Good evening felinity assembled, it's been a troubling day, even before daddy learned the blood test results an hour ago.
I added afternoon updates to yesterday's post and little has changed the last 3 hours.
The great picture of Nikita at the bedroom window was taken yesterday, and now he has returned to napping after nibbling a little Gerber Chicken, and then sitting by the balcony window for a few minutes.
We got word in response to a story of his daddy submitted to a website and I will share the story and the news in my next post.
Daddy chatted with the vet and this is what he learned:
There are no smoking guns as the vet calls it; nothing that points clearly toward what the problem is with the weight loss and lack of eating.
The Liver is fine; no onions. The Kidney is in the high end of normal, and the Thyroid is also still normal. He has a little high white blood cell count, but that could be from the excitement of the check-up.
It's possible Nikita has Inflammatory Bowel Disease, but it's hard to tell from a Lymphoma. The vet has prescribed a pill for the IBD and told daddy to stop the Prednisolone for the duration.
There is a blood test to check for Pancreatitis that they may try at some point.
If Nikita is still not eating in a couple of days the vet will try a hunger stimulant.
There are options, if it comes to that, much more expensive than blood tests, of course; ultrasounds and exploratory surgery. Daddy could put those on his Care Credit card, but would rather not add more debt as long as he still has no job.
A lot has been going on since we returned from Blog Paws and we had planned to help daddy post about his adventure, now that we have things organized at last; I told Nikita to concentrate on his health, I'll help daddy as he also continues his job search.
Thank you everyone for your purrs and purrayers, it means a lot to all of us.
NEXT UP: FNN SPECIAL REPURRT: Old Cat Eats, Human Pleased
I am continuing to send purrs Nikita's way. I hope the meds and some of what you are already doing helps him. These mystery illnesses can be expensive, since vets keep having to do more tests.
Posted by: Sparkle | June 12, 2013 at 08:55 PM
Mom has been telling me about Mr. Nikita's troubles.
Please tell him how sorry I am (wait until he wakes up from his nap, of course!).
Thank you for keeping us updated, Miss Elvira.
Posted by: Katya Graymalkin | June 12, 2013 at 09:06 PM
Thank you so much for the update, Elvira.
We will keep on purring and praying for our dear friend Nikita, and that the vets will discover soon what ails him.
Big hugs to you all.
Posted by: meowmeowmans | June 12, 2013 at 09:10 PM
Oh Thanks Elvira for letting us know how Nikita is doing!! We are sending lots of purrrs and payers your way!!
(((((BIG WARM KITTY HUGS)))))))))
from your TX furiends,
Posted by: Samantha, Clementine & Maverick | June 13, 2013 at 01:14 AM
we are sending many purrrrss to Nikita!!! get better buddy!
Posted by: The Meezers | June 13, 2013 at 06:32 AM
We're purring loud and hard. We hope they find out what's wrong and that they can easily fix it!
The Florida Furkids
Posted by: The Florida Furkids | June 13, 2013 at 07:12 AM
Sounds puzzling. And worrisome for you. We hope Nikita's appetite picks up soon.
Posted by: jansfunnyfarm | June 13, 2013 at 08:11 AM
We are sending Nikita extra powerful, appetite stimulating rumbly purrs to help out.
We hope that the IBD pill helps, it's very frustrating when there are lots of possibilities and no immediate answers.
Gerry, Mungo & The Ape
Posted by: Everycat | June 13, 2013 at 08:40 AM
Always, and I do mean A.L.W.A.Y.S. entertaining.
Posted by: GM Roper | June 13, 2013 at 10:35 AM
We will.all be sending happy purrs for yummy eating really soon.
Posted by: Brian | June 13, 2013 at 03:03 PM
Hang in there, kittie. We're purrrrrrring for you all.
If Nikita is still not eating, there are some things to try.
If the baby food doesn't get Nikita nomming, grilled chicken will often get kitties eating. Kitten milk or kitten glop might also get Nik more interested in food.
With luck, things won't have to go that far.
ppuurrrrrrrrr
Posted by: Lee County Clowder | June 13, 2013 at 03:47 PM