Horses, Zebras, and My Cat

There is a common expression taught in medical schools that says: "If you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras." I thought of this phrase in relation to a recent health episode with my cat.

Avid blog readers may recall that I have two elderly cats who live with me in Chicago: Kahlua, a street-wise, big-eared cat, and Bailey, a gentle long-haired princess. Bailey weighs 6 lbs soaking wet and sports a lovely "lion's cut" shaved look to keep her coat clean. They are both 15 years old and great companions.

A week ago, Bailey was having some difficulty in the litter box, so I took her in to the vet for an exam. My thought was that she was constipated and perhaps was blocked somewhere and in need of an enema. On the initial exam, the vet found her to be severely dehydrated, down to 5.3 lbs, and her internal organs felt "small." She also had a history of vomiting. In an elderly cat, these were the hallmark signs of kidney disease, which is common in older cats and essentially incurable. It is the diagnosis most cat owners dread. In the "hoofbeats" expression, kidney disease was the horse. Equally concerning is that the next horse in line was cancer.

I braced myself for the worst. Bailey was admitted, put on an IV and given the usual battery of blood tests and urine cultures. We waited. I posted Bailey's photo on my Facebook page and asked my friends to keep us in their thoughts. The next afternoon, the vet called me with surprising news. Her kidney values were normal, but her liver values were a bit off. I could tell the vet did not entirely believe the results, because all signs pointed to kidney problems. We still had to wait for the culture results to know for sure what was happening. Bailey was responding well to fluids, was eating and drinking, and ready to come home.

So, on Saturday, I came home from a trip to Phoenix early so I could pick Bailey up at the hospital. I was given antibiotics (pill form) and some kitty pepcid (liquid syringe). Bailey had also just gotten her subcutaneous fluids that morning and sported a giant sac of water dangling under her tiny armpit. She was a sight to behold but very happy to be home. Truly, it was like she had gone on a spa vacation and was running around the house like a kitty again! The only problem was my inability to appropriately get her pills down her throat. If you have ever had to "pill" a cat, you can understand. Unlike dogs, putting the pill in peanut butter or cheese doesn't work with cats. I once again called on my Facebook friends for their cat-pilling advice, and one the third day I successfully got her to swallow her medicine.

On Monday, the vet called again with even better news: Bailey's urine culture tested positive for E. coli. Bailey had a urinary tract infection complicated by pancreatitis. I have never been so happy to learn my cat had two diseases! My joy was because both of these conditions are treatable. I became nearly ecstatic when the vet told me that there is now an injectible antibiotic that we could try on Bailey, so we could get rid of the pills. I did learn how to give her a simple shot of B12, which I can do for the next five weeks to help alleviate the pancreatitis. I also found a nice lady who will come to my house and administer the subcutaneous fluids for Bailey twice a week (both the UTI and pancreatitis cause dehydration). In two weeks, we'll give her another shot of antiobiotic, and then in a month, we'll do a follow-up urine culture. If all is clear, her health will hopefully be back to normal.

In Bailey's case, the hoofbeats we heard ended up being a zebra. I'm glad we looked for the horse, but I'm thrilled we found the zebra. My thanks for Dr. Schnorr and all the great folks at Mid-North Animal Hospital for taking such good care of my beloved Bailey and for nursing her back to health.