Billy Update

[Gaina]

Hello everyone, hope you and your fur babies are all well.

Billy had his check-up on Thursday and he's still 3kg, and appears to be stable on his medication. He will have a routine blood test while he's having his annual health check and booster in December, but so far everything seems stable .

We've also managed to remove some little mats he had in his fur courtesy of a silent trimmer I bought. A little food bribery goes a long way and he'll just stand for a few minutes and let you trim a bit off. When he's had enough we just let him wander and do everything at his pace. So far it's doing the trick .

[Velvet]

Glad to hear the wee man is doing ok

[angieh]

That's good news Gaina - well done you and Billy! I'd like to know more about that silent trimmer, could maybe work for me and Monty (dog)!

[Gaina]

That's good news Gaina - well done you and Billy! I'd like to know more about that silent trimmer, could maybe work for me and Monty (dog)!

They're called 'Wahl Pet Pocket Pro Battery Operated Trimmers'. They're not entirely silent but certainly as close to it as you're likely to get. I bought them because one reviewer had very nervous Maine Coon cats and they weren't phased at all by them.

[Gaina]

Just a quick update. He went to have his blood pressure checked today as I had a 'hunch' (you know, the one we get about our fur babies) - it was 170 last time which is 'borderline' for hypertension so my vet told me what to look out for in terms of eye changes etc, so I've been keeping an eye on him. Today with that reading of 170 in mind I decided a trip to the vet wouldn't hurt....

My hunch turned out to be well based and he had a BP of 200. Even taking into account 'white coat syndrome' it was decided this was too high and we came home with 14-days' worth of Amlodipine (2 tablets which the receptionist dilligently cut into 8th's), and he is to have one piece per day.

He's also got a slightly detached retina as a result of the BP, but the vet confirmed my understanding that once the medication kicks in the vision problems are often reversed or at least improved.

She also took some blood to check his thyroid and we get the results back on Monday. He hasn't lost any weight, he's very cheerful and eating well so I think she just wanted to be very thorough, which is great.

Right now he's a bit hacked off with me and sitting facing the wall under the stairs in a 'huff'. He'll thank me tomorrow when he feels better .

[angieh]

Well done Gaina, acting on your hunch. I hope that Billy's blood pressure soon goes down and he will of course forgive you for acting in his very best interests.

[Gaina]

Hello Angie,

Yes, I'm totally forgiven today (he's fickle when it comes to food! Haha).

Just over 24 hours later he seems perfectly cheerful so I think that means he's tolerated the new medication. I've been researching data on Amlodipine as a treatment for hypertension in cats and the results of the biggest trials seem to suggest it's extremely effective .

Hope you and yours are well x

[JMPARK]

Hope all goes well and his blood pressure gets down ok!!

[Gaina]

Just got off the phone from the vet.

Billy's Creatinine and Urea levels are higher than they were in April, so he's going into a prescription renal diet to help his kidneys process the waste products.

Of course I understand that kidney failure is progressive and incurable but my vet is very positive that the prescription diet combined with the amplodipine he's now taking and his other medication will go a long way to stabilising his condition.

He's very happy in himself so we'll start the new diet and see how we go .

[angieh]

Fingers crossed that Billy gets on well with his new prescription diet Gaina. My dear old Merlin was on high pH diet for years as he had struvite problems ......... he must have got so bored with it and finally in the end refused to eat it. As he was in his 20's by that time though we believed that it was more important for him to eat something so spoilt him rather.