Akila not gaining weight

[Akila]

Good Morning All,
I spoke with the Chair at Cornell University yesterday and he gave me some solid advice on Akila. He said if her brother is also small it could be a growth hormone thing. He also said that the only way to truly rule out FIP is with the biopsy. I will be getting ahold of my vet today to find out more in depth what the biopsy entails and get a reference for an Internal Medicine doc.

With her numbers being so high, and a biopsy being the only " definitive" test I have to consider it. Any thoughts?

 

[David Z]

Morning.
Test for growth hormone first imo, less evasive.
A special blood test can be used to measure the amount of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) present.
If it's normal then a biopsy would be my next step.

 

[Akila]

Thank you David. I will definitely find out about that first. Also the Dr from Cornell and my vet seem to think a ultrasound would be a good starting point to see if there are any nodules in her abdomen or any thickness in her intestines. Since that is not invasive I think that is also a good place to start.

 

[David Z]

Ultra sound would be a good idea aswell, least invasive as possible. From her symptoms I'm leaning towards she has a growth hormone imbalance. As the high corona value test isn't definitive, as it could just be a benign form of the corona virus. Various other possibilities to look at before I'd get aggressive and invasive with treatments.

Panic for me would set in if she starts dropping lbs as thats very dangerous especially with her size. If she's maintaining weight, not in pain and generally happy besides Kebi not accepting her, least invasive is best route to try, to narrow it down wouldn't want to cause other problems while tring to fix 1.

 

[Akila]

I couldn’t have said it better myself David!!! I totally agree!!!
Thank you

 

[Ninja-n-Bear]

@David Z Invasive is the word you're going for, yes? Evasive is close, but means: to avoid.

 

[David Z]

Lol ya thats the word

 

[Akila]

 

[Akila]

Akila has an ultrasound appointment Wednesday, or sooner if Doc has a change in her schedule. So I should have a better idea about what is going on with her then.

Also I mentioned the growth hormones and she said she will look into that also.

I’m praying they find something simple other then FIP!!! Fingers and toes crossed

 

[Ninja-n-Bear]

My fingers are crossed for Akila, too!