Neuropathy, High Kidney Values and High BG..

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ToddyTiger

ToddyTiger

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**Subject has been changed, as suggested

I took Todd to the vet today at 2pm, because the last couple of days, he wasn't looking right. Three weeks ago he spent about 6 days at our vet, being boarded while we were out of town. He did great.. was happy, eating and doing fine. I brought him home and all seemed well.. however, the last couple of days, I noticed a decline in him. Not eating as much, sleeping more, drinking a lot more, peeing a lot more and what looked like neuropathy in his back legs... however, he was alert!

So the vet checked him out. He's down to 9lbs from 10lbs (three weeks ago). She said it sure does look like he has neuropathy. So they did some in house blood work and it came back.. not good.

His kidney functions were up again and his blood glucose was off the chart...

BUN: 129 Creatinine: 4.6 and his blood glucose was over 500. Their meter only goes to 500, so it was higher than that.

She said we need to start him on IV fluids right away and he will probably need that for a few days. They close at 8pm tonight, so he will need to be transferred to a 24 hour clinic once they close. I've found a couple I can take him to and tomorrow I can pick him up and take him back to our clinic.

I'm scared out of my mind.. it is such a fast decline. I just spoke with the vet a few minutes ago and she said they got the IV in and she gave him some insulin. They will check once an hour to see how his BG is doing. She said he was eating some M/D while we spoke. So eating is good. But I'm scared. I mean, he was fine a week ago.. well, he was stable a week ago, and now he is going down hill fast. The Creatinine and BG numbers scare me. That is really, really high..

What do I do?.. I mean, I know he is at the vet right now and he will most likely go to a vet over night. But.. is he gonna die?


*scared* Please pray, send good thoughts for my Toddy. Please..

Sarah
 
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Oh, Sara. Lots of good thoughts coming your way.

Glad he will be in a 24 hour facility. Lots of kitties here have been in the same place with high bg levels and done well. Paws crossed for your Todd.
 
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Should I be worried about the high Creatinine?? I know the BUN is high as well, but it's not super high over 300 or something.

I wish I knew what to do...
 
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No advice, but tons of prayers and purrs coming for Toddy. Will be crossing all fingers, toes and paws for him and you.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang
 
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what was vet's diagnosis? did they test anything else - ketones, urine specific gravity (USG), phosphorus, electrolytes, CBC?
 
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No ketones.. I do not know if they checked anything else. But I will ask when the vet calls me back in about 15 minutes or so.

no real diagnosis, actually.. he's been off and on sick with different things since July. He'll be stable for a few weeks, then all of a sudden, something else is wrong, then he will get stable and something else goes wrong. Like I said, three weeks ago he was doing great! Had stayed at 10lbs for three months, was eating and doing pretty good, all things considered. The ONLY change in the last three weeks was the addition of Adequan for some arthritis.
 
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Todd is staying at the 24 hour vet clinic tonight. Our vet would like him to stay there all weekend. HOWEVER.. the cost for him to stay there until Sunday evening is well over $1,000. That is JUST for being watched and receiving IV fluids for two nights. I can't even believe the cost of that. They tried to get me to agree to extra blood work and my God, just to check his BG.. it was $25 for each time. I told them to check his BG tomorrow morning and see where it is at. But don't go crazy with checking it. I told the doctor there that if they want it checked more often, I have a meter and would more than happy to drive over and check it.. to save money. She looked at me like I was crazy. Is that crazy to suggest?.. honestly?..

I called them about 40 minutes ago and they said he was eating well and resting. He seemed comfortable.

Please send lots of prayers and good thoughts Toddy's way..
 
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It's good to hear Toddy's doing better. Now what is being done at the vet that you can't do yourself, seriously. What are the dangers of your bring Toddy home and administering what is needed?

I am serious. Is it possible to acquire fluids needed and just take care of Toddy at home? And going there to test with your meter is not crazy... if I were in your shoes, I would demand that I be allowed to do the same thing, and may even stay there overnite with my cat, so if you are crazy, I am crazier!

What about getting copies of all the b/w and posting here because I am positive others here will be able to tell you what's in the numbers.

