Meep goes to the Vet on Monday...

Suddenly, without warning, LauraM exclaimed (3/9/2009 11:48 AM):
On Mar 9, 8:18 am, jmc wrote:
Suddenly, without warning, jmc exclaimed (3/6/2009 6:56 PM):





I'm starting to get worried about her. Y'all that have read my posts,
know that she's been thin, I thought due to our continuing argument over
her food preferences - canned, which she needs due to cystitis, is my
choice, she prefers dry, which even with prescription dry she had attacks.
Well, grooming her yesterday I noticed I could feel her ribs way more
than I want to, and her coat condition has deteriorated. And I've
realized she's been slowly leaving more and more food in her bowl -
didn't really eat any today, only a little last night. She's also been
quieter, spending a lot of time on her warmer pad, when she's not
begging to sit on my lap. I tried feeding her some dry - Wellness Core
- and she turned that down, but I think she just doesn't like the Core.
I'll get her something more to her liking tomorrow.
Not an emergency, but got her in early Monday morning. She's an older
cat, and past blood tests have indicated low-level kidney problems, I'm
really hoping she's not sick, and is just stubborn. Hopefully the vet
can offer some useful advice. We're seeing the primary vet of the clinic.
Purrs for Meep would not go amiss.
jmc
Update:

Well, she's got issues - mostly dental; vet's hoping that's what is
causing Meep to be under the weather. Both her big molars will have to
be removed, apparently. Also, she now officially has arthritis in both
her hind legs (felt by palpitation) - inevitable considering she's had
luxating patellas for years (probably from birth). And, her murmur is a
bit worse, pushing a 4 from the grade 3 it's been for years. And I'm
told that the small head-thrust motion I see sometimes is a sign she's
feeling nauseous.

So we got a name of a cardiologist, go there before the dental. Got
Clavamox for any bacterial issues she may have from the teeth that might
be in her hear valves as well. Big ol bottle of laculose for her
constipation issues. And a variety of foods to test to see if Meep will
eat them.

She doesn't weigh any less than she did the last visit, but vet felt she
had less muscle mass.

I feel bad for her. Two techs tried to take her blood pressure and had
a devil of a time finding her pulse with the little ultrasoundy device
thingy (no idea what it's called). Long enough that Meep went from
scared to restless to almost angry. They had to call in a third tech,
who finally did get her pulse. Luckily, her BP is still normal.

She'll get her legs x-rayed during the dental, to make sure there's no
bone cancer in those legs that's making her feel bad.

My poor kitty. She's falling apart as bad as I am, we're both getting
older, I guess I knew she was due for a dental, had put it off
because didn't want to get it done while she was stressing
before/during/after the overseas move, but looks like I waited too long.

And as usual, she ate as soon as she came home from the vet, one of her
little idiosyncrasies: Apparently vet visits make her hungry.

jmc- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thank you for the update. I'm so sorry to hear your kitty is
suffering. You're doing what you can for her, which is good. When
are the molars coming out?

Might be another month. I can only take so much time off for work, so
whenever I can, I schedule Meep's stuff for every other Monday (I work a
compressed schedule). Not to mention the cost - it cost me $400 today
(mostly for the lab work to be done). I'm told to expect another $500
for the cardiologist, and from $700 - $900 for the dental which will
include xrays of her hind legs (making sure there's no bone cancer
brewing where her legs are sore). Owch. I can afford it, but not all
at one time. OMG, it got expensive around here! Her medical bills are
more than mine (and at least I have insurance)!

I'll try to get her to the cardiologist within the next two weeks, and
see what he says. Meep improved over the weekend and is back to normal
now, so far she likes the food the vet sent home with her, so we'll see.

jmc

On Mar 9, 2:48*pm, jmc wrote:
Suddenly, without warning, LauraM exclaimed (3/9/2009 11:48 AM):





On Mar 9, 8:18 am, jmc wrote:
Suddenly, without warning, jmc exclaimed (3/6/2009 6:56 PM):

