Re: [Felvtalk] FW: Update on Bogey My FELV + Cat FRIDAY

[Sherri Godschalk]

Good morning everyone. It has been a good day here. After the week that we
have had, to have my little Bogey go and find her litter and start burying
things was music to my ears. I figured after that she would just try to
return to bed after. But she walked around looking for her food dish. I
grabbed it and sat it on the floor and she ate kibble without me even
prodding her to do so. Also some watered down wet food. Gently groomed
herself after. Clear urine and finally a very good bowel movement.

We are not out of the woods I know. She is still very weak and jaundice but
less so. These are small milestones but we celebrated them.

Even though she ate wet (Fancy Feast) and kibble on her own today. I am
going to still force the A/D, L/D and water. She has lost about a pound
through all of this. I started giving her about half the dose that I was of
Petinic vitamins.

I am not going to take her in for SUBQ. They are open tomorrow so that is a
possibility if anything worsens. My reasoning: My vet, I appreciate
everything he has done with her. Especially because he is giving her the
chance to live with the Winstrol and Doxy. She would be gone by now if not
for him. He’s a great guy and his staff is wonderful. But when I took her in
for treatment for this, he really didn’t want to do anything for her.
Actually said he wouldn’t because she was suffering. He did eventually agree
to a hospital stay with IV. I believe I have to nurse her back myself so as
to not jeopardize any future treatments for her. It’s a slippery slope. At
this point and after THAT soft bowel movement and her urinating regularly I
am going to continue on as I have been. I hope it is the right decision. I
will learn how to do that myself for the next time.

Sherri





From:  Felvtalk <felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org> on behalf of Amani
Oakley <aoak...@oakleylegal.com>
Reply-To:  <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org>
Date:  Thursday, December 15, 2016 at 8:31 PM
To:  "felvtalk@felineleukemia.org" <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org>
Subject:  [Felvtalk] FW:  FW:  FW:  Update on Bogey My FELV + Cat

Sherri
 
Even without the issue of jaundice, if Bogey is dehydrated, the urine will
be darker.
 
Sherri, do you know how to give subcutaneous fluids? It is very easy.
Perhaps ask your vet to show you how. You just lift the loose skin at the
back of the neck, and you inject or run fluids into that gap under the skin,
behind the neck. The body will absorb the fluids as needed, so there is
virtually no risk of giving too much fluid – any excess fluid is just peed
out.
 
It is a life-saving technique that I wouldn’t be without. I always keep
several bags of fluid in the house (ringer’s lactate/saline/5% dextrose – I
hang onto any bags I can get) for use in an emergency. A droopy cat will
often respond immediately and miraculously to subcutaneous fluids – usually
saline or the ringer’s lactate.
 
Amani
 

From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of
Sherri Godschalk
Sent: December-15-16 5:49 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] FW: FW: Update on Bogey My FELV + Cat
 

Well I cannot seem to find anything that she will voluntarily drink. I think
chicken broth is next. She groomed herself some today. But the last time she
urinated it had started to turn more orange. Maybe this is expected? She
does have more bounce in her step. Walking straighter lines and less wobbly.
She is fighting me feeding her which is more her style. She meowed at me
today when I called her name. What a wonderful sound that was.

 

From: Felvtalk <felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org> on behalf of Amani
Oakley <aoak...@oakleylegal.com>
Reply-To: <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org>
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2016 at 8:04 AM
To: "felvtalk@felineleukemia.org" <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org>
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] FW: FW: Update on Bogey My FELV + Cat

 

You can take your milk and dilute it with warm water and stir it around.
 
Amani
 

From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of
Sherri Godschalk
Sent: December-15-16 8:13 AM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] FW: FW: Update on Bogey My FELV + Cat
 

Hi Amani. This morning’s urine was also pretty clear. I will pick up some
baby food today. She isn’t refusing to eat. She just is really too weak. If
I hold her and let her lick it off my hand she does great. Almost a half of
a 5.5 oz can already today. She has not vomited. I thought about milk but
she has yet to have a bowel movement and I didn’t want to constipate her
more. I think I will offer her some at next feeding. I drink whole milk so I
think I will pick up some Whiskas today too.

 

I was surprised that the vet told me to start the Winstrol again so soon. I
thought that was not a good plan.

 

Thanks for the input Amani.

 

From: Felvtalk <felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org> on behalf of Amani
Oakley <aoak...@oakleyl

Re: [Felvtalk] FW: Update on Bogey My FELV + Cat

[Sherri Godschalk]

Just a little update for any of you following Bogey’s progress here or
others who find these posts helpful.

First day home from hospital. She of course wasn’t interested in eating. But
I would sit with her and she would lick Hill’s L/d and a/d from my finger.
She ate over a full can total. Every hour or so I gave her about a
tablespoon. Alternating between the two. I also am giving her water and a
few drops of Pedialite each time. The first time she urinated it was very
orange about 2 pm. She didn’t urinate again until last night around 10 and
was clear. She actually went to her water dish last night and took a couple
of laps. She is still weak and wobbly. But she know where things are. Still
seems out of it though. I doubt that she slept at all while in the hospital
so I am just letting her rest. She is curled up on a bean bag chair right
now with a heating pad on her.

She isn’t suffering or getting worse.

I have yet to start her back on the Winstrol but may do that today if the
jaundice continues to show improvement. Might make her feel stronger.

Thanks for reading.

Sherri

From:  Felvtalk <felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org> on behalf of Amani
Oakley <aoak...@oakleylegal.com>
Reply-To:  <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org>
Date:  Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 9:21 PM
To:  "felvtalk@felineleukemia.org" <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org>
Subject:  [Felvtalk] FW:  Update on Bogey My FELV + Cat

Sherri
 
The yellow discolouration takes a bit of time to ebb away. The more
important indicator of how she is doing is that she is more steady on her
feet and has an interest in eating. She has clearly improved, so don’t let
the yellow colour concern you. It should fade away on its own.
 
After tonight, if she is as good as you saw her today, I would take her
home. She needs to eat, and needs to be nudged to eat as much as possible.
That will help get rid of some of the bilirubin as some of it is excreted in
feces. It will also improve her outlook on life if she is eating again.
 
Later on, you can follow up on the glucose. Glucose doesn’t just rise above
the normal reference range with diabetes. Animals and people will have an
elevated glucose when the body is in crisis or in pain. Retest her at a time
when she is feeling better. For the potassium (which is the “K” number) it
is just barely low. I would not leave her at the vet’s or give her more
fluids just for that.
 
However, I would ask for her bloodwork to be retested after the fluids.
Ideally, you should start to see the bilirubin, GGT and ALT dropping. The
potassium may also now be in the reference range, and let’s see what the
glucose looks like.
 
One key thing I was taught was that you treat the patient, not the numbers.
I follow the lab numbers closely, but the more important thing, is how is
she doing. She is improving and hopefully will continue to do so. I think
that a retest of her blood work should confirm that.
 
Take her home as soon as possible and give her some TLC!
 
Was the can of salmon a can of catfood salmon or human food salmon? If
catfood, I understand that there have been incidents of liver failure
because of an additive/preservative called ethoxyquin which is added to fish
or fish meal. (Fish meal can also sometimes be contaminated with mycotoxins
which might also have a deleterious effect on the liver.) That might also
explain why the jaundice seemed to come on so suddenly after ingestion. Do a
Google search on the brand name and see if others have reported a problem.
 
Amani
 
 

From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of
Sherri Godschalk
Sent: December-13-16 8:26 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Update on Bogey My FELV + Cat
 

Amani,

I noticed the glucose right away. I had a diabetic dog that required insulin
twice a day and so that number stuck out. I believe these tests were before
the IV. I didn’t look at the bag closely that they were giving her but I
think it was Dextrose. I will ask him about that tomorrow.  With this
jaundice…is the fact that it really hasn’t gotten any better an indicator
that she isn’t any better? Or does that take a while to return to normal? I
will also ask him about the potassium. Is that the K number?

 

She had an interest in a can of salmon that I opened on Saturday. So I sat
aside a little for her and fed it to her bits at a time for a couple of days
before this all happened. I told the vet about it. She never had salmon
before. He didn’t think that was anything.

 

The doxy clearly made a huge difference. Around the house here, she just
came alive after the first week of being on it. That tip, and the doc
finally agreeing to prescribe it…saved her life I believe. Thank you so
much.

