Indy’s SDMA Test Results

So, I took Indy to the clinic. Everyone of our cats have already entered the geriatric stage now (7 years and above), so everyone needs a full bloodwork.

I knew Indy has to be next because he has had many medical issues in the past. He also has a gum problem (with bad breath quite often), so I won’t be surprised if he already has medical issues.

I bought a new carrier so that I could take Indy.

A few minutes before we reached the clinic, it poured. Ah, bad timing. Luckily I had a raincoat and Indy was in the carrier. We made it in the heavy rain, to the clinic.

The vet examined Indy’s fur and found that Indy has fur mites. He would need Revolution for this. There was no stock at the clinic, so I would have to get it from another clinic. Revolution should clear off the mites. The mites are “robbing” his fur from nutrients and this is why Indy’s fur had lost some of its lustre since last year. I did enquire at the vet’s but was told it’s aging (Indy was “rusting” – the black was becoming reddish brown).

The vet examined Indy’s teeth and found a lot of tartar and inflammation.  There’s also mucus with the tartar. This is no surprise as Indy had always had gum issues. The thing is, with previous vets, they didn’t think it was warranted to put an animal under general anaesthesia just to clean the teeth, but now we know that dental problems lead to an increase in globulin levels and globulins destroy the nephrons in the kidneys.

In short, dental problems will eventually lead to kidney problems.

Maybe this is why 1 in 3 cats will end up with kidney problems? It’s not easy to brush a cat’s teeth.

Indy’s blood was taken for testing. His urine was also tested. The vet asked if Indy had been losing weight (no) or if he drinks a lot of water. Well, Indy has always been drinking a lot of water for many years, but when he had his blood checked last time, his kidney readings were normal. Still, that being the case, the vet said we would include the SDMA test this time.

The results:

Indy is FIV and FeLV negative – that’s good.

But his SDMA is just slightly above the borderline. It’s 15. His creatinine is high and this is probably due to the gum problem. His globulins is also high (again, the dental problem).

I’m not entirely surprised at these results.

But the good news is there is no proteinurea (urine test). Just like Bunny – also no proteinurea.

So, this is again, very early kidney disease. We shall manage it from here. For now, it’s just his diet. Indy is not dehydrated, so regular subcut is not necessary.

The vet palpated Indy’s kidneys and they are still “smooth”. That’s good.

Indy was dewormed as well. And he was given subcut too, because of the diarrhoea.

The cause of Indy’s diarrhoea (more of loose stools) is not known, but the vet gave him an anti-diarrhoea injection and prescribed a course of probiotics (paste). A stool examination was done, but nothing could be found.

Indy was very tense and scared at the clinic. But the vet assistants adored him because he snuggled up to them!

Indy would definitely need a scaling to be done, but not so soon. We’ll have to wait until the diarrhoea is resolved and hopefully, the creatinine will come down too.

The probiotic paste.

Our Spider-Cat is back home!

With aging comes all kinds of ailments. We shall manage it as best we can.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2019/03/27/indys-sdma-test-results/

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