Hey guys! I've been a lurker for some years and I always appreciate the information I find on this site. I'm really hoping someone can offer me advice on the following:
Back in June of last year my cat, Henry, began losing weight, vomiting, and being very lethargic. He would want to eat but every time he went up to his food he'd get nauseous, lick his lips like crazy, and run away.
I'm no stranger to the vet so I brought him shortly after this started. They ran a CBC and did an X-ray of his abdomen to make sure there was no blockage. Everything came back normal although his intestines seemed a bit bloated in the imaging. The vet said it was probably gas and sent me home with prescription GI food. He took to the food (hills dry I/D) but after a few days to a week, lost interest and the cycle began again. I tried him on various foods (everything from hills to orijen to primal raw) and at times he had 5-6 options laid out. Still he continued to have a poor appetite with bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. He's always has a fresh dish of water and wet food but refuses to eat anything except friskies (gravy and chunks) although, ever since this started he never eats the meat, he just licks the gravy. He drinks from the bathroom sink about 2-4 times a day.
After a lot of back and forth and not getting any answers from his longtime vet I decided to transfer his records and get a second opinion. At the first visit the new vet couldn't see anything immediately wrong. We went over the millions of records sent from the previous doctor (Henry has a long history) and he sent me home with prescription GI food (Purina EN dry). A couple days in Henry started having EXPLOSIVE diarrhea and was vomiting at least once a day. I had a feeling it was the purina so I switched him back over to a previous food. As usual, he was okay for a few days and then lost interest in the food.
The new vet had me come in for a weight check about 3 weeks ago and we found that Henry had lost even more weight. He used to be very heavy but you'd never know it now. His spine and hips protrude and he has almost no muscle mass.The vet drew his blood and ran a special test to check his levels of cobalamin (b12) and his pancreatic/folic levels. The results came back that he had low B12 levels. He said it could be anything from IBD, to lymphoma, to simply being deficient from poor diet. He suggested we start with doing B12 injections once a week for 4 weeks and then re-test his levels. If there was no improvement THEN we'd do an ultrasound.
Henry had his first injection on Monday 2/8 and was fine that night. When I arrived home from work Tuesday I noticed he had vomited on the rug and a few hours later he passed soft/light stool. Today when I got home I was petting him when all of a sudden he started to rapidly lick his lips. He then ran to his litter box and vomited (he's very polite sometimes). He hasn't eaten much today and I'm becoming concerned all over again. The vet is closed on Wednesdays OF COURSE! I'm going to call them first thing tomorrow.
I've been worrying about him non stop since June 2015 and nothing seems to help. He's never been healthy... he came to me as a stray with an infected wound and infested with fleas and mites. Soon after we found out he had a heart murmur and was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He's had pancreatitis once, 2 anal sac ruptures, he has herpes, asthma, poor dental health, and chronic inflammation in his ears. We think he's about 9 at the present time. He's a cream orange tabby.
I'm going to call the vet tomorrow and suggest we move forward with the ultrasound immediately. He's my entire world. I've spent thousands of dollars on him in the last 5 years. Every day I have a mini panic attack when I open the door that he's gonna be dead. I guess what I'm trying to get at here is does anyone have an experience similar to this or an idea what we might be looking at? He's not been himself for months and I'll do whatever I have to not only to save him but give him the day to day comfort every cat deserves.
***Side note- I'm aware that switching food is a 5-7 process. I've done the slow transition many times but since he no longer wants to eat whatever he's currently on, he won't ingest the new food either. Also, I know that temptations may as well be heroin but sometimes it's all he'll eat. He hadn't had them in months but I bought a bag last week in a desperate attempt to get food into him. He never has a problem scarfing them down.
*******Another side note- I'm sorry about this ridiculously long post. I don't know what to do anymore.
Back in June of last year my cat, Henry, began losing weight, vomiting, and being very lethargic. He would want to eat but every time he went up to his food he'd get nauseous, lick his lips like crazy, and run away.
I'm no stranger to the vet so I brought him shortly after this started. They ran a CBC and did an X-ray of his abdomen to make sure there was no blockage. Everything came back normal although his intestines seemed a bit bloated in the imaging. The vet said it was probably gas and sent me home with prescription GI food. He took to the food (hills dry I/D) but after a few days to a week, lost interest and the cycle began again. I tried him on various foods (everything from hills to orijen to primal raw) and at times he had 5-6 options laid out. Still he continued to have a poor appetite with bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. He's always has a fresh dish of water and wet food but refuses to eat anything except friskies (gravy and chunks) although, ever since this started he never eats the meat, he just licks the gravy. He drinks from the bathroom sink about 2-4 times a day.
After a lot of back and forth and not getting any answers from his longtime vet I decided to transfer his records and get a second opinion. At the first visit the new vet couldn't see anything immediately wrong. We went over the millions of records sent from the previous doctor (Henry has a long history) and he sent me home with prescription GI food (Purina EN dry). A couple days in Henry started having EXPLOSIVE diarrhea and was vomiting at least once a day. I had a feeling it was the purina so I switched him back over to a previous food. As usual, he was okay for a few days and then lost interest in the food.
The new vet had me come in for a weight check about 3 weeks ago and we found that Henry had lost even more weight. He used to be very heavy but you'd never know it now. His spine and hips protrude and he has almost no muscle mass.The vet drew his blood and ran a special test to check his levels of cobalamin (b12) and his pancreatic/folic levels. The results came back that he had low B12 levels. He said it could be anything from IBD, to lymphoma, to simply being deficient from poor diet. He suggested we start with doing B12 injections once a week for 4 weeks and then re-test his levels. If there was no improvement THEN we'd do an ultrasound.
Henry had his first injection on Monday 2/8 and was fine that night. When I arrived home from work Tuesday I noticed he had vomited on the rug and a few hours later he passed soft/light stool. Today when I got home I was petting him when all of a sudden he started to rapidly lick his lips. He then ran to his litter box and vomited (he's very polite sometimes). He hasn't eaten much today and I'm becoming concerned all over again. The vet is closed on Wednesdays OF COURSE! I'm going to call them first thing tomorrow.
I've been worrying about him non stop since June 2015 and nothing seems to help. He's never been healthy... he came to me as a stray with an infected wound and infested with fleas and mites. Soon after we found out he had a heart murmur and was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He's had pancreatitis once, 2 anal sac ruptures, he has herpes, asthma, poor dental health, and chronic inflammation in his ears. We think he's about 9 at the present time. He's a cream orange tabby.
I'm going to call the vet tomorrow and suggest we move forward with the ultrasound immediately. He's my entire world. I've spent thousands of dollars on him in the last 5 years. Every day I have a mini panic attack when I open the door that he's gonna be dead. I guess what I'm trying to get at here is does anyone have an experience similar to this or an idea what we might be looking at? He's not been himself for months and I'll do whatever I have to not only to save him but give him the day to day comfort every cat deserves.
***Side note- I'm aware that switching food is a 5-7 process. I've done the slow transition many times but since he no longer wants to eat whatever he's currently on, he won't ingest the new food either. Also, I know that temptations may as well be heroin but sometimes it's all he'll eat. He hadn't had them in months but I bought a bag last week in a desperate attempt to get food into him. He never has a problem scarfing them down.
*******Another side note- I'm sorry about this ridiculously long post. I don't know what to do anymore.
