My Oliver is ill

My sweet orangie Oliver has been at the vet since Tuesday. He is my 5 year old baby who has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He was doing so well on his medications. On Tuesday morning I woke up and Ollie was lying on my bed. He was lethargic and he felt cool to the touch. I knew something was very wrong. He usually loves attention, although he is very quiet and reserved. We nicknamed him "the sloth" because he likes to stretch out and lay around with his legs hanging over the edge of the couch, chair, etc.. , and he never gets excited. I immediately called my vet and they said bring him right in. When we got there his temp. was 95.3, his gums were pale & he was dehydrated. He was so pitiful, I cried all the way down the road. I told our vet to do whatever he could to help Ollie. He was put on warm IV fluids, antibiotics and wrapped in warm towels with hot packs. The initial blood work showed elevated pancreatic enzymes and decreased kidney function. After the initial day of treatment, he was doing remarkably better. The vet said his heart was doing fine and that he has an infection. Also, his blood glucose was elevated. As of last night (Thurs) his glucose level was back to normal and he was eating and drinking and doing well enough so that I can hopefully bring him home this morning when I stop on my way home from work. I know this is long, but I know my fellow PT's will understand my fear of losing my precious Ollie. If you have a moment, please say a prayer for my Oliver. Thanks

Of course, prayers to your little boy. I hope that he is doing well this morning and that he will be able to come home.

Please give us an update.

With the decreased kidney function, these IV fluids (and later-on sub-Q fluids) should really help!

Read Puddy's story (Medusa's kitty) - who was severely dehydrated too and how well she is now.

All the best for your Oliver:)

Poor Oliver, I hope he gets better soon.

How is Ollie now? Adding my wishes for full and speedy recovery

Hi everyone, and thanks for the prayers for Oliver. Sorry I haven't replied, but I only have access to a computer at work and I've been off work for the last week. I picked Oliver up at the vets last Friday morning and he was home over the weekend. He had a follow up on Tuesday (9/13) and he still didn't seem to be feeling well. He was becomming dehydrated again, so the vet kept him from tues. to friday again on IV fluids and abx. He also sent out several tests for pancreatitis, cancer, toxoplasmosis, amylase, lipase,blood counts and several other tests. As of Friday, all of his tests were within fairly normal range, we are just waiting on one final pancreatic test. On friday morning, my vet said he heard an extra heart sound when he assessed Ollie, so he recommended I have an echo done as soon as possible as Ollie has HCM. So now Ollie is home and we go Tues. (9/20) to his cardiologist for an echo. He seems to be feeling alot better this time home and of course enjoys being pampered. So maybe the visit on Tues. will help with a diagnosis. I hope his heart is ok, as he was doing so well.

oh my! how did I missed this?? sorry, I was so focused on my star.. (another renal disease poor feline)

this exactly is happening the same to my star! low temperature, dehydrated, lethargic & subquefluids..wow. yeah, I hope you will/have gotten a better pancreatic result, let us know! (what about creatinne cells? do you know his BUN amount?) and I sure hope echocardigram will come out okay today!

and you mentioned ollie got dehydrated again, was it because you didn't keep him on SQfluids at home?

hope to hear back about echogram & himself by tonight or so, many fuzzy headbumps & sandpaper kisses winging from one of an ark!

..gina, star & the furraeries

Just wanted to give an Oliver update. He is home doing well this time. Eating & drinking well (he loves to drink running water from the sink) and acting like himself again. His echo turned out fine, no new problems, the cardiologist thought the extra heart sound was due to the fluids given. We will be able to taper off the verapamil in a month if he's still doing well, which is wonderful news (after 4 years of pills, Ollie will be very pleased). The final lab test showed pancreatitis. I'm not sure of his BUN & creat. levels, and I do think sub-q fluids would have helped, but at the time, my vet didn't think they were needed after he had responded so well to all the IV fluids given in the hospital. Gina, thank you for taking the time to respond to this with all you have going on with your Star. Oliver and I are sending purring prayers and get well wishes to Star and big hugs to you!!

Glad to hear that Oliver is getting better!

I hope Oliver continues to do well. I will continue sending prayers and good thoughts to Oliver.

Willie:)

I missed this thread, but am glad to get to the happy update end! :) Perhaps your vet could show you how to administer fluids in case he needs them again. :confused: It's scary to do at first, but after a few times it's nothing, and the difference in how cats feel after....;)

Your problems with Oliver sound like they're diet-related. If you want to avoid these problems in the future, you might try a raw meat diet - we have seen diabetes cured by feeding a species-appropriate diet of raw meat, and many other types of illnesses can be avoided if you feed this way.

A cat is not a natural water-drinker, and usually only drinks water when VERY thirsty, in order to re-hydrate a kibble diet. My advice - NEVER FEED A KIBBLE DIET - Cats should not be fed dry food, and there are many reasons for this, including the grain content of the diet, which is a big problem for cats.

Of course, you vet may not agree, as vets are trained in their nutritional knowledge, by commercial pet food companies.

If you want more info, let me know.

All the Best,
Gayle :)

and I never get to thank you! :(

I wasn't here for almost two months... but your dear oliver (and you) have never left my thoughts . . .

I hope you both are still out there, able to update us as soon as this beeps up. I would love to hear how he's doing!

(and a picture of your dearest if you can) - ((((hugs back to you too!)))) :)

Hi Gina,
Thanks for still thinking of us. Oliver is doing well, we just tapered him off of his verapamil. He will need to be checked at my vets in a week, then have an echo in 4 months, hopefully we'll be able to keep off the medications. His appetite has returned, although he could use a few more pounds (which we are working on). Evidently he had a case of acute pancreatitis-hope that doesn't happen again. He is just the sweetest orange boy. I don't have any way to send pictures. I am probably the only person in the USA who doesn't have a computer @ home, so I have to use the one at work.
I am glad to read that Star is doing so well, she is just gorgeous!! :D
Also thanks to everyone who sent prayers, bless every one of you & your furry kids.

wow that was fast.. after you disappeared for about two months. :eek:

hi!!! I'm so glad he's doing so well! and is going on the smoother path as well lately... great to hear... was so worried. my dear ark and I will send a big luck for his next hopeful-good echoexam.. just don't forget us, ok? :)

hmm, how about an 'alterative' picture? google a orange cat (you probably wouldn't find one that is sweeter than yours ;)) and see if you can find a clone! silly huh? :p

well, glad to hear back from you, especially oliver! and thank you.

my star sends a blessing too. :cool: