Sunday, November 24, 2019

Baby Hyper Aldosterone, CKD, High Blood Pressure, Bowenoid Skin Cancer-She Has Many Issues

Baby has been seen by vets and specialists since May due to low kidney values, hypertension (high blood pressure), skin lesions, kidney disease, and hyperaldosteronism.  I last wrote about this on Oct. 25, 2019.

The update: the cancer specialist on November 5, removed the Bowenoid lesion from her left paw and we are to continue to monitor for the appearance of others.

The CAT scan they did November 5 did not show any signs of lymph node or adrenal gland tumors. So, it's likely, for now, that her hyperaldosteronism is idiopahtic-no known cause. Her blood level aldosterone was 1011, up from 829 this summer. The vet will now put her on 1/4 tab a day of Spironolactone 20mg.  Spironolactone is an aldosterone antagonist and is supposed to help reduce the hormone level. We will retest the blood level in a month or so. 

This summer, "mast cells" were found in a lymph node by biopsy. Mast cells are more commonly signs of cancer in cats. BUT they can also be signs of IBD or mastocytosis or inflammation.
So they think she has inflammation in the gastro system. For now, we will monitor.


She has signs of asthma in her lungs despite the Albuterol she receives BID (twice a day.) But MSU vet had told us this summer to reduce it and wean her off of it. We reduced it for awhile but then continued twice a day since September. Perhaps reducing it to once a day and trying to wean her off wasn't a good idea. We may need to put her on Flovent, a steroid inhaler which I've been trying to avoid. Her heart is great so there wouldn't be an issue but steroids should not be taken lightly; and chronic use might lead to other issues. She sees the cardio yearly (she has never had heart disease; heart disease cats CANNOT have a steroid at all, even an inhaler.) 


We must continue to monitor with future ultrasounds of her gastro system and kidneys; test aldosterone levels; check blood pressure and kidney values; and keep her on a kidney disease diet. We must still monitor for inflammation vs. possible cancer. 

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