If giving IV fluids and just watching is all you are getting, why can't you do that at home? Get the blood tests taken, then bring him home with the fluids and instructions on what signs would be a concern. I am sure you will save a ton of cash that way and Toddy will be way happier at home in familiar surroundings. See what they say about it.
 
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*IF* Todd is headed toward a renal crisis - and we don't know if he is, as she writes that the vet did not give a diagnosis - round-the-clock IV fluids for up to 72 hours is an accepted treatment. There will be time for SQ fluid administration at home later, if his values stabilize. IV fluids are different from SQ fluids. See http://felinecrf.org/fluid_therapy.htm# ... ous_fluids BTW, has Todd been getting SQ fluids consistently at home, prior to this?

Sarah, you had earlier asked if he can die from this. These renal values (without a diagnosis, I'm going to address just the renal values, not the BG, and assume that renal disease is the primary issue here) are not fatal, but they are high. High enough to make Todd feel very sick. Especially if he got to these levels in a short time, and his body has not had time to adjust to it. IV fluids will hopefully help flush the toxins that have accumulated, and then we'll have to see if he'll stabilize at this or lower values.
 
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Thanks CF; I have a question though - at what point would it be safe to bring Toddy home?
What numbers, levels are acceptable?
What can be asked of the vet to know how to proceed?
 
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I wish I could do IV at home. At this point, I have done so much for him, I probably could if I had all of the equipment. Our vet wanted him at a 24 hour clinic over the weekend, and then after that, do IV fluids during the day at their clinic and be home with us at night.

I just spoke with my regular vet and she is waiting on a call from the ER vet. I told her everything and her reaction was, this was what she was afraid of (the cost that is). All we had wanted was a place where he can he on fluids for 24 to 48 hours at least. No extra blood work or anything. But of course, the ER clinic had me sign paper work saying *IF* something came up, they could charge me this and that. You KNOW they will find that something to charge me for. In the amount I paid, there was an extra $100 for (extra treatment) They tell me this is in case he vomits or something and they need to give him something extra. I'll get it back if they don't do anything. You KNOW they will, so I don't get it back. So she is going to have a talk with them when they call. I have at least until 8:30pm tonight.. I can either leave him for another night and hope it won't cost an arm and a leg. I could bring him home, I could find another 24 hour vet to take him to (they all cost about the same) or he can be on IV fluids overnight at our vet office, but our vet doesn't want to do that, because there is no one there between 5pm and 8am. So if he pulls the IV out he'll bleed out or he could have some other issue. So it's not really a win situation right now. I just hope for some good news.

I'll see if I can get the labs from yesterday. I think though, that they only check the kidney values and for ketones. She said something about a high white count. But he has had that for a while now, with no known cause. She gave him an oral antibiotic yesterday, just to be safe.

WCF- He had been receiving 100ml of fluids at home every other day for over a month. However, he got 100ml on Wed AND Thur this week, because I could tell something was up and he needed it. The internal Med. specialist we had sort of been working with told me I can't do it everyday, because he doesn't need it. Clearly he was incorrect.

I feel so bad.. I wasn't expecting all of this when I took him into the vet yesterday. I honestly thought his diabetes was just going a bit crazy and he just had some neuropathy. I guess I was just being stupid in assuming it was that and all h would need his some adjustment and B-12. I wonder.. would the out of control BG numbers cause his kidney values to go up?.. or would the high kidney values cause the BG to go up? Are they unrelated? He has been on a kidney diet since Oct.

*sigh* please send more good thoughts.. I'm waiting on a call from my vet and the ER vet.

*EDIT UPDATE

I just spoke with the tech at the 24 hour clinic. She said his BG was 397 this morning before insulin. Last night at 9pm before insulin, it was 350. She tells me he is resting right now... She said he is eating well, but I asked her what that means. I asked if he his just nibbling or what. She didn't know, but she tells me his paperwork shows that once an hour they wrote down that he was eating, so she assumes he was nibbling. I'm not sure if that should be considered eating well or not. *shrug* Eating well to me is scarfing down food. Anyway... once I hear from our regular vet, I'll know more of what she wants/thinks we should do.

More good thoughts please!!
 
