Bailey proving to be hard to TX!

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WendyACE

WendyACE

Member Since 2019
I hate the rollercoasters of life especially when my precious Bailey is riding that coaster. When she was diagnosed as diabetic I was forced to hold off giving her insulin because she was also diagnosed as being anemic with clotting issues as well. The vet said we couldn't start the insulin because you don't want to be sticking a cat with needles when her blood is not clotting as it should. Prednisolone b.i.d. and Vitamin K b.i.d. for 2 weeks allowed me to finally start the insulin. I was able to stop the Vitamin K and go down to once a day on the Prednisolone. Saturday I did her first Blood Glucose Curve and have been getting really good at checking Bailey's BG before each Insulin dose.Things were looking up and now it looks like we are back to square 1. Her CBC recheck yesterday showed her platelets were way down again (as well as "clumping"?).

Luckily she is not showing any bruising at her injection sites so I am able to continue with her Insulin. I have to keep a close watch though. If I see bruising I have to stop the Insulin. I had to go back to twice a day on the Prednisolone. Nothing on the Vitamin K as of yet.

The hardest part of this is that I have to stop checking her BG at home until her platelet count comes back up again. The least amount of needles the better. What is really scaring me though is that the results of her Glucose Curve have proven that her Insulin dose needs to be increased and I can't watch her numbers and see how low her glucose goes! I will be watching her like a hawk when I am home. I don't want her to go into a HYPO situation! When I am at work I have to rely on my elderly parents to keep an eye on her. I will be calling home every chance I get.

I finally got copies of her labs. I see that there is a page on the SS for lab results and I will try my best to figure out what to put where. My Vet's lab "ranges" are different than what is on the SS. I will figure something out so the "Pros" (aka. more experienced CGs) on this forum might be able to give me some insight.

Ok let's hope there are no more big hills on this rollercoaster! Thanks in advance for any words of encouragement. All is greatly appreciated.
 
Jennifer,
Nothing as of yet as to the cause. There was some minor bruising. Initially they thought Bailey had gotten into some rat poison but as she is an indoor cat and we have never had any rat poison in the house, it is a total mystery. The word "lymphoma" did come up in the discussion but there were no signs of any tumors to be found. There is still a slim chance though. I hope not!

Thanks Bron. I will post when I get things loaded into the Labs SS. Still getting tripped up reading through the pages. I had some medical training in my past and some of the terminology is familiar but I had training with humans not cats. Plus its been a while... a l-o-n-g while.
 
In further reading of Bailey's Lab reports they list the clotting issue as "Thrombocytopenia". Here's the definition: Thrombocytopenia is a condition in which you have a low blood platelet count. Platelets (thrombocytes) are colorless blood cells that help blood clot. Platelets stop bleeding by clumping and forming plugs in blood vessel injuries.

So again currently the cause is unknown.
 
WendyACE said:
In further reading of Bailey's Lab reports they list the clotting issue as "Thrombocytopenia". Here's the definition: Thrombocytopenia is a condition in which you have a low blood platelet count. Platelets (thrombocytes) are colorless blood cells that help blood clot. Platelets stop bleeding by clumping and forming plugs in blood vessel injuries.

So again currently the cause is unknown.
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Without seeing labs, I can’t tell you much. However, you said, “ Her CBC recheck yesterday showed her platelets were way down again (as well as "clumping"?”. Clumping is normal and often platelet counts will seem low because of the way the sample was collected which causes clumping, which then looks like there is a platelet issue. I’ve had my healthy cats have a platelet count of 70 with a 3+ clumping. That just means that because they were so clumped due to the way the sample was drawn, they couldn’t count the exact number.

Has her anemia resolved?
 
One other possibility regarding anemia, especially with an outdoor cat, is if your cat was eating anything from the onion family. Onions are not good for cats -- they can cause anemia.
 
Bailey is an indoor cat and I do yell at mom whenever I find an onion skin on the kitchen floor. I believe the anemia is getting better it's the platelets that have dropped once again. My Vet said to 22,000.

I don't have Tuesday's lab report.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
Without seeing labs, I can’t tell you much. However, you said, “ Her CBC recheck yesterday showed her platelets were way down again (as well as "clumping"?”. Clumping is normal and often platelet counts will seem low because of the way the sample was collected which causes clumping, which then looks like there is a platelet issue. I’ve had my healthy cats have a platelet count of 70 with a 3+ clumping. That just means that because they were so clumped due to the way the sample was drawn, they couldn’t count the exact number.

Has her anemia resolved?
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I didn't talk to the Vet directly yesterday so wasn't able to ask questions about "clumping"

All of the records I have so far have been uploaded to my SS. Don't have most recent CBC as of yet.

Any input greatly appreciated!
 
WendyACE said:
I didn't talk to the Vet directly yesterday so wasn't able to ask questions about "clumping"

All of the records I have so far have been uploaded to my SS. Don't have most recent CBC as of yet.

