I'm worried about my kitty :(

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Inigo Montoya, seen here taunting our newly adopted dog with his dominant, macho indifference, has not been himself for the last year or so. He’s become food obsessed (even more than usual for a typical kitty, heh), and is also nuts about water. He never used to be one to steal food, but now he will practically crawl into our laps when he eat to try and get it off the fork. He also drinks water from the toilet, the bathtub (whatever collects in the kiddos’ toys), even our own cups. I mentioned this to the vet about 18mos ago, but his weight had remained steady and his general appearance was good, so we marked it up to him becoming neurotic in his advancing age (he’s nearly 13).

Well, in the time period since, the food and water obsession has grown, and his, um, output has become more and more unprocessed, for lack of a better description. I finally brought him in to the vet today. I may be crazy busy with work and two small children, but I’ve had Inigo since before there was a hubby, or a house, or a horse, or children. I owe it to him to see he’s cared for.

I was alarmed, then worried, to learn Inigo has lost more than 2lbs since his last exam. :frowning: His coat is also duller. The vet said that in rapid weight loss in a cat over 10, they think one of four things: hyperthyroidism, diabetes, kidney failure, or cancer. As Inigo is constantly hungry, she thinks it’s more likely one of the first two than the latter two, as those tend to suppress appetite. She didn’t find any indication of a thyroid tumor, so we’re running blood, urine, and fecal tests to try and figure out why my sweet kitty is dropping weight. I should have the results Monday.

He’s “just a cat,” I know, but… :frowning:

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Hugs to you and Inigo. Hope it’s something easily (and inexpensively) treatable.

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He’s not “just a cat,” he’s your cat.

Of course you can’t do anything 'cause whatever is wrong with him has already happened. Hopefully whatever is wrong will be fixed and Mr Cat will be back to his indifferent old self :slight_smile:

Let us know how he is on Monday

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{{{Ruffian}}}

Wishing the best for Inigo.

Roomie and I took her cat to the vet this morning.

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It really sounds like hyperthyroid to me. Cats hide it so well; mine had lost about the same amount (2 lbs.) before I noticed, too. If it is hyperthyroid, it is fairly easy to treat. There’s trans dermal gels that go in the cat’s ear, daily pills, and the option I chose - radioiodine, which is an expensive, but a permanent solution that doesn’t involve pilling a cat every day. Good luck!

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Saying a prayer for you and Inigo. Hang in there.

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Pets are family.

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oooh, sorry to hear it! But you’re taking him to the doc, and soon you’ll find out. Here’s hoping that it is indeed one of the first two suspected illnesses, which are treatable.

Let us know what you find out, ok?

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Thanks everyone. Johnny LA, how is roomie’s kitty?

Hanna, that is the vet’s hunch, but she was troubled that Inigo doesn’t have an elevated heart rate, and she couldn’t palpate anything unusual around his thyroid. She said there are cats with the condition minus those symptoms, so it isn’t ruled out…just atypical.

He’s getting lots of pettins right now. He just wants to be curled up with me, anyway.

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Harvey’s been pacing the last couple of nights, meowing. Usually this means he wants one of us to go to bed. That evening I shut my bedroom door to warm it up in there, and he didn’t like it. We assumed that he just wanted in my bedroom. He was restless Friday, too. Roomie saw him squat on his litter box four times without going, so last night she called the vet. We took him in this morning, and the vet gave him a shot of antibiotics and gave roomie some refrigerated meds (I assume also antibiotics) to put in his food. She’s taking him in Monday or Tuesday for blood- and urine tests.

Harvey doesn’t seem to be distressed. He’s been back to normal since we got back from the vet. Sleeping, cuddling, purring. Roomie felt his belly beforehand, and she said it felt a little distended. But I think (hope!) we caught whatever it is early. FWIW, she feeds him Purina, which the vet agrees is about the best for not getting UTI/bladder stones.

