Kitty Update

As I mentioned in a recent post, one of my kitties, Smokey, has been sick since January.  The vet believes - as I am beginning to - that he's been sick for quite some time.  He's always been the signature "fat cat" weighing in at 15.5lbs prior to moving to KC at little of 2 years ago.  Since then he's lost almost 5 lbs much of it being since right before the new year.  I knew he had lost a little, but I had been more conscious about what type of food they were eating and how much they were being fed.  Well, the vet thinks the move in December and a routine vet visit in January pushed him over the edge of his stress limit.  Since then it's been constant GI issues and he's beginning to look muscle wasted.  Here's a couple of before and after pics to give you an idea.

Smokey - 2010

Smokey - March 2014

The only good thing about his weight loss (and I'm reaching here) is that he can fit in all the small spaces that he once loved as a kitten.

 
Yesterday consisted of another trip back to the vet for a scheduled abdominal ultrasound.  We're still trying to find out exactly what is going on with him, since his bloodwork was essentially normal as was his stool sample...and changes to a grain-free diet and a high-fiber diet have not improved much.  

The ultrasound went well, and he doesn't seem to be bothered much by his shaved belly.  The vet said that he has lots of inflammed & thickened bowel.  Apparantly the layers of bowel are typically very well-defined on an abdominal ultrasound (u/s).  If there is bowel wall thickening with well-defined edges, then it typically indicates Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD).  If the edges are blurred, then the diagnosis is typically lymphoma (the Big C).  Smokey's u/s showed lots of bowel wall thickening with mostly well-defined edges.  The radiologist mentioned that there were a few blurred areas, but that she was leaning more towards IBD.  Good news - hopefully!  

The vet gave good advice.  She mentioned that we could do lots more diagnostic testing, but that we should only test for diagnoses that we would want to treat.  This was a tough thing for me to hear even though it made a lot of sense - just hate thinking about not treating him.  He's been with me for 13 years through a lot of ups/downs.  I'm such a pet person!  I like them more than a lot of people most days!  So Chad and I have decided to treat him for the IBD, since all treatment is conservative in nature.  If we decided to treat for anything else it would require an exploratory surgery and biopsy - something I'm not prepared to do at this time.

So for now, the IBD treatment will consist of twice daily steroids.  We will continue our Vitamin B12 injections and are also finishing up a round of antibiotics.  (His Vitamin B12 injection last week was the first injection that I've given, since I left patient care 12 years ago.  I was a bit nervous at first, but it all came rushing back.  I must admit it went very well.)  This new treatment is going to force us into a new routine.  I'm hoping we'll all adapt well.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!