Tigers Blood Test Results
AnimalCare 
Aug 10, 2016 
AnimalCare, NGOs 
0 comments
| Tweet |  |
The last two days have been challenging. I was very worried about chronic kidney failure in Tiger because of his weight loss, so we decided it would be best to do a complete blood work on him.
Yesterday morning was the blood test (after fasting for 10 hours – I fed him just before midnight the night before) and it was a long wait until evening for the results.
I was so relieved when finally the results arrived and the vet said, “It looks pretty normal with nothing alarming.” However, there were a few anomalies so a face-to-face discussion would be good.
We had the discussion this morning. The major readings are within the normal range for a 10 year-old cat. There are no elevated kidney readings, which is good. There is, however, a fast turnover of red blood cells and a low albumin/globulin ratio in the liver readings (due to a 1-point above the max for the globulin). This means the kidneys may be taxed later.
To cut a long story short, the blood test is “normal” for Tiger, especially with his FIV+ condition. Nothing alarming. The only thing we might want to do is to complement Tiger’s diet with iron-rich foods on a weekly basis (supplementing iron is tricky because it cannot be too much as that would cause damage). As for his kidneys, Tiger is already on a completely wet food diet (he doesn’t eat any kibble anymore because he refuses to), Omega-3 (fish oil), B-Complex and CoQ10 (for anti-oxidants).
As expected, the blood test results cannot explain his epileptic seizures. Meanwhile, I noticed a decrease in the severity of the seizures (not so intense anymore). With very close monitoring, it happens once in 3-4 days, preceded by intense scratching, from what I have noticed. From an earlier discussion with the vet, we could consider using prochloroperazine (a mild medicine for humans with motion sickness) to control his seizures and scratching since the scratching appears to be “mental” in nature. Prochloroperazine would be much, much milder than phenobarbitals. But in the last few days, the scratching has decreased significantly, so maybe the supplements and EaseSure are helping. We should give it some time and continue monitoring him.
Helping me sew a blanket.
Back from the blood test yesterday.
Tiger was really brave during the blood test too. He was cooperative and did not give any problems. For the 10-hour fasting, we brought him into the our bedroom upstairs to distract him so that the rest could have their breakfast. Surprisingly, as though they knew, the rest also cooperated by keeping very quiet during breakfast! No one made a sound downstairs. It was like a stealth operation!
Meanwhile, Tiger has chosen to sleep under the sofa now. I think he knows it’s safer for him to sleep on the ground.
This used to be Tiger’s favourite shelf, but it’s too high, so these pillows are placed permanently in these locations now. Under the sofa is still much safer, and it’s definitely safe from a possible “titanic aggression” too.
For now, it’s managing Tiger’s weight and seizures. The vet does not think a brain scan would be useful.
As we age, degeneration happens. That’s life and we have to learn to cope. It’s easier when it happens to ourselves or another human, because we can at least explain things to the human and they can understand. What breaks my heart is that I cannot explain things to Tiger (why he has to skip breakfast, why he needs to travel in the car to the vet’s, why his blood has to be taken, etc.) so I can only hope that he will somehow, using his feline comprehension, understand that we will only do anything with the best of intentions.
I would like to believe that animals have the intelligence and empathy to know this. We do know that animals have a high level of acceptance, something we humans lack. Animals accept whatever happens to them and they go with the flow. We humans are still learning to grasp this skill.
Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2016/08/10/tigers-blood-test-result..
| Tweet |
|
Facebook Comments