From:
katharine
Date: 2001-03-28 06:08:00 UTC
Subject: Champ/Renal Failure
Took Champ to the vet on Monday as he had
virtually totally quit eating, no soup, no
nothing. Doc took blood and his BUN and creatinin
were normal, globulin high, ALT low, and his
potassium and phosphorous were low...I hope this
makes sense. None were extremely high or low
except the potassium. Doc also noticed that
Champ's heart was beating very hard, not fast or
slow, just with a vengeance. He wasn't sure what
that means. We are putting him on a potassium
supplement and will check him again in a couple of
weeks.
Talked Doc into giving him a B-12 shot while we
were there. Well, I didn't really have to talk
him into it. He basically said it certainly
wouldn't hurt to give it to him. I had mentioned
that first thing, a few weeks ago, but he (Dr. F)
said he hadn't had much luck with the shots for
appetite stimulation. The Serax didn't help at
all even though he's had great success with cats.
Got home and offered Champ some soup...not
interested. Waited about 1/2 hour and tried again
and he licked the whole thing (one cube) off my
finger....OK, is this a coincidence or what? He
had gotten to where he only took a few licks twice
a day. He did the same thing Tuesday a.m. but
actually took his soup from the bowl after a few
finger licks. Yay! Now, I can give him his
fluids much easier. He ate every bit of it. I
then increased his soup to 1 1/2 cubes per sitting
and he ate all of that last night (Tuesday) and
this a.m. I am holding my breath that this will
keep up.
He has lost a lot of weight, down to about 1150g
from his all time high of 1650 just prior to his
January surgery. I have continually monitored his
weight but I can't make him gain/maintain when he
won't eat. We have increased his fluids to 30ml
twice a day, up from 20ml. I may even go to
35-40, if necessary. He was somewhat dehydrated
when Doc checked him so he loaded him up on
fluids.
Have also ordered some Dyne for him (and wildlife
babies) and will have Doc check the protein
content for me when it arrives. It will be a good
back-up if he stops eating again.
As long as the B-12 continues to work, we'll just
keep moving forward. If he starts cutting back on
his soup again, we'll do another B-12 shot.
Any suggestions? Are we missing anything?
Katharine