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I think these questions are best answered by the vet, Gayle. Without knowing the diagnosis, we can only guess what's going on, and that's neither safe nor fair to Todd, Sarah or the vets caring for him. Your questions are fair questions for the vet or specialist, and I would ask them. That would also be a good time to bring up concerns about costs and finances, which vets may sometimes forget to take into account.

Just to give some perspective on the renal values, Meowzi's creatinine has gone as high as 4.9 before. But her excursions above 4.0 were generally gradual, not rapid; over time, a CKD kitty may learn to live with these higher values. In Todd's case, we don't know how rapid his decline has been, and just as importantly, what has caused the decline. Aside from progression of CKD, pancreatitis can raise renal values, as can a kidney infection, and various other conditions (I believe DKA too?).

And I do need to correct some careless writing on my part earlier: the type of fluids given by IV may be the same type of fluids given SQ (usually LRS), or not. What I should have written was that fluid administration by IV is different from SQ administration, obviously, and need to be monitored for reasons explained on Tanya's site that I linked above.
 
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Thank you so very much for your help WCF!


I have a feeling, though I haven't heard back from my vet, that Todd will probably come home tonight. Unless I can get the ER vet to ONLY do and charge me for the extra overnight stay $189 and $36 extra for fluids. (this is if I go off of the paperwork they sent home with me). I think he will end up at home tonight, but the IV cath will stay in, in case it is needed tomorrow. Which it probably will be.
 
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ToddyTiger said:
... or he can be on IV fluids overnight at our vet office, but our vet doesn't want to do that, because there is no one there between 5pm and 8am. So if he pulls the IV out he'll bleed out or he could have some other issue.
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I agree with your vet.

I'll see if I can get the labs from yesterday. I think though, that they only check the kidney values and for ketones. She said something about a high white count. But he has had that for a while now, with no known cause. She gave him an oral antibiotic yesterday, just to be safe.
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High WBC count could suggest an infection. Ask about that. Sounds like she's assuming the same too, with the antibiotic. Is he on a course of a/b, or was that just one dose?

WCF- He had been receiving 100ml of fluids at home every other day for over a month. However, he got 100ml on Wed AND Thur this week, because I could tell something was up and he needed it. The internal Med. specialist we had sort of been working with told me I can't do it everyday, because he doesn't need it. Clearly he was incorrect.
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With a BUN of 120+, even after getting 100 ml fluids on two continuous days, I think he's very dehydrated, Sarah. The IM may have been right that Todd may not have needed it then - but something may have changed since, either temporarily or permanently.

I feel so bad.. I wasn't expecting all of this when I took him into the vet yesterday. I honestly thought his diabetes was just going a bit crazy and he just had some neuropathy. I guess I was just being stupid in assuming it was that and all h would need his some adjustment and B-12.
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(((hugs))) Don't feel bad. You were vigilant, and you caught it, that's the good thing. I've seen worse BUN and creatinine values on other boards. He doesn't seem to be in a full-blown crisis here, although that may have been where he was headed.

I wonder.. would the out of control BG numbers cause his kidney values to go up?.. or would the high kidney values cause the BG to go up? Are they unrelated? He has been on a kidney diet since Oct.
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I don't know the answer to the first. I would think not, at least not in the short term, but I'm not a vet. High kidney values, if it's from a kidney infection, can indeed raise BGs, just like any other infection could.

He's on a kidney diet? Which one? Most of them are high-carb; that could explain the out-of-control BG numbers unless you're compensating with a higher insulin dose. (not recommending that, just saying).

I'm sending more good thoughts that he's stabilized and feeling better.

edited to fix quote boxes.
 
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Oh, I agree with our vet as well. I wouldn't want him pulling his IV out or anything like that.


She sent him over to the ER with a bottle of antibiotics. I can not remember what they were called. But it was half a tablet every 24 hours for 14 days.


His kidney diet was k/d dry. He would NOT eat the canned food. He doesn't like canned food. The only canned anything he likes is tuna. The vet ( not the one we saw yesterday, but a different one we see at our clinic) said I could give him a tiny bit of tuna or tuna juice each day as a treat and he should be fine. But when I look back, that could be what caused all of this, because tuna has protein. I'm sure this is my doing and I didn't even know it. *sigh* I hope it goes back to the normal range once they get him stable. On Tues-Wed this week, the vet suggested trying the Royal Canin renal diet and see if that helps. We thought maybe he was just being a picky eater. So I gave him some.. I don't know if that may have made things worse as well.


