i think my cat is ill

Well it is actually my brothers cat, we are watching over him since my brother is in Iraq. Mavrick (the cat) has always been kind of a mean kitty, cant be pet for too long other wise he will bite, over stimulation i guess. Before my bro let us watch him, my brother noticed that Mavrick was acting strange... drinking lots of water and peeing for a long amount of time. Well anyways since we have been watching him, he was the same old cat... since he is comfertable around me i leave him upstairs with plenty of water and he is feed every day, he would eat all of his food and was perfectly normal. My mom wanted to get him around the house so he wasnt trapped upstairs for a long time. Well we let him roam the house and he got to know the other cats, but recently i have noticed that he isnt Mavrick anymore. I held onto his tail just to see if i can get arise out of him and nothing, he doesnt look when you call his name, he just lays on the bathroom floor, and now he is in the bathtub, just laying down. His eyelids the sideway ones... are half shut, my brother also noticed him being a little more boney than normal and well he looks just like crap. He is getting old and my bro told me not to tell him if anything happend to his cat until he gets back since that was his roomate and he doesnt want the stress of thinking about his lil buddy mavrick being gone. I was just wondering if he is sick or maybe depression hit him. VERY SORRY for the long post i tried to give as many details as i could and hopefully i can get some good answers. I hope he is alright, ive known him for a long time myself, and he just started to get along with me. Thanks for the help

It sounds like classic signs of hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroid cats are usually older and boney. They often drink lots of water and pee a lot. At first, they may eat more, but after a while they may stop eating altogether. No matter how much they eat, they usually lose weight. Sometimes, their third eyelids come out (Spot's usually were).

Hyperthyroidism is treatable. It is diagnosed through blood tests. I would recommend asking your vet for either a senior panel or a thyroid panel. Hyperthyroidism can be treated in one of several ways, the most common being with medication (usually methimazole/Tapazole). Untreated, it can cause heart and kidney damage, so it is important to treat the cat for the disease.

There are several conditions that can cause an older kitty to become thinner, listless, increased drinking, increased peeing.

To find out which, you need to take Mavrick to a vet and get an exam and bloodwork...check the thyroid, check for diabetes, check for chronic renal failure. All 3 can be dealt with so that perhaps your brother can come home to his cat still being here.

Also diabetes would be something to check for!

I agree! Please take him in to get checked out.