Old Cat Lost Weight, Won't Eat, Vet At A Loss

Fingers crossed for the tests.

Thanks all .

I'm supposed to do an epsom salts soak on the paw and a warm compress for the eye. I need to look up how much salt to use...I've never done this before.

So far he's taken 24cc's tonight and I know he'll take one more vial. He wasn't interested in spoon feeding tonight.

Most of my family are trying to tell me he is old and that I need to face facts. Its been really hard. It seems like its a bad thing that I have hope or something.

I had a telephone interview this morning. I'm trying to find a new job (and we are building a house at the same time as all of this). Last night was my first night sleeping in this house in years and the first time I've been alone in an even longer time since I went from having roommates to being married (I mean I'm used to apartments when you always know someone is a wall away). I had a hard time sleeping. Only half asleep all night. When I did sleep I dreamt once that Clover died. Then I dreamt that my phone interview went so horrible that they weren't interested. Well the interview started off bad but sort of ended good. I at least made it to the next step even if only barely. Its been an funky day and I'm exhausted...its been an emotional roller coaster, in the daytime and in my dreams.

I'm relieved you got Clover to the vet quickly. The fluids will make him feel better and hopefully the antibiotic will kick in soon and help the infected paw. I hope the stool softener does the trick.

It's possible Clover's got one of those serious conditions that the vet talked about, but then again, maybe not. Vets will tell you the full range of possibilities of what a health problem *might* be...and of course that runs the gamut from easily treatable to incurable disease.

I think your vet was talking about hepatic lipidosis, a serious condition that can occur when a cat goes without food for too long. My vet tells me that overweight cats are more at risk for this than cats who are thin to begin with. Thank goodness it didn't happen to Clover.

The heart murmur is troubling, and treatment will depend on what is causing it. The previous vet did not monitor Clover carefully if they did a dental. They should certainly have been able to hear a 4 or 5 murmur!

You'd asked in a previous post about what was better to feed, Eukanuba or Hill's a/d. Many cats like the a/d, but it doesn't have as many calories as the Eukanuba Max Cal. The two things I don't like about Max Cal is that it contains by-products and ethoxiquin. Still, when you have a seriously underweight kitty, you don't have the luxury of being a purist. There's nothing available that I know of that contains more calories than Max Cal. You can give Clover some variety by rotating the flavors, using both as well as the Purina you mentioned (which I'm unfamiliar with). It's great that Clover wants to eat and will let you feed him.

I'm really glad Clover has you on his side. It's more important to remain focused on what health issues Clover has and how they can be treated than on his age. Remind your family that 14 or 15 is a ripe old age for a dog, but not for a cat. With good care and kept indoors many cats live to 20 and beyond (my cousin's cat lived to 22, even with liver disease). There are many TCS members with kitties Clover's age who pulled them through serious illnesses.

Good thoughts and best wishes that your little guy will be feeling much better soon and that you'll be having sweeter dreams!

Thanks again for the kind words. It really helps a lot.

He really likes the hills a/d better so I'm going to stick with this. We also will try the purina cv which is a new one the new vet wants us to try along with the a/d. I haven't tried it yet. I haven't had him accept from a spoon since last I mentioned it. I almost got a whole can in him today (what the vet wants him at). I was maybe 6-8cc's shy of the whole can which I still think is really good. Tomorrow will be better because I will be home all day and can spread it out into 3-4 meals instead of 2. I've just been so busy. Its like everything has happened all at once.

The previous vet knew he had a 4-5 heart murmur but didn't seem to worried I guess to do the dental. Sort of strange.

I started the pumpkin tonight and threw in a little plain yogurt that has 7 cultures so hope that helps along with the stool softner. After he pees he lays in his box and stares at the pee for a while. I've seen him try and strain once. I think the rest of the time he knows he wants to poop but is afraid to try or something. I mixed the pumpkin in the food but I don't think i will after this. I got the feeling it tasted really bad (it smelled horrible). So I think I will do it separately so he doesn't associate bad taste with food.

This morning he looked a bit more groomed than usual. Still not great but not quite the mess he was before. I hope it keeps up. He also tolerates between 5-12 minutes of the epsom salts soak on the paw. I'm doing it twice a day but am not sure if that is enough.

Well today Clover had to go back to the vet. His paw started bleeding after the epsom salt soak and it wouldn't stop. I couldn't find any talcum powder so I tried flour (he just wanted to lick it). Then I thought before he seemed to staunch it himself with licking (seemed to help previously) so I let him be for a little while and when I checked on him I found a pool of blood. Then my friend brought over her talcum powder. I ran his paw under cold water. Then applied the powder, then wrapped the paw in gauze and leftover wrappings that helped keep the gauze on. I checked on him in a half hour and he had soaked through the gauze even though it looked like the talcum powder had stopped the bleeding... So I took him to the vet. I'm not sure what they did to stop it, or if it just stopped on his own. They said its very likely that this could be some drainage resulting from the antibiotic but its not certain.

