Weight Loss in senior kitty, good blood work

mollysmomma

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Hi,
I'm new here, desperate to find answers. We've been to the vet twice in the last month and at this point, our vet is out of answers. I will do my best to not ramble, but really want to tell you everything I can in the hopes that someone knows what's going on.

Molly is 16. Her normal weight was around 10 pounds. In the past year, she began losing weight, but we (foolishy, I'm sure) chalked it up to old age.

About a month ago, she began peeing on our bed. She began coughing and sneezing. Her short coat started matting. She had diarrhea .We took her to the vet, who proceeded to do lab work and an xray. At that time she weighed 5 pounds (how she disappeared before our eyes without us realizing it, we'll never know). Her blood work showed that she had hyperthyroidism. The xray didn't show much, but there was some darkening in her chest cavity that the vet thought was too low to be asthma, but she gave her a steroid injection anyway, just in case. She also started her on methimazole (2.5 mg BID). She also was given flagyl for the diarrhea and probiotics as her poop was essentially bacteria.

She thrived for about 3 weeks and then she crashed. The skin on her head turned red. Her eyes were watery and her nose ran. She stopped eating and pooping. And, as crazy as it sounds, every time she drank she began putting her littery foot in her water bowl, thus making a big old mess of it and everything else.

Took her back to the vet and her blood work (at this point we were convinced it was CRF) and her kidney values are great. All her labs were perfect, even her thyroid levels. She now weighs 4 pounds. The vet suspected an allergy to the methimazole, so we stopped it. This was last Wednesday. She also gave her an injection of antibiotic as she thought the watery eyes/nose were due to a sinus infection.

Talked to the vet on Friday and have given her the weekend, but the vet doesn't know why she is still sick. She is still not eating, unless it's people food. Pooped (one small piece) on the floor yesterday, but that was the first stool in approximately 10 days.

The vet seems convinced it's not cancer because the blood work is fine, but from what I've read here, that's not always the case, is it? Molly just isn't right and we want to do the right thing, but it would certainly be easier if we knew what was happening.

If you are still reading, thank you in advance for any of your thoughts.

Jen & Molly
 

ldg

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Oh I am so sorry for all you and your baby are going through!!!!


You're right. Blood work not only does not always reveal cancer, it often doesn't. One of our cats (9 years old), Lazlo, was just recently diagnosed with cancer. I guess we were fortunate that he was anemic. In that weird way, we were also fortunate that the cancer had formed a mass, because it was detectable on xray. They often aren't. The next diagnostic after an x-ray is an ultrasound, which can see things an xray can't. But even then, there may be no masses to see.

The most common form of cancer in cats is Lymphmosarcoma. It is a cancer of the white blood cells. A high white blood cell count CAN be an indication (as can anemia, or both), but is not necessarily the case.

There are two types of lympho: one that is slow-growing. It affects the "new" white blood cells (small cell lymphosarcoma). It is treatable with chemotherapy 85% of the time, and when it sends the cancer into remission, it is "gone for good." (We're seeing a specialist oncologist). But this type of lympho is seen in only about 15% of cats with lympho. The most common type is the one that affects the older white blood cells (large cell lymphosarcoma). This is a more aggressive cancer, and is treatable with chemotherapy about 50% of the time (literature says 60%, but oncologist's experience is more like 50%). If chemo does send it into remission, how long it stays in remission is dependent on a lot of things.

Of course, with your kitty, with what she's had going on, there are probably so many other possibilities of what's going on. At this point, you may want to get a second opinion from someone at a different vet practice.
Of course, you may want to talk to your vet about an ultrasound... but that your vet doesn't think it's cancer because the bloodwork doesn't indicate a problem is something to me that says maybe it's time for a new vet.

The other thing you need to do is get proper nourishment into your kitty. Did the vet talk to you about syringe feeding her? You don't want to immediately start pumping her full of food, because you don't want to freak her body out, but you should definitely start, and then increase each day the amount you give her. Whatever's going on, she needs the nutrition and strength if she's going to fight this with you. If she wants to.


