Riding the roller coaster with Stella
Over the past week and a half, Stella’s weight was in a state of slow decline. She lost about 8 ounces, taking her weight from 4 pounds 3 ounces down to 13 pounds 10 ounces. I watched her losing weight and felt like there was nothing I could do.
Her appetite was half of what it was a few weeks ago and she has been sleeping a lot. For quite a while, she ate her dry food, Catz a Flocken, well and Target-brand Boots and Barkley wet food. She started refusing to eat any of it. There were days when I didn’t see her eat and couldn’t tell if she had eaten any of the wet food I put out for her.
One of the vets suggested testing Stella’s Phosphorus (P) levels. Stella currently gets 0.4mL of aluminum chloride to reduce the P levels. High P could definitely impact her appetite. In fact, when she was first placed on the anti-P meds her appetite had improved considerably.
Thanksgiving Day Stella didn’t look good. She mostly slept on Thursday and Friday. Saturday she seemed to perk up a little. Same on Sunday. My parents visited on the holiday weekend. Mom went with me on Friday for Stella’s fluids at the vet’s. It was clear just how much Stella had dropped weight — and continued to lose. We made an appointment for Monday to have her P levels rechecked.
This morning was her vet visit with the regular vet. Her P was ioff of the test chart, actually. That would impact how she was eating. She also had a UTI and borderline low potassium levels (which could contribute to Stella’s muscle loss). She was given a shot of antibiotics, has a new potassium supplement, and the dose of her aluminum stuff was doubled.
The good news was that Stella’s weight was up 4 ounces.
Stella is one little fighter kitty. Some days I wonder how much more she can lose before she just blows away, and then she regains some weight. And the process starts over again.
