Cami update 3-7 (maybe some hope)

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Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA

Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA

Member Since 2009
I finally got her blood test results (lab closed due to storm Tues/vet out Weds).

She has very high ALT & AST, high bilirubin, slightly high BUN, normal glucose :mrgreen: , normal T4, slightly decreased potassium, RBC and hematocrit. Her WBC count is in the normal range, but show toxic changes to the cells.

So all of that is indicative of an inflammation-infectious state, slight dehydration and anemia. The vet said this can all be present with cancers, but are not typical. She noted that the BUN was only a little high which is good considering the enlargement of the kidneys.

The plan is to continue the pred and baytril and redo the xray and US ($ gulp) in two weeks. If she has cancer of any kind there will not be any improvement in her organs. Conversely, if there is improvement than it must likely is not cancer.

Dr. Yohn was encouraged that Cami is feeling better, her resp rate has dropped into normal range and that she hasn't needed insulin since Monday.

So keep your fingers and paws crossed for her still.
 
Got everything crossed that I can find to cross that it is only an infection somewhere and not the dreaded C word. I don't suppose you still have it but have you ever shown the vet that weird thing she hacked up? I wonder if it has anything to do with what is going on with her now. If it somehow effect her body in some form of toxin? I'm really only guessing and it may be a stab in the dark but it might also be as a piece of the puzzle that is Cami.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
If the liver needs support, ask about giving her Denmarin or other milk thistle product. These have been found helpful.
 
Mel, I am VERY suspicious of that plant thingy at this point. I did show it to my regular vet and she sort of shrugged. This was back in Nov. I will try and locate it (put away so I wouldn't loose it... :roll: ) and take it to the specialist. I still have not identified it, but if it was toxic, it was steeping away inside her for who knows how long. I did mention it to the specialist already.

BJM, I already decided to give her Denamarin after some research and emails to another lev user who has used it for her kitty. She was generous and sent me a package of it, so I just started her on it today. I did ask the vet last night if there was anything else we could do to support her, "like giving her Denamarin?" and she was all for it, even sells it, but [strangely] did not suggest it herself.

I am also going to make a high collagen broth for her (and my aunt's cat) for intestinal healing.

And Cami has a new nick-name: Pumpkin. I have been calling her Squeaker because she has a tiny, squeaky voice when she isn't screaming for food. I didn't hear it for about the first two months I had her. Anyway, Dr. Yohn's vet tech, Gina, called her Pumpkin when we were trying to clean her up and she was really crabby, but in a way that you knew was because of such a long, grueling day at two vets and being very sick. Here was this tiny, frail, very sick little girl growling at us and Gina just said, "Oh, Pumpkin!", and I knew it was going to stick for as long as she remained with me.

We had a long cuddle after my shower this morning. I get to sit in the cold bathroom, still damp with a towel wrapped around me and hold her in my lap while she purrs and puts her head in the crook of my elbow or rests it on my arm. I can't deny her this.

BG is creeping up - still under 100, but just barely. No insulin yet. Resp rate down to 30/min.
 
You and I are thinking alike then because I started thinking about that when you were saying where all the fluid was collected. Since we have no idea what it was, there is a high chance it was toxic, maybe not enough so to be fatal but enough to cause damage and just like Autumn finally being well enough for her body to start rejecting those BBs could now Cami be well enough that her body is trying to fight whatever that thing left in her body? Man, somedays I wish they could talk and tell us their history so we could do more to help correct the wrongs done to them.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
I did some more searching for veggies that have stems and the one she threw up could have been from an eggplant or a bell pepper - both are nightshade plants and not good for cats (or dogs). I still don't know for sure, probably never will.

I think I need to look up triaditis again and read up on it. Whatever is going on it is involving her intestines, liver, pancreas, kidneys and lymph nodes. and probably gall bladder.

On a good note, she was 74 this morning and her resp rate was 28/min. :mrgreen:
 
It really looked to me like eggplant stem or at least something in that family..something vine grown.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
Definitely something vine grown, but that covers so much including tomatoes (which it wasn't), cucumbers, and so on. My first thought was a squash of some kind, but it hasn't matched up with any that I have looked at.

This is a good lesson that it isn't "cute" when they get into the garbage (which she did routinely at her old home because she was desperate for food).
 
Back in town again and catching up-

Great to hear about a most possible chance of no C but leading to other points instead- that is an answer to prayer. Now they just need to figure WHAT and how best to fix it.

That is some relief, though.
 
I vote eggplant, it has the toughest woodiest stem of anything like that. May take more than a day or two to digest? Most other plant fiber material should be digested within days in a normal digestive environment? But I guess cat hair can be pretty persistent.

Paws crossed you can get this sorted out and it all can be fixed. Poor Cami. cat_pet_icon
 
Dale, whatever it was it was in her stomach for over five weeks. It is not from anything I cooked here, so it has to be from her old home (where she routinely got into the garbage until they got a super strong closing can that she told me "I just got it"). I read on line about a cat that had stuff he had ingested at least six months earlier (when the owner of such items moved out: hair bands, costume jewelry, etc.) so who knows.

It definitely did not get digested in that amount of time, but does look "worn and tumbled" - soft aroud the edges. Maybe a dried gourd? But don't know how she could even eat that.

Yes, Heather, there is some hope. She isn't out of the woods by any means.

After rapid improvement last week, she has plateaued and I feel is about where she has been all along. Meaning, acting OK, but still with a bloated belly and lots of noise coming from it. I just hope that the onslaught of meds and supplements is doing something that is healing and reversing things.

My next thing to add it a high collagen chicken broth which I am making for her and my aunt's cat.
 
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