Alkaline Phosphatase is an enzyme found in the blood and produced by the liver and bones. It indicates liver disease (or damage) as well as bile duct problems and calcium problems, but mainly as liver function indicator.
Zilla's results were normal indicating she had no problems with her liver.
In FIP, I have observed that some cats do have liver involvement, usually in the form of hepatic lipidosis from the sudden weight loss sometimes seen in the disease. It is also usually accompanied by the symptom of jaundice which in a cat can be easily seen on the inside of their ears, gums inside their mouths and can sometimes be seen also on the inner side of thier lower eyelids. You will also frequently notice darkened urine with jaundice in FIP cats.

Bilirubin...it is the byproduction of the breakdown of red blood cells.This is a normal process. It is yellow in color and is the yellow color you see in jaundice and bruising.
The yellow color can indicate the inability of the liver to remove the bilirubin in hepatitis, liver disease and other disease processes such as hemolytic anemia.

Albumin and Globulin. These two are proteins found in the blood. Albumin is a smaller protein and is water soluble and Globulin is a larger protein and is usually not water soluble.

albumin is produced in the liver and is helps carry other substances( vitamins, minerals, lipids etc..) through the blood system.

globulin is produced by both the liver and the immune system. It's function is more complex.

Both are helpful in determining liver function, immune system function, as well as hydration, nutrition, they have complex and important roles in determining both current health and a predictor of possible future health.

In FIP, there are some that think they are the most current effective and easily accessible way of diagnosis.
the rule is albumin/globulin ratio >0.8 FIP not likely
albumin/globulin ratio <0.4FIP likely
between 0.4-0.8 look for other disease process.
You can read more about albumin and globulin here:
http://www.dr-addie.com/WhatIsFIP.htm#Diagnosis%20of%20FIP
I agree with some, not all of the information on this web site, but I do agree with the alb./glb information basically as it is presented.

Albumins and Globulins are complex in the bodies functioning and I am personally not sure that their roles in cat health are completely known or fully understood, because of their obvious link to nutrition. I do not think that the nutritional needs of cats are properly met by any commercial diets and certainly are not addressed properly in veterinary colleges which receive a great deal of funding from the producers of these commercial diets.

I stopped up at the vet's office today to pick up a disk of Zilla's xray pictures. It was hard. I'm not sure why. I guess just seeing her name on the paperwork and knowing that I won't ever have an invoice or a lab report or a post card reminding me of her needing a check up.
I've been thinking about getting a tattoo with her name and picture. I have never gotten a tattoo, so it's an interesting thought to have. I guess the rebound sadness will just be part of my healing process. I can usually pass onto remembering all the good things without so much sadness fairly well, but I'm having a time of it with Zilla. She rarely left my side and wherever I was, so was she. I look to places where she'd always lay or sit and they are empty. What I wouldn't give to have her back by my side.

Total Protein... This is a measurement of the total protein in the blood. This test is important, but complex because it can indicate many different conditions.

The blood proteins are basically made up of two parts. These are albumin and globulin.
this test can indicate infection, swelling, pulmonary edema, ascities (abdominal fluid), kidney disease, liver disease, general nutritional health.

This test is also run in conjunction with the actual albumin and globulin values as well as the ratio of albumin to globulin.

This is an important set of tests in helping determine FIP.

There is a "test" for FIP and I'll discuss that later on in the blog. It is called an FIP Titre, but I personally think it is basically useless and a waste of money. (quick explaination for now, it that it only measures exposure to a corona virus not necessarily the fatal version that causes FIP and about 80% of all cats test positive. It has two results in standard lab testing >400 and >1600.)

So, looking at Zilla's test results, you will see that her Total Protein is High. Not what we'd like to see on lab work. Particularly if looking for FIP. But as I stated earlier, TP is indicative of many things, so again, it is the over all picture we have to take a look at.

I'll explain Albumin and Globulins further...but let's talk about what we did to treat Zilla at this point.

We started her on a course of Antibiotics and prednislone based upon both the lab results and her chest xrays (to be posted shortly). I should also add at this point, she was running a substancial fever 105-106%.
This set of labs was the point where the head and the heart split paths. It happens, I think in particular when you "know" the truth, but you don't want to face it, because the end result is terrible. I knew, and I know my vet knew, I don't remember exactly what he said, but I clearly remember thinking at the time, wow, he's trying to ease me into this.

So a quick note about my vet. One of the few good people. Loves animals, is caring and compassionate and a genuine nice person. I trust him with my pets, and that says a lot. Now, as he would no doubt sigh and tell you, it does not mean I won't totally research every little thing to death and back and argue with him and bug the crap out of him...and still want him to perform miracles for me. But those are my shortcomings, not his.
http://www.rbvhhillsborough.net/

Having said that however and I can not emphasis this enough YOU MUST ADVOCATE FOR YOUR PET and in order to do so, you must learn everything you can about what is wrong with them. you NEVER know when something small will make a huge difference. Education should never stop. It doesn't mean you need to go to back to school, there are terrific books out there to read.
I'll post a list of my favorites as time permits.

