LILLY GAINED A POUND!!

My furry monster, Lilly, gained a pound!! She's just over 7pounds now and I'm so tickled!

I took her to the vet again and made sure she saw the doctor there that I actually trust with my kits. I told him everything that had been going on and my concerns that there was no definitive diagnosis and that what I had been told wasn't really explaining things that were happening with her.

Here's what he concluded. With the thinning fur, weight loss, out of whack blood values... his experience tells him it's some type of endocrine disorder. It could be hyperthyroid disease, diabetes or Cushing's disease. But come to find out, with cats sometimes the signs/symptoms can show years before the blood work truly shows the underlying cause. For now, she's staying on Prednosolone, Reglan and a vitamin supplement. She got a B12 shot on the chance that may also help. He recommends repeating the blood work every six months until the cause can be determined. If she continues to gain weight and improve a bit, we'll start weaning her off the steroid.

Also discovered is why she has that bulge in the middle. He said that one thing steroids can do is make the muscles more lax. It's not that anything is getting that big inside her, just that the abdominal muscles aren't holding everything as tightly. He said while her liver is enlarged, its shape hasn't changed so it's not as much of a worry. HE didn't find any kind of mass and he did a lot of squeezing on the belly, much to Lilly's intense dislike. ;)

I love that he doesn't just nod and say "Mmm hmm" to the stuff I say or ask. He explains and gives me answers and understands just because I'm your basic cat mom, I'm not an idiot or ignorant on things that can happen with cats.