I adopted Tom in January. He was 12 years old and dumped by his family for what I think is a weak excuse. At the shelter they discovered he had hyperthyroidism but I could accept that. I have had many cats over my lifetime and I worshipped them all but Tom was the greatest.
He has had a lot of tests including blood work on numerous occasions. He was holding his own but the last few days he was a lot different. Was very independent and would not sleep on my feed or follow me around. He was always hungry and recently very thirsty. About two weeks ago he started howling about 4 in the morning looking for food. I would not get up until 6 to feed as he had to have meds at the same time. After he was fed he wailed again to go outside. I would not let him out alone so ended up going outdoors with him about 6:30.
This morning I took him for a pedicure and weigh-in. I was shocked to see he had lost weight. He was 6.1 kilos since I have owned him and today it dropped to 5.79 kilos. That is almost a pound.
At his last blood test they thought he had a renal disease but very slight and almost normal for his age. They prescribed Avanti KS supplement which I gave him twice daily. it seems to me he went downhill at that point. He had runny stool which was not the case previously. I researched the supplement and found the only side effect was a GI problem. On the advice of my vet and a tech rep from Avanti I stopped it for two weeks and reintroduced it gradually. While he was off it his stool was fine but again they are runny. I have stopped it altogether.
This big a weight drop in about 4 weeks is scary. Is he fading away? I do not know. My vet works in a big hospital but only 3 days a week. She will not be back for 5 days so I have made an arrangement for another vet to contact me in the morning to perhaps arrange another T4 test for his hyperthyroidism.
I am fortunate that I have the means to cover these expenses and will do anything o get Tom better.
He has had a lot of tests including blood work on numerous occasions. He was holding his own but the last few days he was a lot different. Was very independent and would not sleep on my feed or follow me around. He was always hungry and recently very thirsty. About two weeks ago he started howling about 4 in the morning looking for food. I would not get up until 6 to feed as he had to have meds at the same time. After he was fed he wailed again to go outside. I would not let him out alone so ended up going outdoors with him about 6:30.
This morning I took him for a pedicure and weigh-in. I was shocked to see he had lost weight. He was 6.1 kilos since I have owned him and today it dropped to 5.79 kilos. That is almost a pound.
At his last blood test they thought he had a renal disease but very slight and almost normal for his age. They prescribed Avanti KS supplement which I gave him twice daily. it seems to me he went downhill at that point. He had runny stool which was not the case previously. I researched the supplement and found the only side effect was a GI problem. On the advice of my vet and a tech rep from Avanti I stopped it for two weeks and reintroduced it gradually. While he was off it his stool was fine but again they are runny. I have stopped it altogether.
This big a weight drop in about 4 weeks is scary. Is he fading away? I do not know. My vet works in a big hospital but only 3 days a week. She will not be back for 5 days so I have made an arrangement for another vet to contact me in the morning to perhaps arrange another T4 test for his hyperthyroidism.
I am fortunate that I have the means to cover these expenses and will do anything o get Tom better.