Tiger And Daffodil To The Vet�s

I was worried about Tiger’s fits recurring, so I texted Tiger’s sporo vet to discuss. He said to check Tiger for diabetes and he introduced me to another vet who has the facilities to check for this by using the glucometer instead of the more invasive blood test.

So I called this vet and was so pleasantly surprised that he had so much time to discuss Tiger’s ailment on the phone.  He asked me many questions about Tiger and it was his opinion that Tiger is probably not diabetic (Tiger did not have any of the symptoms at all, which the vet checked with me). The vet also asked me what diet Tiger was on and since he is on barf, the likelihood of having diabetes is pretty slim. It is usually pets who are on a kibble diet (due to the grains) who may have obesity and diabetic problems. The vet struck me as a very caring, committed and dedicated vet, so I decided to take Tiger and Daffodil to him this afternoon.

We checked Tiger’s sugar level using the glucometer and true enough, Tiger is not diabetic. The reading was 5.0.  That ruled out diabetes (which is not exactly “good” because if it were, at least we know that was the probable cause of his fits and we could treat that).  Now, it meant it is Tiger’s brain. We also discussed Tiger’s blood test taken in August 2016 which ruled out liver or kidney problems.

It’s Tiger’s brain. Something is not right there.

We won’t know what the cause is and it is too invasive to try to find out (and even if we did, there’s little anything can be done to the brain), so we have to treat the symptoms, which is, to control the seizures. Tiger’s seizures recurred in November 2016 (after a break of a few weeks when he was seizure-free, the seizures started again after being on a short course of medication for his skin lesions). It has progressed to about 3-4 seizures per day now.  According to the vet, we cannot just leave it be, the fits have to be controlled.

The vet checked Tiger thoroughly and said Tiger appears to be healthy. Well yes, except for the fits. So, the plan for Tiger is to restart him on the prochlorperazine (it worked last year, but didn’t seem to work now). What I didn’t know was that this medicine has a “snowballing” effect, which means, the effect accumulates. So, we have to give it for a longer time. Let’s see if it would work again. There is also a possibility that Tiger’s liver has got “used to” the medicine and has become efficient at dispelling it, then we might need to change the medicine.

Plan A: Give prochlor for a week (1/2 twice a day), see the effect. If there is no improvement, then increase to 1 1/2 per day for another week (1 in the morning, 1/2 in the evening).

If still no improvement, then Plan B: Valium (diazepam) – 1/4 per day. If no effect as well, then Plan C: phenobarb.

We hope Tiger doesn’t require phenobarb. I have heard scary stories about it. Also, apparently, there is no stock of phenobarb right now.

However, two vets have assured me that under constant and careful monitoring with adjustments of dosage, it should be okay.

One step at a time then.

I started Tiger back on prochlor this evening.

The vet did say that we should try and figure out what triggers Tiger’s seizures. Previously, we always thought it was the biting of the flank, but now, this vet opines that the biting of the flank is actually already part of the seizure itself.  It is not the trigger.

We could not think of what the trigger might be, for Tiger.  But interesting, though, the vet said he had a dog-patient with fits and the trigger was the dog’s own reflection on his stainless steel bowl! When the bowl was changed to a plastic one, the seizures stopped. This dog seemed to be greatly disturbed by his own reflection!

We would have to investigate what Tiger’s triggers could be. The vet said it could even be something that happened 30 seconds to 30 minutes before a seizure occurred!  Could be a sound, a smell, a sight of something. Could be anything!

As for Daffodil, the vet did a careful examination of her tumour too. It turned out that the second vet was right – the tumour is connected to muscle and surgery would prove to be very tricky and risky. If a clean cut cannot be made, the tumour (once “angered”) might spread and become very dangerous.  The vet also listened to Daffodil’s heart and again, the second vet was right – her heart isn’t too good. One of her valves doesn’t function properly anymore.

It’s okay, Daffi. I have a floppy valve too. We will cope.

So, surgery is not recommended. In fact, the vet said her heart condition is more worrisome than the tumour. But we cannot do anything about the faulty valve.  It could be due to age as well.

The thought of scaling Stargate2 with a compromised heart! A few times too. But then again, the vet did say that being so small, the negative effects of a faulty heart valve in a cat may not be as serious of a similar condition in a human. A human is so much heavier so the heart has to work harder.

This vet also said that there is a chance the tumour might be benign, after all. He has seen such tumours in other pets (dogs and cats) and some of these animals just live on with the tumour…for years. And here’s the thing – IF it is benign and if it’s disturbed (by surgery), it could turn cancerous. This would be another reason not to disturb it. The second vet did say this too – he said it would be unforgiveable if the tumour turned out to be benign and all because of the (unnecessary) surgery, Daffi suffers from liver or kidney failure. Yes, that would be a very, very big regret which no pet owner EVER wants.

The vet palpated the tumour and said Daffodil didn’t seem to be in any pain. It is likely that the tumour doesn’t disturb her at all. We hope that’s true. It is an external lump with stalk from inside. It’s that stalk that makes surgery highly risky. We don’t know how deep the stalk is. It is likely too, that the stalk is what “feeds” the tumour from the inside, and the vet said part of the external tumour has necrotised (has dead cells), which again, could be a good thing. That means part of the tumour isn’t receiving enough blood supply so it is dying. The tumour “dying” is good, isn’t it?  We hope so. I just have to keep it very clean and ensure there is no infection. The vet said he has seen such tumours with maggots in it too and after cleaning off the maggots, everything was okay. Of course, we will not get to that stage!  I clean the tumour every day with Biosilver before applying the paste.

I was actually worried about Daffodil because ever since her gophery escape up to the roof for 3 days, her appetite hasn’t been good and she only licks up liquids. When I weighed her this morning, she was only 2.9 kg (from her previous 3.75kg). This is a loss of 850g, which is very significant. That’s almost a quarter of her weight.

But from the thorough check-up today, the vet found a probable cause for this – Daffodil has a bad tooth and it’s pretty bad, with the gum around it being all red and swollen. To remove it would require anaesthesia and we don’t want to do that. Maybe this bad tooth is preventing her from eating well.

So, now I have to figure out how to liquidise her food further and the vet gave a few suggestions, which I will certainly try.

So, as for Daffodil, we will just continue with what we are doing, plus liquidising her food for her. Her appetite is there, it’s just that she likes “liquid” food that she can lick up easily.

I’m truly very, very thankful to have found a vet who has Tiger’s and Daffodil’s best interests at heart and who spent a lot of time explaining and discussing options with me.

Right back from the vet’s – yes, eating, with Heidi hounding her, waiting for scraps.

I had Tiger fasted just in case blood work had to be done, but it wasn’t done. So, eat up, Tiger, old boy! Tiger has very good appetite, actually.

Ginger seems to be saying that he wants food too!

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2017/06/30/tiger-and-daffodil-to-th..

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