Remember I wrote about Bunny’s urine suddenly turning back yellow and smelly last week? I didn’t think there was anything to be concerned about. In fact, I had a silly thought – maybe Bunny’s kidneys are suddenly working well again and able to concentrate urine? Because previously, his urine had been colourless and odourless for many months (not surprising as he has kidney disease).
Of course we know it’s not possible for the kidneys to work again once they have degenerated, so my thoughts were purely foolish wishful thinking.
In any case, I had Bunny’s constipation problem, Cleo’s kidney disease and Cow’s dental and hyperesthesia to manage, hence I put aside the yellow urine issue for now.
But this morning, I decided to just mention it to the vet through text and she asked me just how yellow it is as it could be a sign of jaundice. Oh my goodness….why didn’t I think of that? Jaundice and liver failure! Of course!
But Bunny’s liver readings were perfectly normal in February this year when he had his bloodwork done. Still, sudden liver failure can happen in elderly cats.
So I quickly collected a sample of Bunny’s urine (luckily, it’s easy to make him urinate with the Scratch3x song), took a photo and sent it to the vet.
I know, the colour scared me too. It certainly looks very yellow in the photo, doesn’t it? The vet said to bring Bunny in for a check-up. So, off we went.
At the clinic, the vet checked Bunny’s upper palate for any yellow tinge – there was none. His eyes, ears – all clear. So, a blood sample was taken to be spun to check the plasma. The first sign of jaundice is normally a yellow colouration in the plasma. If there is yellow colouration, then we will proceed to do the bloodwork on his liver. The vet also said that looking at the urine in the bottle, it did not look as yellow as it did in the photo, but of course we will get it checked.
An ear-prick test was done to check his red blood cells too. Nothing abnormal there. Bunny had no fever. His weight is consistent at 4.13kg. Since I had collected the urine, the vet will run a urinalysis as well to check for bilirubin as well as the urine specific gravity and proteinurea. The last time, the vet suspected that there is already protein loss but only not detected in the urine because it was far too diluted.
All the checks were done and you won’t believe this….
Bunny does NOT have jaundice! The plasma is totally clear of any yellow colouration. So, the bloodwork on the liver was not done. The urinalysis showed that Bunny’s urine SG is now 1.021 (an improvement from the previous 1.010). There is no bilirubin in the urine, and the pH is neutral at 7.0. And best of all, now that the urine is concentrated, protein could be checked and there is NO proteinurea! I couldn’t believe this! Bunny’s PCV is at 35% too, so there’s no anaemia for now!
The vet told me there is nothing to be worried about Bunny. As for why his urine suddenly turned back to a healthy yellow, the vet is equally puzzled. She did mention that it could be a good thing, that the kidneys can concentrate the urine now. But if that is the case, how did it happen?
Well, we don’t know, but let’s not ask why since it can be a good thing. Let’s just be grateful.
“There are more things in heaven and earth than is dreamt of in your philosophy”, right, Bunny?
A note about my kibble-plan to create stools for Bunny: This morning Bunny had diarrhoea (very loose stools). I guess he ate too much kibble last night. The vet also advised to be careful with the amount of kibble as it is dry food and can cause constipation if Bunny doesn’t drink enough water. I think the diarrhoea is due to too much of a “new” food for Bunny. So I shall limit the amount of kibble in the supper snack.