- Joined
- Jun 2, 2017
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Hello! This is my first post on here.
My male cat (Chase) has not been himself for the past year. He is a domestic short hair and at least 16 years old, possibly 17. Currently weighs 3.08kg. Always indoors (until recently). We rescued him back in 2001. In recent months we noticed he had a constant, ravenous appetite. He is hungry to no end. And even though we feed him more, he continues to lose weight. He has also become VERY aggressive with one of our other cats he used to get along with. In addition, he started urinating/spraying in the house. He never did that the first 15 years we had him. So now he's an indoor/outdoor cat from spring to fall (I'm in Ontario, Canada). I've also noticed he doesn't sleep very much, drinking a lot more water, and is walking with a slight limp.
We took him to the vet a couple days ago and had blood work done, but it didn't clear up the mystery. We suspected Hyperthyroidism because he has a lot of the symptoms. But his thyroid is normal (TT4 - 21 - 10-60 nmol/L) I uploaded his bloodwork here. The only thing the vet said is wrong with him is his kidneys. (UREA - 18high / CREA - 250high) He said Chase has stage 2 Kidney disease, and with the proper diet he could live another 2-3 years.
I started to wonder if he is suffering from cognitive dysfunction/dimentia. I read that many cats over 16 will experience this. He is still fairly sharp, aware, and affectionate like he always was. My main concern is the aggression with the other cat in the house. I am constantly breaking up fights, and can't endure it much longer. I don't imagine I can find a new home for him at this point given his age, and the spraying problem. If anyone has any advice for me I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks for reading,
Paul
My male cat (Chase) has not been himself for the past year. He is a domestic short hair and at least 16 years old, possibly 17. Currently weighs 3.08kg. Always indoors (until recently). We rescued him back in 2001. In recent months we noticed he had a constant, ravenous appetite. He is hungry to no end. And even though we feed him more, he continues to lose weight. He has also become VERY aggressive with one of our other cats he used to get along with. In addition, he started urinating/spraying in the house. He never did that the first 15 years we had him. So now he's an indoor/outdoor cat from spring to fall (I'm in Ontario, Canada). I've also noticed he doesn't sleep very much, drinking a lot more water, and is walking with a slight limp.
We took him to the vet a couple days ago and had blood work done, but it didn't clear up the mystery. We suspected Hyperthyroidism because he has a lot of the symptoms. But his thyroid is normal (TT4 - 21 - 10-60 nmol/L) I uploaded his bloodwork here. The only thing the vet said is wrong with him is his kidneys. (UREA - 18high / CREA - 250high) He said Chase has stage 2 Kidney disease, and with the proper diet he could live another 2-3 years.
I started to wonder if he is suffering from cognitive dysfunction/dimentia. I read that many cats over 16 will experience this. He is still fairly sharp, aware, and affectionate like he always was. My main concern is the aggression with the other cat in the house. I am constantly breaking up fights, and can't endure it much longer. I don't imagine I can find a new home for him at this point given his age, and the spraying problem. If anyone has any advice for me I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks for reading,
Paul
