Purrs and Prayers for Tylan: Thankful Thursday

Thank you to Ann from Zoolatry for this lovely graphic for Tylan.

Hi everyone,

I know what you're thinking. "Why is Sierra posting Tylan being unwell as a Thankful Thursday post?" 

No, I'm not thankful Tylan is unwell, of course. I hate that for him. But I am thankful for a couple of silver linings, and I am trying to focus on that.

Let me fill you in on what is going on.

Last week, Tylan went to the vet to have his kidney/thyroid panel done. He gets this done every three months. Our vet was on vacation, so he just had a tech visit. 

His results came back, and surprisingly, his kidneys and thyroid are stable. That is thing one I am thankful for. Tylan's fur has been greasy, so I was worried his kidneys were worse. Jewel's fur got very greasy in the later stages of kidney disease. Tylan is holding steady in mid-stage 2 kidney disease, and his hyperthyroidism is being well-managed on his current dose of methimazole.

I spoke to another vet in the office about Tylan's results because our vet was on vacation. She mentioned he had high triglycerides, cholesterol, and amylase. Our regular vet has always told me that these values don't matter in cats. So I wasn't too worried about it. Tylan's cholesterol, amylase, and triglycerides usually test higher than the reference range.

However, Tylan hasn't been eating as well as he usually does, so I was puzzled as to why if his kidneys were stable. 

I showed Tylan's test results to Terry from Brian's Home, one of our dearest and closest friends. He noted that Tylan's triglycerides are quite high. - 2, 840 (reference range 25-160). He sent me some information about hyperlipidemia in cats. After reading it, I was able to put the pieces together. Tylan may be suffering a bout of pancreatitis. That is the second thing I am thankful for, Terry, such a wonderful and knowledgeable friend who cares about my boys.

I talked to our regular vet yesterday, and she agreed it would be prudent to trial-treat Tylan for pancreatitis. He is on anti-nausea meds and pain medication and double his dose of prednisolone for now. We are waiting for the appetite stimulant to come. That is the third thing I am thankful for - I had some of the medication already left over from Carmine.

Tylan will get labs done again on August 22. He will have to fast for them. If his triglycerides are still high, he will need to go to Internal Medicine for an ultrasound.

Tylan also has a lump/bump by his spine. It's been there a while and it hasn't changed as far as I can tell. Our vet will look at it on the 22nd and biopsy it if she is concerned about it.

The fourth thing I am thankful for is that the pain medication does seem to be helping a bit. Tylan is looking for food a bit more often. He even meowed for his nightly kibble last night, which he has not done in quite some time! It used to be his favorite part of the day.

I will keep you all posted on what happens. Hopefully we can get Tylan feeling better soon.