Creatinine is a chemical waste product in the blood that is filtered out by the kidneys. Again the creatinine blood test is an indicator of kidney function. That includes severe kidney infection as well as acute and chronic disease. High creatinine can also occur in injury and diabetes. This can also indicate serious dehydration.

Low creatinine is usually not significant, but can indicate muscle mass loss.


Zilla's creatinine was in the normal range, so there were no diagnostic clues in that test. It does indicate however that most likely her kidneys were filtering waste products properly at that time.

Here is Zilla cuddling with Fum and Tweddle Dum.

Urea Nitrogen. (BUN) This is a test that measures the nitrogen in the blood. It indicates how well your kidneys are functioning. a high level can indicate poor kidney function as well as /or it can also indicate dehydration, and heart disease. A low level can indicate liver disease/failure. This test in combination with other blood tests are important in both diagnosis and treatments of disease.

medications, starvation, severe injury such as burns can also influence the BUN levels and should be evaluated as part of accessing an accurate diagnosis.

Zilla's Urea nitrogen results were just slightly higher than high normal. Those results by themselves are not necessarily significant since they are just slightly outside the normal range, however in conjunction with her other results, you can piece together a bigger picture. This is one reason why when a chemistry is run on an animal or a person, it is a combination of many different blood tests.

Glucose....this is the measurement of the cat's blood sugar level. Several things can influence this number. Diet, medications and the time the blood sat before the testing was done.

For Zilla, these were not factors and her glucose level was fine.

For cats with diabetes, the blood is better if tested immediately using a glucometer (a human one is fine) or done as part of a chem panel in the vet's office within a short period of time. Other wise you will not get an accurate glucose reading. For a pet or person receiving insulin, this is critical.

It became apparent via symptoms and conditions that Zilla's health was not what it should be. She had very inflamed and irritated painful gums that remained after teething, as well as both a chronic and acute cough that came and went.

we had a variety of lab tests and xrays done. Each I will post here and discuss what the results mean.
Things didn't line up quite like I wanted them too, but we'll go through them line by line.

Antech Diagnostics 1111 Marcus Avenue Lake Success NY 11042 Phone: 800-872-1001

Hillsborough Veterinary Services Client # 170240
210 US Hwy. 206 S Chart # H500815
Hillsborough, NJ 08844
Tel: 908-359-3161
Fax: 908-359-6586

Accession No. Doctor Owner Pet Name Received
NYAA26503256 SCHWIRCK MCCOLGAN FUZZILLA 06/11/2008

Species Breed Sex Pet Age Reported
Feline F 11M 06/12/2008 12:36 AM

Test Requested Results Reference Range Units

Superchem

Glucose 74 70-138 mg/dL
Urea Nitrogen 27 (HIGH) 6-25 mg/dL
Creatinine 0.7 0.5-1.6 mg/dL
Total Protein 8.4 (HIGH) 5.0-7.4 g/dL
Albumin 1.9 (LOW) 2.7-4.4 g/L
Total Bilirubin 0.1 0.1-0.3 mg/dL
Alkaline Phosphatase 10 5-131 U/L
ALT (SGPT) 25 12-118 U/L
AST (SGOT) 25 15-66 U/L
Cholesterol 109 92-324 mg/dL
Calcium 8.3 (LOW) 8.9-11.4 mg/dL
Phosphorus 6.0 2.5-6.0 mg/dL
Sodium 148 139-154 mEq/L
Potassium 4.5 3.6-5.5 mEq/L
Chloride 118 102-120 mEq/L
Albumin/Globulin Ratio 0.3 (LOW) 0.8-2.0 RATIO
BUN/Creatinine Ratio 39 (HIGH) 4-27 RATIO
Globulin 6.5 (HIGH) 1.6-3.6 g/dL
Lipase 36 (LOW) 77-695 U/L
Amylase 1127 (HIGH) 290-1125 U/L
Triglycerides 48 29-291 mg/dL
CPK 322 59-895 U/L
GGTP <5 1-12 U/L
Magnesium 1.6 1.5-2.5 mEq/L
Corrected Calcium 9.9

Zilla took to food quickly, though some of the others had to be encouraged to eat. Everyone here lent a hand in the feeding, as you can see my daughter was quite dedicated to the feeding and I certainly could not have done all that we did with so many kittens without her help.
Zilla did love her bottle though. You could barely get it filled with formula and into her mouth fast enough, so it was good when we moved onto solid food.

FuzZilla. My daughter reminded me tonight that I should explain the name. When Zilla was just about two weeks old, she was quite messy from her bottle and we were cleaning her up with a warm wash cloth. You know, all 6 oz. of her and she was like holding on to a bumble ball (http://www.amazon.com/Cardinal-Laboratories-Bumble-Various-Colors/dp/B0002H3SCI/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1231292181&sr=8-1) while cleaning at the same time. One of us remarked she was a little Godzilla, and I said no, she's too cute and fuzzy. So she became FuzZilla which we shortened to Zilla as time went on.
(many of my cats have at least 2 names). As time went on, it was apparent we named her correctly because she could be a handful of all teeth and nails if you were doing something she didn't want done, which was about everything except brushing her and feeding her and loving her.

