Kitty acting strangely

I came to post on the board tonight to see if anyone had any ideas....I have been at my wits end for a over a week now and finally broke down tonight and just held her and bawled my eyes out.

She has been slowly losing weight, first I thought it was because of the extreme heat we've been having, BUT we have central air, so its very comfortable in here.

She has always had a cronic itchy ear problem, some vets say its just allergies, yesterday I said enough, and took her to a new vet who said she had a yeast infection, gave her some ear drops and a steriod shot for the itchys. (first time shes had a steroid shot) I told her that she hasnt been eating well for a week now, she will just barely pick at her food, no matter what it is...Ive tried even bribing her with ice cream, hot dogs, tuna, anything that she likes just to get her to eat.

The vet told me that the steroid shot would increase her appetite, which I havent seen yet...the vet didnt seem to be too concerned that shes not been eating well.

She was to get her update on rabies and distemper, but the vet said to wait till she was feeling better, as it would just break down her immune system.

She has never showed any signs of worms, so I havent wormed her in 2 years, 2 years ago my friend had a cat in the house who had worms, so we wormed everyone just in case.

Shes had these ear problems for what seems like forever, the problem just keeps comeing back.

Her coat is very shiney and clean.

She just doesnt seem to have an appetite, Ive seen her eat up to 10 kernels of food twice a day (yes Ive been watching) Ive gotten rid of the plastic bowls, Ive seen her drink a couple times a day, not going potty as much as normal, Im thinking this is because of the amount of food intake?

This cat will follow me from room to room, if I call her she will come running, but shes not done either of these for some time either.

I called my sister tonight to see if she had any ideas as she has 4 kitties, she said to buy her a can of baby food chicken flavor, and a bag of kitten chow with the milk coating to see if they will stimulate her into eating.

Does anyone have any simular experience with a kitty acting this way?

Brie

I did have a similar problem with my cat last month--at least the not eating, but my cat was also gagging and throwing up. I brought him in to a good cat-only clinic and he was prescribed antibiotics and there were difficulties with the medications and actually 2 more visits including overnight stays and some IV feeding, but he did get better eventhough the vets were not able to tell me what was wrong with him.

If your cat is not eating, your cat may be becoming dehydrated. Perhaps you should give your vet a call and explain that you are concerned about the loss of appetite and want to make sure that your cat is not dehydrated.

With my cat, they were able to give him subcutaneous fluids when I first brought him in. If you are not familiar with this term, subcutaneous fluids are given in the scruff of your cat's neck and does not seem to bother them at all. Dehydration is something to avoid if you can. Also, if your vet believes that it is a good idea to attempt to syringe feed your cat until it is willing to eat on it's own, please ask your vet about a prescription canned food manufactured by Hill's called a/d. It is very soft and rich in calories and my cat found it highly palatable (and he generally does not like canned food). Also, ask if they can furnish you with a syringe that they use in the clinic to force feed cats and ask for some instruction on force feeding. They will likely be delighted at your thouroughness and concern for your cat and should be happy to oblige.

Darlin, you need to have your vet actually examine this kitty and do complete blood and urine labs to determine what the problem is. Cats don't just "not eat" for a week without there being some cause for it.

If you think something is really wrong, it probably is. Don't wait another moment, call the vet back and get her in for lab work.

Please let us know how you get along,

Gaye

Update...

I went out and bought her chicken baby food which she turned up her nose to lol, and also bought her Science Diet for the sensitive skin, I thought that would help with the itchies she constantly has...and she tore right into it and has been pigging out on it...yeah!!! But she still is sleeping alot, and has increased urination and drinking of water now, Im hoping its because of the steroid shot *crossing fingers*

Was talking to a friend about my kitty, and she asked if we have gotten our gas checked lately...when I said no, she said to have the gas company come out and check to make sure we didnt have any gas leaks. Well this morning I called them and they came right out and told us we had several gas leaks and shut our gas off.

I dont know if this would have any effect as to how kitty is, but I called my vet and told her I wanted to bring her in and have her urine and blood work done up. Kitty goes in first thing in the morning, and I have a list of whats been going on since the visit.

Tonight Ive been searching alot on the internet and keep seeing Leukemia....although shes not had contact with a cat for 2 years, and hasnt been outside for 4 years.

She does have these signs all pointing to it...maybe Im just too pessimistic....

chronic recurring infections (ear infections?)
decreased appetite
excessive drinking/urination
weight loss
jaundice (I noticed tonight her ears looked a little yellow)

If you could keep your fingers crossed Id sure appreciate it...and to the powers that be thank you for making this forum, where we can come and rattle off about our kids and noone thinks were strange.

Brie aka Lisa

I hope your baby is all right. It sounds to me that the gas leak could definitely have affected her. Following up with the vet is a great idea. I hope you get some answers with the tests. Stay positive and our prayers are with you and your kitty.

I'm very curious to see how this turns out, sounds like a gas leak is most likely the culprit! If not, consider heart disease as a possibility. The primary symptoms are elevated heart rate, loss of energy, and lack of appetite. Probably a longshot, but if you find her blood tests are normal, wouldn't hurt to ask. More than likely, they would do a heart x-ray and look at its shape (heart disease kitties' hearts are shaped like an actual heart--triangular).

Good luck and keep us posted!
Summer

Whew thats over. Thank you everyone for thinking of us and keeping us in your prayers. We made it to the vet, mommy was a wreck and cried most the way there. *blush*

Got in there and the vet looked at us funny because we werent supposed to be there for another week. I explained the gas leak to her, and updated her on Kizmet really liking the Science Diet and eating well, told her that she was urinating and drinking more, and that her stools were small and dry, she said that would be because of her being dehydrated.

She took her off and drew blood, which was very traumatic for Kizmet (never had this done before) and she was not happy about it. I asked the vet if this would cover alot of things and she said yes, I asked her if it would cover Leukemia (as this was my big worry) she said no but she could check her for that too, and I said yes.

Well 10 mins later she called us into her office and the good news is, everything is normal, other then one of them,(cant remember which) and she said that it was a bit higher then normal and probably due to the gas leak, and that if I had mine checked too I would probably be high as well...she said it would be the equivelent of having a drink.

The Leukemia test was negative (big relief), I asked if possibly worms caused this, and she said no, I was trying to think of anything.

The bad news is, Im just lost as to how this all started. She (vet) thinks its just her allergies and the gas combination.

But she gave Kizmet her booster rabies and distemper and out the door we went

Hello Brie,

Glad everything is looking up! Such a good thing that you had your gas checked--I have heard that cats are more sensitive to the affects of toxins so it makes sense that your cat felt the affects before you did. Hope the food helps clear up the skin. Thanks for keeping us all updated.

Lynn