9/20 Leo AMPS 422 +2 401 +3.5 336 +5 340 PMPS 439 Blood work

Good morning LL!

(So much for saving a draft. I wrote a nice long Condo last night in preparation for today, and found that the "Save draft" button doesn't work. My drafts area shows one old draft from August. Second time this has happened. Can't trust THAT!)

Anyway, Yesterday's Condo.
Yesterday's Summary

AMPS 398
+1 449
+5 415
PMPS 448 <--- new dose. 1.25u to fat 1.25u
+2 343
+5 366
AMPS 422

Abridged version of my nice eaten condo :sad: :sad: :sad: Leo got his bloodwork back and his values for the EPI and Pancreatic tests are within normal ranges Yay!!!! Boy the treatment for EPI is *expensive*. However, his B12 was very high. We started giving injections about a month ago, and she recommended we drop immediately to the maintenance dose (1x/month). His folate was also very high, indicating an overgrowth of bacteria going to town in his small intestine. (He's on flagyl now) The internal medicine doc suggested food intolerance and/or IBS, and FortaFlora. The recommendation for food intolerance is to use a novel source of protein and a novel source of carbs. Since he carbs are around 3%, she said starting with a novel protein is good. He's been eating Fancy Feast seafoods exclusively, so we'll switch over to beef, lamb, etc.

WCR: Leo slept with me again last night, and has assumed the meatloaf position next to me at the kitchen table as I write. He has at least 4 of the 5 P's. The poopies is troublesome with the diarrhea but at least he seems to get that P often once a day. He's still nervous during the day and I think he spends it under my bed. I opened the shades in the bedroom and put a footstool up to the window, but I don't think he goes up there. And of course, he takes up residence on my chair (I mean, throne!)

We upped the dose slightly last night to a fat 1.25. I'm using 1 unit marked syringes so getting 1.25 right is hard enough. I'm counting drops, so it's slightly higher but I don't know the *exact* value and I'm sure there's more slop in there than if I was shooting an even 1.0u.

Happy surfing days!
Lisa & Leo

Re: 9/20 Leo AMPS 422 Blood work back

So the vet didn't mention that fish and beef are the most common food allergies in cats? You'll want to look at duck and venison as novel proteins.

Also, I can't find very much information on elevated folate levels. I suspect this is from the B12 shots, as well. Most of the metabolic or GI issues associated with folate/folic acid are due to low levels.

Re: 9/20 Leo AMPS 422 Blood work back

She agreed that fish could be a problem, and that depending on what was available, to try addressing that first. She did mention that there are several options in the more exotic categories like rabbit or even Kangaroo I think she said! I figured I start with different Fancy Feast flavors since that would keep other things constant and only change one thing at a time. I was one the who listed off FF flavors like beef, lamb, etc. I believe she didn't include beef when she listed some of the more exotics, so maybe that was my misinterpretation.

Do you have recommendations for other/better novel proteins brands that I could substitute that wouldn't upset his food regime too much?

The vet said that higher folate levels were more associated with dogs than cats. She told me basically the same thing as this, from the Texas A&M labs (http://vetmed.tamu.edu/gilab/service/assays/b12folate). This is one of the only places I could find that talked about the differences between B12 and folate:

Cobalamin: Absorbed in the distal small intestine (specifically in the ileum). Values below the control range are often seen in patients with EPI, bacterial overgrowth in the upper small intestine, or disease affecting the distal small intestine. There is no known significance of values exceeding the control range.

Folate: Absorbed in the proximal small intestine only. Values above the control range are consistent with bacterial overgrowth in the upper small intestine. Values below the control range are consistent with disease affecting the proximal small intestine.

Click to expand...

Re: 9/20 Leo AMPS 422 Blood work back

Thanks for the info from TAMU.

The novel proteins that many people turn to are duck and venison. Kangaroo is a good idea, as well. Ziwi Peak may have a LC kangaroo food. I think Merrick Before the Grain has a duck option.

Be careful with FF. Read the labels. Some of the varieties that you would presume are OK have fish in them. The FF Classic Chicken, for example, has fish as an ingredient. Also, read carefully for fish oil. Many foods supplement with Omega 3 which is often in the form of fish oil. Ella gave Rusty a fish oil supplement and he had an allergy attack.

Re: 9/20 Leo AMPS 422 +2 401 Blood work back

Eeek! I didn't realize - I'll look at the food labels more carefully. Thanks for the food feedback - I'll be doing more research. Like Leo could take down a kangaroo in the wild!

Re: 9/20 Leo AMPS 422 +2 401 Blood work back

Hi guys .. wow, lots of information in this condo .. glad you got all of leo's bloodwork back and hopefully with the food change, the LB improves as well .. I'm sure having the diarrhea is no fun for the little guy .. or you! Have a great day!

Re: 9/20 Leo AMPS 422 +2 401 +3.5 336 Blood work back

Glad to hear Leo 90% whole cat. Becareful with the Beef. I fed the FF Classic beef to Jean Luc and he puked! I thought it was just a one time thing and tried it again a couple of times and each time he puked; therefore, no more beef for him. I also noticed him stratching his ears more when eating fish and the FF Classic Chicken which does have fish in it. We are now limited to FF Classic Turkey.

Re: 9/20 Leo AMPS 422 +2 401 +3.5 336 Blood work back

Shannan

Thanks for the feedback on the food, and on the chicken FF too. I looked at the Roasted Turkey label and it looked clean. I guess no beef for Leo!

Re: 9/20 Leo AMPS 422 +2 401 +3.5 336 Blood work back

Good luck on the novel protein hunt Lisa. FWIW - my kitties LOVE kangaroo, but it's in raw form. I believe ZiwiPeak does venison, rabbit and lamb but not roo (they are from New Zealand). Seryyn (Viktor's mum) fed him ZiwiPeak as an LC canned choice. I've often heard kangaroo mentioned as a novel protein choice for allergies but never seen it canned before. It's in my raw food rotation because it is low calorie, relatively low cost, and the kits love it. Raw food opens up a whole world of novel proteins (goat, buffalo, ostrich, quail, pheasant, rabbit), but it's not easy to travel with it. Since you have residences at both places you could shop at either place.

Re: 9/20 Leo AMPS 422 +2 401 +3.5 336 +5 340 PMPS 439 Blood

Wendy - thanks for the references - I had no idea what is out there. I was surfing the ZiwiPeak website - wow! But boy that's a lot of money for cat good. On the other hand, he doesn't have EPI so that's a ton of savings there! I have to bookmark this thread - lots of good stuff.

And Leo, get down from up there!!! Is this insulin broken?!? :shock:

Re: 9/20 Leo AMPS 422 +2 401 +3.5 336 +5 340 PMPS 439 Blood

The ziwipeak is great (human quality) but if you don't already, do mix it with water, it has a tendancy to make Vyktor's poo a bit too firm.

Down from there Leo!

Re: 9/20 Leo AMPS 422 +2 401 +3.5 336 +5 340 PMPS 439 Blood

That's great on the negative result for EPI. Good luck with the food search. Hope Leo comes down for you soon.

Re: 9/20 Leo AMPS 422 +2 401 +3.5 336 +5 340 PMPS 439 Blood

Hello Lisa and Leo - Perhaps JL and Leo are trying to meet in the red zone today. Hope Leo comes down soon. Will you be traveling again today? Wishing you a better experience this time.