Diagnosis re Omar - at least we have one now

Hi all - An update re Omar:

I just got another call from my vet and they had the lab recheck and redo
the ACTH bloodtest result and it does indicate Addison's disease, which I
understand means his body isn't producing enough corticosteriods and we'll
have to put him on both a corticosteroid (prednisone) and a mineralcosteroid
(spelling?). And we're going to have to get bloodwork from him weekly re
his electrolytes till we can get his system stabilized. She is going to
call and consult with an endocrinologist on Friday to get ideas re this and
also his concurrent IBD. She also said she's never had a cat with Addisons
before.

So, I'm relieved to at least know what I'm dealing with; it's the not
knowing that's been hard. -- Now if I can just continue to encourage Omar to
keep eating enough. (I'm having to go through some song and dance stuff to
try and get him to eat enough, which includes putting pieces of Feline Evo
dry in his canned food.)

Thanks, Victor, for the info on the other scale but it had sold by the time
I saw and followed your link.
Guess that's it for now -- I'll keep ya'll updated.

Thank you all for help, support, and purrs -- they're very much appreciated.
Christine

In article , "Christine Burel"
wrote:

Hi all - An update re Omar:

I just got another call from my vet and they had the lab recheck and redo
the ACTH bloodtest result and it does indicate Addison's disease, which I
understand means his body isn't producing enough corticosteriods and
we'll
have to put him on both a corticosteroid (prednisone) and a
mineralcosteroid
(spelling?).

This may be Too Much Information, but when we talk about
corticosteroids, we really mean two effects. One is the
glucocorticosteroid effect, which is anti-inflammatory but also
important in stress reactions.

The other is the mineralocorticoid effect, which, among other things,
causes sodium retention. That's not desirable in many conditions, but
it's necessary in Addison's syndrome. Addison's is a disease of adrenal
hormone underproduction, while Cushing's is a disease of overproduction.

In a way, this would be good news for a human, because once you have the
diagnosis, it's manageable--the best known example being John F.
Kennedy, maintained with far poorer techniques and drugs than we have
today.

If Omar wears a collar, it might be good to put the equivalent of a
Medic-Alert tag on it, in the hopefully never-occurring event he is
injured or needs surgery when you aren't around. Anyone (four-legs or
two-legs on long-term corticosteroids) MUST get supplemental
corticosteroids when dealing with the stress of injury.


And we're going to have to get bloodwork from him weekly re
his electrolytes till we can get his system stabilized. She is going to
call and consult with an endocrinologist on Friday to get ideas re this
and
also his concurrent IBD.

There's a good chance the corticosteroid will help IBD.

She also said she's never had a cat with
Addisons
before.

So, I'm relieved to at least know what I'm dealing with; it's the not
knowing that's been hard. -- Now if I can just continue to encourage Omar
to
keep eating enough. (I'm having to go through some song and dance stuff
to
try and get him to eat enough, which includes putting pieces of Feline
Evo
dry in his canned food.)

Again, corticosteroids tend to be appetite stimulants.

Thanks, Victor, for the info on the other scale but it had sold by the
time
I saw and followed your link.
Guess that's it for now -- I'll keep ya'll updated.

Thank you all for help, support, and purrs -- they're very much
appreciated.
Christine

I suspect he will do fine!

Purrs and hugs!

Christine Burel wrote:
So, I'm relieved to at least know what I'm dealing with; it's the not
knowing that's been hard. -- Now if I can just continue to encourage Omar to

I'm glad to hear you got a diagnosis, and a treatable disease.

Thanks, Victor, for the info on the other scale but it had sold by the time
I saw and followed your link.

That same vendor might have more, you could email him/her.

--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

in article , Christine Burel at
wrote on 6/1/05 8:18 PM:

Hi all - An update re Omar:

I just got another call from my vet and they had the lab recheck and redo
the ACTH bloodtest result and it does indicate Addison's disease, which I
understand means his body isn't producing enough corticosteriods and we'll
have to put him on both a corticosteroid (prednisone) and a mineralcosteroid
(spelling?). And we're going to have to get bloodwork from him weekly re
his electrolytes till we can get his system stabilized. She is going to
call and consult with an endocrinologist on Friday to get ideas re this and
also his concurrent IBD. She also said she's never had a cat with Addisons
before.

So, I'm relieved to at least know what I'm dealing with; it's the not
knowing that's been hard. -- Now if I can just continue to encourage Omar to
keep eating enough. (I'm having to go through some song and dance stuff to
try and get him to eat enough, which includes putting pieces of Feline Evo
dry in his canned food.)

Thanks, Victor, for the info on the other scale but it had sold by the time
I saw and followed your link.
Guess that's it for now -- I'll keep ya'll updated.

Thank you all for help, support, and purrs -- they're very much appreciated.
Christine


I'm sorry it is not better news, but you can at least work at a regime now.
Many purrs a and hugs.

"Victor Martinez" wrote in message
...
Christine Burel wrote:
So, I'm relieved to at least know what I'm dealing with; it's the not
knowing that's been hard. -- Now if I can just continue to encourage
Omar to

I'm glad to hear you got a diagnosis, and a treatable disease.

Thanks, Victor, for the info on the other scale but it had sold by the
time
I saw and followed your link.

That same vendor might have more, you could email him/her.


