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Old April 5th, 2005, 05:18 PM
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Loraxp Loraxp is offline
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Unhappy High Cholesterol Kitty - Restricted Diet...

Okay so I am stumped, and somewhat annoyed. This post is mostly going to be a vent, but any input y'all have would be appreciated too...

Background -
Name: Orchid Breed: DSH Age: approx. 6 yrs.
Adopted from Soo ON SPCA just over a year ago. At the time of adoption she suffered a horrible bout of upper-respiratory infection, a rodent ulcer, urinary crystals with bacterial infection, emaciation, and a central nervous system disorder due to a bad flea infestation. This disorder makes her shake all of the time.

The Situation -
Two wks ago yesterday (while our critters and us were on vacation of course) Orchid suffered a seizure that lasted approx. 6 min., then resulted in her not being able to use her hind legs for several min. thereafter.

We took her to a vet (one that I used to work for, and held in high regard until this incident), asap and he prescribed Phenobarbital and said she needed a full blood screen. We agreed as this $200 option was much more economical than the CAT scan (no pun intended ), or MRI that would have cost thousands of dollars. He said that we would be contacted with the test results 2 days later. Sat. arrived and we still heard nothing so we went down to the clinic and requested a copy of the results. They very blatantly showed that her "Cholesterol is high". I asked that the doctor to call us and explain what we can do to fix this, and we still have not heard anything. This concerns me as she is now and forever on a special diet for the urinary crystals she suffered from a year ago. If this special food is blocking up her arteries I would like to find out how to help control it.

Besides the fact that we obviously love our Orchid endlessly, we have invested a TON of money into getting her healthy and happy. We would HATE to have her suffer a heart attack (or heavens knows what else) due to a specialty food that is allegedly keeping her healthy.

Any one with further input on this? I will try to contact the doctor tomorrow... I have been avoiding phoning him as it's long distance and I'd need to call during prime time... I keep hoping that he'll call me, but this is getting silly now...

Thanks for listening... or I guess reading, lol
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Old April 5th, 2005, 05:41 PM
Eleni Eleni is offline
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find a new vet ASAP,

seems to me your not getting the best care from your current vet that you and your kitty deserves.




good luck!

Eleni
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Old April 5th, 2005, 07:22 PM
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CyberKitten CyberKitten is offline
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I'd lok for a new vet too. No MRI - for pets or for humans - costs thousands of dollars. That is just plain nuts!! You - yourself - could have an MRI done for $500 or $600 in Mtl or Halifax. It is cheaper for pets - even cheaper for cats than dogs and vet clinics do have some great MRI machines, some better than human hospitals do!!
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Old April 5th, 2005, 09:04 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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Is your cat eating dry food? You might be interested in this article that indicates dry food for cats can result in obesity, diabetes, urinary tract problems, and yes - cholesterol problems, since dry food is not nutrionally balanced for carnivorous cats (not enough protein and too much fat and carbohydrates)

Article here

BTW, THANK YOU for adopting a 5 year old sick cat!! You are wonderful!!

Last edited by Lucky Rescue; April 5th, 2005 at 09:10 PM.
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  #5  
Old April 6th, 2005, 08:40 AM
MegShawnMom MegShawnMom is offline
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Loaraxp
Somewhat off topic, how could the SPCA adopt out a cat so ill?
What is the name of the food the vet is prescribing?
What dosage are yougiving, this med. is for epelepsy-what is the name?
Did you get a copy of the teiter test?
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Old April 6th, 2005, 09:29 AM
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chico2 chico2 is offline
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I have no answers to your questions,although my 9 yr old cat has had seizures,none for about a year.The vet never really could figure out why and he's on no meds,however they seem to happen about a week after his vaccinations.Sorry to stray,but those seizure were scary,I thought he would die :sad:
I too wanted to thank you for taking care of this sick kitty,she's very lucky to have you.Another vet seem to be the answer,it seems to me,at least with my vet,she has a hard time admitting that anything she has prescribed or done is causing a problem.
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Old April 6th, 2005, 02:58 PM
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Loraxp Loraxp is offline
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Thanks for all of your well wishes and suggestions... now I shall attempt the feat of answering each post...

Eleni - This vet is a vet that I used to visit. Now I live FAR from him. The stumper is that he is very well respected in T.O. vet circles. Just our bad luck I guess.

CyberKitten - I will research this all a bit more - thanks, I had no idea what the approx. costs may be - excpt for what the Dr. told me.

LuckyRescue - I went through the article - thank you for that! We are feeding her a mixture of wet and dry, all of which is "Royal Canin - Urinary SO". She has actually not been as crazily in love with it as she was before starting the meds... but the new puppy could have thrown her off the ball a bit I figure.... heck, she's thrown us all off of the ball!

Thanks for the kudos re: older adoption. We always are drawn to the decrepit ones that end up costing a BILLION dollars to keep healthy and happy!... Definitely worth every last cent though!

MegShawnMom - Orchid was in 1000X better shape when we adopted her than when they got her in the drop box (according to the SPCA). They were very helpful in covering a portion of her initial vet bills (We felt really guilty taking the $ from the SPCA, but we absolutely had no other choice at that time - and we ALWAYS donate ).

The prescribed food is "Royal Canin - Urinary SO" - wet and dry.

Meds are Phenobarbital @ 3.75 mg twice daily.

Chico2 - Thanks, and good luck with your baby too - good that she has YOU!!

I'm going to e-mail my girlfriend who still works there (at the T.O. clinic) and get that Dr. on the phone before the week is out.

Thanks again to all of you for listening and assisting!!
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If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man
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  #8  
Old April 8th, 2005, 03:28 PM
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Loraxp Loraxp is offline
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Well I caved and finally made the call to the clinic after STILL not hearing from them.

Naturally my vet had left for the weekend and made a note on the file that he HAD called and left a message.... ends up the message was left at a VERY wrong phone number!!! I don't know how the girls messed it up so badly - didn't even resemble our #!!

I was assured that I'd be hearing from him on Monday.... we'll see this time!
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If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man
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