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- Jan 5, 2020
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Hi - I'm writing about a family member's cat who has suddenly become very ill. A few days ago, Danno overnight became very withdrawn - he's normally extremely sociable, sweet, and affectionate - and has become very lethargic. Oddly, he's eating very well, and when he does get up from his cat bed, he walks very slowly and tentatively, but with his tail up. His eyes are bright (though sad, in my opinion), and his nose is comfortably wet. He poops and pees normally - stool looks normal. He drinks and pees a lot (he always has), which worried me because I once had a cat with CKD, but his kidney values are normal.
We took him to the emergency vet, who suspected hyperthyroid, but all of his labs came back fine. He's had a heart murmur all his life; the vet also heard a gallop-like arrhythmia, which scared me. The vet wasn't too concerned about the heart, although they did recommend having an ECG done. The vet did press getting an abdominal ultrasound done to check for IBD; his biggest concern was that Danno has lost 4 pounds since August (from 17 to 13 lbs). Until a few days ago, when I intervened in his care, he has eaten very poor quality dry food his whole life and has constantly vomited up that bad food his whole life. It's also possible the members of the household he lives in have been underfeeding him.
I'm heartened that he's eating so well (I bring my high-quality food to him where he's lying and he gobbles it up with enthusiasm), and he has not vomited once since I've been giving him the new food. But he is markedly not himself and seems very unwell to me - sort of emaciated and slow. He's still hanging out with people, not hiding, but he's not interacting much, except when I bring him food and cuddle him, which is very unlike him. I'm scared of stressing him out with tests but of course want to do everything I can to figure out what's going on and help him recover. Does any one have any similar experiences or advice? Thank you so much.
We took him to the emergency vet, who suspected hyperthyroid, but all of his labs came back fine. He's had a heart murmur all his life; the vet also heard a gallop-like arrhythmia, which scared me. The vet wasn't too concerned about the heart, although they did recommend having an ECG done. The vet did press getting an abdominal ultrasound done to check for IBD; his biggest concern was that Danno has lost 4 pounds since August (from 17 to 13 lbs). Until a few days ago, when I intervened in his care, he has eaten very poor quality dry food his whole life and has constantly vomited up that bad food his whole life. It's also possible the members of the household he lives in have been underfeeding him.
I'm heartened that he's eating so well (I bring my high-quality food to him where he's lying and he gobbles it up with enthusiasm), and he has not vomited once since I've been giving him the new food. But he is markedly not himself and seems very unwell to me - sort of emaciated and slow. He's still hanging out with people, not hiding, but he's not interacting much, except when I bring him food and cuddle him, which is very unlike him. I'm scared of stressing him out with tests but of course want to do everything I can to figure out what's going on and help him recover. Does any one have any similar experiences or advice? Thank you so much.