Anemic. No Fever. Not Himself

hello. I am in great need of help for my poor boy!
He’s 14 years old. Just a sweet heart. Always cuddles and is up for belly rubs. Visits everyone who comes around and is very socialable all around.

(We recently got a kitten too but this was 6 months ago so I feel like viruses/infections should’ve been passed already?)

However, a couple months ago he got a kitty cold! Sneezing all the time and one eye was watery discharge. Went to the vets and got cured up! No
Problem.

Then about a month ago I see him eating litter! I thought hahaha what are you doing crazy boy! But a quick google search lead me to anemia. A quick trip to the vets confirmed him red blood cells and white blood cells were down!
They said his liver and kidneys were fine though.

The vet put him on supplements to “boost” his vitamins. he’s still just not himself.
Drinks a lot of water!
He’s still active ish. He definitely got more lethargic but he still jumps up on counters and tables.
No fever though.
Not as sociable.
Slight appetite. He’s not as hungry as he once was. Some days he is, somedays he’s not.
Doesn’t sleep with me anymore.
Still eats litter.(non clumping)
A couple weeks later he scratched his head like crazy, jumped all around and started shaking his head. (Head tremors?)
So we rushed him to a vet and they did a CBC and said his white cells were back up. And his kidneys and liver are still good.

So now it’s been a month and he’s still just not himself.

I am puzzled! I just want my kitty to be himself again.

Hi. As old as your guy is (my girl is 14+), he should also have a full blood panel - which means enzymes and electrolytes in addition to a CBC. Do you know if they did those? Also a T4, which checks for diabetes. And, perhaps an x-ray to check for arthritis, among other abnormalities (growths, tumors, cysts).

How are they treating the anemia, and do they know what is causing it?

When did this all first start if you can remember?
What is his diet like (brand, type, dry, wet, etc?)
Has he been checked for ear mites?
And last but not least, is there any kind of chance he's had any kind of access to anything (human medicine) like Tylenol, IBprofin, or any kind of plant like spring lillies?
Have you talked with your vet in the past month with your concerns? It wouldn't be bad to print out what you just typed and take it to the vet so they can get an idea on the time line and symptoms.

They don’t know what causing the anemia. They’re a little confused about that. They did a CBC. Not sure if that includes the check for enzymes and electrolytes?

This all started a month ago when we first noticed him eating litter.

His diet is royal canine senior consult wet and dry food. As well as some fibre food to help his poop harden up.

We’ve mentioned his ears bothering him. He has very little dark brown ear wax in his right ear. (I thought maybe this could be mites but it’s very very little, doesn’t stink and it’s not inflamed or red). The vets quickly checked his ears and said they’re fine but I might get them just to double check.

No chance of human pills/medicine however I got the wife flowers for mother’s day and he likes to chew them.

But symptoms started before flowers came I believe. And we got rid of flowers more than 2 weeks ago and symptoms still persist. (If it was flowers should’ve recovered by then? )

And yes. They want him to go in in 3 weeks to do a blood test to see if he improved but, I feel like that’s to long.

Shredbore said:

I got the wife flowers for mother’s day and he likes to chew them.

Click to expand...

Were any of them lilies? Those are very toxic to cats.

I have no idea. Threw them out before we knew Lillie’s were bad. This was 3 weeks ago though. You’d think he would recover by then?

Shredbore said:

You’d think he would recover by then?

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I have no idea. Lilies are usually white flowers I think. I think anemia is usually from some type of parasite like fleas, mites, worms. I use Frontline Plus once a month, which treats for fleas and mites. Then I de-worm them every 3 months.

He was anemic before the flowers were home. That’s just what I don’t understand.

I know his anemia is caused by low res blood cells but why would they be low

Anemia in cats is not a specific disease, but is a result of some other disease or condition. In one of my cats, his anemia was caused by a combination of immune mediated hemolytic anemia and anemia of chronic inflammatory(secondary to IBD).

Anemia is diagnosed by "ruling out" possible causes. It involves a series of diagnostic tests, mostly blood tests.

