Pig 7/16 amps 197; +3 148; +6 74; +7 74; +8 59; 8.5 50; +9 111; +9.5 125; +10 138

[LuvinThisPig]

Yesterday's

First off, I am sorry! It has been a crazy couple days here where I have barely managed to get a shower in. Most of this time has been devoted to Pig and School. Mainly Pig.

@Wendy&Neko I am not understanding these numbers. His swings are wild right now, far more than is typical for him. He could be clearing bounces, I suppose. Maybe he got use to those yellows far to easily.

I also am learning that ANY change to diet is effecting him. It seems to really upset his belly. One thing I do know for sure, we started the Cerenia a few days ago and what a difference that has made! He is actually getting up to pee far more often. This, I cannot tell you, is such a tremendous relief. I have not started the Ace with the Prazo yet because the fact that they both drop blood pressure worries me. There was a time that I had his bladder flat and his colon empty, just with the use of Prazo and regulation. I want to get him there again, but that will take time and his labs concern me.

However, when I came home today his bladder was almost totally empty!!! I have also learned that if I scoot all the litter to the outer edges of the box and leave the bottom of the box exposed, he is far more willing to do his business in there. So, arthritis pain has to be an issue as well. I am toying with the idea of Bupe only because he has been pooing so well. I am convinced that if I can address his diet with nothing but consistency, pull him into solid regulation, and control the pain better with Bupe, I will see some better bladder production.

I just wish someone had some experience with the Ace. My vet is good, but she is unversed in these areas and a lot is just guessing. The Ace is super hard on the kidneys. I do not know what to do and welcome any and all suggestions...

 

[LuvinThisPig]

@LuvinThisPig

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@Marje and Gracie

Sarah....sorry to post on this condo but it’s the latest I’ve found for Pig. I see you already got some input on the labs.

When I look at his labs, the ALT doesn’t overly concern me right now. yes, it’s higher but ALT has a short half life and so something else (e.g. potential pancreatitis) could be causing what is an extremely mild elevation. Most vets don’t get too worried about ALT until it’s 3x normal and even that is considered a mild elevation. I think it’s smart to watch it and with the creatinine having jumped, I’d redo labs sooner rather than later (meaning I wouldn’t go longer than three months).

Yes, Wendy is correct that creatinine can be higher in larger, more muscled cats so the acro could be contributing to it. Of all his labs, the one that concerns me most is the potassium. His is at the high end of normal and you really want potassium to be in the midrange between 4 and 5.5.

For me, to really see what is going on with a cat, it’s best to get the full blood panels. Next time you have labs done, I’d ask for the senior panel which is less expensive and will get you a superchem, cbc, tT4, and urine.

It’s not possible to diagnose CKD just with what you have. If your vet has the potential to use IDEXX next time, I’d recommend it so you can get an SDMA. If not, having a urine sample will help so we can look at urine specific gravity. For USG, the best data is obtained by free catching the very first sample of the morning so we can see if he’s able to concentrate his urine.​

Thank you so very much for your response! I had planned on getting BW done every month until this either clears or I know exactly what we are dealing with. These kidneys really worry me.

What I am reading about hyperkaliemia is that is a product of renal misfunction. As in, they are not filtering it out the way it needs to be, so we are back to the kidneys. Is there anything that I can do to reduce this number? What are the steps now? I have cut almost all his phos because that is what you do, but I have no idea how to handle this one...

When we ran the BW his bladder had been pretty enlarged. Is there a chance that some of these numbers were caused by that? I know it is not good, but if we could do a flush would that not help? (sort of what my vet suggested)

I have toyed with the idea of getting a spectrometer to measure his USG at home. This would help monitor, yes?? ​

 

[LuvinThisPig]

Oh! I forgot! I wanted to share my "crazy" plan that I had thought up! I wanted to wait until I knew whether it would work or not. I am jumping the gun here a bit, but for the moment I can say that it is working and I could not be happier about it!

So, I mentioned that Pig is my service animal and that he has some training. I do not talk about this a whole lot because people look at me crazy when I say that I have a trained cat. However, when you are 'training' cats it is less about training and more about communicating. This is to say that you are establishing a link, a mode of communication. I clicker train Pig and have done so for several years. He knows the sound and also knows that if he does what he was doing at the time of that sound, then he will get a treat.

