kitty not quite right...

My cat Whiskers is almost 10. Recently I have seen him having diarhea, and has vomited twice on the bed in the middle of the night. (He has hairballs occasionally, but this was entirely food, half-digested.) He has also lost some weight. His has occasional yellow eye discharge, and seems to not groom himself as well. Otherwise, he seems to act completely normal, chasing and loving and eating fine.

This has all occured gradually, so I finally took him to the vet. The vet checked him out and said it could be... lots of stuff at his age, so lets do a blood panel to narrow the field. He said it could also be inflamed bowel, which can happen at any time. We did bloodwork, and the only thing wrong is Thyroid, which he said was borderline at 2.7 (not sure what that means.) He has lost a pound and a half since September, from 12.5 to 11. He gave me a small oblong white pill to give him, 1 a day for a week then 1 every other day for a week. My poor baby HATES the vet, and hasn't taken kindly to us trying to get him to swallow a pill, so we "hide" it in a treat he eats, and that works, yet he salivates really badly afterwards.

I have no kids, just my two furr-babies, and it's been really hard seeing one of them not doing well. Anyone have any suggestions, just want to make sure we're not overlooking something?

Sorry I can't offer any good advice for you. But I wanted to say I hope that it all works out with your kitty. I know it must be hard to see your loved one aging.

You are in my thoughts.

it happens (I am told) frequently in older cats and it can affect their heart - make sure you have his heart checked - I just lost my Romeo to Heart disease and they say Thyroid and Heart disease can be linked - I'M NOT SAYING YOUR KIDDEN HAS HEART DISEASE THOUGH . But make sure they check it (EKG or MRI)- you need to know what it is - especially in an older kidden. I don't mean to upset you, but here is what happened to me - and just the stuff you said about the looking older kinda reminded me......

I had noticed that he was "looking older", but not acting any older. He was 11 or 12 - Kinda same as your cat. One morning I came down and he had Pooped in the middle of the hallway (not at all like him), and he was cowering in the corner. I thought he must be embarressed/upset that he pooped - but I called the vet anyway and said he's just not acting right. He said to keep an eye on him and if I feel the need, bring him in. Well I came home and he was fine and about a month passed without anything like that happening again. One morning, I woke up to him having a heart attack ( i dunno what they call it in kidden terms erithmia or something) right in front of me - 2 at home and 1 at the vet after I rushed him there and the first thing they did after stablizing him was check his thyroid to make sure it wasn't causing the irregular heart beat. Unfortunately it was not his thyroid, it was in fact his heart - he had no blood pressure at all. It had just given out and I had to put him to sleep. Now, according to the vet - my cat had this for quite some time, looking at the EKG's and the MRI (800 bucks later! doh!) and he was lucky to have lived as long as he did, so, he was a rare case.

Please - I'm not trying to scare you - It's just something to look into - when they get old - man, it can be scary! AND I DON'T MEAN TO SCARE YOU AT ALL. I hope your kidden is okay! Let us Know! Good Luck

Thanks for the reply, that is the kind of info I like to know about. I understand that I shouldn't over-react to your comments, I know yours was a rare case. I'll mention to the vet if he doesn't get better after the medication. Thanks Again!

Good Luck w/ your baby. I hope he feels better soon.

I know it's rough when a kitty is just not right and there's so many things that can cause it. I am unsure if the vet is treating for the thyroid or a possible infection of sorts. When the vet said that the thyroid level was borderline, they base the thyroids function on percents. It just means that you cats thyroid is okay right now, but right there at the limit. Which could mean thyroid problems as he ages. If the vet did the blood work, then it rules out most of the seroius problems. I would also along with an EKG ask about an ultrasound to make sure there are no growths anywhere that they can't see. There's also a chance he is not digesting his food as well as he used to. You can try switching to a smaller kibble and a food meant for older cats. With the pills, I would ask the vet for a pill gun. It keeps the fingers from getting bit. The reason he is salivating is because he is actually chewing the medication.
I hope he is feeling better soon

HOW'S KIDDEN?!?~!?

