Reptile & Amphibian Forums

As I posted before, my 13 year old cat Kitty has been losing weight. She went to the vet, got labs done and apparently she's anemic. She's been on prednisone for a couple of weeks now. She was getting 5 mg every day for 10 days; she's now getting one 5 mg pill every other day. This was supposed to stimulate her appetite and put some weight back on her. Well, it hasn't helped. She's still thin, and she eats very little food at a time. She seems like she moves even less now, but then again everyone in my family has been bringing the food to her, to get her to eat. I bought a (dry) cat food that has iron and other vitamins in it, but she won't eat a lot of dry, and she'll eat the wet food but not very much, and sometimes she just licks it.

Also, when Kitty went to the vet they gave her a pill for her fleas (Capstar). Well, I didn't have the money to get Frontline and get rid of the fleas on my other cat, so now I think Kitty might have fleas again. Could the fleas be contributing to making Kitty not feel well?? I have to pick up some Frontline this week, yesterday I put some stuff from Petco (like a very cheap Frontline) and put it on both cats. How long should I wait before I put the Frontline on both of them?? And is there anything I can give Kitty that has lots of iron in it that she'll actually eat? I'm just getting very frustrated because I want her to eat and be okay, I'm not really sure what to feed her and I don't know what the vet will want to do when she goes back or even what he can do (I'm worried about this because I'm really short on money). Any comments or advice is hugely appreciated!

Hi Again,

I'm sorry to hear that Kitty still isn't eating well.

I highly recommend your talking to the vet about 2 things.......first, ask about giving Pepcid AC, second, ask your vet if cyproheptadine can be prescribed. This is used as an appetite stimulent and tends to work well in cats.

As far as the fleas, please do not use anything over-the-counter again. These products may seem safe, but they are far from it. In fact, some of them have caused neurological problems in cats, even death in some cases. Capstar is fine, but is meant for very short-term use and should be followed up by something longer-lasting. It starts working very quickly, though, and that is a plus in a flea-infested cat.

Anemia is another thing. Ideally, Kitty should have further diagnostics, but they can be expensive. A normal blood panel does not mean you have a healthy cat. All it means is that whatever is causing her to not feel well does not show up in the blood. Anemia can be caused by many different things, even fleas, and anemic cats often don't feel much like eating.

It might be a good idea to talk to your vet about possibly making payments if Kitty does have further tests. You may have no choice if her appetite doesn't pick up. I would try to offer her different foods, even baby food, to try and get her interested in food again. She might lose ground quickly if she doesn't start eating more.

Thanks for keeping us updated.......sorry it isn't better news.

I'll be thinking of both of you.

Regards,
PHKitkat

Well, I was at my boyfriends yesterday (about an hour away from where I live) and my mom called and guess where they were with Kitty- the vet! She was supposed to go today, to the place where she originally went, and my mom had asked my dad if they could give me some money towards covering it. Well he started bitching that we have no money, etc. Then he went downstairs, looked at my cat, pinched the back of her neck and declared her dehydrated (he's a nurse) and brought to an emergency vet. 3 weeks ago at the vet she weighed 7.6- this time she was 6.8 (I KNEW she looked skinnier to me). The first thing the vet said was he saw a lot of her symptoms in cats with hyperthyroidism, so they're testing for that. They're also doing more complete blood work, and she stayed overnight and got a 24 hour IV. This vet has been great so far. He talked a lot with my parents, had some ideas about what could be wrong with her, oh and immediately saw how dehydrated she was. The first time, at the other vet, he said she was a "little dehydrated" and now I can't understand why she didn't get fluids then. We called last night to see how she was doing and the new vet told us she was like a different cat- with the fluids, she perked right up. Now he THINKS it may be a flea induced anemia- she was infested with fleas. But we don't know for sure yet, everything should be back by tomorrow I think.

And my dad is really pissed that the other vet saw she was dehydrated and didn't give her any fluids. It's funny to me because when I was younger, my dad must've told me every week that Kitty had to go (she always had problems using the litter box), and now she's sick and he said he couldn't look at her and not do anything for her. I'm beyond relieved they took her to a new vet and we'll find out for sure what's wrong.

Hi,

This is good news! Thanks for the update and please post again when you have the test results.

If your kitty does have hyperthyroidism, it is something that is easily treated.

Take care,
PHKitkat

PHKitKat- I just wanted to thank you for the advice you gave me. Unfortunately, Kitty died today. This morning my mom told me she was up and in the kitchen. By the time I got up, I couldn't find her. I had work at 11 and I ran all over the house looking for her, in all her spots, in all the clothes and blankets, behind chairs, the washer, dryer...I couldn't find her. I went to work and I had a bad feeling all day. I knew I would come home and Kitty wouldn't be there anymore. Well, she's not. I think I'm in shock. I had her for 12 years- since I was 8 years old.

In a way I'm relieved- she isn't suffering any more. I know that's a good thing, and she had a nice, long life. But I just can't believe it. I can hardly breathe right now. Anyway, thank you for replying to my posts. I really appreciated it.

Hi,

I am so very sorry to hear about Kitty. It's always especially difficult to have a loss at this time of year.

If you are interested, there are Pet Loss chats every night here. It might be helpful to be with others who understand what you are going through.

You will be in my prayers.

{{{{{}}}}}

Regards,
PHKitkat