Acupuncture for Cats – Murphy’s Turn

If you follow us on Facebook, then you might remember Murphy being taken to the emergency vet because he was vomiting and wouldn’t stop vomiting.

Murphy spent the night at the emergency vet and got fluids, etc.

His kidney values were off and also his potassium, so they suggested a kidney food diet for him.  Of course, because of this website, I have discovered that starting a kidney diet too early can be problematic.

Here were his values:

• WBC (White Blood Cell Count) 5.49 k/ul (normal range is 5.50-19.50) – so his were LOW
• BUN 41 mg/dL (normal is 16-36), so he was HIGH
• CREA was 2.9 mg/dL (normal is 0.8-2.4), so he was HIGH
• K (Potassium) was 2.9 mmol/L (normal is 3.5-5.8), so he was LOW

Here is a scan of his blood work (he doesn’t mind sharing his personal stuff – no HIPA for MURPH!) on 1-13-12:

So I suggested to my mom that we take him to Pat Perkins of Canine Performance Medicine for an initial consultation with acupuncture and an adjustment.

You can see footage of his visit by watching the video below:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st76r-ugwws[/youtube]

Dr. Perkins suggested he take 30 days of tea pills.

Dr. Perkins suggested we recheck Murphy’s kidney values in one month.

He went in on March 29, 2012 to have them rechecked – but this time by his vet, KC Cat Clinic, rather than the Emergency Vet.  In other words, it was a different lab that did the testing.

Here’s the run down of his levels from the 3/29/12 blood draw:

• WBC (White Blood Cell Count) 5.1 k/ul (normal range is 3.5-16) – NORMAL
• BUN 37 mg/dL (normal is 14-36), so he was HIGH by 1 point
• CREA (Creatinine) was 2.3 mg/dL (normal is 0.6-2.4), so he was NORMAL
• K (Potassium) was 3.8 mmol/L (normal is 3.4-5.6), so he was NORMAL

You’ll notice that the ranges from the two different labs vary – sometimes by a few numbers, but sometimes by a substantial amount.

KC Cat Clinic also took his urine and found that his urine had no indication of further kidney damage – which is excellent.

We showed his blood work to Dr. Pat Perkins and she was very pleased – said she would love to have such blood work.  Dr. Perkins also mentioned that the ranges they have for cats sometimes can be off, especially for a breed or even for a species!  Ugh.  I have a feeling that I might have to figure out the best lab in Kansas City and request that they are only used!

As you can imagine, I am thrilled with the results and Mr. Murphy (Beau) can continue his life as a happy, healthy Ragdoll kitty.

So now, all the Ragdoll cats in the Dean family have gone to acupuncture.