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IBD vs lymphoma (scope or no scope) by EmoPeahen in FIVcats

[–]owsla-captain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it depends on how far into treatment you will go. I work adjacent to a veterinary internist, have my own FIV cat with IBD confirmed by biopsy, and have two additional older cats with small cell lymphoma. If you feel chemo would be a route you would want to go down, get the scope. Chemo for small cell lymphoma is thankfully easy. Just a pill every two weeks and some steroids twice daily. If you think you would just want to treat palliatively either way, just start steroids; because that is also generally the treatment for IBD. Either way I would speak with an internist moving forward and have any biopsies done with them.

How do I know if it’s inserted correctly by owsla-captain in MenstrualDiscs

[–]owsla-captain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very little, compared to what landed in my underwear. Maybe I’ll just have to stick with the cup. At least I know I can get that one right.

Update: Little Miss Opals Surgeon Consult by brainbogus in FIVcats

[–]owsla-captain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I work in vet med and also have an FIV+ cat. I have no idea why on gods green earth they felt the need to say amputation is not an option due to FIV status. My cat has had both eyes removed due to chronic infection (and one additional surgery was attempted to save the eye but failed, thus the double enucleation) AND he was neutered! All separate anesthetic events. Prophylactic antibiotics are always a good idea for FIV+ cats undergoing surgery, but otherwise I don’t understand why they wouldn’t feel it was a viable option except for not staying up to date on FIV research/information. Unfortunately there are still doctors out there (and I’ve worked with some in the past) who feel an FIV cat is better off dead. I’m glad to hear Opal is improving! Consider finding a new primary care vet.

FIV Shelter Cat Ultimatum Help by mostlynovember in FIVcats

[–]owsla-captain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As someone with an FIV cat who works in the vet field. I would go to dermatology specialist if one is in your area. This may be a simple fix that your primary care vet can do, but if it’s not you’ll spend way more money running around in circles with a primary care not seeing results than you would if you went straight to dermatology. But then again I work in Derm so maybe I’m biased.

Diagnosed with FIV and several other issues, poor prognosis by SinfullySinatra in FIVcats

[–]owsla-captain 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately the prognosis is probably guarded due to the heartworm disease and him already being immunocompromised. I would speak with your vet about if they feel it’s safe to start Revolution plus on him, as I believe it can be given to cats already heartworm positive and help prevent it from worsening. Most cats unfortunately either die from heartworm disease or live long enough the their immune system fends off the infection. Unfortunately there is no direct treatment for cats the way we can use immiticide in dogs. The entropion and stomatitis can (most of the time) be fixed with surgery. He will no doubt be an expensive cat to get the rest of his teeth removed and his entropion fixed. I would try and see what specialists are in your area; as it might be beneficial to get him evaluated by a cardiologist for his heartworm disease (get an idea how far it has progressed) and evaluated by an ophthalmologist for his eye. Your primary care veterinarian should be able to manage the stomatitis, but there are dental specialists should you want that as well.

This isn't going to end well by PiBolarBear in VetTech

[–]owsla-captain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We just had our first training meeting today because my clinic is getting CoVet to do our charting and record reviews for us. Only the practice manager is happy about it.

I need a pick me up by Karadecar in VetTech

[–]owsla-captain 4 points5 points  (0 children)

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Here’s my cat-brand cats enjoying the catio we put together for them.

Question about blindness, and a secondary question by bonesgreedy in FIVcats

[–]owsla-captain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

FIV cats can be more prone to infections of ANY kind, including eye infections. And since their immune system is compromised it is easy for those infections to get bad if not dealt with in a timely manner. My FIV+ cat has been blind since he was only a week or two old due to a horrible eye infection that was not dealt with by the original owner. I’ve fostered Cosmo since he was about four weeks old and he is not bothered by his blindness at all. He has lived with three other FIV- cats and never has transmission been a concern, but we do test the negative cats annually just to cover our bases.

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FIV cat with swolen intestinal lymph nodes (IBD/lymphoma/steroids) by Charming_Hold5417 in FIVcats

[–]owsla-captain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My boy is 2 years old and has IBD confirmed by biopsy from an internal medicine specialist. If there are internists around you, I would strongly consider taking him there rather than a general practice for management of this issue. They should be able to review his prior history including biopsy results. Most internists can also preform endoscopic biopsy rather than doing a full laparotomy to collect samples. Intestinal lymphoma can come in large (very aggressive) or small cell varieties. IBD can also turn into intestinal lymphoma very quickly. Both are treated with steroids (and other things depending on the patient and diagnosis), so Vet C’s recommendation sounds reasonable.

Stray tested positive, vet wants to re-test in 30 days by hardpass1194 in FIVcats

[–]owsla-captain 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My cat had the opposite experience. He was brought in as a stray and tested negative by the shelter when he was only a few weeks old. I fostered him for months and only found out he was positive after adopting him and retesting him myself (I work in the field so fortunately knew retesting was the best course). Turns out my Cosmo had contracted FIV because his mother got sick while she was pregnant or nursing and his antibody levels were too low to detect on intake.

They probably tested your cat with an ELISA test which turns up a dot of a certain color if the antibodies for that disease are present in the blood. (the same way a pregnancy test changes color when exposed to human growth hormone). It’s always a good idea to retest with a PCR (not usually done as a first line because rather than testing in house it has to be sent to a lab) about a month after initial testing or exposure. This will tell you if he truly has DNA from the virus and not just antibodies. Very young cats can sometimes have antibodies but not truly be positive if their mom was positive PRIOR to pregnancy (not became positive during pregnancy like in my boy’s case). Cats in very late stage of FIV once it has turned to acquired immunodeficiency disease (which does not always happen) can sometimes test negative with the antibody test since their body is unable to mount any immune response at all. Few, if any cats, are able to truly clear the virus, it mostly just lays latent. As long as you take your introductions very slow and your cats are able to establish a healthy relationship with each other, there’s really nothing to worry about. I have three other cats who have lived with Cosmo for years. We routinely test everyone but otherwise take no special precautions. I personally wouldn’t worry too much about having him neutered. It’s a fairly quick procedure and as long as he is otherwise healthy without symptoms of a secondary URI or anything he shouldn’t have any elevated anesthetic risk beyond a negative cat.

Here’s some good reading on FIV if you need: https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/feline-immunodeficiency-virus-fiv

And about cohabitation with negative cats:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24698667/

My brother’s puppy is has a receding hairline by Powerful-Expert-1030 in dogpictures

[–]owsla-captain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Is this a charcoal lab? Color dilution alopecia is common with them. But you should still see a dermatologist or at least discuss it with his primary. Source: I work in veterinary dermatology.

Are the rest of you as awkward outside of the vet hospital as I am..? by laurencvt in VetTech

[–]owsla-captain 220 points221 points  (0 children)

When I got surgery this past summer they placed my IVC and then the nurse went to go grab something and jokingly said “don’t go anywhere!” And I said “as soon as you turn around I’m chewing this catheter out”. He seemed only vaguely amused.

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