There's a detailed discussion on page 4 of this thread: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=235490 about the amount of nutrition required, and conversion of ounces to MLs (or CCs. One ml is one cc, fyi).

But I think it is imperative that you start syringe feeding her if you want her to have a fighting chance.


You also want to encourage her to eat on her own. We're going through that with Lazlo right now. I suspect the reason Lazlo isn't eating much on his own is that the chemotherapy is affecting his sense of smell. But the "tricks" to get a non-eating cat to eat are the same. Here is a thread discussing ideas to help with that: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=235692

He's been eating (some) fishy cat foods heated up, chicken baby food heated up. When he stops, I crush dehydrated liver treats on top, and offer it again, and he eats a little more. We also had Fortiflora on hand. It's a probiotic, but I'm not using it for that. Many cats love the taste, and sprinkling some on his food is sometimes helping as well. I was just about to ask how much it's OK to give him, because it IS a probiotic, I don't want to give him too much and give him diarrhea (which he hasn't had.
).

I don't know where you live, but if you're in the U.S., something else to consider is a DVM that is also trained in holistic medicine. When Lazlo was losing weight and vomiting, and our regular vet couldn't figure out the problem, we took him to our FIV+ kitty's holistic vet. There ARE alternative treatments for cancer (if your kitty even has cancer and you opt not to go the route of chemotherapy). But if your kitty doesn't have cancer, someone trained in western medicine AND alternatives may have better ideas about how to help your kitty... and as a DVM, can also help figure out if your kitty does have cancer. We found one we could get to by searching here: http://www.ahvma.org (the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association).

Finally, feel free to think I'm completely nuts, but when we had a behavior problem with one of our existing kitties when we rescued another cat last year, a TCS member recommended an animal communicator to me. I was skeptical, but figured it couldn't hurt, right? Well, after "talking" to each cat, the behavior problem was solved in a day, basically. So obviously I was convinced her gift was real. I've recommended her to others on TCS, and each time, her gift has proven to be real (and helpful). She does energy work as well, and strange as it may sound, she may be able to help figure out what the problem is, or at least where it originates. Obviously this should NOT be used instead of veterinary consulation. But she can also help you figure out how your kitty feels. In our case, she helped us determine that Lazlo DOES want to fight along with us, and is willing to do the chemotherapy. This is evidenced by the fact that he doesn't freak out on the long trips to the oncologist, and he normally howls in the crate the 10 minutes it takes to get to the local vet.
Anyway, all she requires is a picture of the cat to be emailed to her, and the name of your kitty. You can send as much information as you want, but that's up to you. All she needs is a name and a picture.
If you're skeptical/concerned/have questions, she's perfectly happy to talk to you before you commit to the service. She is truly wonderful and compassionate. I just put this out there as another option. Here is her website: http://www.enlightenedanimals.com. Obviously you don't need to be based in the U.S. for this, but you would need to schedule a time to call her (i.e. pay for the phone call(s)).

 

ldg

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Oh, for the watery eyes/nose, you can start your kitty on L-lysine if she's eating any wet food (or you can add it to what you syringe feed her). Many people on TCS use the NOW L-lysine powder. It's odorless and tasteless, and even really picky cats eat it mixed in with their food. It's safe and non-toxic. A dose for treatment is 500mg (1/4 teaspoon total), half in the morning and half in the evening.

If she does have a sinus infection, smelling food will be that much more difficult, so even more important to use stinky foods.
 
