At the moment the vet says she can’t find anything wrong with her. She might be in pain, she might be depressed, I just don’t know. The chances are pretty good this is the end, and if I have to I will put her out of her misery. I just want to make sure that I don’t jump the gun.
While the not eating, weight loss, and lack of grooming are bad signs, I understand the reluctance to make that final decisions. Did any change take place immediately after the introduction of the new cat? If so, then it truly could be behavioral and I hope that the antidepressants and separation work. The fact that it was almost a year ago that the cat was introduced seems strange, but not impossible. Has anything else changed in your household (even if not cat related such as remodeling, new children, etc). My sister has a cat that has major issues when ever there is any kind of change and needs to be put on antidepressants.
All that being said, I remember when it was time for my dear Curious, it happened really quickly. She had been in declining health (kidney failure, tired bones, etc), but still reasonably happy and functional for 4 years, but then within a few days she rapidly declined. I wasn’t living at home when it happened. I didn’t know that my last time seeing her would be the last time, a mere week before it happened. It broke my heart, but I know that it was her time. I wasn’t ready either, but she was. Cocoa is lucky to have had a parent who truly appreciated how special she was. I am sending kitty snuggles her way and hoping for the best.
I’m so sorry about your kitty. 
It’s so hard to watch them get old and ill.
I understand completely. I’m just sorry you have to deal with this.
Remember, there are some vets that will come to your residence to put your cat to sleep. Ours charged a 60 dollar or so premium over what it would have cost to do it at the vet. It was worth it. Just dont wait to last minute to start calling around finding out who can it. Those calls get pretty upsetting fast.
I once had a roommate with a cat who was a shower-licker.
Here’s hoping that the vet can figure out what’s wrong and fix it. Cocoa does not sounds like a healthy kitty.
Oh, another unpleasnt gotcha when dealing with old and sick animals.
The vet will prescribe some pain killers, anti-biotics, or whatnot.
Old kitty will spring back, looking good as new.
This often only last a short period of time before things return to their previous bad state. Its a real kick in the gut after you just got used to thinking the worst was all over…
Something to ask your vet about: It could be a type of motion sickness. I can’t remember what it’s called but my elderly cat had it, and there is good medicine for it.
Well. The anti-depressants need to be given twice a day. I have now pilled her twice. Maybe it is wishful thinking but she did seem protest more the second time. She ate a tin of food and drank some water and is now snoozing. She has also been eating the dry food. I had to refill that this morning.
If these pills actually work then I am going to have to talk to the vet about a different delivery method, because a healthy cocoa is not going to let me stick pills down her throat twice a day. I will be happy to cross that bridge if I need to.
I just a couple days ago heard from a Havana Brown breeder we kind of talked to when our last cat died. I wonder if I got jinxed.
Cocoa is a Havana Brown. For years I had no idea how a kind of rare kind of cat who was show quality before I went and fixed her was doing starving to death in a not so good neighborhood. Her temperament would probably have precluded show anyway, not to mention no papers. When we adopted Twix from the purebred rescue society they told us that there is a hoarder/breeder they have been trying to get shut down for years who lived kind of near where I lived when Cocoa came to me. That is the best guess where she came from.
You’re probably thinking of vestibular syndrome, it makes cats dizzy and is usually treated with a motion sickness medication but it is not motion sickness. It usually causes ataxia (difficulty walking, drunken walk), falling over, circling and nystagmus (the eyes move back and forth) and I don’t think she described any of those symptoms.
Yep, that’s exactly it. What made me think of it was the cat hiding in the closet. My Cane was doing that!
My cat had that when we got him. Via steroids and antibiotics, he was able to walk without falling down, but the nerve damage was permanent. His head is always tilted to the side. He’s fine though. It’s kind of cute now.
furlibusea, you could try Pill Pockets treats as a way to give Cocoa her pills. It’s worth a shot.
OP, are you sure the vet checked the cat’s thyroid values? The standard T4 that is run on feline senior panels often is inconclusive (can seem normal) and the vet needs to have the lab run a “free T4” to get a true value.
I’m asking because you’ve described her as weighing 8 pounds but eating 9-12 ounces of canned food a day, plus dry? Is that correct? That’s an extraordinary amount of food for an 8# cat. (for an example, my 11 and 12 pound cats eat 4-5 ounces of canned food a day, that’s it.)
Is her fur matted unusually? Have her nails grown unusually long? These are signs as well as the appetite, weight loss, grumpiness, malaise.
My fluffy little fluffernutter named Bunnie died at the end of February. She went from “not right, but can’t find anything wrong” to having a palpable intestinal tumor within 30 days. She was put down 4 days after we found the tumor. I’m sorry you’re going through this, illnesses in our pets really sucks.
The symptoms do sound like hyperthyroidism, but the vet says they checked it. I think maybe she was gorging because she isn’t eating as much as she was. Wet food is something we have never done with her before because of her allergies. It has always been so tough to find something that didn’t cause an ulcerated mess that we always tried to find something that worked and not vary at all. I am trying to stay mostly with the wet version of the dry food but it must seem like a real treat.
She met me at the closet door this morning and seemed to be DEMANDING food. It is as far as she has come out of the closet since this all started unless it to was to sneak under the bed. Last night pilling her was a huge pathetic mess. She yowled and screamed and tried to claw. It is as aggressive as she has been about objecting since I started giving her these things. Maybe it is wishful thinking. I don’t know how long it is supposed to be before I notice behavior changes if the anti-depressants are working.
As I mentioned before there are compounding pharmacies that can make many medications into transdermal gels for those hard to pill cats. Your vet could call it in and they can ship it to you overnight.
I have 10 days worth of these pills. If the improvement continues rather than being wishful thinking on my part I should know soon. If that is the case, I absolutely will do that.
How do they manage for dosage for these gels?
If she’s eating her own food and the other cat isn’t touching that, you could try smashing up her pills and putting it into the canned food. I do that with my cat’s thyroid medication and I haven’t had to pill him once in about 2 years. As long as she’s eating, it should work okay. I mix his pill into the part of the food dish he goes to first, covering it up with some of the liquid from the can. He’s never walked away from a food dish and it must be working because his thyroid levels are fine. I feed him part of a can of food twice a day because he has to take his meds twice a day.
I hope your kitty feels better soon.
Oh man - so sorry and wishing your kitty health.