Tom 3/1 AMPS ~355, +6 ~177 PM ~296 (bloodwork attached)

[Ilkka and Tom]

HI all,

Tom the Cat got his first PS in the yellow, last night, so the Levemir is starting to work which is a relief. Went to see his regular vet (Monday), who ran a simplified blood panel test (I did not want to wait for it to be sent out). Am attaching a copy of his blood test results here.

• -- No infection
  
  -- liver alanine transaminase (ALT) is high -- indicating liver damage, although it is not necessarily irreversible. This one worries me.
  
  -- Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) is also high (kidneys) -- can be caused by too much protein..

All of which is not to say that I understand what is going on with him. ** Link to new ss is below.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I'm not an expert, but I'll give the lab values a shot.

The elevated ALT in the absence of other elevated liver values may be an early warning sign but may not be significant either. Has Tom been on any medications? There are several, including steroids, NSAIDS (e.g., Metacam, Tramadol), etc. that can effect ALT levels. Also, hyperthyroidism can effect ALT values. You may want to get Tom tested for hyper-T since this is relatively common especially in older cats.

The BUN elevation may be a result of dehydration so you may want to add water to Tom's food. Creatinine is normal so a kidney problem is unlikely although you don't have a urine specific gravity to rule it out completely. FD can be hard on the kidneys so adding water or doing what you can to increase hydration will help.

 

[Ilkka and Tom]

I'm not an expert, but I'll give the lab values a shot.

The elevated ALT in the absence of other elevated liver values may be an early warning sign but may not be significant either. Has Tom been on any medications? There are several, including steroids, NSAIDS (e.g., Metacam, Tramadol), etc. that can effect ALT levels. Also, hyperthyroidism can effect ALT values. You may want to get Tom tested for hyper-T since this is relatively common especially in older cats.

The BUN elevation may be a result of dehydration so you may want to add water to Tom's food. Creatinine is normal so a kidney problem is unlikely although you don't have a urine specific gravity to rule it out completely. FD can be hard on the kidneys so adding water or doing what you can to increase hydration will help.

Sienne

great feedback - very plausible ideas, thank you. I'll have the thyroid checked. He is not on any other meds, but the dehydration is probably a factor. Sub-q fluids time..? what do you think?

To make matters worse, he was at 396 this morning. I hope it was a furshot and I don't need to say how I am feeling about that -- the post would have to be deleted; & what timing, if indeed it was a furshot. If it wasn't, then there is a bigger problem.

Ilkka

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I would talk to your vet about sub-q fluids. It may simply be that adding water to the canned food will do the trick unless you're already doing so. There are other ways of assessing for dehydration in terms of how the skin tents or if Tom's gums are tacky. I think it's a question best run past your vet since too much fluid can cause problems.