I love to take pictures of all my pets, but I admit, I love to take pictures close up of their toes. I don't know why, maybe because they liked them rubbed, or because they are so soft. But I like cat toes. (I'll pass on human ones, though I do like baby feet ...very cute).

Zilla had very cute soft toes. She however was not as fond of you rubbing them as many of my cats are. Sometimes she would make the funniest little "urr" noise. Just letting you know that a nip was eminent should your undesirable behavior continue.

Zilla was VERY fiesty. She was Princess Zilla. I cleared off the bottom cabinet shelf in my bedroom by the bed so she could partake of her daily multiple meals in the cabinet by herself, away from the other "serfs" that would want to eat from the "zilla bowl". She'd sit by the glass cabinet door, and give you "the look" and chicken was to be served immediately.
I of course being a good cat slave, aquested to her demands. I knew in the back of my mind that because of all her health problems, my time with Zilla would never be what I wanted it to be, so we never missed a moment to spoil, love and enjoy this little furry spitfire.

When Zilla was about 6 months old, she developed a cough. Coughs in cats are always a reason for concern, as cats do not tend to cough idopathically. We took her to the vet and for the next couple of weeks tried antibiotics.
Her cough got better.
for the next few months her cough came and went and her adult teeth came in. I also noticed uveitis ( http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB/Proceedings/PR05000/PR00526.htm ) in her eye.
By this time, I had already lost several cats to "disease" and upon necropsy of the second and third deaths, knew we were dealing with FIP. But I really did not comprehend the scope of the difficulties to come, but it was at this time my research into FIP really began.
Zilla's uveitis was intermitten and not severe, but clearly there none the less. IF you look at her eye in this photo, you notice that aside from it being slightly closed, it has a small discharge, but more importantly it looks slightly cloudy. Zilla's uveitis was very faint. It can be much more severe and is very typical of cats with FIP.

Zilla was the only kitten that came from the shelter with LadyMay and the only one the sparse records show she had. She was big for a kitten her age and she seemed to grow at a good pace for a few months.
She slept on my bed with a soft furry tiger that my daughter gave her and she loved. For her whole short life, she loved furry things. Particularly furry soft blankets. When Scott and I would go shopping, if we passed something soft, we'd call it a zillablanket. We brought home a variety of different blankets for our bed, mainly with the cats and Zilla in mind.
I think we'll probably refer to soft blankets as zillablankets for a long time.
Zilla was on whole foods now, and we discovered she would only eat chicken or turkey. She'd nibble on dry kitten kibbles, but mainly ate babyfood chicken, turkey and fresh roasted chicken and turkey. She had all her baby teeth in, but we also noticed her gums were always red and inflammed.
This picture is one of my very favorites. She loved sleeping with her tiger and dragged him around. We made "box" city for the kittens to play in and on now that they were all up and running.
Her tiger will always have a place on my bed, where she should still be if not for this terrible disease.

Zilla spent most of her time with me, but she liked Chartreuse (momma dweddle). Momma Dweddle had arrived with 4 of her own kittens, but was very dedicated and took mothering very seriously, so she'd carry Zilla off and put her in her own little nesting box we set up for her with her other kittens.
Zilla enjoyed the loving that Momma D gave her. Momma D was very protective. She'd chase off the other cats and any of the dachshunds that came to see the kittens. She is the best momma cat I have ever seen. But she didn't have enough milk for her kittens and Zilla, so they all got bottle suppliments. Her milk was sparse and she also got sick with a URI and fever. Typical type of URI that you see in shelter cats. We thought......

Zilla learned to take her bottle very quickly. She also ate very well. She could hardly wait for you to fill the bottle. Her teeth grew in and she learned to chew the tip off the bottle nipple. We went through quite a few bottle nipples once she got teeth.

I don't think I have ever seen a bossier kitten. She wanted what she wanted, when she wanted it.
She slept on the bed next to me in a blanket filled box so I could feed her every two hours.
She grew quickly. We had no idea at this time about the disease that was lurking waiting to strike.
We did know however that Zilla's mother had received both rabies and FVRCP vaccines when she was about 1/2 through her pregnancy. We didn't know what effect on Zilla's health this would have.
What we did know was how much fun Zilla was to have around. She was quite spirited. She chewed off so many bottle nipples that we started her on some babyfood chicken and soft kitten food soon after those little needle teeth were fully in.

At first Zilla looked like a little powder puff. Her ears were flat against her head and she was a tiny little fluff ball.

Zilla's Story

It hurts to look at the pictures sometimes. Zilla died Christmas Eve in my arms. I miss her so very much. I never expected this rescue to bring so much pain along with it. I would give anything to have her back.
Zilla was just a few days old when she arrived with her mother (LadyMay). Her mother was sick though and couldn't nurse her, so I bottle fed her for the first month she was here.

My story with FIP begins July 12, 2007.

It started with a altruistic effort on my part, with the help and support of my family to save some momma cats and their kittens from euthanasia.
Even from the beginning it was not what I had quite imagined.
So, we'll start with the first story of how the kittens came to be mine.