Back to the vet

Well, for the second time this month, I made a trip to our local veterinary surgery. I took my big boy to the vet today. Two bubble baths have not made a difference this time to his strangely greasy coat and I felt it was best to do a blood test. Diabetes or thyroid issues are typical causes of greasy fur, and I prefer to know now whether he's okay or not, instead of waiting and wondering if he'll begin to show signs of illness like his mother did. Poor boy; he hasn't been in a cat carrier for many years and he yelled the whole way in the car.

The vet took a blood sample and we'll get the results of all the tests (kidneys, liver, thyroid…) on Wednesday or so. One sugar test shows his blood glucose level to be higher than normal (it was 180; normal is 130 - 160, and Tamba was 311), but not necessarily high enough yet to show he's diabetic; it could just be that he was seriously stressed out by being in a cat carrier, travelling in the car, and having his leg shaved for the syringe. He weighs 8 kilos, which the vet says is okay; he's obviously not overweight for his size. But the fact that it's about a kilo heavier than he used to be might be a sign of a thyroid problem - another typical cause of a greasy coat. So we'll get the full results later this week.