Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My calico, Kitty, is 13 years old. She's always been neurotic and grumpy, and the only person she likes is me. Anyway she's been an outdoor cat for most of her life, except for the past couple of years. About 3 months ago she started going outside again. Now in the past few weeks I've noticed she's lost quite a bit of weight, and she's always been a fat cat. I can feel her spine quite easily, and her stomach looks all sunken in. She's also been sneezing and coughing lately, but I thought that could just be allergies (it started when she started going back outside, as did the weight loss). She coughing and sneezing have calmed down a bit, I think maybe because it's started to get colder here (CT).

I'm worried about the weight loss because as I've said, Kitty's always been a big, fat cat. I don't know if she's at a normal weight now or what. Now her face looks pointier, and her bones are noticeable. She sleeps on my bed all the time, and I've noticed too that she twitches and spazzes a lot in her sleep, and that freaks me out and I shake her awake. I don't know if she's always done that and maybe its just freaking me out now with everything else.

My mom said she thinks Kitty hasn't been eating as much. I haven't really noticed because I'm in and out all day with school and work. She gets mostly dry food. Is there something else I should feed her that would get her appetite back up and put some weight on her?

She's going to the vet on Monday, and she hasn't been in years. Now, I'm worried because Kitty would probably rather die than let herself be put in a crate and packed off to the vet. I also fear for the vet's life when he has to examine her! Is there any way I can make this a little less traumatic for her??? And any ideas on the weight loss? Could it just be that she's more active than she was? Thoughts?

Hi There,

I'm glad that you are taking Kitty to the vet. Something is definitely wrong and you need to find out what it is.

Before you start thinking about what you can do to try and put some weight on Kitty, she has to have a blood panel and urinalysis done. Possibly x-rays also. The cause of her being ill has to be determined so she can start getting the right treatment.

A senior cat is at high risk for many things. Some possibilities are kidney disease, liver disease, hyperthyroidism, and diabetes. Not to scare you, but she can even have a tumor somewhere. Chances are, though, that whatever she has is treatable.

To minimize the trauma of going to the vet, I would first take the crate out of wherever it is kept and left where Kitty has access to it. I would put a soft towel or a cat bed inside, to make it more attractive to her. Over the weekend she will get used to the crate and it will be easier to put her inside when she goes to the vet on Monday. I would also drape a towel over the carrier so she won't be frightened by what she sees. If she likes treats, it wouldn't hurt to put those inside the crate as well.

Your vet is most likely used to examining and treating hard-to-handle cats so I wouldn't worry about that. With Kitty not feeling well, she might not be aggressive anyway.

I know how hard it is to have a sick kitty and not know what is going on, especially when it's a senior cat. I'll be thinking about you and your baby in the coming days and will remember both of you in my prayers.

Please keep us updated on how things go on Monday.

Regards,
PHKitkat

Thank you so much.

I'm pretty worried, but she's been acting the same- her mean, bitchy self. If she wasn't such a skinny Kitty now, I'd have nothing to worry about! And she's been pretty active, so I'm pretty puzzled as to why she's so bony. My boyfriend said maybe its because she was so fat, and her skin is just hanging. I just really really hope there's nothing seriously wrong with her. I just can't wait to go to the vet on Monday and get it all over with and find out if anythings wrong! I'll update on Monday.

Well, I'm not too happy with the way things went at the vet but...I overestimated Kitty. She was actually a lot better than I thought she'd be, probably because she was scared. But no one got hurt!

He said her temperature was normal, that she was a little dehydrated, and she had fleas (well, duh, I knew that). She got her rabies and distemper vaccines, a pill for her fleas, and bloodwork, which will come back tomorrow.

This was $210. And the vet looked at her for less than 5 minutes. He didn't even introduce himself to me. He didn't tell me the kinds of diseases older cats can get. I mean, I guess they'll know more when they get the bloodwork back tomorrow. But they didn't really give me any information. Like, what COULD it be? What are some problems with older cats? The whole thing just felt so rushed, and I didn't feel like I got any information on what could possibly (if anything) be wrong with Kitty.

They also wanted to do a feline leukemia test, but as I'm a broke college student, I didn't have the money on me for them to do that test. What I'm wondering is how exactly they test for that. They took her blood. Wouldn't they find leukemia in normal bloodwork? Or, if not, shouldn't they wait and see if there were any abnormalities in the bloodwork and THEN test for leukemia? I don't know.

Also when they looked in her mouth, I noticed black spots on her gums, and it definitely looked like a tooth was missing in the back. Could she just have some sort of dental problems? They really didn't remark on that, so maybe its not anything, but then again, they only looked at her for so long.

So, I'm not exactly happy with how it went, but Kitty was surprisingly good about it. I get the bloodwork results tomorrow, and I'm hoping so bad there's nothing seriously wrong with her.

Hi,

I don't blame you for not being happy about the way things went at the vet's. Patients and clients both deserve more than a few minutes of the doctor's time. Especially when the patient is a senior pet who has not been to a vet for a long time. Sound like this doctor has very poor bedside manner.

In my opinion your baby should not have been vaccinated. She may have health issues and vaccines should only be given to healthy animals. There is no real reason to vaccinate a senior animal anyway. The money could have been better spent by testing for feline leukemia.

Feline leukemia is a contagious virus in cats and there is a specific test run for it. The virus doesn't show up in regular bloodwork. Because it is contagious, and fatal, it's always best to test for it before bringing home a new kitty.

Please post again when you get the lab results back.

Regards,
PHKitkat

Bloodwork came back! Her kidneys and liver are normal. He said she was a little anemic, possibly due to the fleas, and her lymphocytes were low, which he said is not unusual in a 13 year old cat, and that could be contributing to the weight loss. He recommended a steroid called prednisone (?) to help stimulate her appetite. Thankfully it's affordable for me and I can go pick that up today. He also said to use Frontline once a month on her. The pill he gave her definitely killed the fleas, but now I gotta use Frontline on my other cat as well so she doesn't get them again. Are there any side effects to this steroid I should know about, and would it help in stimulating her appetite and putting weight back on her?

Hi,

Great news about the labwork!

Prednisone often does stimulate appetite in cats, but prednisolone is a slightly better choice since it is much easier on the liver. If the steroid doesn't work, perhaps your vet will prescribe Periactin (cyproheptadine) instead.

The pred will most likely also cause your kitty to drink more water, so don't be alarmed if you notice her doing this. Cats overall do extremely well on pred but an occasional cat will become diabetic while taking it. This is less likely to occur with short-term use or an every-other-day schedule. One of my cats has to be on steroids at least every other day because of asthma and in over 8 years she has not had any problems with the drugs.

Take care, and please let us know how your baby does. It might be a good idea if she doesn't eat her normal food to offer her different things until she is eating better.

Regards,
PHKitkat