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mollysmomma

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Thank you Laurie!
When our greyhound had cancer, we actually used an animal communicator to find out what she was feeling and it was an amazing experience, so I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with that.
I do believe that Molly would hate us if we forced her to eat. We tried to give her liquid medication via syringe and she bit her other mom so hard she actually drew blood. When it comes to medications, you'd think we were dealing with a feral cat, not one we've had in our home for 16 years! She can be quite naughty (and hardly behaves better at the vet, for that matter).
I've sent an email to the vet to get her thoughts on why she has ruled out cancer (based solely on blood work) and I will be calling her today as well.
Thank you again for all the information - you've given me a lot to think about.
Jen
 

catlover73

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I am so sorry you are going through this. I hope you get some answers soon. Is it possible that your kitty stopped eating because the medicine she was on was messing with her tummy? Have you mentioned this as a possible issue to your vet. If you need to give your cat medicine in the future perhaps you could try putting the pill in a small piece of cheese. I had to do this with one of my cats. I would take the pill and roll it up in a cheese ball to hide it. Once I started doing this my cat seemed to not even realize he was taking medicine.

I also agree that a 2nd opinion from another vet may be needed here.

It can be tricky to get a cat to eat again. I had a kitty that was abused by a previous owner that was actually scared to eat. I had to spoon feed her meat flavored baby food because she would not eat any sort of cat food. The baby food suggestion actually came from my vet. Once I got my cat to realize that she was allowed to eat I started mixing the baby food on the spoon with wet cat food. Then after a little while I started mixing them together on a paper plate. Over time I was able to switch her on to a cat food only diet.

Also if your kitty does have a sinus infection it is probably messing up here sense of smell which can also lead to appetite issues. You can try creating a steam room in your bathroom for your kitty to help break up the sinus congestion. Run a really hot shower and steam up your bathroom then take the kitty in the bathroom and hang out in there with her for about 15-20 minutes. I did this with my Starbuck kitty when she was sneezing a lot due to a bad URI as a baby.

Have you tried warming up her wet food a little in the microwave? Have you tried different types of food in different flavors?

Good luck and I hope your kitty gets well soon.
 

momofmany

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Laurie gave you great information and I won't add anything to what she shared.

I lost my cat Eightball last year at age 14 from a condition that sounds to be very similar to what you are going through with Molly. Normal bloodwork, x-rays didn't show anything significant, yet he continued to waste away. I had 2 vets at our office - one was more holistic than the other. My holistic vet suspected cancer from the start, but her boss (the best surgical vet that I've ever come across) had a different opinion. She thought it was a digestive problem and wanted to do exploratory surgery. Eightball had gotten so small that the surgery might have killed him so I declined.

Eightball was born feral, and was skittish his entire life. He was not one to be medicated easily, and doing so caused him a lot of stress. The vet gave him depo shots to stimulate his appetite, and they did work for a while. Force feeding was out, but I knew the types of foods that he liked so I gave them to him - even if they weren't very good quality foods. I kept him interested in life by giving him all the things that made him happy. His favorite treats, his favorite foods, extra love and attention. And this may sound insignificant, but I knew he loved to "sneak" water out of our drinking glasses, so I strategically put water glasses all over the house so he had fun thinking he was getting away with something. I found his sweet spots and went overboard giving them to him. He didn't want to leave us and somehow he hung in there for me. He lived for a year like this. Sometimes you never find the cause and have to just manage the symptoms.

Understanding what Molly would like from you is very important right now, whether that be aggressive testing and treatment, or simply things to keep her comfortable and happy. That is always the hardest decision for us humans.

 

minka

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Ohh, I'm so sorry to hear this..


The only advice I've got is I didn't see anywhere what measures the vet took to treat her hyperthyroid. Is she on medicine for it? Considering surgery to remove it? (Though now that only sounds possible After she gets better.)

Hyperthyroid will certainly make all these other problems much worse, so I would try to also get a handle on that while you are trying to figure out if it is CRF or cancer.
 
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mollysmomma

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Thank you for all your responses and suggestions. Molly really was in no position to fight any of this any longer and we let her go yesterday.
She was too tiny for an iv, so the vet sedated her and then gave her a shot. She relaxed so peacefully after the sedation that it was only then we realized how restless and uncomfortable she had been for so many days.
We know we did the right thing for our Molly, but that so doesn't make it any easier for us. It's lonely and quiet here now - even with the greyhounds. Amazing how a cat that easily weighs less than 4 pounds can leave behind such a gaping hole.
Thank you again,
Jen
 
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