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Hi,Our cat is a 6 months old ragdoll cross, and she bit and chewed on a few bits of stargazer lily leaves last night. I observed her as she was doing it though, and we took her in to an animal hospital within 30 minutes. They made her vomit and put her on the drip.Initially the doctor told us we could take her home within a few hours. Then he said he'd rather keep her till the morning. In the morning, they said they'd like to keep her until tonight, and now they called and said it's best to keep her there and on the drip until tomorrow morning (so about 36 hours all up)!They say she's energetic again, she eats and pees ok, but just to be safe. I am concerned because they kept changing their minds, and because they explained that any tests they run on her now would be inconclusive. We are to take her for those in 4 days' time, and apparently she could still die this week.Could you please tell me what her chances of survival are? And if it's true that tests done now wouldn't show much? Is there anything else we can do??Thank you.
Optional Information: Pet's Gender: Female Pet's Age: <1 Already Tried: vomiting, drip
Hi there!My name is XXXXX XXXXX X would be glad to help you with your problem. I'm sorry to hear your girl has been into the ER for toxins! I have a few questions for you if you don't mind answering them for me, so I can get a clearer picture of what's going on with your kitty.-Other than IV fluids, what other procedures were done at the ER?-Have they done any bloodwork to check her kidney function?-Have they done a urinalysis?
Hi Erin,They only did the IV fluids to my knowledge, and made her throw up by giving her some medicine of some sort. They did say it took more than 30min to make her throw up though, in spite of said medicine.They have done no bloodwork or urinalysis because they said that due to the fluids, everything would be incnclusive for now. They are not being particularly cooperative, but they're the only place opened on a weekend and 24/7 so I have no choice. Please let me know what to do and, as I said, what her chances of survival are.
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!Unfortunately, I cannot give you a firm prognosis over the internet, as I've never seen your kitty and there has to be a doctor-client relationship to do that.However, I CAN tell you that you did the right thing by getting her into the vet immediately, and the fact that she has perked up and is eating and urinating normally are good signs.The fluids themselves are given to kitties with lily poisoning to help protect the kidneys from damage. In other words, if there was kidney damage (which usually occurs if immediate treatment isn't given), the IV fluids can help improve the kidney values in the blood. I think what your vets mean by "inconclusive" is that if they take a blood sample now after a long period of fluid therapy, and they have no previous bloodwork to use for comparison (as any kidney damage wouldn't have shown on the bloodwork that quickly) it would be difficult to tell if her values were any worse or better than they were previously.Kidney damage from ingestion of lilies takes a few days to show up in the blood, and if she was already receiving IV fluid so shortly after ingestion, at this point the bloodwork may not show any damage at all. Giving her the four days at home before testing her blood will allow a more adequate reading of her blood values without the benefit that fluid therapy gives.When you take her home, you can monitor her for signs of decline after she has been taken off of the fluids. There is a good website here that lists the signs and symptoms seen with lily toxicity and the signs seen with kidney failure due to lily ingestion. If you notice her developing any of these signs, you can take her right back in to have bloodwork and a urinalysis done to assess her kidneys, and have her treated for any issues that may have developed due to the ingestion.However, since you got her in so early, and the clinic kept her on fluids for such a long period of time, it is very possible that she will recover without any damage to her kidneys. The outlook in cases that are caught early are far better, and you caught this one immediately.If you have any follow-up questions or concerns, please hit "reply", and I would be glad to address them for you. Otherwise, I hope that your kitty recovers without incident and that her labwork comes back good! Keep me updated on how she does.
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Sorry to bother again, I was just wondering if you reckon I should in fact ask for her to be kept on IV for longer? As I said, it will have been 36 hours when we go to pick her up, but now I'm thinking maybe she could use more? Please let me know your thoughts.. Thanks!!
Hello again!If she is doing well, and her vet feels like she can come off the fluids, it's a good idea to wean her off. If you check up on her tomorrow, and she's taken a turn for the worse, or she isn't eating or urinating, you might want to ask for her to stay in clinic a little bit longer.However, she's right around the point where she should try to stay off of the fluids for a time so some bloodwork can be done to assess if there is any damage to her kidneys. If you're worried/concerned about monitoring her at home, you are always free to ask the clinic if they will keep her there her first night while off the fluids just in case there is a problem, and see how she does. Then if she does well her first night at the clinic under constant observation, you can bring her home with you the next day until she's due to go back in for her bloodwork.VetTechErin41035.3281819792