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Posted by Martisimo on February 28, 2003 at 13:21:18:
In Reply to: Re: WEIGHT LOSS-Possibly Heart? posted by walkssoftly on February 27, 2003 at 23:59:06:
Please let us hear what happens.
And make sure to keep giving food and water!
:Hi! Bless you for answering me.. I am so scared about this, and really wanted to hear some input from someone that is familiar with cats.. ::I can't believe a complete blood profile wouldn't show ANY thing on a cat that is described as losing close to half his body weight. ::How old is he? How long have you had him and where did you get him? How is his water intake? Is he showing any signs of a cardiac problem, like panting or breathing heavily? Does he go outside? Has he recently gone more than 24 hours without eating? ::If he is showing NO (nada, zip, zero) symtoms of cardiac problems right now, I would take him to get a *quick* second opinion, still not ruling out the ECG, because he DOES have a heart murmur and if it's bad enough it could be the cause of this. If he has ANY symptoms indicating his heart specifically, of course, take him for the ECG. Take all your records with you if you get the second opinion, bloodwork, x-rays and urinalysis results. And I would put him on the antibiotic....the only dangerous effect it would have is if he had a reaction to it, and that happens about as often as it does in people. In the absence of no other explanation for all this,the antibiotic can't hurt. ::No matter what, make sure you make him eat every day. If cats go more than 24 hours without eating they can develop liver failure. :::Hi, I have a b+w domestic longhair named Stinky. He is/Was..23lbs.. he was not fat at all, he is BIG! Over the last few months his weight dropped drastically, yet he was playful and ok until this past month. He has slowed terribly, and is just so thin. He has lost down to 14lbs! I took him to vet and bloodwork was done.. nothing was found except for a slightly elevated level of white blood cells, but the vet stated that he didn't think this was a problem? All else checked out ok. Next a urine sample.. All was ok. Felukemia was ruled out. Heart worm test was done, and showed negative. Xrays were done, and the vet said that he thinks that his heart may be slightly enlarged, and there was slight congestion in upper lungs toward the heart. And some fluid in the abdomen. Before all this work up was done, the vet listened to Stinky, and stated that he had a heart murmur. :: :
: YES, that is exactly what I was confused about. I thought that the bloodwork should have pointed to something. All the vet said was that his white cell count was "slightly" elevated, but he didn't think that it was enough to "make a difference".... That seemed odd to me.. As that should be a red flag I would think... at least something to be concerned about..
: Stinky is 10 yrs.. I rescued him from the Humane Society. They told me that he had a upper resperitory infection, but that he was going to be ok. I have had him for 10yrs now.. His water intake was ok, then yesterday it seemed that he wasn't drinking very much. Today I got him to drink some water, but not much.. He usually drinks quite a bit...
: He goes outdoors when I take my white boxer Tuff out. But I sit with them outdoors, as I'm in a wheelchair, and watch them the whole time.. they wander around the front yard, but go no further..
: He does not seem to breath heavily... Although tonight he seemed like his heart was beating faster.... ? And at one point I went to pick him up, and he has always protested when he is picked up.. just out of orneriness I believe.. But tonight he seemed to be in discomfort when I picked him up... I've been watching his legs for any sign of stiffness or what ever...
: He ate yesterday, but just very little.. Today he ate some chicken that I cooked with garlic and onion powder.. I placed pieces in a chopper and made it almost like a "sawdust" and added some of the chicken broth from bottom of pan. He ate then. But this was about 6pm today.. He hasn't eaten since. And he hides....
: I will keep giving him the antibiotic.. thank you.. And make sure that he eats... and gets plenty of fresh water. Seems to me that the other two cats are not eating much either. As I normally have to refill the bowls more often.. I feed them science diet, and always have.. I changed to just a cheapy food to see if I could get them to eat. At first they did, but then.. No way.. Just seems a bit odd that they all tend to not be eating that much..
: Anyway, I will go get my tests tomorrow, and head straight for the vets.. Thank you sooo much for your input.. I was simply pulling my hair out.. ((((((YOU!)))))))
:Karen
::: The vet had worked in a pathology lab before buying this vet office. I recall that he wasn't quite sure what to do with a cat when he was "shadowing" the facilities previous owner. This leads me to believe that maybe he does not have the knowledge to diagnose my cat, or treat him. He has stated that he couldn't really see anything in the xrays, except that the heart might be enlarged. Suggested for Stinky to have an echo cardiogram. Before that, he told me that he was going to send Stinky's xrays to a cardiologist to have him read them and see if they could tell anymore. When he called me back, he stated that the radiologist could tell nothing from the xrays either. When I asked him why a radiologist was reading them, because he had said a cardiologist. He stated that he had said a radiologist.. This is NOT what he had said. Anyway. I do not know if I should take Stinky to a have a echo cardiogram as he said, or...go see another vet first. I do not want to pay for an echo cardiogram if it is not necessary. It cost 189.00 which is alot, but matters not if my Stinky needs it, I will do it. My point is, SHOULD that be my next step with Stinky? Or... should I have another vet read bloodwork and xrays etc, and give me their opinion. Stinky is pretty lethargic, and I was feeding him tuna, which he ate at first, but then would not. I fed him cooked chicken, he at that too, but now seems to turn his nose up at that. Yesterday he didn't eat much at all. Today he hasn't ate yet. Any input that I can get I would greatly appreciate.
::: I asked the vet if it could be a virus, and maybe a antibiotic would help. He stated he didn't know, but that he would prescribe an antibiotic, as it couldn't hurt.. From what I've read, that is not a good thing to do if you do not know what your treating, as the side effects could make more problems.
:::ANY input ? I would so greatly appreciate it. I'm trying to act as quickly as possible, but don't want to just be run in circles.
:::Thank you,
:::Walkssoftly
::
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