What is wrong with KittyBuddy?

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allie and newkitty

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I really don't know what to think. Last year he was playing like a kitten (he is probably in his teens). Jumping, hide and seek, slapping sparkle balls, etc. It was fun to have such a high-energy cat with 2 other seniors who act like seniors!

He had a much-needed dental in Jan. His teeth looked like a toothpaste commercial...for 3 months. Now they look like crap again.

He was diagnosed as hyper-t in Feb, when we saw that he had lost weight despite eating a ton. His thyroid is now regulated on 1 methimazole BID.

He had a breathing spell that worried us and my vet said he had asthma and a possibly enlarged heart on xray. We took him in for a cardiac ultrasound and the doctor said, his heart looked great, no worries there. He has always had some allergies. The asthma was treated with a short course of low dose pred and a dex shot. He developed diabetes as a result. He was dx'ed with the beetus last week, got the shot about 4 weeks ago. His numbers are high 200s, low 300s. He is on 1/2 unit Lantus 2x a day. His fructosamine came back under 300.

The problem? He seems sick and has since his hyper-t dx in Feb. He has no energy. He no longer plays. He just lays there and allows you to pet him. He eats FOUR CANS of FF a day and weighs 8 lbs. Our 14 lb civie eats 2.5 cans a day.

He does not have pancreatitis and his folate was normal. His B12 was a little low. All of his bloodwork is normal except glucose and a high-normal bilirubin. He does not seem to be in pain. He does not currently have asthma symptoms. His combo test is negative. Kidney values are great. Urine is fine.

WTH??

We have done every bloodwork, xrays, cardiac ultrasound, etc. We are going broke and still have no idea what is wrong. Next stop, abdominal ultrasound. My vet says at this point, she is just stumped. But when she saw him last week (they all love him there) she said, he is surviving, not thriving. His eyes just looked tired. :(

Anybody have any input?
 
You didn't mention liver enzymes. With elevated bilirubin I would have liver function tests. If the liver isn't functioning well, the food would not get processed completely. He could also be in pain. Sometimes there can be blockages in the liver or bile ducts that cause swelling and pain. There is medication to increase bile flow and breakdown stones or blockages - ursodiol. Signs: if poop is lighter color or loose/ Urine very dark.
 
Hi Kathy. Thank you for reading. By liver enzymes do you mean like ALT & ALP? Those were normal. Earlier this year he did have light color poop, but it is normal-color now. I don't think he is in pain. I do have buprenex on hand for my other cat (diabetes/panc/IBD/CRF) but she is almost twice his size. Not sure about his dosing...

His total bilirubin was 0.6, the range is like 0.2 - 0.7.

He has not eaten in over 24 hours. I am going to give him some of her LRS here in a little bit. ETA: he is not eating due to Clavamox my vet was giving him because she thought he might have a UTI. The culture did not grow anything so she told us to take him off it. It always makes our cats sick, I hate it.
 
When were the liver tests done? I ask because some cats just cannot metabolize methimazole and it affects their livers. Minou, my civie, was started on a very low dose of methimazole and within a month her AST was 16000 (normal is 10 - 100). Fortunately, the liver returned to normal after stopping the methimazole. She is borderline hyper-T and is doing okay without meds. for it.
 
Hey Kathy. They were done a week ago tomorrow. He also had bloodwork in May & June and his liver levels were ok then too.
I bet that scared the crap out of you with Minou!!! WOW.
 
Just looked at his blood work again.

ALP 61 (10-90)
ALT 82 (20-100)

This was abnormal:
K+ 3.6 (3.7-5.8)
CHOL 318 (90-205)
MO% 0.5% (1-3)
 
That is interesting. He does have low B12 and I gave him a shot on Tuesday. He has not perked up yet but not sure how long it takes for the Clavamox side effects to go away.
 
If I'm remembering correctly, K is potassium. Low potassium can cause lower metabolism and muscle spasms. Since it's only a little out of range maybe just a piece of a supplement would make a difference. Most people feel bad when it's a little low, I don't feel it until I actually collapse (which is at 2- a level that is not supposed to support life - HA)
 
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