Hello Everyone I Need Help pls read

HI all

I'm in need of some help.
I have a 16yr old burmese boy.I've had him since he was 3months and he's been nutered since he was 6months.
He has always been healthy never any problems other than a cherry eye.
Well He has started lossing weight.We took him to the vet b/c he is starving 24/7 you can feed him 5-15mins later he is attacking you to feed him again.We first thought it may have been thyroid over active well we had the test done and a complete blood test for anything else the thyroid was borderline but not high enough for meds or should not be giving him a problem this was month ago he had the test.He is only weighing maybe 7lbs he comes from an old line of burmese so he is bigger than the burmese today he use to weigh about 12-13 lbs so he looks like he is starving to death and has never been feed.It's like he has forgot he ate I don't know if that is possiable but the vet wants to recheck his thyroid which will be this week now in the past 2 days he has forgotten where the litter pan is.This is something this cat has never ever done he has used a litter pan since he was a baby for him to go on the floor blew my mind.I know its not he fault at all something is wrong and I can't seem to help him the poor baby really acts like he starving but he eats fine and he has normal stools I think his mind has goneits like he has forgotten.Has anyone ever had this problem this is a first for me.Your input is appreciated.
Thanks
fran

I am soo sorry you and your baby are going through this - you need to call your vet again explain that thing are getting worse and that he needs help. Don;t let them write him off as old - he has all the right for help as a younger cat.

..and if you are not satisfied go seek a second opinion - we humands do don't we!!

All the best to you and your sweety

Please call the vet back... I may not have read right but did they do a senior panel??

Hi Fran,

I'm sorry to hear about your senior fellow. With my oldster Patrick, his thyroid tests kept coming back normal then higher normal then high normal...in other words there was a trend up, so we went ahead and treated him with medication for hyperthyroidism and it did the trick (he was doing some night howling as well as losing weight, both can be symptoms of Hyper-Thyroidism).

It is also not unsual at this age for a cat to develop some issues with their kidneys - please, if not yet done, as Sharky suggested get a full senior panel along with the retest of the thyroid to see how kidney function is, as well as ask for a urinalysis to check the concentration (specific gravity) of the urine. One marker of chronic kidney failure is dilute urine and a lower than norm specific gravity of the urine.

If it is crf, there are many members here, including me, who can share how we've treated our kitties and extended their lives, share tips and resource websites.

Thanks for your input.
We had a complete cbc.Everything was normal actuallyy the dr could'nt belive for his age he had absolutely not one problem his thyroid was borderline high that was it but I have to wait till wed to take him back b/c I'm not allowed to drive anymore due to health problems so I have to wait for my ride.it just has gotten so crazy he tries to bite you but its all out of hunger but with all that he cant sit still when he's running back and fourth crying at same time he'll stop and kneed u to death he is a sweet heart has always been a big love.It's like he has ants in his pants.But I think it's b/c he thinks he's hungary but who am i to say he's not lol Hopefully we can fix him up like new.Get him back to being the fat cat

Originally Posted by sbdgn

Thanks for your input.
We had a complete cbc.Everything was normal actuallyy the dr could'nt belive for his age he had absolutely not one problem his thyroid was borderline high that was it but I have to wait till wed to take him back b/c I'm not allowed to drive anymore due to health problems so I have to wait for my ride.it just has gotten so crazy he tries to bite you but its all out of hunger but with all that he cant sit still when he's running back and fourth crying at same time he'll stop and kneed u to death he is a sweet heart has always been a big love.It's like he has ants in his pants.But I think it's b/c he thinks he's hungary but who am i to say he's not lol Hopefully we can fix him up like new.Get him back to being the fat cat

Click to expand...

Glad you can take him back on Wednesday. If a complete cbc plus thyroid is all he had done, it only tells his hemaglobin (Hgb) and Hematocrit (whether or not he's anemic) and shows white blood cell count and can show indications the cat is fighting an infection. It doesn't check the cat's blood chemistry - his sodium, glucose levels, nor does it check kidney function - creatinine, Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) etc.

So....on Wednesday, ask for this kind of blood panel - senior panels will not only check blood chemistry but kidney and liver functions

Since all cats are individuals, what's true for one may not be true for another.
What I mean by that is this: your cat has tested borderline high for a thyroid problem. In my cat, for example, borderline high may not cause her to exhibit symptoms. But maybe in your cat, borderline high is high enough for him to be showing that he is in fact, having thyroid trouble.

I agree with Pat & Alix that a full senior bloodwork panel should be done to get as clear a picture as possible. Also speak to your vet about the possibility of trying a thyroid med to see if it helps your boy.

The behavioral changes you mention concern me a little (biting, not using the litterbox) - what did your vet think about this?

Hope you'll soon be able to help your boy feel better.

Hi Fran,

Borderline T4 levels are not the same for senior cats.
The normal reference range is 0.8-4.0. If your cat's is 2.5 or over it probably is hypert.

In senoir cats 2.5 is considered high normal not 4.0. Do you know what your cats T4 level is? Since your kitty has all the signs of hypert I would have your vet run a Free T4 test by Equilibrium Dialysis, as this is the most accurate test for hypert.

One of my cats had a T4 of 1.4 Low [0.8-4.0] but still had all the signs of hypert and all his bloodwork was fine, but due to my research I insisted and argued with my vet to run a Free T4 by ED . She kept saying he wasn't hypert but ran it anyway. The Free T4 by ED came back 79 High [ref range 10-50]. She said she had never seen that happen before. Now he will always get a Free T4 with his regular bloodwork.
Now he's on Tapazole and his T4 is 0.8 [Low] and Free T4 is 22 [Normal].

Hope this Helps

I'm so sorry you're going through this...
Did the vet do a stool check? Perhaps there are worms?
I really hope you can figure out how to make him feel better and be healthy again.

My first cat Mitten had similar signs - at age 13. Lost 1/2 his weight, was a "walking skeleton" and ate but it just seemed to go thru him no matter how much you fed him.

The vet diagnosed fast acting cancer thru out his body. We made the painful decision then to let him go peacefully then to load him up with tests, radiation, medicine, etc.

Your burmese may have cancer. I hope you make the right decision for what is best

Hi
Wow weird u should say that.I'm so glad you wrote.
I'm don't belive this is cancer and neither does the vet and everything doesnt go through him.But I had to put my other boy down about 2-3yrs ago no one could tell us what was wrong with him they thought he had colon cancer but to test the colon would have killed him b/c all blood work was normal but that was so bad and can't even compare what i went through with him.He was 12yrs old he had such bad stomach craps and had diarrhe so bad he went too 2 vets and a specialist noone could tell us what was wrong but they would say they thought it was cancer but the only way to find out since the test they did showed nothing was to open his bowels to test which he probably would die so we didnt do that and had no choice but to let him go and stop his suffering.But it killed us b/c noone knew 4 sure what he had and when u said that it reminded me of him.That was a very bad he would have spasms in the litter pan and it was the worst thing you could image.The first vet thought he had over active thyroid we evn medicated him and it did nothing that i belive was cancer.I think my old man has overactive thyroid but the vet does'nt think so but I think he will change his mind when he sees how bad he's gotten in a month with his hunger.
Thanks 4 your reply

How does his teeth look??? My senior is 17 and he is good at the last vet check but always wants his food dish full of dry plus I give him a good amount of moist in the am (he reminds me) He also has lost weight but is still around 10-11 #.
Have you tried KMR (for kittens) but all my cats seemed to like it!! I don't know if you mentioned if his kidney function was good as I don't know offhand what the protein content of KMR is.