of needing SubQ fluids or a phosphorus binder, is there anything else I’m missing?
He has pet insurance that will cover 70% of his bills and I work for a specialty clinic so he has access to a lot of care at a fraction of the cost, sometimes no cost, which I am very thankful for - but I am still having to struggle a bit financially.
Also my cats are all being cats right now because they are bored of chicken as a protein w/ EZC (this batch has 10 days left on it until I can go to the butcher - so I’m having to add some Tiki Cat toppers, or in Simon’s case, some Weruva that is lower in phosphorus) ugh, cats!
Also, does anyone know how to manipulate the spreadsheet template so I can use something similar to keep track of Simon’s medication/feeding?
Just wanted to give an update on what has been going on with my kitty crew. I haven’t been active posting here but I do read threads from time to time, and I’m usually more active on a lot of the cat Facebook groups.I apologize if this is long, but I’d love any advice or opinions!
Re: Carter -
Back in May, Carter had a senior screen that revealed a few things:
ALT - 671 (5x the normal range)
Thyroid - 3.8
He had fur loss, a ravenous appetite (he loves food, but he literally broken into the pantry and bit through a can of Tiki Cat...), and had lost weight rapidly in the time span of a month - he was down to 10 pounds, and he had been hovering around 12 prior. He also had regurgitation/vomiting issues that had been on and off for about a year that were initially thought to be food intolerances but it would only be whenever he would have any type of raw, but not on canned. He’d also been battling some environment allergies.
Carter had an ultrasound that did not find an anything conclusive on the liver other than it appearing coarse, and IBD was ruled out, phew! We treated the liver with antibiotics (Amoxicillin and Metronidazole) for about a month, started Denamarin, and rechecked his bloodwork 6 week later and 2 weeks off antibiotics - his liver values were back to normal at 54! Which had we not seen improvement, a liver biopsy would have been the next course of action. Since then, he has gained about a pound and a half back, fur has grown back, not ravenously hungry, and has not vomited in 5 months - currently eating EZ Complete w/ boneless meat. He will remain on Denamarin daily and is also on Chlorpheniramine for allergies once to twice daily as well. Overall, he is doing great and we plan to retest his T4/liver panel in September - to see if he is a good candidate to do i131 at that time, or depending, start the transdermal methimazole gel if my finances are tight due to my civvie’s health issues that have come into light. Right now he’s not symptomatic and is still in grey-zone numbers, so we will see what the specialist says come September. 14 months in remission too, yay!!
Re: Simon -
Simon went for his senior screen this week, which revealed a few things:
BUN - 36
Creatine - 2.7
Thyroid - 2.5 (normal, but going to monitor annually…)
Cholesterol - 230 (was up from last year, but he also wasn’t fasted, which could contribute…)
USG - 1.020
Urine Culture - Positive
Blood Pressure - 199 (average, some readings were in the 200s…)
So, diagnoses is likely stage 1-2 CKD, severe hypertension, and he has some sort of bacterial infection either in his kidneys or bladder that could be elevating those numbers. I sent off an MIC to find out what bacteria it is, and started him on antibiotics for 14 days; MIC results can take up to 5 days. It was also recommended I do an ultrasound to take a look at his kidneys and ureters themselves, so that will be happening in the next 2 weeks. I took the blood pressure machine home to retest his BP in a calmer setting and see if I could get a different reading but my spouse was not comfortable holding him and it ended up stressing him out more - so I’m taking him back to work with me on Wednesday and we’re going to try it in a room and give him 10-15 minutes to calm down before hand. Unfortunately, his BP is much too high to be solely influenced by stress, so we will also be starting Benazeprill this week, retesting BP in 2 weeks, and possible adding in Amlodipine if he’s not responding. I also scheduled him for a dental on September 5th that may have to be post-poned until we can get his BP under control, which sucks because I feel like he's having some issues eating (nothing appeared out of place during his annual oral exam other than G2 calculus and tarter) but he definitely eats a lot slower than my other two boys, and he struggles to eat his ground meat unless it's super soupy.
Right now the plan is to have him on:
Clavamox (for 14 days, depending on MIC/ultrasound results…)
S. Boulardii (to off-set any GI issues from the Clavamox...)
Calcitriol
Benazepril
+/- Amlodipdine
EZ Complete w/ boneless meat or Rad Cat (both use eggshell calcium vs bone)
Krill Oil
Green Lipped Mussel powder
I brought him in because he was due for his annual senior screen anyways but also because I noticed him drinking more than my other two cats, and they are all raw fed so realistically I never really see them drink, and it wasn’t his glucose, so it makes sense now since his urine is so dilute - but I would have never expected him to have a positive urine culture, nothing has been out of the ordinary. His labwork looked great last year, super disappointing to see how much can change in 10 months. He is 13.5 half, and he is my heart cat; I’ve been crying on and off this past week because I’m so overwhelmed, and I know he is not bad off by any means - he appears totally outwardly healthy and happy, but he had gone almost 14 years without any health issues so I guess we are still lucky. I handle end stage CKD cats every day but when it comes to my own, it is a different story.
He is not at the point of needing SubQ fluids or a phosphorus binder, is there anything else I’m missing?
He has pet insurance that will cover 70% of his bills and I work for a specialty clinic so he has access to a lot of care at a fraction of the cost, sometimes no cost, which I am very thankful for - but I am still having to struggle a bit financially.
Also my cats are all being cats right now because they are bored of chicken as a protein w/ EZC (this batch has 10 days left on it until I can go to the butcher - so I’m having to add some Tiki Cat toppers, or in Simon’s case, some Weruva that is lower in phosphorus) ugh, cats!
Also, does anyone know how to manipulate the spreadsheet template so I can use something similar to keep track of Simon’s medication/feeding?
Last edited:
