I Don't Know What To Do - 15+yo Cat

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FeebysOwner

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You know I tried just about every supplement I could with Krista for her stool issues. I found Optagest digestive enzymes with prebiotic to be the most benign and potentially most helpful. It didn't make matters worse and I believe it did help her. Aside from saccharomyces boulardii for chronic diarrhea (e.g. from antibiotic use or her clostridium infection), I don't know that I ever found a probiotic that I could point to and say, "yes! that one worked well for us." Optagest however did seem to make a difference for her.
The thing is, I am not fighting a diarrhea issue with Feeby. It has only been with the salmon cat food experiment that she had diarrhea - and, she went back to 'normal' once the salmon cleared her system. Her stools aside from that are good - always have been (knock on wood).

I am fighting a food intake issue that seems to 'come and go'. I just happened to make matters worse with my attempts at salmon to try to entice her to eat more of something.

The calorie supplements are terrible; and the probiotics are really more for digestive issues, which I don't think she has - unless I screw her up with some food that she apparently can't handle.

Her eating problems are likely more related to some health issue - as yet undetermined - or, just aging in general. I am just so glad she was overweight at the start of this, or we could be in a much worse place.
 
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FeebysOwner

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I can't remember the name of the food, it was many years ago but it could be that one. Do you have the equivalent of Liquivite, Feeby might like it as well as solid food.
Liquivite Cat Food (Large 395g Can Cat): Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies
Just to let you know - I was not able to find any equivalent to this in the US. It might have been a solution at least part of the time, or until she would have gotten sick of it. I can't for the life of me figure out why nobody in the US produces anything remotely like this.
 

gilmargl

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The thing is, I am not fighting a diarrhea issue with Feeby. It has only been with the salmon cat food experiment that she had diarrhea - and, she went back to 'normal' once the salmon cleared her system. Her stools aside from that are good - always have been (knock on wood).

I am fighting a food intake issue that seems to 'come and go'. I just happened to make matters worse with my attempts at salmon to try to entice her to eat more of something.

The calorie supplements are terrible; and the probiotics are really more for digestive issues, which I don't think she has - unless I screw her up with some food that she apparently can't handle.

Her eating problems are likely more related to some health issue - as yet undetermined - or, just aging in general. I am just so glad she was overweight at the start of this, or we could be in a much worse place.
I am also in this situation - Mogi had lost weight and her condition was poor. No health issues found so I have been paying her more attention, feeding her away from the other cats, and trying different cat food. Results up to now: after a couple of months an increase in weight of 200 g = 5% of her initial weight. Then it remained constant for three months, but a few weeks ago she started losing weight so we're back to square one. (A second negative effect is that my other cats seem to react badly to any changes in diet, so I'm not doing them a favor by buying different cat-food).

I'm beginning to wonder if it's partly a seasonal problem - all my cats eat more in winter than in summer, although they are indoor-only cats. Do you know how much a cat's weight can vary without it being abnormal? I read somewhere that a loss of 6% body weight is cause for alarm and warrants a visit to the vet. I am used to weighing kittens and not getting too worried when instead of gaining 20g they lost 20g. If they've just eaten a big meal they are abnormally heavy and if they've just been in the litter box they are abnormally light - but for adult cats I've no experience at all - and tend to blame any variations on the stupid scales! I'm visiting the vet with another cat next week - so will mention Mogi's weight problem. She's due for a check-up anyway so maybe we'll bring the date forward. I was hoping to wait till lockdown had been lifted.

Perhaps, as you suggest, Feeby's and Mogi's problems are just old age - lack of appetite meaning they are just not getting what their bodies need. I will do as much as possible to keep my cat alive and encourage her to eat, but, if she doesn't want to eat, I am not going to force feed her. I have force-fed a younger cat, who survived a bad accident, but that was different. When she recovered from her injuries, she was able and willing to feed herself. But if force-feeding is going to have to be a daily torture till the end of her life, I would choose a shorter but more peaceful life for Mogi. However, FeebysOwner FeebysOwner and I are both a long way from that point. We're still looking for alternative answers.

Good luck to you and Feeby!
 
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FeebysOwner

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gilmargl gilmargl - I hope you find some possible solutions with Mogi. I have no other cats, so in that sense, I don't have to worry about any changes I make with Feeby - unlike you (:hugs:).I am in FL, so winter here is a bit different, and if anything Feeby ate less during January, which was the coolest for us.

Feeby's most recent weight loss is right around 6% in a month's time - from end of Dec to end of Jan. That, if you read anything in the above posts, happened after her maintaining her weight for 3 months just like Mogi. However those 3 months are when Feeby had just started on hyperthyroid meds. So, that part I don't know. What I have read is that no cat should lose more than a pound a month - but, that is when working with a concerted weight loss effort.

I don't know how old Mogi is, but make sure she receives the full scope check up - for Feeby, that means a geriatric blood testing (CBC, Super Chem, & thyroid), along with a urine sample - and all the standard other 'stuff'.
 
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2/22 - 3/7

After Feeby dropped from 13.1 pounds down to 12.3 in a month's time (Jan), she seems to have stabilized again. She stayed around 12.3 - 12.4 for Feb, and weighed 12.3 this morning. While her eating hasn't really picked up a lot over the past several weeks, she must be eating enough to sustain her current weight. :crossfingers:

I had calculated before that eating around 245 calories a day should enable her to hold steady at just over 12 pounds - barring some other health issue going on causing the weight loss. Not to say there isn't some unknown health problem, but I am a little less worried than I was before. Why she chose to reduce her caloric intake - and continues to eat at that same reduced rate - might likely remain a mystery never to be solved. :headscratch:

There really hasn't been much of a change in her otherwise. The only odd thing is that she seems to sleep more during the day/evening and less overnight - which is killing us sleep-wise! I go to bed late anyway (1-2 AM) and she joins me at that time. But, we are now looking at the clock multiple times throughout the rest of the night as she decides she needs to relocate to yet another place on the bed!!

I am going to do all I can to keep her calories at least where they are now and hope to see her weight stay as it is. :paranoid:
 
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Does she willingly eat 245 Calories daily or do you have to coax her?
Mostly, she eats it on her own! Occasionally, I will drag her dish out to her in the living room during the later part of the evening and remind her she needs to at least attempt to finish it. She is fairly obliging, but not always!

She gets human supplements to get to that calorie count - chicken, fish, even bacon - which she loves, along with her baby food meat/ med concoction. So, it is probably 40ish calories a day from those 'supplements' alone.
 

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If the blood was red, she might have injury inside near the rectum. That could happen during either constipation or diarrhea. Changing food quickly can also cause more stomach issues versus phasing in / out. Maybe she had a bit of injury before, the change of food caused diarrhea and more injury.
 
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If the blood was red, she might have injury inside near the rectum. That could happen during either constipation or diarrhea. Changing food quickly can also cause more stomach issues versus phasing in / out. Maybe she had a bit of injury before, the change of food caused diarrhea and more injury.
???? Is this related to when I first posted back in August 2019???? If so, I came to the conclusion long ago it was tied to the food issue, and it hasn't happened since. No injuries!
 
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3/8 - 3/14

I think Feeby has turned into a 'bear-cat' - no, not the power equipment (or the animal, a binturong). :wink: She seems to have become a semi-hibernator (as was suggested earlier). While Feeby may not stop eating altogether and do nothing but sleep (although, she comes close!) - like a bear would in winter - she certainly has decided to curtail her food intake during our cooler months. Has she transformed (or, mutated) into a combo bear and cat?!?! :lolup:
  • She scarfed her food from Oct-Dec, and maintained her weight throughout the entire time. (13.1 pounds)
  • Jan comes along, the weather is cooler, and her eating dropped so much that she lost almost a pound. (12.3)
  • The temps for Feb and early Mar were kind of up and down and her eating coincided with the weather. (12.3)
  • The past two weeks, with warmer temps, she has actually eaten an average of 265 calories a day, matching her intake from Oct – Dec. In fact, this past week alone she 'pigged out', averaging 285 calories - and weighed in today at 12.6!!
Time will tell if this is really what's going on. If so, thankfully, we don't have 6 months of winter down here! :crazy:
 
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I should have mentioned that along with increasing her food intake, she has also increased her 'squawking'. Many times it seems to tie to her wanting me to scoop her food back up into a pile or give her more food - but, not always. I can't seem to figure out if/how these two things are connected.

I can't even believe I neglected to mention it because she is driving me NUTS! This is going on many, many times a day - not so much in the evenings or nighttime. It does seem to coincide with the hours she is most inclined to be eating.
 