 

I don’t think they are giving her one other than that bag of fluid. He
really didn’t want to do anything and I actually begged him to hospitalize
her and give her a chance. I am sure he thought her blood tests would show
the very 

[Felvtalk] FW: Update on Bogey My FELV + Cat

[Amani Oakley]

Sherri

The yellow discolouration takes a bit of time to ebb away. The more important 
indicator of how she is doing is that she is more steady on her feet and has an 
interest in eating. She has clearly improved, so don’t let the yellow colour 
concern you. It should fade away on its own.

After tonight, if she is as good as you saw her today, I would take her home. 
She needs to eat, and needs to be nudged to eat as much as possible. That will 
help get rid of some of the bilirubin as some of it is excreted in feces. It 
will also improve her outlook on life if she is eating again.

Later on, you can follow up on the glucose. Glucose doesn’t just rise above the 
normal reference range with diabetes. Animals and people will have an elevated 
glucose when the body is in crisis or in pain. Retest her at a time when she is 
feeling better. For the potassium (which is the “K” number) it is just barely 
low. I would not leave her at the vet’s or give her more fluids just for that.

However, I would ask for her bloodwork to be retested after the fluids. 
Ideally, you should start to see the bilirubin, GGT and ALT dropping. The 
potassium may also now be in the reference range, and let’s see what the 
glucose looks like.

One key thing I was taught was that you treat the patient, not the numbers. I 
follow the lab numbers closely, but the more important thing, is how is she 
doing. She is improving and hopefully will continue to do so. I think that a 
retest of her blood work should confirm that.

Take her home as soon as possible and give her some TLC!

Was the can of salmon a can of catfood salmon or human food salmon? If catfood, 
I understand that there have been incidents of liver failure because of an 
additive/preservative called ethoxyquin which is added to fish or fish meal. 
(Fish meal can also sometimes be contaminated with mycotoxins which might also 
have a deleterious effect on the liver.) That might also explain why the 
jaundice seemed to come on so suddenly after ingestion. Do a Google search on 
the brand name and see if others have reported a problem.

Amani


From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Sherri 
Godschalk
Sent: December-13-16 8:26 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Update on Bogey My FELV + Cat

Amani,
I noticed the glucose right away. I had a diabetic dog that required insulin 
twice a day and so that number stuck out. I believe these tests were before the 
IV. I didn’t look at the bag closely that they were giving her but I think it 
was Dextrose. I will ask him about that tomorrow.  With this jaundice…is the 
fact that it really hasn’t gotten any better an indicator that she isn’t any 
better? Or does that take a while to return to normal? I will also ask him 
about the potassium. Is that the K number?

She had an interest in a can of salmon that I opened on Saturday. So I sat 
aside a little for her and fed it to her bits at a time for a couple of days 
before this all happened. I told the vet about it. She never had salmon before. 
He didn’t think that was anything.

The doxy clearly made a huge difference. Around the house here, she just came 
alive after the first week of being on it. That tip, and the doc finally 
agreeing to prescribe it…saved her life I believe. Thank you so much.

I don’t think they are giving her one other than that bag of fluid. He really 
didn’t want to do anything and I actually begged him to hospitalize her and 
give her a chance. I am sure he thought her blood tests would show the very 
worst.

Thanks for the feedback on these test results Amani. I feel a little hopeful 
tonight. She is never very comfortable at the Vet’s office. She is looking for 
a way to escape normally or someplace to hide. Once she gets home she is fine. 
She hates her cage. But when I sat her on the floor to let her try to walk a 
little she headed straight for it. I think she would like to come home.

From: Felvtalk 
>
 on behalf of Amani Oakley 
>
Reply-To: >
Date: Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 7:47 PM
To: "felvtalk@felineleukemia.org" 
>
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Update on Bogey My FELV + Cat

Sherri

The results aren’t that bad at all. I have seen Total Billirubins (TBili) in 
the thousands and the babies/humans and animals survived. The liver enzymes are 
barely budged. They are  wee bit up but again, I have seen them in the 
thousands with no effect on the cats. There may have been a gallbladder 
blockage or something like that, (though I don’t know if cats get these). This 
may have been washed out by the fluids she is getting.

Your explanation regarding adding the Doxycycline