Baby-cat [Emma update]
Nov. 15th, 2021 09:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebeccmeisterOne other hypothesis I haven't mentioned yet is that this most recent bout of lethargy could have to do with Emma having yet another urinary tract infection. When S took her in to see the emergency vet on Saturday, they shot her full of fluids and an antibiotic, just in case.
Yesterday at the grocery store, based on several suggestions I bought a packet of beef-based baby food that consisted of beef, kale, and sweet potato. Wow does that stuff look disgusting. To my surprise, Emma ate it all up right away.
So she might actually be partially recovering from the worst of this, at least for now. This might be something of a rollercoaster, with continued declines in between extreme episodes; July/August 2020 was her first major UTI+thyroid crisis; her second crisis happened in August 2021, and it's now only November. Her bloodwork did show kidney failure at this point. I also just learned that the bloodwork tests for kidney failure generally don't diagnose it until it is pretty severe.
Based on further conversation with S plus ongoing litterbox observations, I suspect that the first UTI caused kidney damage to the point where Emma wound up with generally heightened urine production. So that has been chronic since August 2020. I'm a little annoyed that wasn't directly addressed by her primary vet in spite of my repeatedly bringing up the observation of dramatically increased urine production. But oh well. I have to imagine that the initial kidney damage has only made her more susceptible to future UTI's and made her health more fragile overall, and once the damage is done there aren't great ways to undo it. But what else can I do with an elderly cat, except try and keep her as comfortable and happy as possible for as long as I can.
Yesterday at the grocery store, based on several suggestions I bought a packet of beef-based baby food that consisted of beef, kale, and sweet potato. Wow does that stuff look disgusting. To my surprise, Emma ate it all up right away.
So she might actually be partially recovering from the worst of this, at least for now. This might be something of a rollercoaster, with continued declines in between extreme episodes; July/August 2020 was her first major UTI+thyroid crisis; her second crisis happened in August 2021, and it's now only November. Her bloodwork did show kidney failure at this point. I also just learned that the bloodwork tests for kidney failure generally don't diagnose it until it is pretty severe.
Based on further conversation with S plus ongoing litterbox observations, I suspect that the first UTI caused kidney damage to the point where Emma wound up with generally heightened urine production. So that has been chronic since August 2020. I'm a little annoyed that wasn't directly addressed by her primary vet in spite of my repeatedly bringing up the observation of dramatically increased urine production. But oh well. I have to imagine that the initial kidney damage has only made her more susceptible to future UTI's and made her health more fragile overall, and once the damage is done there aren't great ways to undo it. But what else can I do with an elderly cat, except try and keep her as comfortable and happy as possible for as long as I can.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-17 01:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-17 02:29 pm (UTC)She isn't back to eating 100% but is eating more again, thankfully. So she might hang on for a while yet. No guarantees, of course.