Kitty Katie - July 1996 - July 2, 2014

[k9diabetes]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

The vet just called. They didn't get past x-rays of the chest because Katie was having trouble with anesthesia. A level high enough to keep her under dropped her blood pressure but when they tried to decrease it even a little she woke up. They tried to find a workable level but couldn't so they stopped and recovered her instead.

And the vet found a problem in the chest. Her lower airways are "trapping" air and are overinflated. As I understand it, this is caused by the immune system, possibly an inhaled allergen or asthma or even an auto-immune attack. So we will treat for that and see if that helps her.

I'm thinking that even if this isn't the primary problem she has (not sure why that would cause rapid weight loss) that it might make it possible for her to tolerate anesthesia to check for something else and/or get her teeth cleaned.

I will pick her up later this afternoon.

I believe he wants to try an inhalant, albuterol maybe or steroids.

Natalie

[Patty]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

Natalie,
I'm sorry to hear about Katie's breathing issue. I do hope the inhaler/med helps open things up for her.
Patty

[MaryLea]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

Sorry to hear about all the difficulty with Katie. You are so dedicated to your pets and to those on this board! I hope the treatment helps her enough to proceed with whatever else is needed.

Mary

[buddingartist]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

Natalie

So sorry about your girl.... and so soon after Gus. Hope the meds bring her some relief

Louise

[Laurie]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

Natalie, this is a long shot but I have to mention it. Cats with heartworm have similar symptoms as Katie's. In cats, unlike dogs, the symptoms are primarily pulmonary, and inflammatory. Often mistaken for asthma. Or allergies. Weight loss and lethargy are usually present.

Diagnosis is tricky, as they may only have one or two worms that may not show up on xray. It's not a simple blood test like with dogs. And the problems can occur as the worms are dying a natural death so that complicates things further.

You may already know all this, but I didn't until it happened a few times. I work for an animal non-profit and we see this on occasion. With treatment, the cats did improve.

Best to you and Katie,
Laurie

[janspack]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

Hi Natalie,

I do hope that Katie will respond to the treatment and improve very soon.

As I've just mentioned on Audrey's thread, I am a huge cat lover as well as being overun with dogs!

Keep us posted on how she is doing.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

The vet called back this morning after receiving the report from the radiologist. They agree that there is some sort of bronchitis type inflammation on the x-rays that they characterized as current or former. They also noted possible signs of gastritis on the x-rays. No cancer seen anywhere and the lungs specifically were stated not to have cancer.

The vet was on the same page as me - her symptoms don't make sense with lung disease. She's not coughing or breathing hard. And it wouldn't explain the weight loss, which is what I'm really focused on because it was so dramatic. Maybe IBD given Gus' history and the radiologists suggestion of possible gastritis.

So she is scheduled for an abdominal ultrasound next Thursday.

The vet said they had pretty much honed in on a level of anesthesia that would work for her but had quit when they did because it had taken an hour and half to find it and they had the x-rays to work with first. So he says it is challenging but doable to anesthetize her next week now that he has a good idea of the level it takes to keep her under but with good blood pressure.

I feel a lot better about this because I just couldn't fit the lung problem into the weight loss.

Natalie

[Patty]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

Hope the U/S sheds some light on things.

[peggy0]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

Thoughts will be with you Nat

[ozzi]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

Natalie,

When it rains, it pours. UGH! I'll keep my fingers crossed on Thursday!

Best wishes for you and Katie,

Kevin

[k9diabetes]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

Kevin, I think when it rains, it tears open a hole in the earth into which all of our money falls!

Katie had the ultrasound and dental today.

I was in the car when the vet called so couldn't make any notes but I believe she had one extraction and also some kind of funky lesion on one tooth plus some bone loss under another. She had a lot of tartar - has never had her teeth cleaned; we should have done it years ago but she was such a horror at the vet originally that we didn't want to stress her out for it. She's much better about the vet now than a year or two ago.

And then there was inflammation throughout her stomach and large intestine.

The vet sent off a cobalamine and folate test to help narrow down what's going on there.

We will switch her to a novel protein diet and then probably she will wind up on prednisolone... will see whether a pill pocket is enough to cover up the taste of that.

I have had some concerns recently about her food - it has looked a bit off to me. I don't know if there's anything to that but it coincides with her downturn and I've been looking into replacing it so it's a good time for a diet change.

She's been eating Prairie Homestyle canned food. Tried her with Wellness Core, Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Duck and Pea, and Merrick's Thanksgiving Day canned foods this past week. She happily ate all of them - a bit of a surprise since she used to be very picky about new canned foods and refused many of them.

She did okay poopwise with all of them until last night - had some diarrhea.

I think we will try a can of the prescription diet and see if she will eat that. And then I may also use the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient canned food.

Natalie

[Patty]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

Glad she seems to enjoy the food change. Hoping for good news on the test results.

[buddingartist]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

>Kevin, I think when it rains, it tears open a hole in the earth into which all of our money falls!>

Natalie, I think we have the same phenomenon where I live

Here's hoping that your girl gets better and for positive results.

Louise

[Abby's Mom]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

Hope everything gets better for Katie... Sending good thoughts your way

[k9diabetes]

Re: Katie - Gus' Sister

[whisper] So far, Katie is eating her hypoallergenic diet - Science Diet DD duck and green pea canned food - with her pills in hypoallergenic duck and green pea Pill Pockets.

And she's on Flagyl for two weeks and [still whispering] cheerfully taking her new med in a Pill Pocket.

The cobalamine and folate tests came out normal so the vet didn't feel we had to treat aggressively.

I think... it's all very subtle signs either way... that she looks a little better the past 24 hours or so.

There are still some cytology reports out. I think from the tooth lesion he found. This is what happens when I get the phone call in the car. I'm waiting for all of the test results to come in so I can request copies all at once so don't have much on paper yet.

Natalie