withdrawn kitty

Hi,
I have a 15 yr. old female cat. About a week ago she started withdrawing from my wife and I. I know cats will withdraw when they are in pain. I´ve been watching her very closly and noticed she eats very little. I took her to the Vet. yesterday, and we had her teeth cleaned and blood test taken. She also started yowling which she never done before. She doesn´t seem to be in pain. I´m waiting for the results of the blood test to come back today. I was just wondering if anyone might have any suggestions on what I might ask my Vet. if the results come back negitive.

I have limited experience with older cats but I will be *very* surprised if her blood work comes back normal. Something is wrong...

You were right to take her to the vet. It sounds medical from what you've described so far. Hopefully, you'll have caught the problem early and can find a quick and effective cure. In the meantime, just give her a bit of space (while keeping an eye on her) and make her comfortable.

Got Kitty´s blood tests back. Her liver counts are totaly messed up, Vet. thinks it´s because of age. We also found out she is diebetic. I´m also still waited on the results of the FIP test, for some reason the lab forgot to do it. The liver and diebieties thing can be taken care of, But the Vet. still isn´t sure why she doesn´t eat that much. I´ve had to put cats down because of Aids before, and seen that they can´t eat because of the pain in thier mouth. But with Kitty, you notice nothing in her mouth such as redness or sores, and as I said she doesn´t seem to be in pain. I just hope I don´t have to have her put down too. Two weeks ago I had my Henery put to sleep because of Aids, and last week my Bear put to sleep because of old age ( almost 19 yrs. old ).
I sure would hate to lose Kitty now. Three cats in three weeks is to hard to handle.

Fingers crossed for her - she might not want to eat cos she is feeling sick with her liver values. As she is also diabetic, it is imperative that she eats, even if she has to be assist/tube fed. I am surprised the vets havent hospitalised her to be honest. Good luck

Whatever the results of the FIP test are, please ignore them. The only way that they can accurately diagnose FIP is thru a necroposy (post death). Cats exposed to the corona virus will show higher titer counts but that does not say that the virus has morphed into FIP. A vet that diagnoses FIP from a blood test is not keeping up with current literature on the topic. I would first challenge them and if they are insistent, then I would honestly find a new vet.

If she is feeling bad because of the liver and the diabetes, she's not going to eat as much as she usually does. Treat those diseases first. The vet might be able to give you an appetite stimulator if her appetite doesn't perk up. If you feed canned food, feed her favorite flavors, the stinkier the better.

to get you thru this

I don't know a lot about liver ailments, but could Kitty be depressed at the loss of the other two kitties? Is that a possible reason why she's not eating? Just wondering...

The fip test is a waste of money.
Yoshi's was pos both times and the vet told me that it did not mean he had it.
Also I do not think she should have had her teeth cleaned before she the results of the blood tests came in.
Last year my Meeko would just lay there and not eat or drink.
She was very sad and depressed because we had to have Stormy pts.
I bet that is part of the reason she is not eating much.
The other reason is because she is sick.
I lost Yoshi about 36 days after Stormy and Meeko became very upset again only she got bery sick the 2nd time.
I almost had Yoshi tested after he was pts for fip but decided not to.
I hope your cat feels better.
My old cat screams for no reason sometimes and she was tested for thyroid problems.
It turned out she has crf and high bp.
The high bp was the reason she screamed.
Did the vet test for that also?

If labwork revealed your kitty has diabetes (which is very common in senior cats), I'm astonished that your Vet would not be able to connect the dots and relate the lack of appetite/eating to the diabetes. It's extremely common for a newly diagnosed diabetic cat (one that's not yet on a special diet / receiving regular insulin) to be lethargic and not eating well; their blood sugar level is very high and they feel yucky!

Here is a very very helpful site for you to visit, to learn all you need to know about dealing with a diabetic kitty. Read everything you can get your hands on there because truly, 98% of vets seem to know jack-squat about properly managing a diabetic cat, which is sad. I have a diabetic, he's 15.5 yrs old, he was diagnosed 5.5 yrs ago.....and guess what his initial symptoms were? not wanting to eat much (which was UNHEARD of for him, being lethargic, keeping to himself, sleeping more). I went to the following website and to the Feline Diabetes Message Board and learned soooooooooooo much, the folks there are truly worth their weight in gold. Most are long-time diabetic cat owners.

I have Taco's diabetes very well controlled, getting a shot of insulin morning and night........it took some work, it took taking him off dry food and feeding only canned twice a day, and it took slowly adjusting his insulin dosage (starting low to start) until we got to the right dose for him...and also like many diabetic cat owners, I test his blood sugar myself twice a day (this is commonly referred to as "home-testing"), before his insulin shot............with the same little machine human diabetics use..........it's as easy as pie to do this on a cat (you poke their outer ear flap to get a tiny smidgen of blood).........and gives you the blood sugar result in 5 seconds...........thats' the only true way to really know how to fine tune the insulin dose, etc.

Here's the main site, followed by the link to the Health Forum there............

http://www.felinediabetes.com/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/list.php?8

Hope this helps!