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Post by lotsofcats on Jul 9, 2020 12:16:23 GMT
Took Kiba-Khan to the vets this morning at 9am regarding his walking funny on his front paws and also mentioned that he coughs every day. The vets have a new system due to coronavirus. I had to phone to say I was outside for my appointment and then the vet comes out. I discussed Kiba-Khan's symptoms and he took him from me. He was gone for a while. When he came back out he said the secondary problem (the coughing) I mentioned is more serious that the problem with the paws. If he is eating and drinking okay and doesn't appear to be in pain then the paws can wait a bit. The vet said it is probably a problem with the ligaments and he's never seen it in a cat with the front paws before, only the back paws! He wants to do a blood test but will wait until I take him back in 2 weeks' time to see if the tablets prescribed improve things (Frusemide). He said a cat's heart should have 2 beats, as in boom, boom; but Kiba-Khan's heart goes boom-boom, boom. Scary, as I know Maine Coons are prone to heart problems especially Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, especially as he is a big cat and elderly, 13 years and 4+ months. Average life span for a Maine Coon is 10-13 years.
Also had to take Kobi for his booster at 10.45am - to a different branch of the vets to the one I took Kiba-Khan to. I told the vet I was concerned about Kobi's ears and especially his skin up under his front legs and over his tummy. She examined him and came back out and asked if I wanted his booster today or to treat his other problems as she wanted to give him steroid tablets for his 'elephant skin'(that's how I describe it). I chose the tablets first as he's been very restless. The vet said she thinks it's from the grass and pollen on his walks - he never goes in the undergrowth on his walk, he sticks to the cycle track we walk along!
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Post by molly9 on Jul 9, 2020 16:38:17 GMT
What a terrible worry for you lotsofcats I used to hate seeing Molly having her blood taken I hope the tablets help xx
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Post by cazypops on Jul 9, 2020 21:09:38 GMT
Hope the meds work for both Kobi and Keba-Khan. It's such a worry. {{HUGS}}
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Post by scallywag on Jul 9, 2020 22:55:17 GMT
How did I miss this post , we were chatting back and forth a lot this afternoon , on reflection come noon I was wondering where you were just thought you may have been busy with a vat return or somit. Its such a worry when our fur babies are not right. I hope the meds sort out K K heart beat and , Kobi skin problem. Keep us posted. Sorry for such a late response. HUGS X
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Post by lotsofcats on Jul 10, 2020 8:30:22 GMT
I was wondering how I'd give Kiba-Khan his tablet as I've struggled in the past, but it was easy peasy. I buy frozen chicken strips for the cats and they are quite thick strips. I defrosted some and cut a good chunky piece, made a slit in the middle and popped the tablet down in it. I then gave him a few chunks of chicken and he just wolfed them down. The vet said the tablets would make him drink more and pee lots - OMG he pees so much already!, and often misses the litter tray. I must be careful not to mix Kiba-Khan's tablets with Kobi's as they are in the same bottles with very small writing on. I've put red letters KK on Kiba Khan's. He's forgiven me for taking him to the vets and sat on my lap lots, bless him. Kobi was the best behaved he's ever been when we took him to the vet, he actually stopped barking on the way home.
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Post by tonib on Jul 11, 2020 16:45:47 GMT
Sorry to hear about Kiba-Khan's heart issue lotsofcats I presume the blood test is to find out what the cause could be. Is he still taking his tablets in the chicken strips? I've had limited success with them as Osiris finds the tablets then sniffs out the pieces with the tablet or doesn't have any at all! Currently (I'll post about this later) he's having them in cooked chunks of beef (skirt) Glad to hear Kobi was on best behaviour on his vet visit & hope the tablets are helping with his skin problems.
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Post by lotsofcats on Jul 16, 2020 8:40:11 GMT
Kobi's tablets are helping tonib. He's stopped scratching and his skin is improving. When we took him for a walk on Wednesday and we let him off the lead he was running - he hasn't done that for a long time so he must be feeling better. We have to put up with the side effect of steroids which is increased appetite - he was bad enough before. He now stares at us and wills us to give him more food. Willow had a bit of food left the other day and Kobi was actually crying for it. Kiba-Khan hasn't coughed as much since he's been on his tablets, so hopefully his heart problem is improving. I've noticed him drinking more but he must do his extra weeing in the litter trays in the cat pen.
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Post by lotsofcats on Jul 23, 2020 10:56:28 GMT
Been to the vets this morning with Kiba-Khan for him to have a blood test. I was stood outside for and hour and a quarter. Still not allowed inside the vets yet. After the blood test the vet brought Kiba-Khan back out and said I might as well wait for the results as it would only be 10-15 minutes - 20 minutes later the vet came out and explained the results to me. He was concerned about the level of potassium which turned out to be 3.6 and the ideal level is between 3.5 and 5.1. Kiba-Khan's levels are just about in the right area, but only just and will need to be checked again in 2-3 months time. Unfortunately his tablets for his heart problem are diuretics and they cause the potassium levels to decrease. The vet said that Kiba-Khan's problem with his feet is caused by a low potassium level. He said that Kiba-Khan still has an abnormal heart rhythm.
