1/31/17
Took Roxy to the vet today. She has seemed run down this past week a bit more each day. Still eating but just not as energetic. We are retesting for Bartonella (she had it last summer) and for Feline leukemia (tested negative last summer but just in case) and did a full CBC/chem panel to see if anything shows up in blood work. Bartonella takes two weeks to test which is sad since if she's sick she could use the antibiotics sooner than later. But we will keep an eye on her and see how she does. I will give extra lysine (she gets the powder in her food.) Have cypro in case she needs help eating. She's breathing fine and there was no congestion but I will monitor for any signs of heart issues (none expected but you never know.)
2/1/17
Chalk it up to learning something new everyday. Because Roxy's still run down but the blood work was almost normal except that the creatinine kinase was over 800 (normally way less than 400 and in July for her it was just over 400), we are doing the BNP test. This only requires that IDEXX run her blood work; it does not require another trip to the vet. So, what's new? I've never recommended the test. There are blood tests to detect heart disease-genetic tests and the BNP. I've never recommended BNP because if the cat is showing signs of heart disease, has a heart murmur, or any known issues with the heart, getting the blood BNP is a waste of time since only an echo can tell the vet what's wrong with the heart. The BNP test measures brain natriuretic peptide levels in the blood. There will always be a nominal amount but if the heart is having difficulty or the human or pet has had a heart attack, the BNP will sharply rise. Again, if the pet is having a heart attack, why test the BNP? Have an echo, have the vet treat the issue at hand. And an echo will show a heart attack and damage far better than a blood test. And yet, we're testing her blood. Why? Because she saw the cardio in October; because she's showing no signs of heart disease-no change in breathing rate so far; because her heart was beating normally at the vet; because we already drew blood and can test BNP to rule out any other cause that could raise creatinine kinase. However, I did make an appointment for Friday for the cardio just in case (which I can cancel if BNP is normal.) The other way creatinine kinase can rise is due to a hard physical injury to the body or brain. Did she fall? Not that we are aware of but in this house anything's possible. Here's a link to creatinine kinase and below is the link to the BNP explanation. https://www.healthgrades.com/sympt…/elevated-creatine-kinase
2/2/17
Roxy still a bit run down but the BNP heart test came back normal. Reference range is 0-100 and she's at 24. The cardio said if she's not showing signs (cold feet, fast breathing, not moving, etc.) and the blood test is low, then she is assumed to be fine. So, we will monitor and wait for the bartonella test to come back next week.
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