I'm starting to get worried about her. *Y'all that have read my posts,
know that she's been thin, I thought due to our continuing argument over
her food preferences - canned, which she needs due to cystitis, is my
choice, she prefers dry, which even with prescription dry she had attacks.
Well, grooming her yesterday I noticed I could feel her ribs way more
than I want to, and her coat condition has deteriorated. *And I've
realized she's been slowly leaving more and more food in her bowl -
didn't really eat any today, only a little last night. *She's also been
quieter, spending a lot of time on her warmer pad, when she's not
begging to sit on my lap. *I tried feeding her some dry - Wellness Core
- and she turned that down, but I think she just doesn't like the Core.
*I'll get her something more to her liking tomorrow.
Not an emergency, but got her in early Monday morning. *She's an older
cat, and past blood tests have indicated low-level kidney problems, I'm
really hoping she's not sick, and is just stubborn. *Hopefully the vet
can offer some useful advice. *We're seeing the primary vet of the clinic.
Purrs for Meep would not go amiss.
jmc
Update:

Well, she's got issues - mostly dental; vet's hoping that's what is
causing Meep to be under the weather. *Both her big molars will have to
be removed, apparently. *Also, she now officially has arthritis in both
her hind legs (felt by palpitation) - inevitable considering she's had
luxating patellas for years (probably from birth). And, her murmur is a
bit worse, pushing a 4 from the grade 3 it's been for years. *And I'm
told that the small head-thrust motion I see sometimes is a sign she's
feeling nauseous.

So we got a name of a cardiologist, go there before the dental. *Got
Clavamox for any bacterial issues she may have from the teeth that might
be in her hear valves as well. *Big ol bottle of laculose for her
constipation issues. *And a variety of foods to test to see if Meep will
eat them.

She doesn't weigh any less than she did the last visit, but vet felt she
had less muscle mass.

I feel bad for her. *Two techs tried to take her blood pressure and had
a devil of a time finding her pulse with the little ultrasoundy device
thingy (no idea what it's called). *Long enough that Meep went from
scared to restless to almost angry. *They had to call in a third tech,
who finally did get her pulse. *Luckily, her BP is still normal.

She'll get her legs x-rayed during the dental, to make sure there's no
bone cancer in those legs that's making her feel bad.

My poor kitty. *She's falling apart as bad as I am, we're both getting
older, I guess *I knew she was due for a dental, had put it off
because didn't want to get it done while she was stressing
before/during/after the overseas move, but looks like I waited too long.

And as usual, she ate as soon as she came home from the vet, one of her
little idiosyncrasies: *Apparently vet visits make her hungry.

jmc- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thank you for the update. *I'm so sorry to hear your kitty is
suffering. *You're doing what you can for her, which is good. *When
are the molars coming out?

Might be another month. *I can only take so much time off for work, so
whenever I can, I schedule Meep's stuff for every other Monday (I work a
compressed schedule). *Not to mention the cost - it cost me $400 today
(mostly for the lab work to be done). *I'm told to expect another $500
for the cardiologist, and from $700 - $900 for the dental which will
include xrays of her hind legs (making sure there's no bone cancer
brewing where her legs are sore). *Owch. *I can afford it, but not all
at one time. *OMG, it got expensive around here! *Her medical bills are
more than mine (and at least I have insurance)!

I'll try to get her to the cardiologist within the next two weeks, and
see what he says. *Meep improved over the weekend and is back to normal
now, so far she likes the food the vet sent home with her, so we'll see.

jmc- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks for letting me know. Believe me, I can totally relate when it
comes to the expenses of our beloved kitties. I've spent a lot on
Hobbes in the last couple months. Around $2K. And with this economy,
it's even harder. Have you heard of Care Credit? I use it for
Hobbes. It allows me to pay off the bill in three, six or twelve
months (depending on the amount charged) with no interest. You can
use it for yourself too. I think it's carecredit.com. I have no
affiliation with this whatsoever. I've only used it for Hobbes.

So we got a name of a cardiologist, go there before the dental. *Got
Clavamox for any bacterial issues she may have from the teeth that might
be in her hear valves as well. *Big ol bottle of laculose for her
constipation issues. *And a variety of foods to test to see if Meep will
eat them.

FYI, Clavamox may make Meep go off her food. If this happens, please
call your vet and ask for a new medication. Two of our cats have had
this problem, which is not uncommon with this medication.

On Mar 10, 9:12*am, wrote:
So we got a name of a cardiologist, go there before the dental. *Got
Clavamox for any bacterial issues she may have from the teeth that might
be in her hear valves as well. *Big ol bottle of laculose for her
constipation issues. *And a variety of foods to test to see if Meep will
eat them.

