Wednesday, May 9, 2012

16-year-old cat with blood in the urine

The owners were two sisters and were retired nurses whose cat had attended to for the past 16 years.
Nothing heard from them since 2009 when the cat had high kidney enzymes and a kidney prescription diet was recommended by me. But they fed fish as they felt the cat needed more nutrition. The cat thrived. Till now. Blood in the urine appeared when the antibiotics were not given or injected.

Vet 1 did a house call after office hours. The cat scratched the owner.
Vet 2's place was blaring with music after office hours. The cat scratched the nurse.
The reputation preceded her.
Yet when the owners held the cat for blood collection by Dr Daniel Sing, she did not object. "This is surprising," the older sister said. I asked whether the abdomen was palpated for bladder stone or tumour as the cat is very old.
"I don't feel any," Dr D said.
I got the cat out of the cat by asking the sisters to take her out. Unscrewed the top and sides. I lifted the cat out from the open side. The cat hissed. "Didn't like you," the sisters said. I quickly palpated the abdomen. There seemed to be a soft mass in the bladder area, around 2 cm x 2 cm. Could this be a bladder tumour?
"Stones are rare in the female cat," Dr D said. "Vet medicine is full of surprises," I replied. "Female cats do suffer from bladder stones. Only an X-ray or ultrasound will tell." The owners didn't want the tests. So, wait and see. One sister asked Dr D about testing the blood for cancer markers. The test may not be available. This is a 16-year-old cat. We wait for the blood test and urine test results first.

"The meticulous recording of the two sisters ought to be inside the case file" I said to Dr D.
"He had recorded it," the sisters told me. Nothing as good as the original notes of the owners as their observations tell much about the condition. 
  

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