Rho acting fine but surely on the decline

If I'm honest with myself, we're onto week 4 of not eating or drinking normal, and probably day 5 of not bathroom-ing normal. Rho keeps giving me little bit of hope (he ate on his own after the vet Sunday, he drank on his own this morning), but I know it's not enough. Within the past 24 hours he's eaten less than two ounces of baby food and no more than half a cup of water. He's a 15lb cat - I KNOW this is not enough to sustain him. Otherwise, he's been acting and looking like his normal self!

I'm trying to figure out what I can do - It's keeping me up at night wracking my brain for things I can try, what his behavior means, and how much more do I spend on diagnostics and stress on my kitty. The good news in all of this is I'm still testing glucose and he still doesn't need insulin...

A recap from his e-visit is below. From what the vet told me, some of these numbers are "a little high" but don't point to one definitive answer on what's up. We're waiting on labwork to come back (Friday or Monday) and she suggested I could get an ultrasound done next ($300) but it might be wise to see what the lab says first. I'm off to google to try to understand what each and every value below means.

If signs point to something simple and treatable, then great. If it's something worse, requires expensive treatment, or an invasive procedure... well... That's why I'm looking for some input, advice, thoughts, options. I'm basically doing this on my own as my mom lives in another state and my husband has been working crazy hours 7 days a week (and will be for 3 more weeks) - there's no one else here to bump ideas off of.

Rho's bloodwork showed:
RDW @ 30.9 (15-26 normal)
WBC @ 20.37 (2.87-17.02 normal)
Neutrophils @ 17.55 (1.48-10.29 normal)
Monocytes @ .85 (.05-.67 normal)
BUN @ 13 (16-36 normal)
Bilirubin @ 1.6 (0-.09 normal)

His urinalysis showed:
Negative for glucose, bilirubin, ketones, blood, urobilinog, and nitrates
Sec Grav and Ph normal
Protein: 30+
Leukocytes: 500+
Based on these results she prescribed Clavamox and he has taken his 4th does this am.

His x-rays showed normal lungs and heart. Normal-ish liver, kidney, and colon - however there is fluid in his abdomen. Basic testing done at the vet could not indicate where the fluid came from or what it is - this is the labwork we are waiting on and what the ultrasound would possibly look into. Basic testing on this fluid leads the vet to believe there is no problem with his kidneys (creatinine level were normal) and his bladder did not rupture nor does he have sepsis (based on cells not seen in the sample).

Help? Thoughts? What would you do?

 

@Marje and GraMar you are good with lab readings. What do you tgink

 

Aside from the test results (I can't help you with those but in my very limited knowledge suggests there might be infection and/or inflammation) have you tried antinausea meds and an appetite stimulant to get him eating? Would you be willing to learn to give him subQ fluids at home to get him better hydrated? Has a test for pancreatitis been done? The antibiotics can also have a negative effect on appetite.

 

Is he on antibiotics?

 

Yes, he is - see line under the list of lab results in the first post.

 

@Kris & Teasel - yes, he's had 4 doses of clavamox and is due for another in 4 or so hours. He had an injection of cerenia at the vet sunday and I gave him an appetite stumulant yesterday just before dinner - it seemed to agitate him more than making him want to eat.

He's had a little drink from the faucet, and ate on his own, but nothing substantial. I asked the emergency vet about subq fluids at home and it wasn't something the dr thought was necessary. No test for pancreatitis was done. Overnight hospitalization in my area is $700.

I finally got his bloodwork back from his previous vet when it was done in March and everything at that time was within normal range except for glucose was 499.

I'm feeling discouraged and unsure. Vet bills are so expensive and he throws a fit when they have to handle him. But I'm thinking I'll have to bring him in again tomorrow if he's still not eating (not that I have a clue what they will do for him). At least with the first visit I knew bloodwork, xrays, and urinalysis would be done, just didn't anticipate no clear finding after that.

 

Are you assist feeding? Do you have any FortiFlora to tempt him to eat.

 

@JanetNJ - I tried to assist feed for a day and it was a messy disaster. The first time wasn't awful, but by the end of the day I was trying to wrap him in a towel to hold him still... he started growling, howling, clamping his jaw, spitting the wet food back out... it just seemed way more stressful than what I wanted to put him through.

I've tried fancy feast, friskies, those fancy flaked meat foods, browned ground beef, chicken broth, and baby food in beef, chicken, and turkey... I haven't looked into fortiflora, but a quick search tells me it's not available in local stores.

 

Amazon and chewy has it... And Adwdiabetes.com Your vet might too

 

Here's a weird one...

He used to drink water from the bathroom faucet all the time, but stopped about 2 years ago when he stopped being able to jump up on the toilet to the counter. I thought I'd pick him up and let him take a drink hoping he'd want to drink on his own. He showed interest and kept putting his head and face really close to the water, but won't drink. It's like he can't figure out how to lick the water anymore, or can't figure out how to turn his head and stick out his tounge in the right way.

 

Maybe he would like a pet fountain. I got a couple because one of the cats was obsessed with the sink. She LOVES it.

 

He has one, he stopped drinking from it about a month or two ago. I still keep it clean and full just in case.

I will ask the vet about fortiflora if I end up taking him in tomorrow. Or I can ask my husband to order it with his prime account if he gets home before I go to bed tonight.

 

Does he have bad teeth?

/ETA - I ask because that can affect their water drinking as well. When did he last have a dental? Did the vet check them at all?

 

His teeth are ok, not the best, and would probably benefit from a dental cleaning, but the vet didn't think they were bad enough to be causing the issue.

 

In cats the leukocytes urine test pad indicate a false positive 99+% of the time. Thus, it is not a valid indicator of an infection.
However, the high WBC value may indicate an infection.

What was the color/consistency of the fluid? The specific gravity? Was a sample looked at under a microscope?
Usually vet analysis of the fluid can rule out causes but a definite diagnosis can't usually be determined.

 

Womp womp... my mistake for not updating this thread. The day after my last post (about a week ago) the labwork on his fluid came back positive for cancer.

I started a new thread here:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/cancer-diagnosis-for-rho.198521/