There are lots more from the same vendor up for sale now. The $19.99 flat
shipping rate turns out to be just a few dollars over basic shipping via
UPS, so it is not a bad deal.

Christine Burel wrote:

Thank you all for help, support, and purrs -- they're very much appreciated.

The purrs will continue for Omar. When Nikki was put on prednisone, it
seemed to stimulate her appetite (not that it needed stimulating).
Hoping it will eventually have that effect on Omar.

--
Marina, Frank and Miranda. In loving memory of Nikki.
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Christine Burel wrote:

So, I'm relieved to at least know what I'm dealing with; it's the not
knowing that's been hard. -- Now if I can just continue to encourage Omar to
keep eating enough. (I'm having to go through some song and dance stuff to
try and get him to eat enough, which includes putting pieces of Feline Evo
dry in his canned food.)

Christine, I will be praying for Omar and you. Have you ever tried
cyproheptadine (periactin) tabs as an appetite stimulant? It doesn't
have bad side effects generally. It is an antihistamine but it acts as
an appettie stimulant for cats. I have Abbey on it now and it worked.
I was getting nervous because she wasn't eating since her last chest
tap. My late cat, Cory, used it off and on for the last few years of
his life. Whenever he would seem as though his appetite was bad, I
would give him just 1/4 of a tablet and that would jumpstart him. The
effects seemed to last well over a day and often it only took the one
dose to get him eating regularly again. The only thing I noticed with
him was it would make him a little restless, he wouldn't sleep much.
That's why I only gave him 1/4 pill when the dose was actually one
whole one.

Last night I gave Abbey 1/4 pill and, within an hour, she was eating.
Today she is still eating although I will probably give her another one
tonight.

Ask your vet. My regular vet recommended it to me but the vet I have
been going to for Abbey didn't know about it until I told him
(strange). He did recommend one of the benzodiazipines, though, and
would have prescribed that if I wanted. I believe oxazepam was the one
he suggested.

Candace

Thank you for the update Christine. I'm glad to hear you have a definitie
diagnosis and that you'll be able to treat it. I'm encouraged also by
Howard's summary of the situation. Lots of purrs and healthy wishes
continue to be sent by our crew here and please keep us updated.

Susan M
Otis and chester


"Christine Burel" wrote in message
...
Hi all - An update re Omar:

I just got another call from my vet and they had the lab recheck and redo
the ACTH bloodtest result and it does indicate Addison's disease, which I
understand means his body isn't producing enough corticosteriods and we'll
have to put him on both a corticosteroid (prednisone) and a
mineralcosteroid
(spelling?). And we're going to have to get bloodwork from him weekly re
his electrolytes till we can get his system stabilized. She is going to
call and consult with an endocrinologist on Friday to get ideas re this
and
also his concurrent IBD. She also said she's never had a cat with
Addisons
before.

Christine,

I am glad you finally have a diagnosis. Rusty is sending purrs and
asking Omar to eat, eat, eat.
How much does Omar weigh?

Winnie

"Christine Burel" wrote in message
...
Hi all - An update re Omar:

I just got another call from my vet and they had the lab recheck and redo
the ACTH bloodtest result and it does indicate Addison's disease, which I
understand means his body isn't producing enough corticosteriods and we'll
have to put him on both a corticosteroid (prednisone) and a
mineralcosteroid
(spelling?). And we're going to have to get bloodwork from him weekly re
his electrolytes till we can get his system stabilized. She is going to
call and consult with an endocrinologist on Friday to get ideas re this
and
also his concurrent IBD. She also said she's never had a cat with
Addisons
before.

So, I'm relieved to at least know what I'm dealing with; it's the not
knowing that's been hard. -- Now if I can just continue to encourage Omar
to
keep eating enough. (I'm having to go through some song and dance stuff to
try and get him to eat enough, which includes putting pieces of Feline Evo
dry in his canned food.)

Thanks, Victor, for the info on the other scale but it had sold by the
time
I saw and followed your link.
Guess that's it for now -- I'll keep ya'll updated.

Thank you all for help, support, and purrs -- they're very much
appreciated.
Christine

Christine Burel wrote:
Hi all - An update re Omar:

I just got another call from my vet and they had the lab recheck and
redo the ACTH bloodtest result and it does indicate Addison's
disease, which I understand means his body isn't producing enough
corticosteriods and we'll have to put him on both a corticosteroid
(prednisone) and a mineralcosteroid (spelling?). And we're going to
have to get bloodwork from him weekly re his electrolytes till we can
get his system stabilized. She is going to call and consult with an
endocrinologist on Friday to get ideas re this and also his
concurrent IBD. She also said she's never had a cat with Addisons
before.

So, I'm relieved to at least know what I'm dealing with; it's the not
knowing that's been hard. -- Now if I can just continue to encourage
Omar to keep eating enough. (I'm having to go through some song and
dance stuff to try and get him to eat enough, which includes putting
pieces of Feline Evo dry in his canned food.)

Thanks, Victor, for the info on the other scale but it had sold by
the time I saw and followed your link.
Guess that's it for now -- I'll keep ya'll updated.

Thank you all for help, support, and purrs -- they're very much
appreciated. Christine

Purrs that now you know, Omar will soon be feeling a lot better.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera)
A house is not a home, without a cat.