Any input greatly appreciated!
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I don’t really have anything to add. They didn’t do enough of a panel to amount to much but his HGB and HCT are doing much better! His platelets are totally in the normal range with this last set of labs. I was just looking at another cat’s labs here in FDMB and her platelet count was well below normal due to the extreme amount of clumping but the lab did not find any issue with that because everything else was within normal limits and the platelets, otherwise appeared normal.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
They didn’t do enough of a panel to amount to much
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What other tests are you looking for in regards to a "full panel". My vet did some other tests "in house" and I wasn't sure how to input it into the SS (unique headings) . There are some other items on the tests that weren't on the SS as well. Can I add them? I will play with the SS tonight to see how much customizing I can do myself. I may be a pencil and paper person but I can still (if I have to) find my way around a SS.

My vet told me via the voicemail yesterday that Bailey's Platelets had dropped to 22,000 (with their conversion that makes it 22) which is pretty close to the 19 reading on the 27th of November when she was initially diagnosed. I don't know how it could have dropped so low since the last test that was in a good range. I am wondering if all of the "blood letting" during her Glucose Curve on Saturday (just 3 days before CBC was run) could have sent the platelet count out of wack? Just a thought. At least this time there aren't any little red spots (bruises) on her tummy that had the Vet screaming "Rat Poison"!
 
Very frequently platelets in feline blood clump together resulting in a low platelet count since today most blood counts are done my machine which excludes counting clumped platelets. When that happens usually a sample of the blood is looked at under a microscope and that typically shows platelet clump and person looks at the clumps/platelets and usually the platelet count is judged to be normal. the amount of blood loss by a glucose cure should not affect any blood test results.
 
WendyACE said:
What other tests are you looking for in regards to a "full panel". My vet did some other tests "in house" and I wasn't sure how to input it into the SS (unique headings) . There are some other items on the tests that weren't on the SS as well. Can I add them? I will play with the SS tonight to see how much customizing I can do myself. I may be a pencil and paper person but I can still (if I have to) find my way around a SS.

My vet told me via the voicemail yesterday that Bailey's Platelets had dropped to 22,000 (with their conversion that makes it 22) which is pretty close to the 19 reading on the 27th of November when she was initially diagnosed. I don't know how it could have dropped so low since the last test that was in a good range. I am wondering if all of the "blood letting" during her Glucose Curve on Saturday (just 3 days before CBC was run) could have sent the platelet count out of wack? Just a thought. At least this time there aren't any little red spots (bruises) on her tummy that had the Vet screaming "Rat Poison"!
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A full panel usually includes a superchem and CBC. You can add any tests you want on the lab tab.

Unless she’s bleeding a whole lot when you poke, I’d be surprised if that would affect the platelet count.
 
Thanks again for the help and support!

I am still in total aw that her platelet count was up to a normal amount and then only to drop so low again and with no signs of bleeding or bruising. When I poke her for the BG tests I have to really work her paw pad to get enough blood for the test. She does not bleed easily. I will be looking forward to the results of this Tuesday's retest of the CBC. My Vet does the CBC testing in-house as it saves me $$. Maybe they haven't done the full panel including the superchem because they have to send it out and it is way more expensive?

Since upping her insulin dose and going back to b.i.d with the Prednisolone Bailey has really gotten back to her normal self in the way she acts and looks. Back to playing, preening and being so lovable again. So even though I am still worried that I can't "see" what her BG levels are I think it is working.

I am still making heads and tails of the lab reports and will be adding/customizing the Lab tab as I go.
 
You have to treat the 'whole cat' and all their medical issues. If bumping the prednisolone back to twice a day is what you had to do to get Bailey back to her 'normal self', then that is what you had to do.

If you had to stop the BG testing for now because of the anemia, than that is what you have to do. You noted it on your SS so people should see that. I look at the SS before replying on most every cat (unless it's a new person and there is no SS yet).

ECID Every Cat is Different is the usual meaning of that acronym here. But it could also stand for ECID Every Caregiver is Different. ECID Every Case is Different.

Look back at some of your posts. Look at how far you have come in 6 weeks. You should be very proud of yourself and how much you have done for Bailey.

Pretty darn good job as I see it. (We forget to say that too often).
 
Deb & Wink said:
Look back at some of your posts. Look at how far you have come in 6 weeks. You should be very proud of yourself and how much you have done for Bailey.
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THANK YOU Deb & Wink! So often we ALL forget to stop and look back at what good we have done. So often we focus only on the bad and the good gets overlooked.

I just spent several hours web surfing trying to figure out what is going on with Bailey. Weather it is ITP (Immune-Mediated Thrombocytopenia) or a Diffuse Neoplasia (as noted in her medical records) or something else it appears that the treatment with Prednisolone is the best way to go.

I could continue with guesses but right now Bailey is hungry for her dinner and she comes first! :cat::bighug:
 
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