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Post by tonib on Jul 23, 2020 12:52:21 GMT
lotsofcats, sorry to hear about Kiba-Khan's results of his vet visit. That's a long wait, hope it was dry. I'm lucky my vets have just opened up their waiting & consulting rooms to an owner so long as the appropriate social distancing is observed & obviously reduced numbers in waiting rooms & only one person with the pet. Out of interest do you get a copy of the results? Over the years I've asked fro my cats & it has been interesting to see how they compare/change. As you may remember I joined a kidney disease forum when Penny was diagnosed with it, one of the issues the associated documentation cover was Potassium levels. I am not in anyway suggesting that Kiba-Khan has CRF just that it had some information on potassium levels in cats & possible reasons/treatments. & thought you might be interested in that & also it may lead to you having informed questions for your vet It does state that one of the hypertension meds can lower the level. www.felinecrf.org/potassium.htm#treatmentsThere is a lot of references to external reference documents but I tend to ignore those but I do find the information on this site is clear & often practical. They do stress that their information is not from a vet but from experience (including what vets have told them) & research but this particular section maybe useful to you.
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Post by lotsofcats on Jul 23, 2020 13:47:55 GMT
It was dry tonib, thank goodness. Thank you for the link about potassium levels in cats, it's very informative. The vet gave me a print out of the results of Kiba-Khan's blood test. He said again that he'd never seen a cat's front feet affected, only the back feet. I asked whether any foods have extra potassium in them and he was a bit vague. I managed to find out online that Royal Canin S/O Urinary kibble has extra potassium in it and that's what I buy for Bramble. When I put the cats out in the pen I always put a dish of kibble out and as Bramble can only have kibble suitable for her urinary problems, that's what I put out for them all. But, I could give extra to Kiba-Khan when he's in the house instead of his Main Coon Kibble. I'll have to check the back of the bags to compare the potassium levels. I have several kibbles on the go: Royal Canin S/O Urinary Royal Canin Maine Coon Royal Canin Fibre Response Royal Canin Exigent The vet said a potassium supplement used to be available but not now (?). I looked on eBay and there's Kaminox Liquid available and Chemeye-K capsules available. I will mentioned both to the vet on my next visit. Kiba-Khan is enjoying his extra chicken every day. I buy the frozen cooked chicken strips from Asda and cut a slit in a chunk of chicken to hide his tablet in. He loves chicken. I then have to give some to the other too! Tay the stray gets hand-fed chicken every night he turns up for food. He takes it so gently, unlike Blackberry and Willow, they make Jaws look gentle! As I sit on the step by the cat pen feeding Tay his chickem, Toffee sits and watches from inside the pen - I then have to give some to him too! It's costing me ยฃ4 a week for chicken.
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Post by lotsofcats on Jul 27, 2020 10:01:31 GMT
Kiba-Khan hasn't been well since his Thursday vet visit. He wasn't eating much on Friday and then I noticed he hadn't used the litter tray. As I've said previously, Kiba-Khan has suffered with constipation since he was a kitten. He ate a piece of chicken Saturday morning with his heart tablet in it and hasn't eaten anything since, so no heart tablet Sunday or this morning. He keeps going to the litter tray, straining a bit and then walking away. He's very unhappy and stressed this morning. I phoned the vet for an emergency 9am appointment and Kiba-Khan's got to have an enema (hope nobody's eating!). He had one about 5 years ago. A rather expensive procedure as they do an X-ray first. I hope his heart's okay for the anaesthetic. Also worried that he has to have this second enema as a cat can't have many of them before nothing else can be done. Poor baby boy. Also, it's not covered by insurance as it was a previous condition. I can ring the vets about 3pm to see how it went.
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Post by chantel on Jul 27, 2020 15:12:12 GMT
Kiba-Khan hasn't been well since his Thursday vet visit. He wasn't eating much on Friday and then I noticed he hadn't used the litter tray. As I've said previously, Kiba-Khan has suffered with constipation since he was a kitten. He ate a piece of chicken Saturday morning with his heart tablet in it and hasn't eaten anything since, so no heart tablet Sunday or this morning. He keeps going to the litter tray, straining a bit and then walking away. He's very unhappy and stressed this morning. I phoned the vet for an emergency 9am appointment and Kiba-Khan's got to have an enema (hope nobody's eating!). He had one about 5 years ago. A rather expensive procedure as they do an X-ray first. I hope his heart's okay for the anaesthetic. Also worried that he has to have this second enema as a cat can't have many of them before nothing else can be done. Poor baby boy. Also, it's not covered by insurance as it was a previous condition. I can ring the vets about 3pm to see how it went. Hope kiba-Khan is ok lotsofcats I know what a worry it is when our fur babies are not well especially when they are reaching their senior years โน๏ธ
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Post by lotsofcats on Jul 27, 2020 15:17:35 GMT
I've just heard that he's okay and I can go and pick him up at 4.30. I need to discuss with the vet how to avoid this happening again.
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Post by cazypops on Jul 27, 2020 22:34:24 GMT
Awww, thank goodness it was good news. Hope he's feeling better now.
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Post by tonib on Jul 27, 2020 23:01:49 GMT
Sorry to hear Kiba-Khan needed the vet today lotsofcats, glad he's now home OK.
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