Cleo To The Vet’s (all Ok)

If you remember, the other day Cleo declared war on me when I tried to do her subcut alone.  I enlisted Yui Ping’s help but he in turn got bitten by the tigress. I finally managed to, using AD to entice her, but with Cleo, what works once, will probably not work again.

So, today, I decided not to take any chances. I did Pole and Bunny’s subcut, then I took Cleo to the vet’s for hers. Of course I had also made a prior appointment and the vet suggested that we might as well do a full blood test on her since it’s been 4 months since her last.

Perhaps the “war” was a blessing in disguise as you’d understand why in the next two posts.

The vet issued a letter so that we could get through roadblocks. I’m thankful that the police and security forces regard pets’ medical visits as “essential”.

Well, it is.

Mewing angrily all the way to the vet’s.

Now, the vet wanted to do a full check-up, which includes testing urine specific gravity (SG). Of course there was no way I could collect the tigress’ urine. So the vet first tried by expressing her bladder but her bladder was too small. Next, the vet tried by sticking a needle into her bladder with the aid of ultrasound. Twice. And on both times, Cleo did EXACTLY what she does to me during subcut. She did the famous Cleo Lunge. So, on both times, the needle fell out. That failed. The vet suggested that I leave Cleo at the clinic, she will do the subcut, wait for the bladder to fill up and try either expressing the bladder or sticking in the needle again. I guess that was a good option.

That’s when I decided I would also take Indy and Pole for the check-up when I collect Cleo. Might as well make good use of the MCO-trip. So, the vet issued another letter for this.

Cleo’s weight is 3.2kg, the same as before.

Her blood was also taken for the full bloodwork plus the FIV/FeLV test (it was never done before).

The results was unexpectedly good.

FIV/FeLV NEGATIVE! Yay!

Now, I’m comparing her readings from Dec 2019 and today’s.

Creatinine, from 210 to today’s 184. Yay!
Urea, from 16.3 to today’s 10.6. Yay!
Phosphate, from 1.87 to today’s 1.37. Yay!! Ideally should be less than 1.5. It is!
Liver readings – all good

Only the globulin was a little high, but the vet says that is probably due to her allergy and licking of her bottom half (this has been a problem for more than a decade now).  For this, the vet prescribed Demoscent’s Essential 6.  I’ll show you what it is like below. It is applied as a spot-on. I was relieved – ok, a spot-on shouldn’t be so hard, right?

Right?

At least it is not a tablet or capsule. That would be absolutely impossible.

Cleo thinks everyone is trying to kill her. Hence, she is always on the defensive.

I left Cleo at the clinic and later in the afternoon, went to collect her with Indy and Pole in tow for their check-up (next two posts, please). Oh, Cleo tried to bite the vet.

The vet was exceptionally pleased with Cleo’s urine SG – it’s 1.047, which is unexpectedly good. It means her kidneys are still doing a good job concentrating her urine. Also, her UPC is normal, so she is not leaking any protein. That’s all good.

Overall, the vet was really pleased with Cleo’s test results. She says that since it’s so difficult to do her subcut, we could reduce it to once a week, at 250ml. But I was worried because the last time when her kidney readings improved and we reduced it to once a week, the readings went up again. However, the vet felt confident this time because of her urine SG.  Last time, her SG was never tested (just couldn’t get her urine sample).

Finally, the vet said I could rattan basket and put her inside for the subcut. Being in a basket might make her more comfortable. The operative word here is “might”. I suggested a tall cardboard box. The whole idea is to prevent her from doing her infamous Cleo Lunge and escape. But knowing her, she would probably just leap out of the cardboard box effortlessly.

But we shall try.

The vet also suggested that we try the Feliway spray into the cardboard box. So, yes, we bought that too.

We shall try. The operative word here is TRY. If Feliway and Cardboard Box works, the vet says we could go back to subcut twice a week for maintenance. Otherwise, she is optimistic that once a week should do the trick.

So, no medicines (what a relief!!), just the Essential 6 spot-on (how hard could that be, right?).  Oh, and subcut. I’ve resigned to the fact that if I still end up losing blood over her subcut sessions, I shall just send her to the vet’s to get it done. Yes, for 10 times the cost, but what to do?

Cleo, aren’t you a high maintenance cat?

So, can I attribute Cleo’s satisfactory (being careful here not to say “good”, as per Asian mentality) results to her diet of raw food? I hope I can.

Cleo is on Coco&Joe’s and Cubgrub, but she prefers the former.

The vet had earlier suggested that we put Cleo on a renal diet, but looks like there is no need for that now. Whatever we are doing looks about right, so let’s just continue doing that.

Ok, here’s the Essential 6.

The spot-on is to be applied once a week at the back of the neck, so this box will last one month. It costs RM80, so RM20 per treatment.

Cleo, you are high maintenance.

I’m going to have to keep working for the rest of my life.

So just now, I attempted the spot-on and yes, it was a struggle but I did NOT get bitten, thankfully.

And also, I’ve removed the bench from the room now. We have a super single mattress on the floor. Haha….Cleo cannot hide under the bench anymore. So, this made it a teeny weeny easier. I managed to catch her. But to apply the spot-on…my goodness. It took quite an athletic feat of contorting my body before I succeeded in emptying all the contents of that little vial onto the back of her neck.

If you think it’s easy to handle Cleo, I welcome your kind assistance…after the MCO. Thanks in advance for your kindness.

By the way, the vet said Cleo “behaved” during subcut (yes, without my presence). It’s her and me – she bullies me.

So yes, would anyone like to do Cleo’s subcut? I would gladly leave the room so that it can be done….successfully with no loss of blood (on the part of the kind volunteer).

The vet suggested that I purchase a water fountain to entice Cleo to drink more water. And even if that fails, the water fountain might benefit the other cats. Immediately, Indy comes to mind. He would have a blast, for sure. Bunny might now know about it since he cannot see. Or, can he?

I did it!

Coming up next is Indy’s check-up.

Last word in: I am so thankful for Cleo’s improvement. I think it’s got a lot to do the her raw diet and possibly the subcut sessions too. For any kidney patient to even maintain without degeneration is already heaven-sent. So an improvement is greatly rejoiced.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2020/04/14/cleo-to-the-vets-all-ok/

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