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Just out of curiosity since I know Feeby has H-T and one of the symptoms is yowling, or as you put it squawking, do you think that could be what's causing it? :dunno:
I've wondered about that! She has been on the H-T meds since early October, and while she has 'squawked' for some time now (at least a year maybe?), it just recently seems to have increased. She had her last T4 check in December and her numbers were good then. But, she is due for her geriatric exam and another T4 check this month.

I have never been sure if the med dosage needs to be increased as the thyroid tumor grows. Even so, that is pretty quick timeline for enough growth for a dosage change. I guess we are going to find out in the next couple of weeks.
 
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3/15 - 3/28 Update

Feeby had her semi-annual check up and T4 check last Tuesday. I posted H-T related test results on the Hyperthyroidism thread I started a while back (Hyperthyroidism in Feeby - Questions | Page 4 | TheCatSite). Other than the T4 & BUN increases, and the Renal Tech Index indicator coming back Positive - which is enough! - she seems to be doing well. "Well for her age" - as the vet seems to always say anymore! :rolleyes:

She weighed 12.7 lbs in the vet's office - the same as what she weighed the previous day on her home scales. But, today, she weighed 12.3 - and, her caloric intake didn't decrease much this past week, so here we go again... :drool: We are going to slightly increase her H-T med dosage, given her reading was higher than the vet wanted to see, so maybe that will help with her weight. :crossfingers: Maybe it might help with her 'squawking' too??

Urinalysis showed bacteria in her urine, so the vet thinks it is very likely e-coli again, since every time for the past several years this has been the case. He said once a cat, especially an older one, gets e-coli bacteria in their bladder, it is almost impossible to completely eradicate. So, we are putting her on a 14 day dose of antibiotics - in what he calls 'pulse therapy', meaning that every once in a while she should likely go through a course of antibiotics just to help prevent the e-coli escalating into a full blown infection. And, I am finally giving her D-Mannose which I bought months ago and never bothered to administer to her. The vet was surprised I hadn't already started it long before now (shame on me :blush:). He said hopefully the D-Mannose will help and the pulse therapy might not be needed down the road.

So, we are plodding along. :soldier:
 
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3/29 - 4/11 Update

Disappointing news - Feeby weighed 11.9 pounds this morning. :ohwell: Two weeks ago, she weighed 12.3 and two weeks before that she was at 12.7. But, she had stayed around 12.4 for the month prior to her spike to 12.7 in mid March.
  • The past 3 weeks she averaged 250 calories per day, which using my '20 calories per pound of body weight' calculation should be able to keep her weight stable at around 12.5 - that is not happening. :headscratch:
  • We started the Orbax antibiotics, but two days in, her eating seemed to drop. The vet said to stop it for a few days and see if her eating would pick up again. It really didn't, so she is back on Orbax, but I am making sure that she gets her dose in the morning when she eats her biggest meal to help offset any stomach issues from it. (She has always done well in the past on Orbax.) So far, no changes in her eating appear to be tied directly to Orbax. But, I will be glad to get this med done and over with.
  • She is also now getting 1/4 tsp. of D-Mannose a day - not seeing anything to suggest an issue with her taking this, and did not find data on any common adverse affects from it, so I think we are OK on this front. Hoping the D-Mannose will prevent the need for future pulse therapy doses of antibiotics. :crossfingers:
  • She has been on her increased H-T meds for 2 weeks now. The dosage was increased by such a small amount, I don't think this has anything to do with her eating (or, weight loss). But, we have to try the increased dose to see if we can get her T4 lowered to a more satisfactory level.
Aside from all that, she seems to be doing OK. No new weird behaviors, but the daytime squawking goes on (and on, and on)!!! :eek3:
 

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What has your vet said about the weight loss. It's a worry and frustrating when you can't pinpoint why she is losing weight.
 
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What has your vet said about the weight loss. It's a worry and frustrating when you can't pinpoint why she is losing weight.
He wasn't crazy about her going from 13.1 last August to 12.7 last month, but I did explain how it seemed to correlate with her reduced eating, and the fact that we might not have the correct H-T dosage nailed down yet.

However, he wants me to monitor it closely, and bring it to his attention if it continues. Right now he is out of the office, so I will probably give it another week or two before I call. If she has to be seen again, I would like to tie it to the next H-T level check in order to avoid multiple trips to the vet in the coming weeks.
 
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