They then determined he really needed an enema and was getting to be backed up pretty badly. So I left him all day at the vets and evidently he pooped loads. I'm so glad thats all out of him now. They were concerned that he threw up (normal for the enema) but what he threw up almost looked like diarrhea which isn't normal. They said its possible its the food I'm feeding but she thought it looked way to dark and definitely thought the ultrasound might be enlightening tomorrow.

Ok we have the results of the ultrasound. He does not have lymphoma. He does however have inflammation of the pancreas and because of that there is inflammation of the spleen and liver. They can't be certain its not cancer without a biopsy but its also just as likely to be pancreatitis. The treatment is the same for both so I declined the biopsy (they would have to put him under which isn't a good idea with the murmur anyway). They said if its cancer its unlikely he would respond to treatment. With the pancreatitis he will likely respond. I'm waiting to hear back from the vet about how we will go about treatment. I've been reading a bit online and it looks like if you catch it early enough they can have a complete turnaround and maybe have to have a permanent diet change. I'm not sure if its still in early stages considering how long this has been going on.

I'll know more in a little bit. Its sort of good news in that he could make a full recovery but its a little uncertain. I guess time will tell.

Originally Posted by laureen227

i would've made the same decision... in fact, i made a similar one w/my 1st cat. she had also lost weight, etc. & when i took her in, they told me 3 possible diagnoses - 2 of which were fatal. more testing, etc. would've had to be done to determine which of the 3 she had. i declined testing, opting instead to treat her for the non-fatal possibility.

Click to expand...

Me three...did this with Patrick , who went on to respond to his treatment and live over a year longer.

I'm feeling sort of depressed again. I went $188 over my dads budget and not sure how I will tell him. They also said if he doesn't respond in a week or so then he will not likely respond to treatment. The treatment is clavamox, metronidizole, and sub-q fluids administered by me daily. We are also going to try 2 days worth of bupronex for the pain but this stuff is horribly expensive. Also they want to do prednisone but said its a double-edged sword. It can either really help him or really hurt him. They are uncertain to the condition of his heart and the prednisone could stress it really bad if there is any underlying heart condition, even the heart murmur is questionable with the prednisone I guess.

Fingers crossed for him.

I'm so glad Clover doesn't have lymphoma.

It was good that you didn't do the biopsy, though I'm not clear if the vet wanted to do the liver or pancreas. My vets tell me that biopsy of the pancreas is *not* recommended - it's very risky.

Since Clover will be on two antibiotics, you may want to use some probiotics to help out his digestive system.
Do lots of research on prednisone especially since it might be contraindicated for Clover because of his heart murmur.

Have the vets suggested that Clover may have IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) or Triad disease (the pancreas and liver are inflammed, and IBD is present as well)? My vet suspects that my cat who has liver and kidney disease may also have Triad disease or IBD. There's lots of info on those conditions. Just a couple of links:

http://www.manhattancats.com/Article...itis_test.html
www.vetinfo4cats.com/triad.html

I know the pain meds can be expensive, but hopefully Clover will only need them a couple of days. Buprenex works very well, and will give his body a chance to heal. Being in pain puts lots of stress on a cat's body, especially a kitty like Clover who is underweight.

Thanks so much for keeping us updated - you obviously have your hands full. I hope it will not be too much of a hardship to get Clover the care he needs.
You've been doing a great job trying to help Clover - he's a lucky boy to have you looking out for him.

The Vet is right about Pred. I have to use it for Coco sometimes but it can cause Diabetis and alot of other Problems. Coco had metronidizole for Ibd before. She also has bupronex for her arthritis when the pain is bad. It is easy to give and disolves in the gums. Clavamox can give your Cat stomach aches too. Coco had to be taken off it because it made her barf and get bad stomach aches. They give her Cephalexin now instead. I sure hope something helps your Dads Cat. The Meds are expensive and I know thats hard.

Actually he is being treated for suspected triad disease since the intestines and liver showed some irritation in the ultrasound, I just couldn't remember what it was when I wrote the first messages since she emphasized the pancreatitis.

I'm still really concerned about the paw. When we went in on Sunday a different vet was there and she thought they would have to amputate a couple toes. She said it so non-chalant that I was a bit put off. Now I'm sort of thinking she is not so off base, there is just no improvement. I'm starting to wonder if he got bitten by something poisonous or something. The paw is causing a mystery because it seems unrelated to the other issues and the fact that two toes are implicated is very unusual according to the vets (one toe would make more sense in the case of an injury). Of course amputation requires anesthesia and more money so I hope something kicks in to help that paw.

When they first put him on clavamox they did want to watch for throwing up but he was fine so they decided to continue with the clavamox.

