Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what does a low auto platelet mean? My cat's level was 76.

Thanks,

lisa

I don't know what you mean by auto platelets. What symptoms is your cat showing and why did you have a blood test done?

Turns out the lab made a mistake, so his CBC was normal.

I had bloodwork done because my 13 year old cat was drinking a lot of water. He gets bloodwork every 6 months, and it's always been pretty normal. But this time his BUN was 42 and his creatinine was 2.6 I'm giving him fluids twice a week and he's taking glandulars. Is there anything else you recommend? He also has IBD and an atrial septal defect.

You didn't say what glandular you are giving your cat, but a very simple and practical glandular would be to puree raw beef kidneys and heart with an equal amount of water, pour it into ice cube trays and freeze it, leaving a small amount unfrozen in the refrigerator. Give one cube per meal. Let the cube thaw in the refrigerator for a day so that it is liquid, and replace with another frozen cube so that you always have one thawed. Also, give 30mg twice a day of Co-enzyme Q10. Add salt to the food to encourage him to drink more water. I hope you are not feeding dry food. As far as the IBD, taking the cat off of commercial food often resolves the problem. If it does not, we can deal with that as well.

Thanks for your advice. I've tried a raw diet in the past and my cat won't eat it. He is very picky. He does eat wet only food - Wellness turkey. It's the only thing that doesn't upset his IBD.

He also takes 1ml of budesonide daily to help with it as well. I tried taking him off of it (or even giving him .5mls a day instead) but when we went in for his bi-yearly ultrasound, the lining of his intestines thickened to the point where my vet was worried he was going to develop intestinal lymphoma, so I put him back on the budesonide.

He's been on COQ10 since you recommended it a few years ago for his atrial septal defect. He's got a lot of problems...

The glandulars he takes is called renatrophin. It was prescribed by a holistic veterinarian in LA.

My vet just called me last night and since his BUN went from 40 last month to 42 this month, and his creatinine went from 2.2 to 2.6, she thinks he should go on a prescription kidney diet. I know the Hills stuff is crap, but she recommended the Iams multi-stage renal canned. What do you think of that?

What does your cat think of it? I don't think it's great quality, but if your cat will eat it, and won't eat the raw kidney, you don't have a lot of choice.

Good point! I haven't tried the diet yet. I'm picking up a can today to see if he'll even eat it.

Even if he does eat it, would it be better to keep him on the Wellness?