Starr's Vet Visit

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi, I took Starr to the vet this afternoon so he could have a culture taken to see if he still has ringworm. I didn't just want to stop treating him and then have him break out again. The vet on call didn't think that his ears looked like he had ringworm so maybe he had some other kind of skin problem. Any way the test results will be back in about 10 days or so and I'm now putting animax ointment on his ears 2 times a day until the doctor calls me with the results. This ointment is an antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal ointment and it should help to sooth his ears because they look so dry and irritated.

Starr is now 6 months old and he weighs a little over 5lbs. I think he's very small for his age because Pearl is 4 months old and she's about the same size and probably weighs the same if not a little bit more. I was also discussing Starr's neutering and we decided to do a complete blood work on him to make sure that he's healthy. The vet took him in the back and he decided to use an ultrasound to look for his testicles because he's a doublecrypt orchid.

He said it looks like they're on both sides of his kidneys and should be fairly easy to find. The bad news is that he also saw what he thought looked like crystals so he also decided to get a urine sample from him and it had a lot of blood in it.:( So now he also added on a urinalysis test. I should hopefully know these results by Monday. Starr's now on amoxicillin pills 2 times a day for the next 8 days.

The vet seemed very concerned because he's so young to be having problems like this. Now I'm very worried about him.:( He wasn't even acting like he had a UTI. He's actually been acting like he has allergies because his right eye will water and he sometimes sneezes. I sure hope that his blood work comes back normal and that he just has a simple UTI. I also brought in another stool sample and it's negative. He's still having very loose stools and so is Pearl. I hope they'll grow out of it.

Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks.:)

[rg_girlca]

Oh gosh, poor sweet baby Starr. You're not starting out your young life so well are you sweetie. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v241/tiger04/23_11_62.gif

I pray that with the medication that you are on will get rid of all your problems and you remain healthy from hereon in.

KAK, I can truly understand your concerns. I hope the tests results come back fine and Starr does just have an URI.

Sweet kisses for baby Starr and ((((((HUGS)))))) for you.

[jenluckenbach]

That poor little boy. :( He has had so many problems in his short life. I hope all works out in the end.

[Randi]

Oh Tracey, I'm so sorry to hear Starr has these health problems, he's such a sweetie, and much too young for all this. :( I do hope the test results come back negative, and he'll be feeling better soon!

Kisses and headbumpies from us.

[K & L]

Oh gosh Tracey, poor Starr and poor you! Was Starr tested before you ever brought him home? I sure hope all goes well for the little guy! Hopefully the crystal thing will has gotten caught before any major problems. Good luck and please let me know what you hear.

[CalliesMom]

:( Poor Starr!! I hope everything is okay and the medications help him out. Poor baby!

[kuhio98]

Oh Tracy, of course Starr is in our thoughts and prayers. He's had a rough start. I hope the white coats can fix him up and he has many happy and healthy years with you. Worry, worry, worry. Our babies sure do cause us a lot of worry, don't they? :(

[Barbara]

Poor Starr, you should be all healthy and happy and now all of this!!!

Tracey I would definitely wait with the neutering. If it is all a little bigger it will be easier to do.

All my best wishes for sweet Starr.

[furrykidsmother]

Poor Starr! Good thoughts and prayers on their way!

[jazzcat]

Well geez, I was hoping this was Starr glowing health update. :( Poor little guy. I will certainly be keeping him in my thoughts and prayers.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks everyone.:) Yes, he was tested for feline leukemia way before he came home with me. He seems to be acting normally and is eating, drinking, playing, and I saw him make a large pee last night. I just hope that his test results are normal and I hope to hear something on Monday although sometimes this vets office is very bad about calling me back with results. I'll update you as soon as I can.

[kb2yjx]

Keeping fingers crossed for Starr(and Pearl,too). Since he is on an antibiotic, try to mix in a capsule of acidophilus(can get it at the drugstrore or health food shop)in his wet food. That helps keep the "good" intestine bacteria happy while he is on the antibiotics. Good luck!!! Sandra(RN)

[AmberLee]

OMG. I hope the little guy's alright...

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks again everyone.:) We were very slow at work today so I decided to just go by my vets office on the way home instead of calling them for the test results. Luckily they weren't too busy and the test results were waiting on the vets desk. The vet on call talked to me about the results and everything is normal except that his WBC count, RBC count and platelet count are high. This is probably due to the blood that was found in his urine.

