My best buddy, my 11 (soon to be 12) year old neutered male cat, Milo, has gone from 11.2 pounds to 10.4 pounds in a matter of months. I have been monitoring his weight ever since he was diagnosed with idiopathic hypercalcemia when he was 4. Almost 8 years of a consistent weight, and now this loss. He had a vet exam, where the vet said he heard a gallop heart beat, his kidneys felt small, and he was mildly dehydrated, but overall looked great. He has mild dental disease, but the vet doesn't believe this warrants a cleaning, as I wipe his teeth down with cat dental solution. I took him to a cardiologist bc I read all of the bad things a gallop heart beat could mean, and he received a BP reading, EKG and ultrasound of the heart--all of which came back completely normal, and the gallop heart beat was not present any longer.
He had a complete CBC, which came back completely normal. The only values which were on the high end of normal were albumin, but this was due to the dehydration (I requested that Milo receive some fluids for this, which the vet gave, and honestly, I didn't see a drastic change in him after absorbing these), and triglycerides. I started giving him Omega 3/fish oil for that. I also had a second blood test run to detect renal failure earlier than the CBC. This test also came back normal. I had an abdominal ultrasound done and again, nothing was found. The vet said there were no changes conducive to lymphoma and all organs appeared normal. The only thing she noted was the live was a mildly hyperechoic (bright on the ultrasound), but researched this and saw that this is common in older cats, plus the vet didn't mention it. My vet prescribed Hills i/d as he's thinking it could be the way his body metabolizes food now that he is getting older. Today is Milo's first day of the food. He has experienced some constipation over the past year or so, going every other day rather than every day, but I got a script for lactulose, which seems to help him go daily. I bought a drinkwell fountain to encourage more water drinking, and he seems to be drinking more now that I have it , but not excessive amounts. He never drinks a lot of water. I give him a multivitamin, kidney support tablets, hairball chewables, and glucosamine and chondroitin and have been doing so for years. I bought NutriCal but he doesn't like it. He primarily eats wet food and picks on dry food. He loves his Temptations treats. He still plays, grooms, and jumps around as normal and I think his coat looks good. His eyes, ears, and nose are clear, and he doesn't appear to be in any pain. No diarrhea and hasn't vomited in awhile, nor has he had a hairball in awhile, He did have a 'coughing' episode the other day (the third in his lifetime), and I figured it was due to a hairball, but how would I know it isn't asthma? Any advice would help. This is our only pet, who we've had since he was a kitten and he love him dearly.
Thank you!
He had a complete CBC, which came back completely normal. The only values which were on the high end of normal were albumin, but this was due to the dehydration (I requested that Milo receive some fluids for this, which the vet gave, and honestly, I didn't see a drastic change in him after absorbing these), and triglycerides. I started giving him Omega 3/fish oil for that. I also had a second blood test run to detect renal failure earlier than the CBC. This test also came back normal. I had an abdominal ultrasound done and again, nothing was found. The vet said there were no changes conducive to lymphoma and all organs appeared normal. The only thing she noted was the live was a mildly hyperechoic (bright on the ultrasound), but researched this and saw that this is common in older cats, plus the vet didn't mention it. My vet prescribed Hills i/d as he's thinking it could be the way his body metabolizes food now that he is getting older. Today is Milo's first day of the food. He has experienced some constipation over the past year or so, going every other day rather than every day, but I got a script for lactulose, which seems to help him go daily. I bought a drinkwell fountain to encourage more water drinking, and he seems to be drinking more now that I have it , but not excessive amounts. He never drinks a lot of water. I give him a multivitamin, kidney support tablets, hairball chewables, and glucosamine and chondroitin and have been doing so for years. I bought NutriCal but he doesn't like it. He primarily eats wet food and picks on dry food. He loves his Temptations treats. He still plays, grooms, and jumps around as normal and I think his coat looks good. His eyes, ears, and nose are clear, and he doesn't appear to be in any pain. No diarrhea and hasn't vomited in awhile, nor has he had a hairball in awhile, He did have a 'coughing' episode the other day (the third in his lifetime), and I figured it was due to a hairball, but how would I know it isn't asthma? Any advice would help. This is our only pet, who we've had since he was a kitten and he love him dearly.
Thank you!