May I ask... with renal issues. Do they come and go like this?.. where they are good for a while and then maybe they have something like this come up? I've never had a cat with renal issues. I have read over the websites out there about renal issues, but I guess I like to hear it straight from someone that is dealing with it now or knows about it.
 
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I'll have to come back to answer your renal question later :) I need to run out to get chicken hearts before the farmers' market closes, or my Cali Imp will maul me later this week when she finds out we're out of snacks for her.
 
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Chicken hearts *twitch* Have fun with that! lol


So I just spoke with our vet. She talked with the ER vet, and the ER vet said he is actually doing REALLY well and she/he felt that Todd could come home tonight and tomorrow he can go to our vet clinic for the day. Our vet said that she is encouraged to hear that they feel he would be fine coming home. So lets hope he does ok.. Again, I have until 8pm to pick him up. So I'll let him stay the day and get as much fluid as he can.

I guess at some point last night they had his BG down to 190ish.. At least, this is what the ER vet told her, I guess. So that is good news!

More good thoughts! :D
 
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ToddyTiger said:
So I just spoke with our vet. She talked with the ER vet, and the ER vet said he is actually doing REALLY well and she/he felt that Todd could come home tonight and tomorrow he can go to our vet clinic for the day. Our vet said that she is encouraged to hear that they feel he would be fine coming home. So lets hope he does ok.. Again, I have until 8pm to pick him up. So I'll let him stay the day and get as much fluid as he can.
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Sounds very positive :)

His kidney diet was k/d dry. He would NOT eat the canned food. He doesn't like canned food. The only canned anything he likes is tuna. The vet ( not the one we saw yesterday, but a different one we see at our clinic) said I could give him a tiny bit of tuna or tuna juice each day as a treat and he should be fine. But when I look back, that could be what caused all of this, because tuna has protein. I'm sure this is my doing and I didn't even know it. *sigh* I hope it goes back to the normal range once they get him stable. On Tues-Wed this week, the vet suggested trying the Royal Canin renal diet and see if that helps. We thought maybe he was just being a picky eater. So I gave him some.. I don't know if that may have made things worse as well.
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Will he not eat prescription canned food, or all canned food? Hydration is very important for a renal kitty, and canned food is preferred. But a kitty must eat.

IMHO tuna juice shouldn't have caused this. Newer thinking is to restrict phosphorus, not low protein. If tuna is high phosphorus as well as high protein, then maybe, it may hurt. But I don't see how just a little bit as a treat could precipitate a rapid decline in renal function. Meowzi gets a couple of small cubes of freeze-dried salmon daily. It's not ideal, but it keeps her happy, and to us, a happy kitty is very important :) Don't be so sure it's your doing either; renal disease is progressive and loss of kidney function isn't usually detected until a high percentage of function is lost.

Do you think you could get him to drink more? That would probably be the single most helpful thing for his kidneys now. It's even more critical to increase oral hydration if you can't get him to eat canned food.

May I ask... with renal issues. Do they come and go like this?.. where they are good for a while and then maybe they have something like this come up? I've never had a cat with renal issues. I have read over the websites out there about renal issues, but I guess I like to hear it straight from someone that is dealing with it now or knows about it.
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Hard to say. Some seem to have an easier time than others, I don't think there's any pattern to it. And it's not just with renal kitties that have problems come and go. Diabetic kitties can too, like chronic pancreatitis, infections ...

I hope he has a restful night at home tonight :) Bet he's glad to be home :)
 
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If you have not already done so, you may find it helpful to read what Dr Pierson has written about feline nutrition

It may give you some ideas to try.
 
