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TheBigAristotle posted:Reggie survived surgery and he's home with me now, he's so full of energy, it kills me to know that he can't just fight it off. Sorry to hear about Reggie. Not a whole lot I'm afraid. Just focus on him enjoying all of the dog things he likes until he's not able to do those things anymore 8( It's always a crap situation - you often don't find out until they're critically unwell and then you have to make a rush decision about surgery or not. Re: chemo, you don't have to go full out. You could consider referral to an oncologist do discuss palliative care measures to extend quality of life, or even have your veterinarian email and oncologist to see if there is anything they might be able to offer at your own practice. How was the hemangiosarcoma diagnosis reached? Have you had histology results back yet or is it based on presumption?
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Mar 21, 2020 18:48
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Dixville posted:Edit: you might also ask the doctor about getting a mild sedative like trazodone if he seems too anxious or antsy. Just for the first couple weeks or so Trazodone is king for anxiety, beaten only by my favourite combination trazapentin.
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Mar 21, 2020 18:49
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Just to clarify - have they confirmed the diagnosis by sending the spleen out to a lab or is this based on best guess +/- some X-rays of the chest? I only ask because ~2/3 of the time there is cancer and ~1/3 of the time it is benign (roughly).
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Mar 23, 2020 14:03
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Aye, could be an underlying chronic gastropathy/gastroenteropathy (IBD, atypical Addisons, etc) that needs some investigating once all of this is over.
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May 6, 2020 02:49
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LostMy2010Accnt posted:I have a soon to be 10 year old, short haired black cat whose third eyelids have been showing for over a month now. I've taken her several times to the vet to get a physical, blood-work and x-rays taken and everything has come back positive. The only thing the doctor was concerned about was her weight which she's slowly been putting back on. Her behavior is normal, no changes in habits, her appetite is good, she's drinking her normal amounts of water, and was given a topical de-wormer. I'm confused as to why this is still a thing and concerned of what it could be, but my local vet has said everything is fine. Could their be other issues to this like allergies? Any help is appreciated, thank you. Could be Haws Syndrome
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May 9, 2020 13:59
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nulldev1ce posted:Apologies if this has been asked and answered a thousand times before. Chronic kidney disease is pretty common in cats, as I understand it. The main point of the diet is protein and phosphorus restriction. There are a TON of kidney prescription diets these days, so try some variety and see what she likes. It's literally the only evidence based thing you can do to prolong her life/quality of life.
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May 9, 2020 14:00
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Yeah being a consumer and making decisions is not easy with all of the marketing and crazies out there. I work in emergency/critical care medicine so the feelings on CKD management may have moved on without my notice.
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May 9, 2020 16:08
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Slugworth posted:Very jealous, I've never gotten to be part of a c-section. Everyone I work with assures me it's actual hell, but still, I bet the first one is fun. I have no love for this procedure
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May 24, 2020 15:29
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NosmoKing posted:So, any thoughts? Thoughts on a older cat who has loose stools that are only getting worse and who has now had a few accidents outside the litter box? I would get a referral to an internal medicine specialist. Chronic diarrhoea = endoscopy or surgical biopsies. Abdominal ultrasound is probably not going to get you an answer.
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Oct 4, 2020 17:17
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FizFashizzle posted:What's the minimum age for a flea bath for a puppy? Don't use a flea bath. 1) The risk of reactions are higher 2) They have no lasting effect after the bath 3) They don't really control the flea cycle If you want a one-off thing then use a Capstar, otherwise use one of the approved topic or oral flea preventative thing. For very small or young puppies you want Frontline Spray which is dosed by weight.
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Oct 4, 2020 17:19
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a foolish pianist posted:Primary: what kind of timeline should we be expecting for this eye swelling to start to go down with antibiotic ointment and cleaning with clean cottonballs with saline? Should I take him back to the vet tomorrow? Or should I just follow the ointment application schedule and be patient? A second opinion wouldn't be the worst in the world if you don't feel like you're getting anywhere. This kitty needs lots of eye lube and to be checked for corneal ulceration. It's probably some form of feline URT virus. When we see tongue ulceration we usually think Calicivirus but they can also have mixed infections. There is testing available, but it's unlikely to change treatment. Essentially some stain in the eyes will show if there is ulceration, which is definitely painful and requires oral antibiotics and drops rather than ointment. If the eyes are really inflamed and nasty then lubrication will help. FeLV/FIV testing would also be a good shout. Steps are to rule in/out corneal ulceration, provide appropriate pain relief, lubrication, and antibiotic therapy if necessary. Once daily ointment isn't going to do much in the face of severe disease. Is he eating? If not, get on that ASAP.
