CAT DIAGNOSIS, PLEASE.

Hello everyone,

I'm new here, so sorry if I make any mistakes,

  I would like someone to help me diagnose my cat. I'm not a veterinary doctor and I'm not sure if I can diagnose a cat just like I would diagnose a human (not sure about cat diseases or parasites). I'm also not sure if he has a disease at all. Although I've been observing some unfamiliar things, and today I found something that might be linked to these "unfamiliar things":

-Sometimes (about twice or less a month) my cat vomits this orange-like mixture, with (what I judge) some fur.

(my other cat has only done this twice in a period of 3 years)

-He is really thin. It looks like it's hard for him to gain weight. Although he does not seem weak. He runs around the whole apartment and plays with his brother (the other cat I mentioned before).

-It looks like he loses fur more easily than the other cat (it could be because his fur is longer, but I don't know)

-He has this circular dark brown (about 2cmx2cm, or 2cm in diameter) stain on the dorsal portion of his tail that sometimes is more visible and comes out when I wash it (I don't know what this could be related to because it's considerably far from the cat's anus).

-He meows a lot. Basically all the time when he's awake. I believe he could be suffering from some abdominal pain, maybe.

*- Now this last one is the one that led me to this forum. About 2 or 3 days ago I found a circular red stain (about 1cm in diameter) on his feces while I was cleaning his litter box (I could see it because he does not know how to cover them up; he basically keeps punching the walls and does not realize he's supposed to "punch" the "sand"). Well, after looking at it carefully I judged it as being blood. It did not happen again until now, though I'm a bit worried.


He looks like this cat, but more skinny. I'll post a photo of him soon, if it helps.

I'm sorry I sound so uncertain about dates and measures, it's because I've been studying really hard in the last months, and trying to concentrate the most I can on med school.

I hope you guys can help me with this,

João P.

Hi Joao and welcome to TCS.
It sounds like your cat needs to see a veterinarian. No one can give you a diagnosis online; a vet needs to examine the animal in person to determine what's going on.
At most we can offer suggestions as to what might be happening.

Hi João -
How old is your cat? Has he been to the vet lately? I would be having a full blood panel, including a thyroid check.

PS - are you Brazilian or Portuguese?

He's beautiful.  If he were my cat I would get him to the vet asap.  Your vet is the only one who can accurately diagnose what may be going on.  As a future doctor - congrats on that!, would you want your patients to be relying on a forum to be guessing at a dx? 

Good luck with your studies and please keep us posted!

I agree with the others. As you would not diagnose a human simply from an online description, we cannot diagnose a cat ( and we are not vets either). The problem could be a number of things. Do you worm him regularly? PArasites could account for some of the symptoms. But please take him to a vet.

You have already been given good advice. I am posting to say I hope a vet can find the problem Your cat is beautiful.

joaopedrpgc.....In your original post you write CAT DIAGNOSIS, PLEASE.

Please know that, even for licensed veterinarians, it is against the law to try to diagnose over the Internet.

So you can imagine how helpless we, everyday, ordinary cat lovers who don't even have a background in veterinary medicine are when it comes to trying to figure out a possibly complicated health issue. The basic fact is, trying to "diagnose" here on the forum could do an awful lot of harm to your baby. We wouldn't want to do that. Please take your baby to the vet and have whatever is going properly diagnosed and treated, without delay. 

joaopedrpgc......Thinking about what has been posted in this thread so far I feel the need to add something. Hopefully it will be helpful to you.

We were all concentrating on the word diagnosis, which was what you asked for in your post. Unfortunately, diagnosing is one of the few things nobody can do over the Internet. But I would like you to understand (all of us would like you to understand) that this does not mean we wouldn't love to help you any way we can after we got a better idea of what might be wrong with your baby.

Right now, going by your post, we hardly have any information at all.

Basic info that would make a difference: age, lifestyle (whether he is strictly indoor or goes outside), and diet. The kind of food he eats and the nutritional quality of the food.

Diet can make a difference if digestive problems are involved (there may be a possibility) and nutritional quality can make a difference with shedding, etc.

A physical exam and blood work are needed to find/rule out certain problems that can involve the liver, kidneys, etc. Symptoms caused by problems in the digestive tract (such as IBD or serious food sensitivity for instance) usually don't show up in these simple tests but they can be helped by diet changes, etc, without going to endoscopy for instance unless at one point the problem becomes quite serious.

Also, if you believe (internal) parasites might play a role in what's going on, you need to take a stool sample to the vet to be checked. If your baby has fleas, it's essential that you get rid of them.

I'm just trying to say, please don't think we don't want to help you. We do but we need more info from you first.

Violet said:

joaopedrpgc......Thinking about what has been posted in this thread so far I feel the need to add something. Hopefully it will be helpful to you.

We were all concentrating on the word diagnosis, which was what you asked for in your post. Unfortunately, diagnosing is one of the few things nobody can do over the Internet. But I would like you to understand (all of us would like you to understand) that this does not mean we wouldn't love to help you any way we can after we got a better idea of what might be wrong with your baby.

Right now, going by your post, we hardly have any information at all.

Basic info that would make a difference: age, lifestyle (whether he is strictly indoor or goes outside), and diet. The kind of food he eats and the nutritional quality of the food.

Diet can make a difference if digestive problems are involved (there may be a possibility) and nutritional quality can make a difference with shedding, etc.

A physical exam and blood work are needed to find/rule out certain problems that can involve the liver, kidneys, etc. Symptoms caused by problems in the digestive tract (such as IBD or serious food sensitivity for instance) usually don't show up in these simple tests but they can be helped by diet changes, etc, without going to endoscopy for instance unless at one point the problem becomes quite serious.

Also, if you believe (internal) parasites might play a role in what's going on, you need to take a stool sample to the vet to be checked. If your baby has fleas, it's essential that you get rid of them.

I'm just trying to say, please don't think we don't want to help you. We do but we need more info from you first.

Click to expand...

Yes, this is a very supportive site and we hope you stay on! 

In the vein of what was posted above, the stained spot on your cat's dorsal section of the tail sounds to me like it could be stud tail.  This is common in un-altered cats but it can happen to altered males as well.  I understand it is very treatable.  Good luck and we hope to hear from you again!  Please post more pictures of your beautiul boy.