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WCF- We've tried prescription canned food, as well as just store bought. He doesn't like any of it. The best we can get him to do is maybe take a few little licks, but he won't eat more than that. There have been times where at the vet, he will eat some canned food if they give it to him and he is there all day. They have even been able to get him to eat a whole can in one day.. but at home, it's a no go. Sadly, I can't leave food out, because we have a few cats and a couple of dogs. So any food left out will be gobbled up by the other fuzzy vacuum cleaners. hehe

I picked Todd up about an hour and a half ago.(around 7:30pm) The ER tech said he was doing very well and ate very well today. His BG was 190-something at 1am this morning. At 8am this morning it was 397 before insulin. That was the last time they checked it. When we got home, which was about 8pm, he ate a couple nibbles of k/d dry and then I checked his BG. It was 236. I then noticed they forgot to give me his insulin, but it was ok, because I had a refill waiting at our pharmacy, so I just got back from picking it up and I gave him his 1.5 units of Lantus. I saw him drink some water from the fountain and now he is just sitting in his kitty bed. One thing I noticed is his back legs still are not working right. I assume though, that if he indeed does have neuropathy from the high BG, that once his BG starts to stay at a normal range and perhaps we get him on some B12 again, that it will get a bit better with time(?)... it's really hard to watch him kinda fall all over his back legs. I will talk with our regular doctor tomorrow, and Todd will be going in at 8am for the day. The crumby thing is, the ER removed his IV cath before I brought him home, so now they will have to put a new one in at our vet tomorrow. Ugh.. the good thing, we got a $80 refund from the ER!


So.. send more good thoughts Todd's way! He needs all the love/support he can get right now. :)
 
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It's such a relief to hear that Toddy's back home again in his own familiar bed and surroundings. I bet he will be resting easier tonite.

I wonder how come he eats the wet at the vet but not at home? Maybe he knows he can't get any of the dry, so he gets hungry and eats the wet. Too bad you can't leave food out for him because of the others. I have a civvie who eats only dry but I have to keep it covered when I am not around so the others don't get it. I wonder if you can do something like that... have the wet food for Toddy where he can get it when yo are around to supervise and keep the others away.

I'll be hoping for some good news tomorrow for Toddy at the vet.
 
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Todd seems.. not right tonight. It's about 12:40 in the morning. He was resting in the kitty bed in the hallway for most of the evening. he's having such a hard time getting around with his back legs...

anyway.. he followed me into my office, which has another small kitty bed. Anyway, I gave him some wet k/d and he ate a bit for me. not a lot, but some. Then he went over to the little kitty bed and got into the "poop" position. I hate to say it, but I let him, because I didn't want to yell at him and I didn't want to grab at him. Some urine came out, but no poop.. as I said, he started in the "gonna poop" position, but as he pushed, by the time he was done, he was laying on his belly pushing. Then, in the same spot he had peed (though I don't think he realized he had peed) he flopped down and looked sooo tired. :/ I got him moved to a different bed in the same spot, which is where he is currently sitting. He looks tired.. I'm sure he is, especially after trying to have a BM. Though he has been out with everyone since we got home, I think maybe I should keep him in my office for the night. It's one of the warmest rooms in the house, and this way I can leave food out for him to nibble and I brought a litter pan in, so I can see what is happening there. He hates being locked up in a room, but it might be best. I'll still check his BG before I go to bed, which will be in an hour or so. Oh, after I got him moved to the new bed, he ate some more of the wet k/d off of my fingers. So that is good.

Anyway.. his weak back legs really freak me out. It's almost like he is drunk back there. :(

Thought.. and if anyone has an answer or thought about it, share.. Our vet had him eating m/d while at their clinic on Friday. When I took him over to the ER vet that night, they put him back on the k/d. He is having issues with both his diabetes and kidneys. What would be the best food, I wonder. I am honestly more worried about his weak back legs, BG and the fact that he is struggling to poo, more than anything else.. though I know the renal labs were high.

*sigh* all I want for Christmas is for him to feel better and maybe put on a bit of weight. That is all I ask for.


*UPDATE* for my own reference, rechecked BG at 3:25am and was 347. Check before that was 236 at 9pm BEFORE insulin.
 
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I wish I had something helpful to say other than relay to your vet exactly what you have been seeing Toddy do and ask spedcifically about the straining and also the back legs. They really need to make up their minds about which food is preferable too.

I hope he can have a bit of a restful time tonite and you can get some answers from the vet in the morn.
 
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I just dropped Toddy off at the vet.

After 3am last night, I'm not sure what he did, but I had him set up in my office with some food. It looks like he peed three times in the box between 3am and 7:30am. It doesn't look like he ate anything though. :/ I think he stayed in his bed most of the night.

