A Small Update about Tybalt

Those of you who know me on Twitter may recall that I was very worried about Tybalt at the end of last month.

Last year, just before christmas, Tybalt was diagnosed with Thyroid problems, and he's been on medication ever since, and has been doing pretty well.

Then last month he suddenly lost  his appetite, lost a lot of weight again, and was, very definitely, not himself.

When I booked him into to the vet I feared that there was a real risk he might not get to come home with me. However, in the 18 hours or so between making the appointment and attending it, he perked up a little and ate a meal or two. The vet found he was running a temp. so she gave him a shot of antibiotics, and other of painkillers, and booked him back in for a further appointment in 2 weeks time to have the general review, bloods etc that were due in January (with the proviso, of course, to bring him back sooner if he deteriorated.

Fortunately, he didn't - indeed, he got his appetite back with a vengeance!

When his blood and other tests came back last week, they were - mixed.

• His thyroid numbers are are the very high end of normal. Vet doesn't recommend increasing the thyroid meds at this stage, as the numbers may be related to poor management over the last few weeks due to the infection and appetite loss, plus increasing them could push his numbers too low..
• Liver enzymes are higher than normal. This could simply be due to the infection and to his body burning muscle because he wasn't eating. It could be a sign of more serious problems but would need general anaesthetic and biopsy to find out, which would put a lot of strain on him, especially in his current state.
• White blood count up, so he hasn't got rid of the infection altogether yet.
• one of the parameters relating to his kidneys in the blood test is high, the rest at within normal range but high normal. 
• his urine test showed some proteins which could be due to the infection or could mean he has the start of kidney problems.

So. He has a course of antibiotics to get rid of the end of the infection (he was no longer running a temperature, and with him having got his appetite back and being much more himself, the vet was pretty confident that it's mostly gone - the extra course is mainly a precaution.

And he has continued to improve. He is much better in himself, and seems to be regaining  a bit of weight, so hopefully we can both relax for a bit longer.