Thanks for asking. :slight_smile:

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Crossing fingers that it’s something easy to deal with! If Pyscho Kitty was ill, I’d be very upset too - she is 11.

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My step-mum had the radioiodine done to her old, toothless cat. When I say old, I mean he was about 14 or so when they did it back in 2006.

He’s still a happy old cat.

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((Ruffian)) ((Inigo))

Best wishes to your boy. I’ll be hoping for good news!

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Actually, (disclaimer - IANAV) canned foods are the best for any type of UTI. They have more water, and more water means more urine output. “Drink plenty of fluids” holds true for felines with pee problems too, and forcing a cat to drink more water is impossible. Canned food contains more water, and you can even mix in additional water to get more into the cat.

One other thing I’ve done for my UTI cat is to give him distilled water to drink. It’s cheap, so I pick up a few jugs every time I’m at the store. Distilled water + canned food has kept my cat UTI free (he actually totally blocked after a series of bladder infections) for over a year now.

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Hopefully Harvey is on the mend, Johnny LA. Keep me posted. :slight_smile:

curlcoat, Psychokitty is a cutie and doubtlessly aptly named. Heh.

Micknickmaggies and Hanna, you both mention the radioiodine worked well for your kitties. What exactly is involved in it? Hanna, you said it was expensive–do you mind sharing how expensive?

Thanks, Stauderhorse–I am hoping to hear something tomorrow, and of course will tell the Dopers as soon as I know anything.

Here is a typical Inigo shot. This was nearly two years ago when we completely remodeled the kitchen. Hubby was getting “help” from our then-3yro son while he put the cabinets together, and Inigo “helped” hold them down.

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Harvey’s curled up in the crook of my knees. He’s not in distress. He did piss a little on a pair of WWII surplus wool Swiss trousers that were on the floor. No blood, and it was clear. But pissing outside of the box is a sign that he’s sick. Probably UTI instead of a blockage. Roomie put amoxicillin in his food this morning, and he ate it all.

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Radioactive iodine is either injected into the cat, or the cat is given a pill containing it, and it destroys the thyroid tissue but leaves healthy stuff alone. In 2004 it cost $1100. That included all the ultrasounds and work done beforehand (blood work). Hyperthyroidism can mask kidney and heart problems so it is important to have a full work up before proceeding.

The cat has to go into quarantine after having it done. The vet who did mine kept him for 11 days but he was released without any handing restrictions. The only thing I had to do differently was keep the litter for 3 weeks before putting it out in the trash. I just kept it in those large Fresh Step containers, in my garage, for the three weeks. Other places don’t require such a long stay, but the cat has more restrictions as far as how often you can handle it or let other pets be exposed to it.

To me it was worth it because my cat wasn’t tolerating the Tapazole very well. He lost fur and vomited, and I constantly worried that he was spitting the pill out.

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More in her younger days, but yeah. She is afraid of anyone who isn’t me or my husband and used to freeze with this totally psychotic look on her face when someone came in the house, and then run to hide. Nowdays she just slips off quietly to hide.

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The vet called this morning with Inigo’s test results: His blood work all came back normal, except for the two markers for hyperthyroidism which were both high…so, Hanna and Micknickmaggies, it looks like he’s joining your kitties’ (well, your grandmother’s kitty Micknickmaggies) hyperthyroidism club. :slight_smile: The vet is starting just with a medication right now–one pill twice a day. Since our newly adopted dog also gets two pills a day for her hips, it won’t be hard to remember to give kitty his pills as well.

Everything else looked good in his tests (his urine had a bit of blood in it, but that might be from the collection she thought…poor boy!), and she wants to recheck his levels in a month. His kidneys looked good, but she said sometimes this condition can mask kidney issues (??), and once it’s treated issues can present themselves. So, huh.

I’m happy to know his condition is treatable–hopefully this is something that will help him maintain a happy kitty life for a long time. Mrow!

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Hooray!!