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Hi all, first post with this account but a long time reader. Hoping someone can give me something to work with, here.
I have 2 cats, one is about 10 and the other, Mau, just turned 15. About a month ago when I was in finals in school doing 13 hour days I noticed he was looking a bit ragged, like he hadn't been grooming regularly. He then developed diarrhea pretty badly (hitting the side of the dome litter box, ugh) and began losing weight rapidly. He went from around 15 pounds to 12 pounds in a couple of weeks. He is not vomiting. He began to lose interest in food and became listless. For awhile, he'd eat treats and special things like chicken if I hand fed him, but after awhile he simply refused to eat at all. He'd lick at food and chew it up some and then spit it out, and look at me for more. Eventually he just gave up on it entirely.
I took him in to the vet and he had a full senior wellness blood panel and his urine was tested. Everything came back normal - I was concerned about renal failure but there's no evidence of it. His temperature and other vitals are all normal. He's obviously skinny, but on palpation the vet felt no abnormalities. She gave him metronidazole for a week for the diarrhea and a small dose of pepcid AC to counteract any stomach discomfort, which didn't seem to help, and his appetite dwindled to nothing no matter what I offered him. He began to lick his lips somewhat frequently and sit up close facing the wall, which is odd behavior for him. At this point he was still drinking water normally (not excessively), but still felt a bit dehydrated so I began giving him subcutaneous fluids (about 150-200ml/day) just to help counteract any fluid loss from the diarrhea.
We went back to the vet, and the did an x-ray of is body cavities. She said there was some minor moss of definition, but no masses and everything looked normal to her. She sent him home with mirtazapine and a/d food to stimulate his appetite. As far as I can tell, the medicine just made him really stoned. Huge pupils, staggering when he walked, staring into the fireplace. He DID eat a bit after the first dose, not as much as normal but a decent amount, but then stopped again when the dose wore off in 3 days. I dosed him again to no effect.
At this point, his diarrhea has stopped for the most part (he sometimes has loose stools but it's not explosive and frequent like it was, and it's been normal more often than not), but his appetite is zero. I mix the a/d with some water and syringe feed him a can to a can and a half over the course of the day, which he absolutely hates me for. He's urinating normally (he had a crystal blockage about 10 years back so I'm always paranoid about that reappearing), he's not messing himself, no vomiting at all. He's just not eating and he's starting to not drink water, either (that I've been seeing). I haven't been giving him subQ fluids for the past several days, he's a little dehydrated but nothing really concerning (he gets s lot of fluid in the syringe feeding). He lays in the same spot all day, doesn't clean himself, isn't affectionate and seems to have trouble walking steadily like he's weak in the hind legs. To be fair, he's a rough old guy and he's showed a little progressive weakness in the hind quarters over the last few years, so I'm not sure if it looks worse now just because he's weak and exhausted in general, or not.
I'm at a loss. I haven't changed his diet, and my other cat is just fine. I make them overnight apart with separate litter boxes so I can monitor what Mau does, but the other kitty is as spiffy as ever.
Mau has some dental issues that I haven't been able to afford to get taken care of yet, but it's nothing super severe and it seems odd that he'd deteriorate this fast from something like that, which is what my vet is suggesting. He's not drooling and I'm not noticing any increased or abnormal shyness about his mouth. She's also suggesting an ultrasound, but I'm not sure I can cover that, either, and she seems unconvinced that she'd actually find anything.
The last 2 days he's gone from skinny and empty in the middle to looking kind of swollen...but he continues to void normally.
Anyone have an idea what could cause this decline when everything seems to be checking out so far? I'm at my wits end over here. Could it really be something as simple as a toothache? =/
I have 2 cats, one is about 10 and the other, Mau, just turned 15. About a month ago when I was in finals in school doing 13 hour days I noticed he was looking a bit ragged, like he hadn't been grooming regularly. He then developed diarrhea pretty badly (hitting the side of the dome litter box, ugh) and began losing weight rapidly. He went from around 15 pounds to 12 pounds in a couple of weeks. He is not vomiting. He began to lose interest in food and became listless. For awhile, he'd eat treats and special things like chicken if I hand fed him, but after awhile he simply refused to eat at all. He'd lick at food and chew it up some and then spit it out, and look at me for more. Eventually he just gave up on it entirely.
I took him in to the vet and he had a full senior wellness blood panel and his urine was tested. Everything came back normal - I was concerned about renal failure but there's no evidence of it. His temperature and other vitals are all normal. He's obviously skinny, but on palpation the vet felt no abnormalities. She gave him metronidazole for a week for the diarrhea and a small dose of pepcid AC to counteract any stomach discomfort, which didn't seem to help, and his appetite dwindled to nothing no matter what I offered him. He began to lick his lips somewhat frequently and sit up close facing the wall, which is odd behavior for him. At this point he was still drinking water normally (not excessively), but still felt a bit dehydrated so I began giving him subcutaneous fluids (about 150-200ml/day) just to help counteract any fluid loss from the diarrhea.
We went back to the vet, and the did an x-ray of is body cavities. She said there was some minor moss of definition, but no masses and everything looked normal to her. She sent him home with mirtazapine and a/d food to stimulate his appetite. As far as I can tell, the medicine just made him really stoned. Huge pupils, staggering when he walked, staring into the fireplace. He DID eat a bit after the first dose, not as much as normal but a decent amount, but then stopped again when the dose wore off in 3 days. I dosed him again to no effect.
At this point, his diarrhea has stopped for the most part (he sometimes has loose stools but it's not explosive and frequent like it was, and it's been normal more often than not), but his appetite is zero. I mix the a/d with some water and syringe feed him a can to a can and a half over the course of the day, which he absolutely hates me for. He's urinating normally (he had a crystal blockage about 10 years back so I'm always paranoid about that reappearing), he's not messing himself, no vomiting at all. He's just not eating and he's starting to not drink water, either (that I've been seeing). I haven't been giving him subQ fluids for the past several days, he's a little dehydrated but nothing really concerning (he gets s lot of fluid in the syringe feeding). He lays in the same spot all day, doesn't clean himself, isn't affectionate and seems to have trouble walking steadily like he's weak in the hind legs. To be fair, he's a rough old guy and he's showed a little progressive weakness in the hind quarters over the last few years, so I'm not sure if it looks worse now just because he's weak and exhausted in general, or not.
I'm at a loss. I haven't changed his diet, and my other cat is just fine. I make them overnight apart with separate litter boxes so I can monitor what Mau does, but the other kitty is as spiffy as ever.
Mau has some dental issues that I haven't been able to afford to get taken care of yet, but it's nothing super severe and it seems odd that he'd deteriorate this fast from something like that, which is what my vet is suggesting. He's not drooling and I'm not noticing any increased or abnormal shyness about his mouth. She's also suggesting an ultrasound, but I'm not sure I can cover that, either, and she seems unconvinced that she'd actually find anything.
The last 2 days he's gone from skinny and empty in the middle to looking kind of swollen...but he continues to void normally.
Anyone have an idea what could cause this decline when everything seems to be checking out so far? I'm at my wits end over here. Could it really be something as simple as a toothache? =/
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