The urinalysis was normal except for: protein 3+ high and it should be negative, occult blood 3+ high and it should be negative, WBC/HCF 4-10 high and it should be 0-3, RBC/HPF full field high and it should be 0-3. There were no crystals or bacteria observed but the vet felt that he probably still has an infection due to the elevated WBC and RBC count so the antibiotics should be able to treat this. Starr's PH was also normal at 6.5 and normal is 5.5-7.0. He goes back on Mon. Oct.3rd for another urinalysis and if all goes well I'm going to go ahead have him neutered. Everyone is very interested in him because he's a doublecrypt orchid or a bilateral crypt orchid is what the vet calls it.

His blood test was normal except for that the phosphorus level was a little high at 8.4 and 2.4-8.2 is normal. His WBC count was 25.1 and normal is 3.5-16.0. His neutrophils are 16315 and normal is 2500-8500. Monocytes are 753 and normal is 0-600. Eosinophils are 2259 and normal is 0-1000. It says that his platelets are increased and above 600,000/ul. The vet feels that this is due to a UTI. I hope that this is what is causing all of this.

He also tested negative for FELV, FIV, toxoplasmosis. For feline coronavirus (IFA) is FCV IFA at 1:400 or <1:400. I think if I remember correctly that this means less than 1 in 400 chance that he has this or something like that.

Now hopefully the antibiotics will do their thing and get my little boy healthy again.:)

[AmberLee]

Well, I got a little lost on the numbers, but it sounds basically positive, right???

Fingers crossed your little charmer continues to get well.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Originally posted by AmberLee
Well, I got a little lost on the numbers, but it sounds basically positive, right???

Fingers crossed your little charmer continues to get well. Sorry about that. I don't really understand everything either but yes it's basically a positive report and he should hopefully be fine soon.:)

[smokey the elder]

All those numbers seem consistent with an infection. They mean that the white blood cells are mobilizing to fight whatever invaders are present.

Good luck, Starr!

[Logan]

KAK, I hope your baby, Starr, will be 100% very soon!!! Glad things are looking up!!! :)

Logan

[felinefuture]

The best way to avoid any of this in the future is a species-appropriate diet of fresh, raw meat. Urinary crystals are avoidable if you feed this way. The urine becomes too alkaline in the presence of carbohydrates in the diet, and if you feed raw meat, the urine is kept at a more acid level, where it should be.

One note - NEVER FEED A DRY KIBBLE DIET TO A CAT!

If you want more info, go to www.felinefuture.com

Best regards, and our best to Starr! :)

Gayle

[kb2yjx]

I have to disagree with the previous post. Our late cat Ashley was fed a species appropriate diet of fresh raw meat. One morning(years ago), he urinated bright red blood right in front of me. He was rushed to the emergency clinic. His urine was so loaded with crystals that he was completely blocked!!! BUT I agree that dry food is terrible for cats to eat. Right now, our 8 cats eat a good quality canned food and(fingers are crossed)had not had a UTI in a long time(and we have several cats that are proned to the UTI's). I think it all depends on the make up of each individual cat.

[felinefuture]

Actually, there are several factors that will cause UTI, even if a cat is on a raw meat diet. Some people put vegetables in the diet, which can create problems including crystals, also, Vitamin C will create blockages of calcium deposits in the urine. If you supplement, you have to be careful what supplements you are using. We have thousands of customers who are feeding raw to our specifications, and we do not run into this problem - ever!

Gayle

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi, I wanted to update you on Starr. He seems to be doing well but on Saturday I noticed that his little pee pee looked very red and irritated.:( I already had a 9am appointment for him today so I tried not to panic. He's having another urinalysis taken and I should hopefully know more either tomorrow or Wed. I should also know the ringworm culture results by then too. I expect the ringworm culture to be negative because his ears look good and his fur is now starting to grow back. I have a feeling that he's not over his UTI though.:(

Hopefully I'll receive good news by both tests. If his urinalysis comes back normal then I'm going to have him neutered asap. I think that by being a doublecrypt orchid that this may be causing him problems. I'm going to ask the vet more about this too because I only saw a vet tech today. Please wish Starr some good luck. Thanks.:)

[wolflady]

Gosh, poor Starr is certainly having his ups and downs, isn't he? :( Please let us know how his appointment goes today, and prayers are on the way for a swift recovery!

**hugs**

[furrykidsmother]

Poor Starr! Keeping good thoughts that all will be well soon! Hugs & prayers!

[kb2yjx]

Dear Starr!!! Be a very brave kitty and get well soon!!!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Starr's urinalysis was normal and his ringworm culture was negative so he's now a happy, healthy boy again. :D He'll be going in for his neutering tomorrow morning so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. I've started a thread about it here: Starr's Neutering (http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=90134).Thanks. :)

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

Glad to hear that the problems aren't as big as you thought...!
Good luck Starr!!!

[TopCat3]

I've just caught up with all this. Sorry to hear of Starr's problems, KAK, you know how much I admire him. Best of luck for perfect health soon!