Now, when I was reading about bladder neuropathy in human diabetics, they said that the first avenue of treatment was behavioral modification. Now, most living creatures establish patterns of association. Some more than others. I bet if you were to just walk into a restroom you would suddenly feel a slight urge to pee. This is because our brains have subconsciously wired that part of our physiology to that location. In fact, there is a traditional tribe somewhere (I forget where just now) that begins to train their children to pee on command, in this case a whistle, from the time they are born. So, you have a baby and the baby pees. The Mom whistles. Every single time in the exact same way. By the time these children are 1 year old, they pee at the sound of that one distinct whistle. In this way this society trains their children to pee in certain locations and deals with hygiene all in one!

So, if this civilization and human diabetics can do this, then why could I not do it with Pig? The answer is that there is no reason that I can't. For several days I have stalked him and waited until I saw him urinating in the box. At first it was incredibly frustrating because it was so rare and inevitably he always went when I was not home. However, all I needed was a few times. Pig will pick up the associations after about 6-7 times since he has such a strong association with the clicker. I waited until he had just finished and was about to get up and clicked. Then I gave a small bite of food. This is another blessing with the appetite as Pig is so incredibly food driven. After a few times of this, Pig started going to the LB and scratching around. He would then run to me and chirp like he was saying it was time to get his reward. I did not treat then. He had to be clear on what it was I was asking him to do. Now, we are making real progress. When it has been an hour or two since a meal, he will begin to beg for food. I don't feed. Then he will go to the box and actually squat and pee. It is not ever a whole lot, but for me, progress is progress!! I continue to treat after every pee and he continues to pee for food.... If we can build tone in this way!! I know. I am crazy. But, I have trained him to pee on command and how can that be a bad thing?

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Cycle 5 of this dose, you are seeing what it can do. Reducing bladder discomfort might also impact the numbers. As for bounciness, I noticed Neko would get bouncier if she went as little as five days without green. You could be seeing some glucose toxicity being resolved.

BTW, Neko's potassium was higher, until her CKD progressed. Part of it was the benazapril she was on.

Interesting on the clicker training. It's rather harder with cats. As usual, Pig has trained you.

 

[LuvinThisPig]

Cycle 5 of this dose, you are seeing what it can do. Reducing bladder discomfort might also impact the numbers. As for bounciness, I noticed Neko would get bouncier if she went as little as five days without green. You could be seeing some glucose toxicity being resolved.

BTW, Neko's potassium was higher, until her CKD progressed. Part of it was the benazapril she was on.

Interesting on the clicker training. It's rather harder with cats. As usual, Pig has trained you.

I swear, Wendy. If I could have you on speed dial... I always feel so much better after hearing your responses. They are always just the calm center of reason.

I had assumed it was the treats I gave, but that made no sense. Then those bounces came to mind. I gave a reduced dose and will move him back to 20u in the morning. I think you are right. Resolving the bladder is a big thing. I am still suspicious of panc just from behavior. Either way, the Cerenia has been a game changer. I am learning that now, consistency is the most important thing with him.

And of course he does! Oh, you should hear him when I take him off the counter.. He gets up there to beg for food. He is such a grumpy guy when he does not get his way... I even admitted he was spoiled to my Mom the other day... He is, but really, I would not have him any other way!

 

[LizzieInTexas]

Are you completely apposed to Miralax for the constipation? When Gizmo needs a bit o' help, I sprinkle 1/32 teaspoon over his 3 snacks in the cycle. I usually only have to do it 1-2 times. Sometimes I do it 2 cycles in a row but most times I will use it, skip a cycle then repeat and it has gotten him moving. It is a very wee amount and only use if he hasn't gone in a day or so. Thankfully he has been a regular Joe lately but can usually tell by the lack of poo or the fact that they are small, harder and darker that he could use the help.

 

[LuvinThisPig]

Are you completely apposed to Miralax for the constipation? When Gizmo needs a bit o' help, I sprinkle 1/32 teaspoon over his 3 snacks in the cycle. I usually only have to do it 1-2 times. Sometimes I do it 2 cycles in a row but most times I will use it, skip a cycle then repeat and it has gotten him moving. It is a very wee amount and only use if he hasn't gone in a day or so. Thankfully he has been a regular Joe lately but can usually tell by the lack of poo or the fact that they are small, harder and darker that he could use the help.

Oh. I am not opposed to MiraLax at all... I use it all day long. His digestion and poo output have been excellent... Its his urinary functions that worry me now...

 

[JeffJ]

It is challenging when they bounce around. Leo had such good numbers when I was gone last week. Now bouncy time.....and yes, I'm pretty much keeping the chart updated.

That's interesting - training Pig to pee for treats. I hope it works. If it works, can you also clicker train me to stop eating little snacks all day?

Leo also has arthritis pain, I think. He kind of hobbles when he walks. The hobble magically disappears when he gets a single dog kibble, when I feed the dogs. I give him a few low carb treats per day. You never know if this is their last month.