FYI, Clavamox may make Meep go off her food. If this happens, please
call your vet and ask for a new medication. Two of our cats have had
this problem, which is not uncommon with this medication.

That happened with Hobbes. I forget what he changed to do, but
changing that enabled Hobbes to eat again.

Suddenly, without warning, LauraM exclaimed (3/10/2009 6:03 PM):
On Mar 10, 9:12 am, wrote:
So we got a name of a cardiologist, go there before the dental. Got
Clavamox for any bacterial issues she may have from the teeth that might
be in her hear valves as well. Big ol bottle of laculose for her
constipation issues. And a variety of foods to test to see if Meep will
eat them.
FYI, Clavamox may make Meep go off her food. If this happens, please
call your vet and ask for a new medication. Two of our cats have had
this problem, which is not uncommon with this medication.

That happened with Hobbes. I forget what he changed to do, but
changing that enabled Hobbes to eat again.

Maybe that's why the instruction boiled down to, "get her eating, get
her pooping THEN start the Clavamox". She's been on it before but I
can't remember if she had eating issues or not then. I'll have to find
her some extra-tasty junk food for then.

jmc

On Mar 9, 8:18*am, jmc wrote:
Suddenly, without warning, jmc exclaimed (3/6/2009 6:56 PM):



I'm starting to get worried about her. *Y'all that have read my posts,
know that she's been thin, I thought due to our continuing argument over
her food preferences - canned, which she needs due to cystitis, is my
choice, she prefers dry, which even with prescription dry she had attacks.

Well, grooming her yesterday I noticed I could feel her ribs way more
than I want to, and her coat condition has deteriorated. *And I've
realized she's been slowly leaving more and more food in her bowl -
didn't really eat any today, only a little last night. *She's also been
quieter, spending a lot of time on her warmer pad, when she's not
begging to sit on my lap. *I tried feeding her some dry - Wellness Core
- and she turned that down, but I think she just doesn't like the Core.
*I'll get her something more to her liking tomorrow.

Not an emergency, but got her in early Monday morning. *She's an older
cat, and past blood tests have indicated low-level kidney problems, I'm
really hoping she's not sick, and is just stubborn. *Hopefully the vet
can offer some useful advice. *We're seeing the primary vet of the clinic.

Purrs for Meep would not go amiss.

jmc

Update:

Well, she's got issues - mostly dental; vet's hoping that's what is
causing Meep to be under the weather. *Both her big molars will have to
be removed, apparently. *Also, she now officially has arthritis in both
her hind legs (felt by palpitation) - inevitable considering she's had
luxating patellas for years (probably from birth). And, her murmur is a
bit worse, pushing a 4 from the grade 3 it's been for years. *And I'm
told that the small head-thrust motion I see sometimes is a sign she's
feeling nauseous.

So we got a name of a cardiologist, go there before the dental. *Got
Clavamox for any bacterial issues she may have from the teeth that might
be in her hear valves as well. *Big ol bottle of laculose for her
constipation issues. *And a variety of foods to test to see if Meep will
eat them.

She doesn't weigh any less than she did the last visit, but vet felt she
had less muscle mass.

I feel bad for her. *Two techs tried to take her blood pressure and had
a devil of a time finding her pulse with the little ultrasoundy device
thingy (no idea what it's called). *Long enough that Meep went from
scared to restless to almost angry. *They had to call in a third tech,
who finally did get her pulse. *Luckily, her BP is still normal.

She'll get her legs x-rayed during the dental, to make sure there's no
bone cancer in those legs that's making her feel bad.

My poor kitty. *She's falling apart as bad as I am, we're both getting
older, I guess *I knew she was due for a dental, had put it off
because didn't want to get it done while she was stressing
before/during/after the overseas move, but looks like I waited too long.

And as usual, she ate as soon as she came home from the vet, one of her
little idiosyncrasies: *Apparently vet visits make her hungry.

jmc

That's an encouraging report, though. My late 18 year old cat got
very sick and it turned out he needed a dental when he was 13. He came
through it fine and lived another 5 years.

I certainly understand about the $$. I've been through that many
times and am now going through it getting stray cats spayed and
neutered.

Hope the clavamox works. It seems as though my 13 year old cat needed
clindamycin when he had dental issues and it did the trick until he
had his dental.

Candace