09/08 Ivana BG=72 Vet visit today, results not great...

Last post from July

Ivana had her usual three-monthly checkup this morning. Unfortunately her results were not good, which probably explains the crash she had a couple of weeks ago (not eating, losing weight, fighting her meds... which she snapped out of as quickly as she snapped into it). Results are in the Labs tab of her spreadsheet, but basically her creatinine and urea are out of this world and her phosphorous is also climbing.

Vet was amazed that she presented as well as she did today, ie. she's her normal self but with numbers that really should have her wandering away to a hiding place to die. Aside from the crappy test results, we can't ask for more, really! Treatment is increasing her daily subcutaneous fluids, and reducing her food choices to even lower phosphorous as she's already on the maximum amount of binder that she should have. And another checkup in 4 weeks to see how she's going. Oh she also got given some pain meds for her arthritis in her hips (cold weather not helping), so hopefully that will help too.

On another note, when she was bad a few weeks ago, we seriously thought she was at the end of the road. We were even at the point of discussing what to do with her ashes, we were that convinced that she'd given up. We didn't take her in to the vet then because we decided that if another problem was discovered, we wouldn't be treating it - we're going for quality now not quantity, hence a vet visit would be pointless and would just cause her more stress for no benefit. As it turns out, she hasn't given up yet, and so neither have we

This morning at the vet:

 

Hi Tara,
I am so sorry to read that Ivana has not been well and that her blood work is not looking good.
Does the vet think that she could have had something when she 'crashed' which could have put the levels up so high?

I love the photo. She doesn't look any different to when I saw her a few years ago.....and I see Darryn in the background.
I know how worried you must be. I hope she continues to prove the vet and the results wrong.
Sending many 'bring down the numbers' vines to Ivana.
And hugs to you and Darryn

 

I am so sorry! I've had two cats and a dog diagnosed with CKD in the past few years. It's heartbreaking. Your kitty is gorgeous! Prayers that she continues to feel well.

 

It's hard to say for sure, because we don't have bloodwork from the time that she was very unwell - her numbers could possibly have been even worse then and just be on the way down now, or it might be that her body has just adjusted to the new numbers and that's why she's appearing well even when technically she shouldn't be. As the vet said today, treat the cat not the numbers (and don't we all know that here!) so we're just going to go with the flow of extra fluids to hopefully bring down the creatinine, and lower phos foods to hopefully bring that down. But, we'll just see how we go I guess!

I know! She seriously does not age, I wish I had her genes

 

Thanks Beck Ivana was diagnosed with the CKD in Jan 2016, so she's done pretty well to get this far. Hopefully she'll still be kicking for a while yet!

 

Sending healing vines to you, hope she feels better soon

 

That says a lot about you and how well you've helped her manage it. You're a lucky gal, Ivana!

 

Sorry Ivana's numbers have gotten worse, but she's not going to go anywhere until she's ready. It's so right we have to treat the cat and not the numbers. Love the picture. Sending prayers.

 

Sending you and Her Royal Highness lots of vines for her to continue to hold her own.

She looks amazing despite her ailments and her age!

 

Thanks for your good thoughts @Bron and Sheba , @Beck and Grandpa , @Bellasmom , @carfurby and @Bobbie And Bubba . We have just finished giving Ivana her new higher dosage of fluids, and she was pretty antsy for the last portion which was more than she was used to - I swear, she knows when 100mL is up and lets us know, but tonight we did 150mL and we could see that she knew it was more than usual. Better get used to it Ivana, it's your new normal!

 

What a pretty girl! I hope her numbers come down.

 

Tara, I am sorry that there has been progression in HRH Ckd. I am sending many vines and prayers for her and you and DH! She is still her beautiful self! .

 

She looks good despite everything else.

 

Her numbers are high but I have seen higher. I had a kitty with polycystic kidney disease and his were much worse....my vet couldn’t believe he was even alive. So you are right to treat the kitty and not the numbers. She might surprise you.

I will say that to really get the creatinine down, it takes IV fluids in the hospital and even that sometimes doesn’t work. But there is the consideration of what makes her happy and I bet she’d rather be home being cared for and loved by you all who realize that quality is so much more important than quantity.

Wishing your beautiful girl many, many more stable days, weeks, months at home with you all.

 

So true Marje, that's exactly why the vet suggested that extra fluids at home would be better for her. She did say that normally they do IV for numbers like that but that Ivana will do better at home, and we're happy with that. Definitely quality over quantity - she 20yrs and 3.5mths old, I think we've already got the quantity covered ;-)

 

Indeed she is, and that's what we're hanging on to - based on her appearance and behaviour she must be feeling relatively ok in spite of her numbers, and that gives us relief.

 

She's so beautiful still! Clinical signs are very important. We can easily get lost in the numbers.

 

20??? She looks marrrvelous!! Prayers sent for you and your girl.

 

Tara, so sorry to hear of Ivana's test results but I'm glad she is still perky and happy. She is still as gorgeous as ever!!