August 2003 Archives

Random cat gets a checkup

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Before I talk about Random's vet visit last Saturday, I want to thank Shelley for her kind offer to come and make up Yuki's Lactated Ringer's Solution. Once we factored in the cost of the airfare, though, it became a little less competitive :) Thanks anyway, though :)

Now back to our regularly unscheduled blog. Since our household already includes one diabetic dog and one formerly diabetic cat now with chronic renal insufficiency, of course I jumped to conclusions when Random was seen drinking more water and visiting the litter box more often.

Apparently he was just thirsty :) There is also the possibility he has an as-yet-undetected mild bladder infection. His bloodwork and urinalysis looked good; blood glucose, BUN and creatinine were all within normal ranges. We'll just keep watching him to make sure things get back to normal. If not, we'll do another urinalysis this coming Saturday.

Just wanted to put in a "no news, good news" entry for a change!

The lab results are not very good :( and that's partly due to Yuki's resistance to receiving fluids.

Strangely enough, however, her weight is up almost half a pound from her last vet visit, which is a very positive development. She is still eating and drinking well on her own, without any nausea, stomach upset or vomiting -- also good. Although her appetite is not exactly hearty, she's eating most of what is set out for her, both dry and wet prescription food. "Output" seems fine (no constipation, no excessive or inappropriate urination) as well. In other words, despite the lab results, she's not showing many of the symptoms that might be expected with numbers that bad. And in terms of attitude (or should I say cat-titude?) she's still feisty and curious and still has the random scamper attack now and then.

So the good news, of course, is that her quality of life is apparently still quite high. Read MORE... if you'd like to see actual numbers and the continued plan for Yuki's treatment.

The results from Heidi's low dose dexamethasone suppression test came back over the weekend. The good news is that Heidi does not appear to have Cushing's Disease. Her body was able to suppress cortisol production normally during the test. A dog with Cushing's would not suppress cortisol production at all, or would show suppression at 4 hours and rebound at 8 hours.

Heidi's normal style is to play hard, drink well and eat well. And of course all the dogs drink more water during the hot and humid days we generally have during a Chicago summer. But this summer has been much cooler than average, so when Heidi's water consumption rose dramatically (including stealing the cat's water... almost ALL of it) last week, it was cause for concern.

Rightly so... her blood glucose was at 498 when she was tested on Saturday, July 26 (normal canine blood glucose would be somewhere between 80-120). She was put on insulin immediately, and input and output returned to close to normal levels within 24 hours. However, the full bloodwork showed some results which led her vet to suspect Cushing's Disease, rather than just diabetes.

So today Heidi is at the vet for an 8-hour test which will tell us whether or not that is the case. The results go to Michigan State University for interpretation, so we won't have the final verdict for about a week. Those of you who have followed us for a while know that our dear departed
Missy was also tested for Cushing's at one time. She did not have it, but her symptoms and bloodwork were less indicative than Heidi's are.

That entry contains links to more information about canine Cushing's Disease if you are interested in learning more. Or you can wait with us to hear the results in a week!

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This page is an archive of entries from August 2003 listed from newest to oldest.

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