He is very, very alert, he is just having a heck of a time walking. Though his kidney values are high, I think he is having the most problems with his back legs. He can't walk more than a foot or so before he needs to rest.. and rest for a while!

So the vet that we worked with on Fr and Sat isn't in again until Thursday, however, our regular vet at the clinic was in and she was told of what was going on. I told her about him trying to poo and basically being on his belly trying to poo, about the walking issues, about peeing in his bed and of course that they pulled his IV cath out at the ER. She is going to put a new IV in today and depending on how he does, she might check his kidney values at the end of the day. If not, tomorrow for sure. She is curious if the fluids are doing anything for it. If it's the same or goes down a little, I guess that is better than getting worse. I pray it's gone down a lot though. (please please let it have gone down a lot!!) I spoke to her about food, and she thinks we should still do the k/d, but try to regulate the diabetes with the insulin. My guess is he needs more than 1.5 units twice a day. He probably has for a while, because at home his numbers are generally between 250 to 350.. that sounds to me like unregulated diabetes. But maybe I am wrong here?

Anyway, I also spoke with her about getting him on some B12 Methylcobalamin. It seemed to me that she didn't know of it, so they most likely don't have it. She said she was going to look it up this morning. I told her that if she agreed with me that it looked like it would help, and they do not have it, to let me know and I will call around until I find a place that does have it and I'll bring it over to them today. I hope she agrees with me. I don't know what else would be causing such a fast decline in his back legs OTHER than neuropathy. I know I am not a doc and I have never had a cat with neuropathy, but from everything I have read and all the photos I have seen, I really feel this is what is going on there, and once that gets better, he'll be able to move around better... and probably feel better in general.

My husband and I chatted about.. is it time. I told him I didn't think so, because he still has that look in his eyes.. like, there is something there. You know?.. we had to let our cat Sylvester go last year and that last day, you could see it in his eyes. He just wasn't there and wasn't the same. Same with our kitty Nip, in 2008. They kind of told us hey, it's time.. Todd hasn't given me that look yet. I know he will never be back to 100%, but if I can at least make him feel better and keep him comfortable, I will.

Please send more prayers and good thoughts!! and if you have any opinions or suggestions, please share! I can use all the help I can get!
 
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Please have the vet check for fecal impaction. An x-ray might even be in order
to see what is happening in the bowel.

Hate to borrow trouble, but this has some of the signs of bowel tumor:
Trouble pooping, walking short distances then resting.
 
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WCF- I will have them check his potassium. He's been taking potassium supplements for a few months now.

Karen- They have done two or three X-rays since Aug and two Ultrasounds. I think the last ultrasound was done in late Oct or early Nov. Nothing odd except fr slightly large adrenal glands. The Internal Med specialist didn't feel that it was cancer or anything like that. He said possible IBD, but no one is treating for it if he does have it. Everyone is concerned with the kidney issues. They felt no poo in him yesterday at the vet. Probably because he hasn't been eating much for the last week.


Will the Xoboline B12 Methyl pills be something I could find at large vitamin shops?.. Or would it need to be ordered online?

Does anyone have a brand I could look for in stores. I would love to get him started today or tomorrow, rather than waiting for pills to arrive in the mail.
 
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ToddyTiger said:
Oh hey.. folks that have used B12-Methylcobalamin... does this look like the right kind for using on a cat??:

http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Factors-M ... B00028P8AW


If so, there is a Super Supplements store near me that has some, so I could go get it today! Let me know what you think.

Thanks!
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I would avoid this one... I just bought it yesterday to give to my Willie. It contains lactose, which is a form of natural sugar. I think it may have made my Willie's blood sugar go high this morning... with everything going on with your Toddy, I wouldn't risk it.

Best wishes to all of you!
 
Our vet said to give it a shot with the B12-Methyl and find some at a local vitamin shop. She did some research and she doesn't think giving him a human version will hurt. She said he could also be weak from just being ill right now. because he can barely walk or even move.

She is going to recheck his BUN, Creatinine and Glucose at 4pm. I'll pick him up to come home at 4:30pm. She said if his kidney values have gone down, that is a good sign. If not.. well, she didn't say it, but I suppose it could mean he is not gonna make it. I don't know. I'll post the values once I find out what they are. I do know his BG was in the 300's before insulin this morning.