The most common test is the PCV, also called hematocrit. If PCV is below 25%, cat is anemic. Was this done?
This is a simple test done in vet's office that takes minutes. I would not be waiting three weeks. Hematocrit levels can drop rapidly. When you get into the teens, you are fast approaching blood transfusion levels.

A fecal parasite exam may be done to rule out presence of intestinal parasites causing blood loss.

Fleas, ticks are transmitters of blood parasites like Mycoplasma haemofelis. There is a blood test for this; the Mycoplasma haemofelis Real PCR

An anemic cat should be tested for FeLV and FIV because these viruses are also causes of anemia.

Finally with anemia, it is important to know IF the bone marrow is producing an increased number of new red blood cells in response to the lost red blood cells.
The presence of new, immature red blood cells (reticulocytes) indicates the anemia is "responsive".
Believe me, a very good sign!
Most automated blood analyzers can detect the presence of reticulocytes thus helping your vet determine if anemia is "regenerative" or "non-regenerative".

I would suggest you seek out a good Internal Medicine Vet with the advanced knowledge, skill and equipment necessary to carry out the appropriate diagnostics.
Feline anemia is nothing to fool around with...but it IS treatable once you know the underlying cause.

I wish your cat all the best, and I hope you get to the bottom of this soon.

CBC doesn't include checking electrolytes - that is thru a Chem Profile. And, I think you should also ask about treating the anemia while they are trying to figure out the problem.
Totally agree with B babiesmom5 .

I agree with FeebysOwner about treating the anemia ASAP. In my boy's case, a life-saving blood transfusion was required to stabilize him while the underlying cause of the anemia was determined. Time is of the essence.

If a cat is unable to regenerate red blood cells, his PCV will drop rapidly over days to dangerous levels.

This is not a "wait and see" game.

I agree with all of you trying to determine why ASAP as possible

When he got diagnosed with anemia, he went back two weeks later and his red blood cells were the same level.

Well, red blood cells typically have a lifespan of around 65 days. Typically, bone marrow responds to blood loss by increasing red blood cell production, if it is able to. These two factors may be in play here.

Okay. I booked an appointment with the vet to run more tests tomorrow night.

I should do xrays too just to look for growths.
A more complete blood test to check for everything

Update: the vet re did the checks.
RBCs went lower
Premature RBCs are high! But not to high. She thinks they should be higher.

Once I mentioned he drinks a ton of water she ran another test and is 99% sure he has kidney disease.

Now he’s on different food and we’re testing out different foods to see what he likes.

Anyone else have experience with kidney disease? (Stupid question I know)

Shredbore said:

Update: the vet re did the checks.
RBCs went lower
Premature RBCs are high! But not to high. She thinks they should be higher.

Once I mentioned he drinks a ton of water she ran another test and is 99% sure he has kidney disease.

Now he’s on different food and we’re testing out different foods to see what he likes.

Anyone else have experience with kidney disease? (Stupid question I know)

Click to expand...

That is the most NON stupid question you could ever ask! No stupid questions exist my friend.
If you do a search you'll find a lot of threads (some of them very long, very informative and valuable as it details what happened over a period of time).
Kidney disease in cats seems to be a huge problem, many cats get it especially as they get older.
Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Cat
This site has a lot of information on it that you might find helpful.

Anemia is relatively common in cats with kidney disease. I had a cat who had kidney disease and who developed anemia later in the disease process. Anemia can be managed however.

As 1 bruce 1 mentioned above, the Tanya's site is the "go to site" for kidney disease and it contains a lot of good information about anemia in CKD cats.

It is good you are trying different foods to determine which (I presume special diet) foods he will eat, but bear in mind, the most important thing is that he EATS.

CKD can be very confusing because treatment usually depends on where your cats levels are, so it's frustrating but not impossible.
S Shredbore if you get confused, you could make a separate thread and title it something like "kidney disease in 14 year old cat" or "help with CKD", you might get some more help under the health forum, you could link this thread you made as a back-story for anyone reading. I can't think of anyone off the top of my head but many members here have had or have cats with CKD and would be a lot of help
This place is very friendly and very willing to help. Don't be shy

They gave me about 8 different tins of food to try and 3 different bags of dry food

So far, tin #1 and bag #1 are successful. He meows and wants more food
Gonna have to get him beef liver as well and try that