I hate going to the vet's office...results came back good

[Moesha]

Well it is time for more annual check ups. I hate bringing my kids in because I'm always scared they are going to find something seriously wrong with them. Today kitties Morgan and Juliet and Maddie the dog get to make the trip. Maddie seems to have some stiffness in her hips. She's a medium sized dog who is approximately 11 years old, so that's no surprise. Hopefully some pain meds will be all she needs. Morgan has a few lumps on his body. They are flesh toned, which is sort of white since he is a gray kitty. They sort of look like moles and are in several different spots on his body. None of them seem to be growing and they all look the same, so I sure hope they aren't anything to worry about. He is my diabetic heart kitty. He seems to be doing fine with the diabetes. No symptoms that I'm concerned with there. He turned 10 two weeks ago. I'm wondering if I should ask for a blood panel to be done. I think he's considered a senior by now and even though he seems fine, I wonder if it would be good to get a baseline now. He had a full panel done 2 years ago when he was diagnosed with the diabetes. I just hate the thought of something being wrong with my kids. Last time Juliet was in, just a few months ago when she went missing for a couple days and came back dehydrated, he heard a level 1 heart murmur for the first time. I hope that hasn't gotten any worse. I'm just a nervous wreck waiting for 3 pm to come and go. My stomach is in knots and I'm trying not to think about it because I always think the worst.

[Medusa]

We'll see all your furkids well. Even if you were to find something, it's early and would work in your favor. But you won't find anything, y'hear?

[Emeraldgreen]

I hope the vet visit goes really well. You might want to ask your vet about a product called Metacam for Maddie's stiffness. It's an anti-inflammatory and a pain reliever and is really helpful in stiff, older dogs. My RB dog, Smokey could barely walk without it. But with it, she cruised around just fine. It looks and kind of smells like honey and some dogs even like it. If they don't, it's easy to hide in their food. It's a bit on the expensive side but it's worth it. If your vet feels it would be right for Maddie, you could ask him about the human equivalent that you can get at the pharmacy called Meloxicam. It's quite a bit cheaper and from what I've heard, it's the same thing. This drug can be a bit tough on the organs though so your vet might want to do a blood panel to make sure they are in healthy condition.

Doing a blood panel on your 10 year old cat would probably be a good idea too if you have the money. I think the geriatric blood panels are done on pets that are 7 years of age and older. Seems crazy but I'm pretty sure that is accurate.

Hope all goes well and that you only get good news today! Look forward to an update.

[Moesha]

I had blood panels done on Maddie and Morgan. No results yet though, so my nerves can't settle down yet.

The vet gave Maddie Deramaxx for the arthritis pain and inflamation. 10 pills were $23.50, but she only takes a quarter of a pill. They are huge though. This could get fun. They said it is pretty easy on organs. The side effect to watch for was upset stomach. I'll have to do some research online about it since I haven't heard anyone around her mention it before.

They also said Morgan had lost a pound, down to 17.5. That concerned me, but not the vet. Then I remembered that the scale they weighed him on was usually less than the one in the other exam office. Hopefully that is the difference and the blood work won't show a problem. He eats just fine.

Last week I got FrontlinePlus for everyone and Morgan's cat food. That was $220. Today's bill was $331.50 and that was with a 10% discount. Everyone got vaccinated and Maddie got the Deramaxx and heartworm meds. Morgan and Maddie had the blood work. Morgan also has to have Benadryl before his shots. These furkids are killing me. I know that others have had higher bills lately. With gas and furkids I won't be eating for awhile. LOL

[Jessika]

Doing a blood panel on your 10 year old cat would probably be a good idea too if you have the money. I think the geriatric blood panels are done on pets that are 7 years of age and older. Seems crazy but I'm pretty sure that is accurate.

Yeah, geriatric CBCs are recommended to be done twice a year after age seven. If you can I would definitely look into doing it yearly if not every six months now, especially if he has diabetes it may be something you want to look into doing routinely.

Good luck! I'm sure they'll all be fine

[catmandu]

I Know Just What You Mean Moesha, Especially Now That My Princess And Michael Are 17 , And Bo Bo And Joseph Are Over 13.
You Always Having The Feeling That Your Vets Going To Come Out With That Sad Expression , And Say That He Has Some Bad News About Your Cat.
We Pray Those Blood Tests Come Out All Right.

[momcat]

Hi Moesha, I can understand how you feel, the anxiety can be maddening. But it's better to be proactive and stay on top of things. Since your sweeties see your vet regularly and keep up with their check-ups there really isn't anything to worry about. I'm confident that everone and everything will be just fine. Try to relax, Meowmie! You don't want them to pick up on your anxiety!

[Moesha]

Today was not a good day. The vet had said he would call with the results from Morgan and Maddie's bloodwork. He still hadn't called around 3ish. So I went by the office and he wasn't in. The girls said that my file was on his desk, and he would call but he'd gone to get something to eat. I wanted to try to get them since they will be closed Sat-Mon for the holiday weekend. As I was leaving, he pulled in. So I went back in. He went and got the file and immediately eased my mind by saying it wasn't bad news. Maddie had one pancreas enzyme that was in the high range but the other one was normal and he said that the one is sometimes high if she'd just eaten. He wasn't worried. Then he flipped over to Morgan's sheet that had 4 columns in the red section. My heart dropped. One was his glucose. It was 199. The doctor wasn't worried though. He said stress causes it to go up and Morgan had been in his carrier next to Maddie in the back seat for 20 minutes and then we waited at the vet's office for another 20. Then he had to be shaved for the blood to be drawn. He was definitely stressed. The other 3 levels were all red blood cells. Again the doctor said it was stress related. The spleen contracts and causes the count to go up. He said with the red blood cells what they are concerned with is if they are low. It all made sense to me. Morgan hasn't had any symptoms that would make me think anything was wrong. But he was definitely stressed. It was a big relief to hear back though. I was going crazy. Thank you everyone for your kind words of support.

[Bengalz]

I can understand how you've been feeling and am happy for you and the furkids that everything is in the normal zone

Enjoy your weekend now and hugs those kids

[Medusa]

All in all it was a good day then because you didn't get any bad news. So now you can relax and enjoy your holiday weekend.

[catmandu]

That must be a relief that you got reasonably good news and now that you know what the problem is, you can work to correct things.
That at least giveees you a definite direction in which to work, and with your Vets help, you should have better readings in the future and thats great news.
Concatualtions from US ALL!!!