18 Year Old Male Part Maine Coon Has Lost A Lot Of Weight

[big al]

Our 18 year old male has over the last year lost a lot of weight and presently cannot keep food down. He drinks plenty of water and has an appetite but it comes right back up. Major diarrhea too. He sleeps most of the day but seems to not be in pain when he is up. The vet is closed for the weekend and we wonder what we can give him to settle his tummy. Thanks ahead of time.

 

[abyeb]

I'm so sorry you and your kitty are going through this. I think this could be caused by some intestinal parasites, when was the last time he was dewormed? Will you be able to take him to the vet first thing on Monday? You could also take him to another vet now too.

Fingers crossed for your kitty!

 

[big al]

We are hoping that is the problem. We are in a small town and all vets are closed. I forgot to mention that he has been an inside cat his entire life and I have left a message with the vet telling her that I will be there first thing Monday morning. My wife bought some Pedialyte that we will mix a little in his water to see if that helps. The picture is of him and his sister. He is the grey and white one on the right. He's a lot thinner now.

She passed over last year and he hasn't been the same since and neither have we. He is acting just like she did before she left us. Thanks for the reply. I will update this thread.

 

[abyeb]

Good idea on the pedialyte, that will help with dehydration. Something else you can try is actually KMR (kitten milk replacement), which is usually given to kittens whose mother is unable to feed them, but I've heard that it can be given to cats who need to gain weight. I'm sorry to hear about the passing of your beautiful girl . Your boy is so handsome. What's his name? I'll be praying for a fast recovery for him.

 

[big al]

His name is Socks and her name is Lilbit. We just gave him some Turkey and Broth baby food. He really lapped that up. We'll see if he can keep it down. It's been about 15 minutes. Thanks again and the prayers are welcomed. My wife went for some of the baby kitty milk now.

 

[Lalka]

Two beautiful cats. Sorry about your baby girl Why did Lilbit died? sorry to ask...but they were brother and sister so could it be the same disease?

 

[big al]

The vet said that Lilbit had a tumor on her digestive tract that was not operative. But she was barely alive at the time of the xray. Before that the vet was treating her for an infection. It was two weeks from the time we took her in until they took the xray. She suffered for two weeks.
Now, here's the other part of the story. About two months before she got sick the city came down the street spraying Roundup on the curbs and cracks in the sidewalks. The wind blew some of it onto our yard killing every plant in one part of my wife's garden. I researched to see if it was harmful to cats and found out it can cause tumors of the digestive tract. I suppose that we unknowingly carried some of that poison into our house on our clothes and shoes. I BELIEVE THAT'S WHAT KILLED LILBIT. I went down to the city hall and raised h*ll so much that the mayor came out of his office and took me back into the office to calm me down. The Chief of police came too. As I finished explaining the dangers of Roundup, and as I was leaving he told me "I don't believe in all that environmental stuff".
I'm not happy with the vet or the city. We are getting a new vet and I have heard she is real good. This time I want an xray first to rule out any tumors and such. If there are none then maybe he can be treated for an infection or disease. Lilbit and Socks are our closest friends for the 13 years that we have had them. My wife and I are home bodies and I will not let him suffer like Lilbit did. Socks is my best buddy. You can see more pics of them in my profile album. The pic of Socks on the bed was taken after Lilbit died.

 

[valentine319]

We'll be hoping it's something easy to treat. Hoping socks gets better soon

 

[Lalka]

I heard about the Roundup stories...Pretty sure i watched a documentary on it. While im trying to seed wild flowers for the bees to be healthy, there is neighbors who want their grass green and perfectly cut.... so annoying! Please Big Al, dont get in trouble...you still have a cat and what about fostering or adopting another one? Keep fighting the city...are they still doing the spraying?

 

[big al]

We are like your neighbors that annoy you. I grass is always neat and trimmed BUT my wife's garden is all flowers and plants that draw bees of all kinds, butterflies, Hummingbirds, moths and etc. We have a birdbath that draws a number of varieties of birds.
I don't know about the spraying but the lady across the street is the city clerk. She said I made myself perfectly clear to not spray near us. I haven't seen the spray truck anywhere. Here's a pic of our house and yard. The part in the lower right corner of the pic is what the Roundup killed. Everything except the Crepe Myrtle was dead. By the way, both of our cats came from a shelter. We could not separate them. They were in the womb together. Thanks for your reply.

 

[lavishsqualor]

Your yard is beautiful. I actually grew up in a small eastern Arkansas town, about forty five minutes from Memphis, TN. Please update us on your cat's condition.

