It has been a long time since I've been on these forums because things have been relatively drama free in my cat filled household but I'm back and need help.
Unfortunately my 10 year old DSH has been losing weight over the last few weeks. I noticed she was getting skinny, that I could feel her hip bones and spine, that she wasn't cleaning herself well anymore, so off we went to the vet. $400 worth of testing determined she needed some dental work, but that she was disease free with a healthy thyroid and liver.
Last Tuesday we took her in and she had 4 teeth extracted. They sent her home with some pain meds and we assumed it was all uphill from there.
In the days after surgery she showed an interest in food, but wasn't eating much. We gave her Friskies canned food, Feline Rescue canned food, Tuna fish, anything we could find that she might eat. She was still drinking water without a problem, and she would lick the juice from the tuna or the canned food, but she started shying away from eating the actual meat pieces. At most she was eating maybe 3/4 of a can of soft food over the course of a day, and now we're lucky to get her to eat 1/4 of a can. She has started shaking her head, and sticking her tongue out when she tries to eat. She still has a will to eat, and is happy and friendly, but it seems to be too uncomfortable for her to eat.
Prior to surgery she weighed just under 10 lbs, yesterday she was down to 8lbs 6 oz.
We took her back to the vet today and they looked at her extraction sites. 3 are well healed while 1 looks a bit pinker. I'd like to think that this is causing the discomfort, inability to eat, and that some more pain meds, b12, and an anti inflammatory will have her right as rain in no time.
The vet mentioned taking her to a specialist to look for lymphoma though and that has me quite concerned.
I know it's hard to diagnose a cat long distance, but do her symptoms seem consistent with lymphoma? Is there something else we should be looking for or trying?
~Heidi
Unfortunately my 10 year old DSH has been losing weight over the last few weeks. I noticed she was getting skinny, that I could feel her hip bones and spine, that she wasn't cleaning herself well anymore, so off we went to the vet. $400 worth of testing determined she needed some dental work, but that she was disease free with a healthy thyroid and liver.
Last Tuesday we took her in and she had 4 teeth extracted. They sent her home with some pain meds and we assumed it was all uphill from there.
In the days after surgery she showed an interest in food, but wasn't eating much. We gave her Friskies canned food, Feline Rescue canned food, Tuna fish, anything we could find that she might eat. She was still drinking water without a problem, and she would lick the juice from the tuna or the canned food, but she started shying away from eating the actual meat pieces. At most she was eating maybe 3/4 of a can of soft food over the course of a day, and now we're lucky to get her to eat 1/4 of a can. She has started shaking her head, and sticking her tongue out when she tries to eat. She still has a will to eat, and is happy and friendly, but it seems to be too uncomfortable for her to eat.
Prior to surgery she weighed just under 10 lbs, yesterday she was down to 8lbs 6 oz.
We took her back to the vet today and they looked at her extraction sites. 3 are well healed while 1 looks a bit pinker. I'd like to think that this is causing the discomfort, inability to eat, and that some more pain meds, b12, and an anti inflammatory will have her right as rain in no time.
The vet mentioned taking her to a specialist to look for lymphoma though and that has me quite concerned.
I know it's hard to diagnose a cat long distance, but do her symptoms seem consistent with lymphoma? Is there something else we should be looking for or trying?
~Heidi