Jimmy Stewart Gets Large Pink Bumps on Front Paws Possible Allergy

4/20/16  

Jimmy Stewart woke up this morning and had large pink bumps on both front legs.  His face around his mouth and his ears were also slightly pink. He wasn't acting himself. So, off to the vet we went.
The vet said it is an allergy-either food, contact allergy, or ringworm.  They did blood work, tested for ringworm, and sent him home to take antihistamine (half of one 10mg Claritan, once a day.) 

Jimmy's blood work was fine but he's low on potassium for some reason. We are not sure why he would be low on potassium: disease, dehydration, inability to absorb nutrients (which is what Katharine's problem has been.)  Vet thinks it could be the Methigel acidified we give for his bladder. It was to help keep the pH level balanced. We are to take him off of it and retest in a month. We weren't suppose to give a potassium supplement but he seemed too run down. So, we are using Renal K powder, one full scoop, once a day, mixed into his food for a week. 

Meanwhile he's perked up on antihistamine but the vet is concerned because he shouldn't have and thinks that could indicate other more serious issues that produce histamine such as tumors. Again we will wait and see how the skin lesions respond before having a biopsy.

4/24/16

Jimmy continues to respond well to the antihistamine. The lesions are pale pink and the pink around his mouth and ears has disappeared. He's perked up so the antihistamine and potassium may be improving his condition. 

Jimmy Stewart

Vetri Science Feline Immuntherapy to Katharine and Baby for Black Spots

We are using these two products with Baby and Katharine to help their immune system fight off the virus causing black lesions on their ears (earlier posts.) We have been giving the liquid for three weeks and see good improvement in Katharine but little so far in Baby. But Baby's ears are covered in more black marks so more time is needed. We ordered from 1-800 Pets for $20 a bottle including shipping cost. Base price $14.49.

Information On Skin Cancer and Black Spots on Cats

Article about squamous cell carcinoma in cats due to sun exposure. And discusses Bowen's disease which is related.   These often show up as black spots and or tumors, either small, wart size or enlarged tumors around the body or head and ears.

Papillomavirus More Black Spots on Cats Ears

Back in November, I posted a photo of Baby's black ear spots which tests showed to be due from the Papillomavirus. We need to get rid of them because the black spots can become cancerous. The imiquimod cream we are using doesn't seem to be helping and more spots have appeared on her head, ears, and belly. She'll need to be retested soon. And somehow, Katharine now has spots on her head and ear. She will also need to be tested. I tried the cream on her spots but she had a negative reaction. She may have ingested it despite wearing the collar to prevent her from getting to her ear and despite me cleaning it off of the ear after I removed the collar. She became worn out about an hour after I removed the collar and wouldn't eat for a few hours until I gave her sugar water and tuna juice by mouth. Then I gave her Cyproheptadine to spur her appetite. She recovered. Baby hasn't had these same reactions so I was surprised. I read a study from 2007 that Photodynamic laser therapy is better to remove these spots than cryo therapy or freezing off the spots. Most vets seem to amputate the ear instead of doing photo or cryo therapy but then what do you do about the other spots? I'll need to do more research. The cats will go to the vet later in April or first of May. I will try the cream again on Katharine and try different amounts. She may be able to get around the soft collar and need a hard collar. And I will make sure to use soap and not just a wipe when I clean the cream off of her ear. Here are latest photos.

Baby's belly spots

Baby's ear-small spot near finger, larger black spot at base of ear, looks like normal dark hair but it's not

Katharine's ear spot and a small one near finger

Katharine's black round spot near base of right ear in the pink/white part

HCM Cats Need to Drink a lot of Water

Your HCM cat on diuretics will need to drink a lot of water, and will want to drink a lot of water. You should provide more than one bowl, and maybe one large bowl where they normally drink and a smaller one where they spend a lot of time (bedroom for example.) Your cat on diuretics will be urinating often. You should increase the litter boxes and think about adding one where it's most convenient such as a bedroom. The boxes will need to be scooped often so that the cat is comfortable using the box. If the cat is not drinking enough, try bottled water (gallon jugs are less expensive than individual bottles) for a fresher taste. If the cat isn't drinking enough, gently give the cat 3-6ml of water by mouth every 3 hours over the course of a day; add water to the wet food for an additional source.

Cat Care-Take Notes, Get Notes, Share Notes with All Vets

Cat care-always take notes at the vet; always get copies of results and findings and blood work; keep a file-you'll need one in which to keep records, in order by date. Your regular vet may be the primary for now but you'll need to always consult with the vet cardiologist for any other meds not prescribed by the cardio or for the heart or any procedures the regular vet suggests (for example, HCM cats cannot usually survive surgery and should NEVER take steroid based medications or inhalers for example). 

But as the heart disease progresses, you may find that you'll need to see the cardiologist more often, at which point, the cardio becomes the primary care vet (although they typically don't do vaccines.) The cardio will check pulse, breathing, heart rate, look at eyes and ears and mouth-they look for any signs of any other disease and dehydration and any other heart related issues that show up in other parts of the body (lack of oxygen, blood, poor circulation, etc.) 

AND always make sure the cardio gets the regular vet's paperwork; and that the regular vet gets sent copies from the cardio or any other vet your cat sees. If your cat goes to the ER, have them send copies to both the cardio and the regular vet and give you copies as well. Vets should consult each other when seeing your cat if they have any questions about care. It helps them review for continued care, to review for any complications or to figure out next steps. It helps to keep track of when were last blood tests and results, if certain procedures or tests were done and when. 

We always made sure Myrna's cardio and vet had the same records. And having them yourself, just helps you learn more. And the more you know, the better the care will be that you give.

Feeding a Sick Cat or a Cat That Won't Eat Enough-Some Helpful Guides

Trouble feeding the cat? If you are having trouble feeding your cat or it won't eat enough, one method (of many I've posted about before) is to use kitten formula. You can buy it dry or in cans. You mix the dry with water per instructions. You can syringe feed it by mouth. It has many nutrients that your cat needs. It's a good supplement. Add some corn syrup to boost the energy (1/8 tsp per 3oz fluid.) 

You could also try adding this mixture to the wet food if the cat is eating something.

To determine if the cat is eating enough, consuming enough calories, measure the amount served vs. the amount left over. Determine the calories for each typical serving. Measure what is not eaten and determine the calories of what is left over. We did this with Cooper in 2014 when his weight suddenly dropped (due to heart disease.) Cooper pushed his food around and it always seemed that he ate well but was losing weight. But once I measured what was served vs. what was left on the plate, I realized that he ate only 1/4 of his food. That led to us doing multiple feedings so that he ate every 2 hours (of course I was home so it was simple to do.) But we were able to sustain his weight.

A normal cat should consume about 240 calories a day. When you determine what little your cat may be eating, that 240 number will seem like a daunting task. But if you add up every little calories-and you'll need to write it all down to track it-you will eventually get there. Some days with Cooper, we were lucky to hit 200 but most days we hit 220.

Every 3ml syringe of sweet potato or condensed milk or tuna juice has about 15 calories. Every tablespoon of wet food may only have about 20-30 calories. Every 15 treats may be another 25 or so calories.

Links are below to help you determine calories per serving, and help you figure out measurements. Good luck!

Here's the link for wet food 5 oz cans.

http://www.petobesityprevention.org/…/Cat_Canned_Pouch_Food…

Measurement guide:

https://www.exploratorium.edu/coo…/convert/measurements.html

Dry food calories per cup are listed below. 

www.petobesityprevention.org

PETOBESITYPREVENTION.ORG