I went to go visit him for a few minutes.. and really, he just didn't look good at all. He was curled up in his little bed I brought with him and looked tired and kinda grumpy. Normally at the vet he is very chatty and asking for attention from everyone.. but not this time. He looks like he is on deaths door. I gave him a couple of Bonito Flakes (tuna flakes), which he nibbled at. I just.. don't know what to do for him. :/

I hope I can find the B12-Methyl locally. At least one I can try until I get the cat version from LifeLink.
 
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ToddyTiger said:
WCF- I will have them check his potassium. He's been taking potassium supplements for a few months now.

Karen- They have done two or three X-rays since Aug and two Ultrasounds. I think the last ultrasound was done in late Oct or early Nov. Nothing odd except fr slightly large adrenal glands. The Internal Med specialist didn't feel that it was cancer or anything like that. He said possible IBD, but no one is treating for it if he does have it. Everyone is concerned with the kidney issues. They felt no poo in him yesterday at the vet. Probably because he hasn't been eating much for the last week.


Will the Xoboline B12 Methyl pills be something I could find at large vitamin shops?.. Or would it need to be ordered online?

Does anyone have a brand I could look for in stores. I would love to get him started today or tomorrow, rather than waiting for pills to arrive in the mail.
Click to expand...

It would have to be a very large vitamin shop, I think. Good it's not cancer.
 
UPDATE: Neuropathy, High Kidney Values and High BG..

So I just got Todd home. He stayed at the vet all day on fluids and around 4pm they checked his kidney values and blood glucose. His blood glucose was 274. So it's down.. remember, it was well about 500 on Friday.

His kidney values have improved since Friday, but not as much as the doctor would have liked.


Friday

BUN: 129 Creatinine: 4.6


Today
BUN: 74 Creatinine: 4.2

He was on fluids Friday from 3:30 in the afternoon (with a two hour break for me to drive him to the ER vet in the evening) and from around 9pmish Friday night, until 7pm Saturday. No fluids last night and he was on fluids from 8am today until 4:30pm. I don't know if that is really enough time to see a huge improvement with the kidney values. She felt he should have improved a lot more by now. I don't know though. Our vet said to bring him back tomorrow at 7am and they will do more fluids. She is going to keep his IV cath in for at least the next three days and do fluids, as well as rechecking everything.

I did pick up three different kinds of Methyl-B12 and took them to see what the vet thought... she did some research and said she was kind of skeptical about it helping. She read that it can cause diarrhea sometimes. So I don't know.. I think I am still gonna order the Xobaline aka Zobaline from ilifelink. I'm not sure, however, if I should try any of the ones I bought tonight... at least until the one from ilifelink arrives. Thoughts?


I got this one:
http://naturalfactors.com/ca/en/product ... n-5000-mcg
Our vet thought if anything, this one might be the best. But it does have Lactose in it. She said maybe half a tablet.

and the 1MG of this kind:
http://www.sourcenaturals.com/products/GP1217/

and this one:
http://www.solgar.com/SolgarProducts/Me ... uggets.htm

He is still very weak, but he looks better.. sort of. He's purring a lot, even while just sitting next to my feet. And he's chatting with me a bit. But he isn't able to move around a whole lot.

Now I feel bad. I started crying and woke him up. He gave me this look like, omg are you ok? Then I gave him a pat on the head and he went back to snuggling in his bed. It's been such an awful weekend.
 
Hi I know its late 11:26 est. I just read thru UR post. I pray for you and Todd.Lots of warm Light and Love flowing to and surrounding the both of you.
 
I just wanted to share.. and because I am wide awake at 2am. hehe

Just before 1am, my husband poked his head into my office, where I had Todd set up for the night. I guess Todd got up from his bed and started for the door when it was opened. So I told my hubby to go ahead and let him out to be with us before bedtime (which is whenever I can't stay awake anymore) So he came out into the living room and I brushed his face, which he loves. And he followed me around the house a bit, as best he could. I got him to eat some more (VERY watered down) k/d canned and then, I was so, so excited.. he pooped! Outside of the box, under my piano.. but I don't care, because he pooped and it was soft (not bad soft). YAAY! And it must have made him feel better, because that was 10 minutes ago and now he is sitting next to me in my office munching away at his k/d dry!! I didn't even have to try to convince him to eat. He walked up to it and started on his own. It's not even nibbling, it's munching! I gave him half a spoonful of tuna juice as a treat as well. I felt it would make him happy and oh boy, did it! Also, he is getting around a lot better tonight than he was last night. I am hopeful now.. but I know we are not out of the woods yet.

