help! not sure what to do!

Hi all,

I have a 5 year old cat named Plushy. About 3 weeks ago I noticed that he started sneezing. As a side note, my sisters dogs were at my house for 3 days before this started so I am wondering if stress started it because he is terrified of the dogs. Anyway, he was sneezing a lot, especially when he would eat. I think he had a congested nose and eating made him sneeze from not breathing through his nose. So during that time, he was more lethargic and one day I noticed a small drip from one eye. My main concern is his weight loss. Before, he was 10 pounds and not bony. Now I can feel his spine and hips. He stopped sneezing after about a week and hasn't had any cold symptoms since, but I worry about the weight because it doesn't seem to be coming back. He has always been a lazy cat, but he would get riled up when our other cat provoked him. Now, he doesn't really want to play with our other cat. I tried to get him to play but he loses interest very fast. He still comes running when he hears me shake his.treat can. As far as potty issues, he is very shy and will only use the litter box if he is the only one in the basement, so I haven't been ave to see if he is straining. He was recently vaccunated for rabies and distempur and before I for him, they had given him fvrpc vaccination and he was tested for leukemia.

I plan to take him to the vet tomorrow but just was hoping this sounds familiar to someone else.

I took Plushy in to the vet tonight. When I adopted him from the shelter a year and a half ago they said he was 3.5 years old. The vet said he thinks Plushy is much older-- possibly 10 or 11 years old instead of 5 like we thought. I am not sure if I'm more angry or sad about this!!! I feel I was lied to by the shelter. I also took Plushy to the SAME vet doctor in August and he did a standard exam and commented that being 5 years old he is probably at the prime of his life. How did the vet NOT notice the age discrepancy before??? The vet said he could be wrong, but based on the fogginess starting in his eyes and his teeth, they think he's older.

The vet took blood to run a full chem panel, blood count, and a thyroid panel. The vet said he thinks it is most likely a thyroid issue which can be treated through medications. That I can deal with, so I hope to god it's that and not kidneys or liver

Does anybody else have a kitty with thyroid issues? Is the treatment effective? I guess I will know tomorrow. Please, send good vibes this way.

I have been researching HT but I'm not sure what to think! I mean the only symptom he has is weight loss. If anything, he is more lethargic, not more energetic. He is also not eating or drinking excessively. Maybe I will get really really lucky and his weight loss can be explained by something else that's less serious...? Oh I don't know. All I can do is hope! This next 24 hours is going to be very long

Well I have to thank my lucky stars. The vet said that Plushy's readings look actually quite good. No thyroid, kidney or liver issues. Blood count is good. Only problem is, now we don't know what has caused the weight loss.

For now, we are doing a round of anti-biotics in case he has a URI that is causing him to lose weight (Dr. said that's not too likely, but that since he's still sneezing occasionally, it won't hurt to treat him just in case). I also need to bring in a stool sample to check again for parasites. If that all comes back clean and he still loses (or doesn't put on) weight we will re-test him for leukemia (he tested negative at the shelter that I got him from) and possibly do some x-rays to see if there's another problem.

For now, I am very happy to hear there is no serious condition that we know of. I just hope he starts putting some of the weight back on. So far his appetite looks normal, so I hope it was just a freak incident. Thanks for all the good vibes... I am sure that helped

Well, even after antibiotics, Plushy seems to be still losing weight. His behavior seems almost normal... the only difference I see is that he doesn't play with our other cat like he used to. He is still cuddly and head butts us when he's on the couch. He also has recently resumed jumping between the couch and recliner chair (which he didn't do for the first few weeks after I noticed he was sick). He eats and drinks fine... not too much, not too little.

The vet recommended a stool sample when I was in last, so I have been trying to get one. Plushy is a very shy cat and will jump out of the litter box if you come down stairs when he's using it. Last week I was doing a lot of work down there and he actually must have had to go bad enough that he didn't care that I was there. I watched to see if he was straining and he wasn't, but I was alarmed that he had such a small amount of stool and it was a yellowish brown, runny and seemed mucusy. Unfortunately, this was on a Saturday night and the vet wouldn't open until Monday. I have been actively trying to get a fresh sample for him while they are open so I can have them run a test and tonight was the FIRST time I was able to do so. The stool still seemed the same consistency as before, but it also was more than he has been giving the last few days. I rushed it to the vet but they won't get the results to me until tomorrow.

I did speak on the phone to the vet the other day and he said stool sample is next then if that doesn't reveal anything, we could re-test for feline leukemia (even though he tested negative in 2008 when he was at the shelter), FIV, and do an x-ray.

I have a couple of questions about this.

1.) Like I said, he was tested negative for Feline Leukemia in 2008, we adopted him in May of 2009 and he is an indoor only cat that has only been around our other cat who is completely healthy. Is it possible (or likely) that he could have somehow obtained the disease since? I am not convinced he could have this anyway, because the only symptom he has is weight loss...

2.) I also have a pet gecko and I feed crickets to it. I read online that stomach parasites are often carried by crickets. I know for a fact that there are times the crickets have gotten out of the cage, but I never worried b/c the cats would eat them. I have never SEEN plushy eat a cricket, but a lot of his symptoms would be explained by this diagnosis. Only problem is that everything I read said it's rare in the US and cannot always be detected in feces. I am wondering if anybody else has had a cat diagnosed with stomach worms and what were the symptoms/treatments?

3.) If there was a blockage, wouldn't the vet have been able to feel that in Plushy's abdomen when I took him in a few weeks ago? Or, would he even be able to go #2 at all? I would imagine a blockage would prevent him from going to the bathroom, but maybe I'm wrong.

If anyone else has experienced anything like this, I would LOVE to hear from you! Thanks in advance for the responses. I am crossing my fingers and hoping that it's parasites since that would be easy enough to take care of.