Overall I think he is much improved! Though he has gone from being constipated to now having diarrhea. Yesterday I came home to find he had leaked all over his rear end and had gotten it on my sheets and bed spread, his bedding and on the floor. So I had to do some emergency laundry. I also had to clean him up which he wasn't happy about. It looks like last night he went to the box and had a bm there but it looks like some of it stuck to his fur (he's long haired) so I had to do another butt wash this morning. I think he could really use a potty-cut but again...more money.

Last night he actually went to the front door and scratched! Of course that lasted all of a minute and then he was over it. But the fact that he showed interest is amazing. He also came out and greeted me when I got home. He ate a whole can of wet food yesterday (force-fed) but the last two nights I've heard him chomping away on dry food, I think the appetite stimulant is finally kicking in and the prednisone should be kicking in today. He probably does eat while I'm gone during the day too so I really think he's getting plenty of nutrition. I feel like most of the time he is mad at me for shoving pills down his throat and making him eat...but at least the assist-feeding is getting easier and I'm getting a rhythm down with it. He doesn't seem to mind much and swallows probably 90% of the food (most of what he doesn't swallow is from me putting in to much or not giving it to him quite right). So I do think we are seeing improvement. I'm giving him the last dose of bupronex this morning and I just hope that was enough to get the ball rolling. I want to keep giving it to him! Its really hard. I just hope the improvement is real and not just dependent on the medications.

I've got another phone interview in 10 minutes... I'm starting to get nervous!

My senior cat is having similar problems to what you mentioned in your first post... We still don't know the cause though. She is also about 14 and she just stopped eating at one point several months ago. The vet put her on antibiotics and an appetite stimulant and she started eating again but was still losing weight. She was also a little dehydrated so they had us give her sub-q fluids for a while... Her bloodwork was all normal but slightly elevated (not abnormally) kidney values. She still hadn't been eating a lot (but was eating) and kept losing weight. She went from 13 pounds to currently 9 1/2 pounds according to our vet visit yesterday. That may not seem underweight, but she is a large big-boned cat and our vet had said in the past that 12-13 pounds was her ideal weight (she was overweight and 16 pounds when we adopted her several years ago...)
Earlier this week she started gagging once in a while like she was tasting something bad, and was sounding hoarse. We went to the vet yesterday and they took more blood and said she might have a gastric ulcer and put her on medication for that and told us to give her Pepcid as well...

Its so hard to see our kitties go through stuff like this .

He looks like he is doing pretty good today.

I'm going through something similar with Mia. She is down to 8.5 pounds. An ultrasound indicate a thickening in the intestines....IBD or lymphoma the vet said is most likely the cause. We have her on prednisone and she is perkier and showing an interest in food. I guess only time will tell. It's really bothering me as she will only be 7 in July. I can relate to all of you.

Well my vet just told me the results of Sneaker's blood test. The kidney values which were a little high on the last blood test have gone back down to normal, and everything else was normal. So basically we still don't know for sure what is up!

One thing I'm really worried about is...well... will the improvement only last as long as the meds? I really am not sure if I put down 1cup of dry food for him last night or 1/2 cup of dry food. I measured it tonight and if I put down 1cup then he would have eaten 2/3cup!!! On top of this I'm feeding him a whole can of hills a/d. Ok so for my own record tonight I put down 1cup so if he does it again then I will know for sure what I did.

The other thing is I have a feeling he would be doing even better if his paw didn't bother him so. He's in a LOT of pain with that paw. I'm not seeing any reduction in size of the swollen toes. If its a tumor or something along those lines they will need to amputate and that requires anasthesia which is risky. I'm so uncertain of how to proceed. I'll talk to the vet but my dad is not going to want to spend $600 to amputate 2 toes (ok not sure yet what the cost is) when we don't even know if he is out of the woods yet with the triad disease. Oooooh poor boy . I keep wondering if I'm doing the right thing. He really does seem to be in better spirits though...if only some miracle would happen and the toes would start responding to the antibiotics!

Well the time has come .. This has been one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make but we have decided to put Clover down. I'll be taking him in Sunday afternoon so I will have one more night with him. This has been so difficult, I've never had to put an animal down before . I just think its better for him. Seeing him when he was on the bupronex and now when he is off again makes me realize how much pain he is really in. I'm almost certain the paw is cancerous. The vet consulted with an oncologist and they felt it was highly likely that he has a type of cancer in the lungs that can show up in the toes. We could do extensive tests to confirm this. If his lungs were clear then we would be looking at amputating the leg to try to remove as much as possible, but there is no guarantee. There really are multiple things going on here with the pancreaitis and the likely cancer which has the oncologist and vets really confused as they would expect them to be somehow linked but there is no obvious connection. He's almost 15 and its been like a snowball effect with things going wrong. He's been going downhill for a year and we finally came to the decision that this is best for him. He went through some very rough times with me when I was younger and was my companion through it all. I'll miss him .