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I posted here about my cat Drive By, who died on Memorial Day this year. We still miss her a lot.
Felicity has a tumor on her tongue, but she's had it for several years and it was growing slowly, under Dr. George's excellent care. Monday Dr. George came to visit and said it has grown a good bit since he last checked. I think with the worry and care of Drive By, we haven't kept as close an eye on it as we should. Hopefully he can get it to shrink back down. She's going in a couple of weeks to be sedated and have anti-inflammatories injected directly into the tumor. It's not operable in the sense of being able to remove it. We may decide to shave it down some, just to give her some mechanical relief, and help her swallow more easily.
My Iron, Ferritin, and Hemoglobin are extremely low, and my hematocrit is slightly low, and it's been that way since early March at least. Doctor Bob thinks it's some sort of g.i. bleeding, so I have to get an endoscopy.
My mom had an MRI done recently, because she's gotten a lot weaker in her legs, and they told her she's had a number of small strokes.
I noticed Mouse also has started losing shine in her coat, and it has begun to look a bit scrappy. Then I noticed she's beginning to lose weight. I was worried, so we did blood tests and Dr. George let me know tonight that she's in the first stages of kidney disease.
Maybe we're just all getting old, but I think we're due for some medical good news sometime soon.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote:My Iron, Ferritin, and Hemoglobin are extremely low, and my hematocrit is slightly low, and it's been that way since early March at least. Doctor Bob thinks it's some sort of g.i. bleeding, so I have to get an endoscopy.
Get your doctor to check you for gluten intolerance (Celiac disease) as well. Unless you have other symptoms of GI bleeding, gluten intolerance is a likely cause for anemia because you maladsorb nutrients like iron. Before I was diagnosed, I was always rather severely anemic and the doctors could never figure out why. There is a very high coincidence of diabetes and celiac disease so you are in a high risk group. If they are doing and endoscopy, make sure they check for this as well.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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Rabbit, I'm going to ask my Mom about that (Celiac disease). She's diabetic and has been suffering from anemia for well over a year, despite taking iron supplements, and other doctor-ordered treatment etc. I don't know for sure if they've even considered Celiac disease. Is this something routine, or is it likely it was overlooked?
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Tatiana, I'm sorry. Are there any members of your immediate family that aren't sick (I'm not sure of how many cats you have)? I'm sure that it's just my imagination running away with me, but when I read your post I wondered if there could be some kind of toxin in the air or water that was affecting all of you. I suppose, though, that if that were the case all of the cats who were exposed to toxin X would be exhibiting the same symptoms, right?
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Tatiana, I'm so sorry, as well. I hope it gets better soon, or at least that you and your loved ones find the pleasures of age to (however briefly!) outweigh the trials sometimes.
Please do check into celiac disease, as Rabbit mentioned. KarlEd, the connection with diabetes is known without doubt (does not happen in most, but surely, surely is an increased risk for all), but I don't know whether the screening for it has made it onto the national protocols for treatment in any substantive way. Physicians just seem to not think of it as often as they should.
(Does anyone need links for this info? I'd be happy to spend the time to find them, if it would be of help.)
Posts: 132 | Registered: Jun 2006
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I will ask about Celiac disease. I do notice that when I cut out all carbs (other than non-starchy veggies), my g.i. tract is much happier. And rice feels particularly good to my system, too.
Thanks for the hugs and kindness, everyone. Hearing about Mouse yesterday was quite a blow. But Dr. George said that with good care and good luck, she could live 5 more years, and 20 is a ripe old age for a cat, so I'm going to hope for that and work towards that aim.
Noemon, I only have Mouse and Felicity now. I don't think it's any toxins or anything. I think we are just getting old, and find that things go wrong with us more often. The little ones are harder to treat, of course, because they can't consent to these horrific procedures the doctors have, so we try to treat them with a light hand. I think the hardest thing to know about treating small people (particularly the ones who can't consent) is how to do less harm than good.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote:Originally posted by KarlEd: (((Tatiana & Family)))
Rabbit, I'm going to ask my Mom about that (Celiac disease). She's diabetic and has been suffering from anemia for well over a year, despite taking iron supplements, and other doctor-ordered treatment etc. I don't know for sure if they've even considered Celiac disease. Is this something routine, or is it likely it was overlooked?
Karl, Hard to answer. The US medical establishment has only recognized that Celiac disease is relatively common during the past few years. Some doctors who are up to date on the issue, will test for it routinely. Others won't think of testing for it until you are deathly ill and they have tried every other option. It's definitely worth suggesting to her doctor.
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