Cow To The Vet�s (FLUTD Day 2)

I brought Cow to the vet’s again today, because I cannot trust myself in palpating his lower abdomen to check for blockage. It felt soft, but I wasn’t sure.

Last night, I managed to coax Cow to eat some of the RC SO kibble.

Just a little bit. I mixed the kibble in with the wet SO.

Everyone else is eyeing at the RC SO. Everyone, except Cow.

In fact, I had a hard time keeping everyone else away from snatching Cow’s food.

Even the PatioCats want to eat it.

This morning there were two of such stains on the floor. Although it looks frightening, the consolation (if any) is that at least he’s not blocked.

After work, I brought Cow to the vet’s again.

When the vet palpated Cow, some urine came out. I suppose this is a good sign. The bladder felt a little turgid, which again, could be a good sign – it means he is able to store some urine instead of having the urge to empty his bladder the moment there is even a bit of urine (that is why he was straining so many times yesterday).

The picture above shows the remainder of the urine after the vet had syringed it up for analysis. From the microscope, no crystals were visible. But a more thorough urinalysis will be done later. The pH of his urine was 7, which is neutral. Ideally, it should be between 6.2 and 6.5.  We don’t know why it’s 7, though.

The vet explained why antibiotics are not necessary in male cats’ FLUTD – it is because the chances of infection is very, very small for males. In females, it is a different anatomy, and probability of infection is higher. For males, more often than not, it’s idiopathic and the cause is often stress.

While previously, the standard procedure was to prescribe antibiotics, this is no longer the practice now based on the latest global research done by experts. Diet is the recommended treatment now.

Okay, but Cow won’t eat the RC SO…but I’ll still try and coax him to eat it.

This is lunch, after coming back from the vet’s. He still would rather not eat the SO. I think it’s because everyone else is eating different food. So I had to put him further away from everyone else. I’m still mixing the wet SO with the SO kibble. I’ve already bought a big bag of SO kibble, so it’s best I try to coax him to eat it before buying a bag of Hills’ CD (who knows whether he would eat this or not…sigh).

So far, I still had to mix a little bit of the normal food to coax Cow to eat his special food. This is not recommended, but it’s the only way I could get him to eat anything at all. One meal at a time…

Because I was so nervous about Cow, the vet thought it would help Cow and me if he prescribed something to give Cow some comfort (more of giving ME comfort, I guess).  So, Cow is now given Prednisolone (a steroid) to help ease the inflammation for 3 days, followed by Denzo (an enzyme) for another 3 days. This was the same prescription when he had FLUTD in 2011, but at that time, he was blocked (size of a ping pong ball) and he was also given an antibiotic (as per the SOP at that time).

When awake, Cow goes often to squat and try to urinate. I see him straining and a few drops of bloodied urine comes out. Sure breaks my heart to see this, but I’m praying real hard the steroids will work and he will feel better soon. I asked the vet why this is so, and he explained that the bladder is inflamed so even when there is a bit of urine, it makes Cow want to empty it.

This is one time when I don’t mind Cow spraying. Please spray all you want, Cow, as long as you are well. And as long as he gets well again, I’m never ever going to complain about Cow spraying ever again (not that I did, anyway). I know he’s just marking because he is territorial.

I played this CD all afternoon. Hopefully it helps to calm Cow down.

Why must Cow get FLUTD and Vincent gingivitis, both of which are so complicated, individualistic and hard to personalise a treatment? Why can’t it be a “simpler” disease? The vet says it’s because I have looked after them well, and that is why they don’t get the normal diseases. No matter how well you look after them, you cannot really prevent the onset of FLUTD or gingivitis (in the case of Vincent, it’s because of his reactive gums, something that is beyond our control too).

During his good times, Tiger is the target of Cow’s bullying, but now, Tiger is keeping our “taikor” company.

I dearly hope Cow will recover soon.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2016/06/01/cow-to-the-vets-flutd-da..

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