veterinary question--follow up info

[Tanya Marquette]

for all those who have offerred advice on my cat's problem.

I just received the results of the blood tests taken yesterday on my cat.
intusseption is not the problem. she does show slight elevation of enzymes
for her kidneys. suspicion is possible kidney infection.
a small heart murmur has developed, grade 2.
and her teeth are bad, covered with plaque and a localized gum infection.

she is not eating well and losing weight.
she is not evacuating well. some urine; very little stool--noted diarrhea stool
this a.m.

they want to clean her teeth, possibly pull them out. but concerned that
the anesthesia might be harmful due to the heart murmur.

need some insight, support. i am too upset to think clearly about her case
right now

tanya
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Rosemary C Hyde Ph D]

Hi, Tanya -- This sounds like a situation you may be able to treat mostly homeopathically. Cleaning her teeth is definitely needed. Uncleaned teeth can facilitate heart and kidney infections. The have a no-anesthesia tooth cleaning for dogs -- do they do this for cats? If so, even if it's not as thorough as when done under anesthesia, it would be a good first step. Otherwise, I'd treat her homeopathically if possible for the infections and then have her teeth cleaned when she's recovered some. If you don't have the luxury of that time and she could be treated with antibiotics for the infections, then she would be able to have her teeth cleaned. Would she let you brush/ wipe her teeth? They need more than that, but every little bit helps. It's very possible that the gum infection makes it painful for her to eat at all, and thus she's not. At least it would be worth discussing these options -- possibly others as well -- with your vet.

Good luck! Rosemary

[Dr. Swift]

Tanya,

Sorry for the delay in this response. Perhaps this will be helpful to you
and your cat. I am assuming the blood tests showed an elevated blood urea
nitrogen and creatinine (neither of which btw is an enzyme). I don't see how
this leads to "kidney infection". "Chronic renal failure" as they like to
call it is the more likely candidate. I see cats with kidney problems A LOT
and I don't see them with bloody, mucus from the bowel at all. I suspect
that the bowel problem is a bout of "colitis" or "inflammatory bowel
disease" to use the conventional medical jargon. Assuming no recent diet
changes, etc. my guess is that something unexpected has occurred to her that
has angered her.

Unless the teeth are REALLY bad, I could not justify the anesthetic risk to
clean them. That can push her over the edge into a real kidney crisis.
Trying to clean a cat's teeth wide awake is generally neither safe nor
effective. There is a product that is purported to help remove calculus. I
have used it recently on a couple of pets and it seems to be working. It is
an herbal product and while I generally don't use herbals I think it is
safer than anesthesia. It is called Leba III from www.lebalab.com.

No enough info for me to make much comment on the heart murmur. There are
many reasons they can occur. Some are physiologic, some pathologic. If it is
physiologic, it will probably improve as she gets to feeling better.

As for the immediate situation, I expect she is dehydrated. If so,
subcutaneous fluid support will go a long way to keeping her going. That is
the common reason for "kidney" cats to go off food. Often, within hours of
getting fluids, they dramatically improve.

So for the short term, I would consider fluid support daily or as needed and
homeopathic treatment, of course. Once she begins to eat, please consider
putting her on a good raw foods program. I have seen this make a big
difference for pets with kidney problems. There is an article about renal
failure on my website as well as raw foods feeding info.

I know it is easier said than done, but try not to worry, etc. If you do,
she probably will, too.

be well

Russell Swift, DVM
Classical Homeopath
phone 561-391-5615
email drswift@therightremedy.com
www.therightremedy.com

"Allopaths have protocols, Homeopaths have principles."
^

[Tanya Marquette]

Russell,

I just received the printed lab test report on my kitty.

