I had an appt. to bring Jake in today for more bloodwork, hoping that his thyroid levels would have gone up and we would have an answer. Before Dr. Patty administered the sedation, I suggested we weigh him again. In his appt. 2 weeks prior, he had lost about 4oz. When we put him on the scale, he lost 8 more ounces in just a short time. Dr. Patty said that I need to get him to a specialist ASAP, as it was probably cancer. She was able to get him squeezed in about an hour later. Since I had already fasted him for the sedation, I didn't want to take him home, feed him, and then get a call that they had an opening.
I took Jake from there to the specialist, who recommended an endoscopy. I left him there and was to pick him up in the afternoon. It was the first time in exactly a year of living in my house, that the house was empty. I got a call around 1pm that Jake was ready to go home. The dr. explained that it was either Inflammable Bowel Disease (IBD) or lymphoma. There were nodules all over his intestines and there was cause for concern. He did a biopsy and I was told he would have the results by Tuesday. He said from the way Jake was walking, it looked like a cat that had IBD and that is what his gut was telling him.
I brought him home and asked him if he was hungry. He perked up enough to eat some food. The dr. had prescribed him some predisodone to take 1.7ml twice a day. I gave him his first dose with dinner that evening, along with his anti-nausea medicine that he had been on for 2 weeks already. He was really mello for the next few days. He would sit in the dining room, in a hidden area between the furniture, a wall & curtain. The dr. said it was most likely a combination of the invasive procedure and the stress from the day (they had to rough handle him since he's not like your ordinary cat).
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Jake's story
Jake is my best friend of almost 12 years. I adopted him when I live in NYC in July of 1999, and he has been with me ever since. He has always been a healthy spunky cat. He's a momma's boy-doesn't like anyone except me:).
In April of 2010, I brought him in for his annual. He had lost about a pound in the past year Dr. Patty said his thyroid level was on the high end of normal, so we would keep an eye on him. By August, he looked really skinny (it just stood out one day). I brought him back to have bloodwork done. I was expecting his thyroid levels to be off the charts. Dr. Patty called me in to the "special room" and told me his levels actually went down and that it was probably cancer. I explained that he still has a healthy appetite, so then she said that it probably wasn't cancer. She said to keep bringing him in monthly to monitor him. In the 3 or 4 times I brought him in, one time he gained a few ounces. The rest of the time, he lost. Through all this, Jake had a healthy appetite. The dr. said if it was cancer, I would have definitely seen him go down hill by now. Besides the weight loss, he was still acting like Jake. Before all this, Jake was a healthy almost 13 lb cat. By the end of the year, he was down to 8 lbs, 4oz.
In April of 2010, I brought him in for his annual. He had lost about a pound in the past year Dr. Patty said his thyroid level was on the high end of normal, so we would keep an eye on him. By August, he looked really skinny (it just stood out one day). I brought him back to have bloodwork done. I was expecting his thyroid levels to be off the charts. Dr. Patty called me in to the "special room" and told me his levels actually went down and that it was probably cancer. I explained that he still has a healthy appetite, so then she said that it probably wasn't cancer. She said to keep bringing him in monthly to monitor him. In the 3 or 4 times I brought him in, one time he gained a few ounces. The rest of the time, he lost. Through all this, Jake had a healthy appetite. The dr. said if it was cancer, I would have definitely seen him go down hill by now. Besides the weight loss, he was still acting like Jake. Before all this, Jake was a healthy almost 13 lb cat. By the end of the year, he was down to 8 lbs, 4oz.
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