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Oct 13, 2020 00:54
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Bioshuffle posted:Any tips for getting a stool sample for a cat when two of them share the litter box? I have 2 litter boxes, which makes it even more confusing. Option 1: Separate them for 24 hours. Probably your most sensible option. Option 2: Feed the one you need a sample from some small pieces of children's crayon (non-toxic). The poop with the crayon in it is the sample you need. Real answer: cats sharing litterboxes share everything (including parasites), so you can probably get away with just grabbing three days worth of whatever poop you find (multiple days improves your chance of a real result due to intermittent shedding).
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Oct 13, 2020 00:56
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What's the medication, prednislone? If so, just get tablets. Unreliable steroid administration is problematic for proper disease control. Also, long term steroids are suboptimal, but necessary in some cases. What is your kitty being treated for?
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Oct 22, 2020 10:26
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vaginadeathgrip posted:It’s budesonide. I was a little surprised when the vet told me she would be on them for life because I had read they usually taper down. She thinks Kitty has IBD but it’s possible lymphoma. I also asked if I’m just prolonging things by not having an endoscopy to get more definitive answers, but she didn’t seem to think it was necessary. Well that's just lazy. Considering neither of those diseases can be definitely diagnosed WITHOUT diagnostics, I would say go for it. If you have the finances and the willingness then you are well within your rights to ask for a referral to an internal medicine specialist. Some IBD kitties can be managed on diet alone, and there are other lookalike enteropathies, so I would go get you some diagnostics.
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Oct 23, 2020 10:48
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Destro posted:So a year ago I took my cat in after she had a coughing fit and the vet said she has feline asthma, and started her on prednisone at 5 mg twice a day for like two weeks or something and we tapered down to 1 5mg tablet every other day for the past year since then. She got worse and I took her in and he described two options. The one I'm going to start doing is 5mg pred in the morning and evening for 3 weeks then down to 1 5mg tablet each day. However he said that you could also get fluticasone with the aerocat inhaler but that the fluticasone would be about $300 and only last 6-8 weeks. The cost of the Aerokat itself is not an issue, but 300 for that amount of time is very steep, however I looked online and it would appear you can get fluticasone from Canada with a prescription for much cheaper. as in $100 or less which I would be willing to do as with the inhaler it seems there would be less chance of bad side effects. So I'm probably going to talk to my vet about that, but would anyone know of any legit Canadian pharmacies that I could order from? That's insane - it's £40 here in the UK. Hopefully some of our Canadian friends can help. Have they confirmed allergic airway disease? Are you doing environmental/dust management? Any lungworm prevention? Just some additional thoughts... whocares8310 posted:Hi, Definitely looks suspicious. I would treat it as potentially infectious and get it confirmed at your vets. Could be ringworm, could be other fungal or bacterial.
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Dec 5, 2020 14:22
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Is he on chemotherapy/steroids/any other meds? How is his appetite? Any idea where the lymphoma is? Might try some B12 injections as they can be deficient with GI lymphoma.
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Dec 21, 2020 19:24
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Lymphoma is typically more of a disseminated disease in cats rather than a solitary tumour. An oncology consult may be a good idea as there are other/adjunct chemotherapy meds you can use to help.
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Dec 25, 2020 02:14
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I-131 is a pain in the rear end but really is the best treatment for hyperthyroid cats. The way radioactive iodine works is a fun abuse of physiology. Right now your cat has overactive abnormal thyroid tissue that absorbs iodine and spits out thyroid hormone constantly. Your cat's normal thyroid tissue is suppressed and not absorbing iodine because it senses too much thyroid hormone, which is the usual feedback mechanism. Because only the abnormal tissue is absorbing iodine, it absorbs all of the radioactive iodine and gets killed off. I bring this up because the risk to you is that your cat may be excreting some of the radioactive isotope and you may absorb some and damage your normal, healthy thyroid tissue. Your cat may be needy or frustrated for a bit, but the long term pay off is no more daily medications and frequent vet visits for blood tests. Do the hard stuff now and you will stay safe and have a happy kitty. YourCreation fucked around with this message at 12:19 on Jan 6, 2021 |
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Jan 6, 2021 12:16
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Gotta keep em separated. The MPS suits are good.
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Jan 20, 2021 00:54
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SSH IT ZOMBIE posted:So uh, my cat got super sick. I think you've been let down a little bit. Were you referred to a medicine specialist or just for some imaging? What your cat really needed was some appropriate diagnostics and probably endoscopy with biopsies. Sounds like they sampled a lymph node and it was reactive, which obviously it would be because your cat's intestines are super pissed off. Yes you can do surgical biopsies of the intestine but that's probably unnecessary. At this stage you don't really have a diagnosis yet but we have seen a response to steroids, so it could be inflammatory bowel disease, it could be lymphoma, or anything in between. Your options are: 1) Get a referral to a medicine specialist for a proper work up and diagnosis. If it's IBD it can sometimes be managed with diet changes after some steroid use. Your kitty probably could use some B12 supplementation too. If you have the funds then do this one. 2) Continue with steroids and try and taper off and see the response (not sure what dose he's on but don't stop them suddenly if he's been on them >7 days). 3) Continue steroids for life but deal with the inevitable side effects like diabetes Steroids typically drive hunger, which means your cat should be hungry. You can try EzyPill or Pill Putty or even shaking the pill in a bag of Dreamies to give it some seasoning. Some cats will eat a row of Dreamies with a pill hidden in there somewhere. Good luck and let us know how he does.
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Feb 6, 2021 06:46
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I would not do surgery. I would go for an internal medicine consultation and get some multi-disciplinary input before doing anything else. If you let me know what city you're in I can see what clinics would be best in your area.
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Feb 6, 2021 21:47
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SSH IT ZOMBIE posted:Rochester, NY https://find.vetspecialists.com/sea...1okRHuYlQfwfAFo Looks like there are two nearby. I would ask your vet for a referral and you can get an estimate too.
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Feb 8, 2021 07:31
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empty whippet box posted:cheeto is at the vet, we are waiting to hear back from them. the vet seemed to think he probably just strained too hard trying to poop, so it's likely JUST constipation. gonna be a long couple hours though. a saintly goon has made sure that the costs are covered, for which I will be forever grateful. this community is really amazing sometimes. More likely he has a bit of cystitis and you just saw him straining to urinate for longer periods of time. Hopefully with a bit of pain relief and time he'll feel much better 8)
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Feb 13, 2021 15:02
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YeahTubaMike posted:Can cats fake sick? Explain.
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Feb 13, 2021 15:03
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Just wanted to double check as people in the UK use the word "sick" as a replacement for vomit. There aren't any fakers as far as I am aware, at least not in cats.
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Feb 13, 2021 19:42
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Sorry to hear that Reik 8( You could consider oral ondansetron - it's a lot more effective anti-nausea medication than Cerenia is.
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Feb 16, 2021 01:41
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Our current data shows that maropitant (Cerenia) is a good anti-vomiting drug, but may not control nausea as well as we thought. On the other hand, Ondansetron controls both nausea and vomiting effectively. It can certainly be used long term and our medicine team likes it a lot for our sicker chronic cases. Steroids will certainly go a long way it sounds, but my medicine is 99% ICU these days rather than chronic care.
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Feb 16, 2021 05:25
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Pedestrian Xing posted:How fast do feline resorptive lesions happen? My cat needed to be sedated to biopsy a nasal mass and my vet suggested doing a dental at the same time since it would only cost a little more. She found two severely decayed teeth and removed them and he's bounced back wonderfully. What's odd is that he had a normal exam in November with nothing unusual noted. It it possible everything looked normal then? Most feline dental disease is hidden under the gums which is why dental radiographs are so important. Most will just tolerate the discomfort.
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Mar 24, 2021 03:41
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You need to get your kitty back to the vets. A cat who is not eating is a ticking time bomb for getting worst (hepatic lipidosis). It may be a viral flare up, but could be things like pancreatitis, pneumonia, UTI, etc. Cats can also purr to self soothe so it doesn't necessarily mean he's feeling good.
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Apr 27, 2021 16:06
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If your cat has a respiratory rate of 32 bpm she is not in heart failure. She may have evidence of heart disease like a heart murmur, and maybe they scanned her left atrium. Anaemia can cause both a heart murmur and left atrial enlargement. If it's a blood test than it may indicate some cardiac disease but failure is a clinical diagnostic not a blood test one. Important differentiation. Based on your comments I am guessing there is pleural and abdominal free fluid? Balance cardiac and renal disease can be challenging, but not impossible. Your cat may be dehydrated from the clinical disease causing the fluid in the abdomen, which will artificially increase the kidney values. I would support you getting a referral and more information as I don't think everything has been explained to you as well as it could have, and the primary problem here isn't clear. If she truly has immune mediated haemolytic anaemia than steroids are the mainstay of treatment and may put her at risk of heart failure, but again I would still get more information.
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May 16, 2021 16:52
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If you stop the furosemide and the respiratory rate creeps above 40 when asleep then either your kitty was in failure and needs the furosemide, or she's becoming progressively more anaemic. You should be able to get an emergency/urgent appointment tomorrow or Tuesday I would imagine.
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May 16, 2021 22:20
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Any updates?
