Re: 8/6 Charlie AMPS 374 +3 364 +7 340 PMPS 385
Hi guys,
My head is full of cobwebs this evening from a very high stress workday, information overload, and a lack of sleep lately due to my sweet little sick Charlie. I'll try to summarize the latest status from my partner's trip to the vet this morning, but if I can't answer everything please understand why. I'll do my best. I cannot exactly explain the vet's reasoning on all of this, as I wasn't there and could not take off work. Here's an overview of the current status and assumed next steps:
Here goes:
- On the spot urine test showed that there are STILL leukocytes/white blood cells in the urine. However, the vet put the same urine under the microscope, and she couldn't see any infections or crystals in it when she looked at it like that. Everything else according to the test strip came out normal (no ketones, no blood in urine, etc).
- Due to the leukocytes though, our vet still thinks this is a sign that there's an infection. She specifically thinks it's a bladder infection of some sort. As I've said before, Charlie doesn't exhibit ANY of the signs of a typical bladder infection (peeing outside litter box, straining to pee, blood in urine itself). However, due to the leukocytes, our vet wants a follow up test. Still, she thinks Charlie doesn't have kidney disease or cancer. How she could know this, I have no idea. She told my partner that it would be more clear from Charlie's behavior that she was real sick, and since Charlie doesn't have blood in her urine, still has a healthy appetite, is not real sick and is not only peeing small amounts, our vet perceives that this is not something bigger.
- The vet agreed to do a urine culture and sensitivity test as a next step. We have to wait a week until next Monday to do this, as the vet says Charlie still has antibiotics in her system, and it's best to allow some time for this to clear first.
-In the meantime, we will revert back to the holistic meds ("Bladder comp liquid").
- The vet looked at our stats and she too thinks we should hold Charlie's dose at .5 for the time being and keep testing. She also pointed out that some cats take a very long time to get regulated, and others never get regulated.
So the plan is to hold the dose, give the bladder comp, and return NEXT Monday to do the urine culture and sensitivity test.
During this next week, we are thinking about getting a bit more strict on a couple of variables in order to see if we can bring some more control over Charlie's numbers, enabling us to get more "data ready" and at LEAST learn where Charlie's nadir is. We were thinking about giving Charlie very fixed amounts of just 1 kind of food at very specific intervals for the coming week (just to see if it would help the vomiting stop, and give us a clearer idea of the nadir point).
Currently Charlie is sick one day, feeling better another, and her activities and levels of eating (plus types of food) vary from one day to the next. We consistently feed ONLY wet food under 1-2% carbs, but the type of food varies. We're giving her different types of food on different days, and maybe (just maybe) one of those foods isn't sitting well with her and that is producing the vomiting? Also, perhaps the nadir will be easier to find once Charlie has a more strict eating schedule & routine?
Meantime, let's hope for no MORE vomiting and diarrhea and LESS red and pink!