I just wanted to share. I know it could be just a weird fluke that he feels better right now, but I would like to believe we are doing something right and all of your prayers are helping. Thank you!
 
My first thought was 'the piano is as good a place as any'! Who but animal people would be so excited about poop! Here's hoping that his rally continues.
 
UPDATE 2: Neuropathy, High Kidney Values and High BG..

Just got a call from the vet. Todd has been on fluids all day again today. They said he was moving around a bit better today, more alert and ate very well! So that is good. She checked his BUN and Creatinine again.. it's not great news.

Today

BUN: 70

Creatinine: 4.3

So the BUN went down, but the Creatinine went up from 4.2 yesterday to 4.3 today (was 4.6 on Fri). She kind of feels that this might be where his kidneys are at now. It scares me a lot.. because I don't know if that is really end stage or not. I asked if there was still a chance it might go down with more fluids and such and she said it's possible. But she may have said that to make me feel better. Don't know. Can anyway tell me how bad that is?.. or maybe tell me if it is normal to have the Creatinine fluctuate almost daily like that?.. is that bad? Maybe recommend stuff I can do/try for him to help?.. He's been on IV fluids for about 3 days with 12 hour breaks in the evening to come home. Does he need more fluids treatment than that?

So she said we could do one more day of IV fluids and then we should probably remove the cath and let his veins rest. So he'll get another day tomorrow and then I will start him back up on the Sub-Q at home.

She said his BG was in the 300's this evening. We are both thinking he might need an increase in insulin. So once he has had a day or two at home, rather than going to the vet, she wants me to do a curve at home and then we will talk about if it should be increased or not.



So.. I don't know. That is where we are at I guess.
 
UPDATE!

Todd spent today at the vet getting his last day of IV fluids. They did not check his kidney values today, we're gonna give it a few days of being at home, getting 150ml of Sub-Q and then check his values over the weekend or next week.

They removed his IV cath, which when I took the bandage off later, was kind of a bloody mess. I know they had a really hard time finding a vein in the first place, and I assume his veins were just aggravated when they took it out. He wasn't still bleeding when I took the bandage off, you could tell he was bleeding a lot earlier though. It doesn't seem to be bother him, thankfully. Poor guy..


Anyway, the tech taking care of him today (she LOVES Todd) said he ate a cup of his dry k/d!!!!! Which was great to hear, since he has only been nibbling for the last week. Even here at home, he has gone to the food dish several times in the few hours we have been home. He is also able to get around a lot better. I can see he is still a bit weak and easily tired, but he looks really good, is very bright eyed and chatty. And purring a lot!

The vet did tell me that when they checked his BG this morning, it was higher than the meter could read (which is 500), so she decided to up his insulin from 1.5 to 2.0. I am glad she did this, because I was about to ask her if we could do that, right before she brought it up. So YAY! This evening around 9pm, I checked his BG here at home and it was 570. So I gave him his 2.0 units. I will probably check again in the middle of the night, because I'm a night owl. hehe She said to give it a couple of days at this dose, while watching his numbers and we will review it in the next day or so. I have a feeling it will probably need to be upped to 2.5 or 3. He was on 2.5 for over a year just before he got sick in July, then they reduced his insulin.

Anyway.. he actually seems better tonight, which I am so very thankful for. I hope he continues getting better and can stay stable for a while.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! Keep sending them Todd's way! I will let you know how tomorrow goes. <3

**EDIT It's been six hours since he received 2 units of Lantus. His blood glucose at 3am is 457. Of course, that is very high. I guess I don't know much about Lantus, but I do know it is an all day insulin. So, just curious, after 6 hours, should Todd's BG be a lot lower than just 457?? (was 570 at 9pm) As I mentioned above, I'm pretty sure we will need to up his insulin more at some point, but it's only been a day now.

Thanks!
 
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