Wednesday, August 26, 2015

adventures in Marvinville

Marvin went to my vet last week for his vaccines, microchip, and for another general look over, this time by my vet. This will make the third different vet who has gotten to see him. I had concerns about the state of his kidneys, because from day one, he's peed a lot and the size of his pees are super-size.

The good news is that he's gained some weight, he's now 7.7 pounds (3.49kg). The bad news is that even after his recent dental work, many of his teeth are still in rough shape and my vet was puzzled why the other vet didn't extract more. She thinks more need to go. This made me really angry, Marvin went to the second vet for a full mouth extraction after the first vet said his teeth were all rotten and needed to come out, but the second vet only extracted one (that was really bad) and cleaned the rest. He noted there was severe periodontal disease, but apparently didn't see fit to extract more.

Sadly, the bad news doesn't stop there. My vet recommended we do a SDMA test to check for kidney failure. Before his dental work, one of his kidney values was high but the other was normal. The SDMA test indicated advanced kidney failure. My vet thinks the anesthesia from the dental work in addition to the high bacteria load from the dental infections may have really pushed his kidneys over the edge. She indicated that with a cat in his condition, she would have proactively put him on a course of fluids for two days prior to and post surgery to really flush out all the toxins and the nasty side effects of the anesthesia. Of course he didn't get any of those fluids as the vet who did the surgery apparently didn't share her concerns about his kidneys.

With the kidney failure, she doesn't think it's wise to be addressing the other dental concerns right now because of the risk associated with more anesthesia. Dang. So, he's on special (expensive) kidney food (which he hates) and we will retest his kidney panel in a few weeks.

This was my first time taking one of my rescue cats to a different (and much cheaper) vet. The extraction was considerably less expensive (saved about $1,000) but it came at a high cost to Marvin's kidneys. With the knowledge I had at the time I think I made a decent choice, but knowing what I know now, I'll be sticking with my more expensive vet that I know and trust.

In talking with some other people who know a lot about cats, I learned that there is a possibility that his kidneys may rebound. The idea is maybe his kidneys were inundated with toxins and may clear up in time to better functioning. I certainly hope and pray this is true, but we'll have to wait to find out.

Meanwhile, now that he's vaccinated, he's been given the green light to explore the whole house! He wasted no time in taking it all in, much to the displeasure of the resident cats. He is such a bold explorer! He had mapped the entire house in about 15 minutes and began working on the vertical surfaces!


Nahum: I'm not so sure about this ambassador job...






After being out and free in the house for about an hour or so, Marvin went into the bathroom and sprayed the wall. Great! Really?? Argh! The sad part was the urine was nearly clear, just a faint yellow hue. He's since sprayed more on other excursions out of his room but he doesn't seem to spray in his room. He's also taken to terrorizing Rose, in a very similar fashion as Bert once did. I'm wondering if sharing space with five other cats is just too much for him! Because of these annoying habits, he only gets supervised freedom.

I'm very happy to report that he's become quite the cuddle bug. When I visit with him in his room, he'll get super close and settle right with me. Monday night he got to spend the night in the bedroom and he slept on me the entire night! It's been fun to see his personality start to shine through. 

12 comments:

  1. Poor guy. Finding a Vet you trust is hard and once you do I guess worth it to stick with them. I admire all you do as I know its expensive. Marvin is in good hands...yours.

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  2. Poor guy. Finding a Vet you trust is hard and once you do I guess worth it to stick with them. I admire all you do as I know its expensive. Marvin is in good hands...yours.

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  3. You might try RenAvast for the kidney issue, it's a supplement. Also, really bad teeth problems can drive kidney values crazy. Zoe was diagnosed with CKD Stage II, but after 3 extractions and RenAvast she has just gotten a clean bill of health. She was also diabetic which is in remission. Best of luck.

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  4. I know how small he is because I have a cat that is 7lbs, but when he is next to Nahum... wow.

    That does stink about your cheap vet being conservative, but that is what comes of keeping the costs down. it is such a delicate balance. I hope his kidneys do come around and I hope the vet has other options for him since he hates the food so much. Low protein foods aren't necessarily the best option for cats with kidney issues.. getting foods with high quality proteins so more is digested and less needs to be processed through the kidneys can help - or so says Dr. Hodgekins who wrote the book "Your Cat"

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  5. Good luck with Marvin, he's surely had a hard go of it. Pretty crappy about the cheaper vet -- I don't fully trust ANY vet, regardless of the cost of services, so if you have one you *do* trust, well, hang on to them.

    Purrs and peace.

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  6. I'm thinking Marvin is lucky, lucky, LUCKY to have found you for a protector! You'll get him as fixed up as possible, despite these setbacks. And he's probably anxious about all the other cats, hence the wall tinkles. Hopefully, all will settle down. Thank you for what you do!

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  7. You may also want to look into Renal Essentials from vetri Science and Feline Renal Support from Standard Process as supplements. I think it's also called Kidney Gold that is another supplement. We sure hope that Marvin rebounds and hopefully that will happen. We will keep you in my thoughts.

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  8. he sure is handsome. we had a similar "tooth" issue here where mom used a low cost clinic to get Tim's teeth cleaned and in the end paid twice as much to fix their screw up. somedays it pays to stick with what and who you know.

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  9. Generally you get what you pay for, but sometimes you get lucky. I have the same vet for 20 years. Marvin in the same photo with Nahum is comical. Marvin has to carve out some space for himself in the household. There is a lot of competition there.

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  10. Poor Marvin.....well, hopefully his kidneys will rebound - sounds like his teeth are really in bad shape too. His coat looks a LOT better - very shiny and I love seeing him playing with the toys and exploring. The spraying and "disagreements" may just be him trying to find "his" place there with the other cats. We are hoping for a really good outcome for this special guy.

    Hugs, Sammy

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  11. OH I am so sorry about Marvin's news and the negligence of his Vet who extracted his tooth! TOOTH! And no word about all the other! That would make be boiling mad. You are a better man than I am...not that I am a man. Heeee. I can't wait to hear a better prognosis. I wish he had not sprayed and hope to goodness THAT stops and poor Rose. I really don't want her terrorized as I know you don't either.

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  12. I will add Marvin to my prayer list.

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