14 year old cat hardly eating.

dthierry920

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Hello! I was wondering if anyone can give me any insight on similar experiences.
My cat is 14 years old. I’ve had her since the 4th grade. She’s literally my baby. She used to be 20 LBS when we lived with my mom because my mom free fed her. She also had Hyperthyroidism. When I moved out I got her on a diet and started her on the Y/D hills food to control her Hyperthyroidism. Which it had done with success now for 5-6 years. She now weighs 9 pounds which the vet considers healthy for her frame.
For the past week she has hardly been eating. I have to put food in her mouth to get her to eat a little but it’s only a little bit. I keep her on her minimum portion a day for her weight to keep it in control, and she’s hardly eating half of what she should be in a day the past few days.
I took her into the vet and they ran thyroid labs, kidney labs, glucose, CBC, a urinalysis, and have her an antibiotic shot, a B12 injection, and probiotics. The vet said she couldn’t find anything wrong with her accept her BUN level was slightly elevated to 62. She gave me purina vet diet early kidney food and told me to mix with with her Y/D diet. (The y/d is suppose to be fed exclusively otherwise it negates any affect). So I’m not sure why I’m doing it this way.
Anyways, now my cat won’t eat her dry food at all and is only picking at the wet food. She is still drinking a lot of water. I’m not sure what to do. It’s worrying me so much especially right around the holiday. The vet wants me to call on Monday to update her and I’m going to mention either coming completely off the y/d and exclusively feeding the kidney food or what. Considering feeding both is canceling out the affects of both.
 

moxiewild

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Can you get a copy of her lab work and post it?

Is there a reason you don’t have her on methimazole? Is I-131 an option for you?

These diseases are poorly controlled through diet alone long term.

Please join the hyperT and CKD Facebook support groups. Be discerning with the some of information there, but there are certain reliable members (including vets) that you get a feel for quickly and in general you can learn quite a lot -

https://m.facebook.com/groups/42301610484?group_view_referrer=profile_browser

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=703846239667023&ref=content_filter

This is also an invaluable resource for kidney disease and other issues -

Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Cat
 

moxiewild

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Please also be aware that cats are not built to fast.

She cannot go more than just a couple of days with no or very little food or else she can develop hepatic lipidosis, which can be fatal and often has a very long, hard, and expensive recovery.

If you need to take her to an emergency vet before Monday, please do so. HP is very, very serious.

If finances are potentially a hindrance to doing that, please consider applying for CareCredit ahead of time and finding out what emergency clinic in your area accepts it (most do).
 

oyster

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Drinking a lot of water is a red flag for me. This could indicate several health issues which I can't address as I am not a doctor. But both my senior cats are taken straight to the vet when they exhibit these symptoms. I would choose a different vet if this one can't figure it out. Take copies of all lab work to reduce expenses and time.
You may need to syringe feed but that doesn't work long-term. A hyperthyroid cat MUST be treated. Our 14 year old was diagnosed in March with hyperthyroidism and we had him undergo radioactive iodine therapy in July. It was very very expensive but our cats come first in our home. (Even my kids complain about that ;-)
 
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