We were out of town for a week, my mom came by and fed him the pill a couple of times. He seems happy and very glad to see us back! He didn't leave any suprises on the floors, so that's good. I will let you know more after I get a few days to see how he's doing.

I do have an strange coincidence... As those of you have read, my kidden has been having diarrhea... As it turns out, so had my hubby for a week, and just when he was getting better, then I have had it for a week. Could it be we got it from the kitty or he got it from us? I know that's highly unlikely, but isn't that weird?

You never know - I'd ask the vet - never hurts to ask - anyway glad your kidden is okay and hope you guys are feelin better@!

If you've been reading my saga, please help me with this.

Well, now that we have been home a week, and we finished giving the medication, Whiskers still seems kinda blah. In the evenings, he sits on his haunches (we call it sittin' "meat-loaf", taken from an old B. Kliban cartoon). on the floor, in the room, yet off away from everything. Usually, this is the cat that like sitting as high as he can get, lies on his side and hangs all 4 feet off. But he hasn't done that in about 2 months.

His haws seem to show a tad more. His eyes don't seem as bright. He's not grooming as well. I tried to brush him, which he tolerated, but he doesn't want his belly or hind quarters held. He meowed like he was annoyed by this.

I guess I need to call the vet again?

Yes, I would set up a trip to the vet. I would ask them to do some bloodwork and check his total body function. What you describe are all symtoms of not feeling well and something is going on.

Thanks Sadie,

He has already had bloodwork done, as mentioned in my first post. Nothing came back abnormal, except the vet said his Thyroid was boarderline. That's what I don't understand, what could it be?

i just lost my beloved cat sox. and have done so much reading and researching on the net to make sure i know everything i can to ensure the long healthy lives of my other 6 furry children. when the blood work was done, are you sure the vet checked for everything?? take him back to the vet. there is deinately something wrong. go to another vet. my sox was at the vet enough they knew him. sox was slow, unbalanced, did not land on feet if we accidently stepped on his tail he would just sit there. he'd always been like that. our vet knew. i read on the net, if your cats unbalanced, go to the vet fast! somethings wrong somewhere! sox died of liver failure 03/17/02 he was amost 3. just as doctors are wrong sometimes, vets are too! Please get a second opinion. hope your baby will be okay. i love all cats!

one more thing. the day sox died, he did not want us to rub anywhere except his head. to pet him any where else seemed to cause discomfort and pain. my best wishes to you. i pray your baby makes it.

i just lost my beloved cat sox. and have done so much reading and researching on the net to make sure i know everything i can to ensure the long healthy lives of my other 6 furry children. when the blood work was done, are you sure the vet checked for everything?? take him back to the vet. there is deinately something wrong. go to another vet. my sox was at the vet enough they knew him. sox was slow, unbalanced, did not land on feet if we accidently stepped on his tail he would just sit there. he'd always been like that. our vet knew. i read on the net, if your cats unbalanced, go to the vet fast! somethings wrong somewhere! sox died of liver failure 03/17/02 he was amost 3. just as doctors are wrong sometimes, vets are too! Please get a second opinion. hope your baby will be okay. i love all cats!

I know they did the bloodwork, but if there's something not quite right, they usually test every 4 to 6 weeks to track any changes. I would do it so that you feel that everything in your power has been done to try and help him.
It's also possible that he is feeling some effects of age. Unfortunatley there's not a whole lot you can do to help that one. Maybe he's feeling a little more stiff in the joints. That can be helped with a suppliment you can get through the vet called cosequin. It's possible he is not seeing as well or hearing as well. Sometimes it helps to keep light on when it's dark and give them a little extra attention. I would make an effort to write down or keep track of even subtle changes in his routine. This way you have a good idea of how his habits are changing and you can report them to the vet.