We took in a lost cat 5 months ago. She is clearly domesticated but Animal Control couldn't find her owner, so she's our precious, sweet pet now. We've tried to help her gain weight and get healthy. She started at 5+ pounds but is now down to just over 4 pounds. Our vet believes she is about 6 years old. She has a consistently good appetite, drinks frequently, and urinates and poops regularly. But she vomits several times a week and is very lethargic. Only cleans her self a bit after eating. She tested negative for leukemia, feline AIDS, FIP, thyroid disease and her blood work does not indicate that there's cancer. She walks and moves fairly gingerly and her eyes have become rather runny. We've recently started her on a novel protein raw diet (rabbit) and are hoping we can get her better. But she has her vet and us stumped. Any ideas? Thank you:-)
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Mystery cat
- Thread starter kittynj
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Runny eyes can be a symptom of a uri. When my cat one he lost some weight. Might want to have the vet check her out.
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Is the fluid from her eyes clear or colored?
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Is her blood sugar normal?
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Does she vomit after eating? Does it look like food?
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I would ask the vet to do blood work to check her thyroid and her blood glucose. You might also need to do a urinalysis for the glucose. Also, how are her teeth? If she needs some dental work, that could cause decreased appetite and that leads to weight loss.
The runny eyes could be from airborne allergies. You could ask the vet about an antihistamine. However, the walking gingerly would be a concern for me. X-rays might help determine if she has some arthritis going on. You could give her Cosequin to help with arthritis.
The runny eyes could be from airborne allergies. You could ask the vet about an antihistamine. However, the walking gingerly would be a concern for me. X-rays might help determine if she has some arthritis going on. You could give her Cosequin to help with arthritis.
There other thing that can affect gait is an old injury that healed by itself (without veterinary attention)
I had such a cat growing up. She walked with a bit of a wobble because her hind leg healed wrong before we got her.
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Thanks so much for all of your insights! The help is much appreciated:-) The vet checked both her thyroid and glucose levels and said they don't indicate thyroid disease or diabetes. (I asked specifically about both, since her symptoms seemed to point to one or the other.) Her levels show her to be dehydrated even though she drinks quite a lot. She has a hearty appetite and keeps down most of her food, but doesn't gain weight. They didn't seem to see any dental issues, but she's not a fan of anyone holding her mouth open for long, lol. Occasionally, she has thrown up chunks of food, but that's not been a regular occurrence. Every few days (or sometimes once a day) she will vomit at night, and it's just bile. I started getting up between midnight and three a.m. to put food in her bowl so that she wouldn't go with an empty stomach all night. The vet did radio graphs on kitty and she didn't see any arthritis in her. That's partially how they determined her to be only around 6 years old, because her spine didn't have any signs of arthritis/aging. It's so hard seeing her struggling and so lethargic and nothing seems to work:-(
Did they check her kidneys? Kidney issues can cause "drink a lot eat a little" symptoms.
Also could have an infection somewhere but her white blood cell count would probably be elevated
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As for not gaining weight. Has a fecal test been done recently? She might have a parasite infestation. Even indoor cats can get them if a mosquito comes through an opened window.
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A fecal test was done when we first got her, but maybe we should try again. She was given a three week course of antibiotics as a preventative to de-worm, even though the test was clear of worms. Maybe she needs another round...
