Feline Herpes/Losing Weight **UPDATE KIDNEY PROBLEMS**

[triciag]

My 5 year old cat Lizzie was diagnosed with feline herpes just after we adopted her as a kitten.  She has done fairly well until recently.  We do anitbiotic therapy every month, which seems to help a lot.  She was at the vet in Feb to have her teeth cleaned.  She had lost about 5 lbs since the last time they had seen her (April 2007).  Well, she went back to the vet today for her annual check and she lost another lb since Feb.  They did blood work, I should have results tomorrow.  However, the dr and I both believe that she is losing weight due to all the ulcers in her mouth.  They are giving me an L-Lysine paste to use, but it had to be ordered.  I'll have that next week.  They told me to feed her a high calorie canned food to help her gain weight.  They didn't have any at the office today.  She said I could come back in a couple of days to pick some up, if I wanted to.  I'm just wondering if anyone knows what I could use in the meantime?  Our cat is very petite, always has been, but we can tell that she needs to gain some weight.  Does anyone have any experience with this?  Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Tricia

Well, we got the results of Lizzie's bloodwork and it showed that her kidneys weren't functioning properly.  So, Lizzie is in the hospital.  I took her in this afternoon.  They are putting her on IV fluids and antibiotics for a couple of days to see if it helps.  I'll know more sometime Tuesday. 

[Marybelle]

Oh, poor girl!  I don't have a lot to offer in the way of advice, but I hope she's feeling better soon.

[Lise]

There are some good websites if you google Feline Chronic Renal Failure.  Though 5 yrs is young for CRF, managing her will probably be much the same.

I'm so sorry to hear about Lizzy.

[triciag]

Thank you for your support.  I appreciate it.  Lizzie is still in the hospital.  They drew blood on Tuesday, but her levels had not come back to normal.  I talked to the vet today and she said that Lizzie looks really good and seems to be doing very well.  They did more blood work today and we'll have results tomorrow, so we are keeping fingers crossed that it all comes back normal, so she can come home tomorrow.  Thanks again!