Creatine was a bit high: 2.8
Platelet count 67 low but they assess it as adequate due to clumpling
Monocytes 1017 high
Eosinophils 1243 high

Urinalysis
WBC 20.50
RBC 10-20

they think she has a slight kidney infection and that her teeth are in bad shape.
there is a red area above her upper canine (the extra long tooth) and heavy plaque

i am not sure the best way to reporatize this case. she ate the ID food that i gave her
last nite, but wouldnt eat it this morning. however, she wanted to eat some egg drop soup
last nite that i had and this morning she ate a bit of turkey that i was eating.
she seems worse in the morning with her eating of cat food and that is also when her anus
was irritated she was licking in the morning. this seems to pass by late
afternoon. she is preferring to stay isolated more than usual. is still not really evacuating
any stool and only had a diarrhea stool yesterday morning (dont know what time). she is
drinking minimally.

do these notes make any better sense than my earlier post?

tanya

[Dr. Swift]

Tanya,

The increased creatinine indicates some kidney dysfunction, however, if the
BUN is normal or slightly elevated, I would not expect the loss of appetite
to be from the kidney problem. If the urine specific gravity is normal then
kidney function is at least adequate. The RBC and WBC in urine can be from
anywhere in the urogenital tract. The high monocytes and eosinophils don't
really fit the "kidney infection" idea that well.
I still suspect something in the bowel and that fits well with the increased
eosinophils as well as the majority of symptoms.

Things to consider in your repertorization:

thirstless, time modality, averse company, rectal/anal itching. Again, is
there a possiblity that she or you have been angered by something? (Animals
can react to their person's state.)
I would try a small amount of pureed raw meat or soft boiled egg. Beef or
chicken broth would be another option. Avoid processed foods if possible.
If she is dehyrdated, it will be very difficult to correct just by
ingestion. Ask the vet if the blood tests suggest dehydration and rehydrate
if needed. Without seeing more of the results, I cannot say.

If the primary problem is bowel inflammation, getting to the deeper
emotional issue will be important.

be well
Russell Swift, DVM
Classical Homeopath
phone 561-391-5615
email drswift@therightremedy.com
www.therightremedy.com

"Allopaths have protocols, Homeopaths have principles."

^

[Tanya Marquette]

Russell,

the emotional stuff is a bit difficult. it seems that you are looking for signs of anger. the one thing that
has really been changing is that i am not home as much anymore. for a couple of years i was house-
bound with a disability. now that i am moving around a lot more and am back to work full-time, i am
not as available to her for company. she does not seem to show anger as grudges as another of my
cats used to do. but i am open to the idea that there is some anger/grief about being alone so much.
she did respond very well to nat mur when my last cat died and i realized how attached she was.

i think i am calm enough now to begin to try and rep out the case. thanks for your advice.

tanya

[Allen Coniglio]

Russell - Thanks for the info. I am going through a similar situation with
my 19 year old cat. I have kept him alive using homeopathy well past what
his allopathic vet probably would have expected and/or been able to do. He
has had problems with hyperthyroidism, brought on no doubt by years of
eating grain based prescription cat food sold to me by his vet which likely
set off the hyperimmune response that caused his body to react against
itself in that way. He doesn't show much in the way of hyperthyroid symptoms
anymore after changing his diet to canned cat food, turkey breast and other
meats and homeopathic treatment for the past 2 years or so but, is still
quite thin. I no longer trust his allopathic vet and would rather put him to
sleep than to have them torture him. In fact, I had him scheduled for
euthanasia about a week ago as he was really quite ill but gave him a couple
of remedies the night before and when I woke up the next day to take him in,
he was fine. A friend who saw him before and after could not believe the
difference. He is, however, rapidly using up his 9 lives and needs a good
teeth cleaning but, I do not want to risk the stress of the procedure,
anasthetic, etc.. I just ordered the herbal product you mentioned to clean
his teeth and it is being shipped. The people at the company in Canada are
very nice and helpful, so, I would advise anyone who is interested not to be
afraid to talk to them. Thanks again. You are doing a lot of good for our
animal friends.

Allen