Hi Phil P:  This is an excerpted version of what I posted over in rpca this
week -- if you have any good ideas to suggest, please let me know.

Omar, my 5-year-old orange buddy, has IBD (he gets .4 ml of metranidazole
2x/daily for this), but recently in the past 6 weeks or  he so began
drinking excessively and I took him in and had two extensive
(and the word that rhymes with it, too) blood panels done within a week of
each other and based on his test results we know he does not have
hyperthyroidism or diabetes.   His appetite has lessened over the last week
and his weight (if the scales are correct) shows he's lost about 3/4
lb.since the second set of blood tests earlier in May (from 12.3 lbs to
11.15 lbs.).  My vet wanted me to
take him to have the internal medicine specialist do an ultrasound on his
kidneys, which I did on 5/28.  His kidneys appear okay but both his
adrenal glands were enlarged and they re-ran an electrolyte panel which
indicated that his sodium was low and his potassium was up, so were the ALT
liver enzymes.  So today they called me in and wanted to run an ACTH test to
try
and determine if it is Addison's disease (which apparently is much rarer in
cats than in dogs).

Also,the internal medicine specialist wanted me to start Omar on 10
mg/prednisone 1x/day beginning 5/28 (from what I've been reading,
corticosteriods are what
you treat with for Addison's) even before we got the bloodwork back;  I did
it and hope it was the right thing to do -- I know the prednisone will
probably help with the IBD and help stimulate his appetite, too; the not
eating much part also worries me.

I just heard back from my vet about the bloodwork they did Saturday, and his
test results came back
as normal.  I have both good and uncertain feelings about this news as my
vet said both she and the internal medicine doctor don't know what to make
of this; my vet said she'd be making calls on this on Tuesday to see what
she can find out.  I am RELIEVED that it doesn't appear to be Addison's
disease but then, I wonder what it is!?!  They still want me to continue
with the prednisone.

Thanks,
Christine

P.S. On the positive side, I think the Prednisone is helping his appetite as
he was more interested in eating this a.m. than he has been recently.