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May 20, 2021 20:24
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I'm really sorry Reik 8(
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May 24, 2021 23:11
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Dogwood Fleet posted:I'm going to call the vet in the morning, but was hoping for advice here as well. I've got a dog with congestive heart failure and most of his problem is coughing right now. He has energy, for a 12 year old dog he has amazing mobility and if anything he's even more food motivated than ever. I think at least some of the coughing might be because his throat is irritated from coughing so much. Is there something that's safe that will soothe his throat at least a little bit? He's pretty happy other than the multiple coughing fits per day. He's already on pretty high doses of medication and his situation is delicate enough that the vet doesn't want to do too much else unless he starts deteriorating further. Honey or codeine. Most dogs with CHF don't cough unless their left atrium is huge, so he could actually have some form of allergic airway disease or collapse (trachael collapse, bronchomalacia, etc). Cough suppressants like the ones I mentioned should be safe. If you're in the USA I think butorphanol liquid is also available.
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Jul 4, 2021 11:54
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Upgrade posted:Hello vets! Small question. I have a 11ish year old beagle (rescue, approximate age). Two years ago the vet caught a slight heart murmur and a followup ultrasound showed slight enlargement of the left ventricle. Since then she's been on enalpril, and the last 3 vet appts showed no progression of the murmur. She just had her semi-annual appt and to the vet's surprise the murmur is noticeably decreased. She's due for a teeth cleaning, and as a precaution he wants to bring in a vet with more cardiology experience and redo the ultrasound just to make sure its safe to put her under. Is there anything we need to be particularly concerned about in terms of anesthesia risk? This seems like a good, cautious approach to me, but should I be more cautious? I am not concerned about the cost at all. She has no other health problems and is not overweight. Not the worst idea in the world to have a repeat echo two years on. There's no indication for your dog to be on the enalapril so hopefully a more cardio oriented vet will realise this and stop it. Arguably doing another echo shouldn't change the anaesthesia plan - they could just use a more mitral valve disease friendly protocol regardless.
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Aug 3, 2021 00:16
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Corin Tucker's Stalker posted:Does such a rapid decline make sense? He was a little homebody that didn't like trips, so in my mind that little bit of stress brought on a decline that was already going to happen. My mind keeps loving with me with thoughts like, "Maybe he just stepped on something that made his already-wobbly back feet tender and you overreacted". Sorry about your little guy CTS. Your little guy paraparesis (pelvic limb weakness) and that could be caused by a number of things. Degenerative myelopathy is one possibility, but for a Pug gentleman of his age the diagnosis is probably unimportant. There are a number of disease processes that could cause his signs (intervertebral disc disease, any number of myelopathies, meningitis, cancer). What's clear is that he appeared to have a deteriorating quality of life, some orthopaedic/spinal pain. Most animals will compensate for disease until they're simply no longer able to do so. We might not notice the little day by day changes and then all of a sudden they can't walk. I think you made the right decision saying goodbye to him. It's always a terrible decision to have to make, but better then than after he was very painful and had lost all of his dignity. There is a pet loss support group that you might consider joining - the community is really supportive: https://www.facebook.com/groups/818916688187154
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Aug 12, 2021 05:56
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regulargonzalez posted:Neighborhood / stray cat that I feed has something growing in her eye. Cyst maybe? She doesn't like to hold still for pictures but here's the best I could do. No idea what this is to be honest. Asked our ophtho resident and they're not sure either. If there's no redness/squinting/discharge I would do nothing and see what happens. If it gets worst then bring said kitty for evaluation.
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Aug 12, 2021 21:00
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There is an iodine free diet called y/d by Hills/Science Diet/Science Plan that oyu may be able to get in the mean time. Otherwise, it's prescription medicine only. For such a young cat it's unusual to have hyperthyroidism, but maybe they're older than you know if they're a rescue. You could look into radioactive iodine (I-131) - it will be far cheaper in the long run.
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Aug 22, 2021 17:33
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If your cat had bradycardia during anaesthesia but is complete normal every other time then further testing will probably be unhelpful or unnecessary. Are they sure they didn't give him some medetomidine/dexmedetomidine? Provided his blood pressure, etc, were normal this isn't a huge deal.
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Sep 1, 2021 05:56
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Asproigerosis posted:That's what is bothering me about the whole thing, I have to be getting incomplete information because the idea of just not doing anything about it is difficult for me to even wrap my mind around. No one is doing scintigraphy as a routine test in cats. If there were concerns about ectopic thyroid tissue following thyroidectomy then maybe. Cats are typically diagnosed and monitored via blood testing. Either way, kitty needs some investigations.
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Sep 12, 2021 22:37
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