 

[big al]

Your yard is beautiful. I actually grew up in a small eastern Arkansas town, about forty five minutes from Memphis, TN. Please update us on your cat's condition.

Thanks for the reply and concern. Socks will not eat anything. Last night we tried to get him to eat several different flavors of what he has liked for years. Some of the following he ate yesterday afternoon but not overnight and not this morning: Baby food, KMR, and pedialyte. Plus he pooped in the washroom between the washer and the water heater. As far as we know he has never done that. We are at wits end on what to do until tomorrow morning when the vets office is open. He meows like he's trying to tell us something but we have done all we can think of.

 

[weemomma]

Just hold on. If he has the will, give him the chance.

Try some beef baby food. Get it into him any way possible. The danger with if boys like yours is hepatic lipidosis. That is a beast of a whole other color. I lost my big boy to that three years ago in less than 4 days.

Until you can get to a vet, love him and let him know he's not alone.

 

[abyeb]

Can you try feeding him the pedialyte and KMR through a syringe?

 

[big al]

Until you can get to a vet, love him and let him know he's not alone.

One he has always had and that it lots of love and we get it in return. I got him to drink (lick) a little of the KMR this morning.

 

[big al]

Can you try feeding him the pedialyte and KMR through a syringe?

We will try that. Thanks.

 

[EggSandwich]

One he has always had and that it lots of love and we get it in return. I got him to drink (lick) a little of the KMR this morning.

Socks looks like a tough guy, he'll make it through this.

Until the vet visit, try and get as much food into him as possible. You may have to resort to a syringe if he won't lap up anything himself.
Make sure you put whatever liquid you're feeding him in his cheek pouch (on the far left or right side of his mouth.) If you try the middle,he'll spit it back out. You don't have to get it all in at once! There are plenty of videos on YouTube of how to syringe feed a cat or administer liquid medication to a cat. (They're the same concept, what is in the syringe is the difference)
I wish you good luck!

 

[big al]

Socks looks like a tough guy, he'll make it through this.

Until the vet visit, try and get as much food into him as possible. You may have to resort to a syringe if he won't lap up anything himself.
Make sure you put whatever liquid you're feeding him in his cheek pouch (on the far left or right side of his mouth.) If you try the middle,he'll spit it back out. You don't have to get it all in at once! There are plenty of videos on YouTube of how to syringe feed a cat or administer liquid medication to a cat. (They're the same concept, what is in the syringe is the difference)
I wish you good luck!

He's completely deaf. He has a hard time seeing things. He keeps going to the place where the cat box was years ago and he doesn't look now like he does in the above photo. He has lost a lot of weight. He does lap up the KMR and he'll keep it down for a while then throw it up. This is breaking our hearts but we don't want him to suffer like his sister did. I will make a decision after the vet sees him and it will depend on the long term effectiveness of any medication she wants to try but it might be time to let go. This hits very hard because I had to make the decision to pull the plug on my 19 year old son in 1987. This is almost as hard of a decision to have to make. Socks has been my bud for 13 years (they were 5 when we got them at the shelter) I'll update tomorrow. Also, as we speak my middle son and his wife are driving to Victoria, Texas to see if there's anything left of their house after Hurricane Harvey. Harvey stayed right over their house for almost two days. I'll give an update on that too. Thanks everyone.

 

[EggSandwich]

He's completely deaf. He has a hard time seeing things. He keeps going to the place where the cat box was years ago and he doesn't look now like he does in the above photo. He has lost a lot of weight. He does lap up the KMR and he'll keep it down for a while then throw it up. This is breaking our hearts but we don't want him to suffer like his sister did. I will make a decision after the vet sees him and it will depend on the long term effectiveness of any medication she wants to try but it might be time to let go. This hits very hard because I had to make the decision to pull the plug on my 19 year old son in 1987. This is almost as hard of a decision to have to make. Socks has been my bud for 13 years (they were 5 when we got them at the shelter) I'll update tomorrow. Also, as we speak my middle son and his wife are driving to Victoria, Texas to see if there's anything left of their house after Hurricane Harvey. Harvey stayed right over their house for almost two days. I'll give an update on that too. Thanks everyone.

I'm very sorry to hear that, Al. I would definitely see what the vet has to say, and my prayers go out to you and Socks.

 

[lavishsqualor]

Don't let him go without food. If he won't eat it on his own then it's time to syringe feed him. My thoughts are with you, Socks and the rest of your family.