Hi all.
I have an 11 year old senior female cat named Shyla. I have had her since she was a kitten and love her to death. Shyla has always been a VERY healthy cat. She has only ever had a minor upper respiratory infection for the entire time that I’ve had her. She goes outside during the day (stays right in my backyard) and gets locked inside at night!
In January, I noticed that she was having some diarrhea and intermittent vomiting. She would vomit outside every few days and almost all of her bowel movements were diarrhea. She was doing completely fine otherwise, so I went back to college and asked my parents to watch her. I came back from college this month, and she is still having diarrhea. She is no longer vomiting, but almost all of her bowel movements are cow-patty like diarrhea. The other day her stool was more solid and there was some blood on the outside of it. She is acting 110% normal- she has actually gained 1 lb. since November, no change in eating habits, no change in behavior or activity, etc. She is completely fine other than the diarrhea. I did switch her from Meow Mix dry food to Hill’s Science Diet Senior dry food. I weaned her off of it over the period of about a week and she seemed to like the new dry food. However, back in February my mom bought the wrong bag and got the Hill’s Adult 1-6 instead of the Hill’s Senior. Again, she is eating and acting 110% normal. I took her to the vet the other day and her exam was completely normal and nothing was found after abdominal palpation. Her fecal test was negative for parasites and her blood work was normal, other than increased eosinophils (the vet thinks this is due to her allergies) and elevated thyroid (but not hyperthyroid yet). I am really worried because last year, my 13 year older cat had similar symptoms (but she also would not eat, rapidly lost weight, and vomited a ton) and she ended up having a very aggressive intestinal tumor and we had to say goodbye to her only a month after diagnosis. I scheduled an abdominal ultrasound with an ultrasound specialist for Wednesday and I am absolutely terrified of the results. I am really hoping it is just a food intolerance or IBD, but I have convinced myself it is cancer. If it is, I will take her to an oncologist for treatment like I did with my last cat. I am so worried and can’t stop freaking out about it.
I have an 11 year old senior female cat named Shyla. I have had her since she was a kitten and love her to death. Shyla has always been a VERY healthy cat. She has only ever had a minor upper respiratory infection for the entire time that I’ve had her. She goes outside during the day (stays right in my backyard) and gets locked inside at night!
In January, I noticed that she was having some diarrhea and intermittent vomiting. She would vomit outside every few days and almost all of her bowel movements were diarrhea. She was doing completely fine otherwise, so I went back to college and asked my parents to watch her. I came back from college this month, and she is still having diarrhea. She is no longer vomiting, but almost all of her bowel movements are cow-patty like diarrhea. The other day her stool was more solid and there was some blood on the outside of it. She is acting 110% normal- she has actually gained 1 lb. since November, no change in eating habits, no change in behavior or activity, etc. She is completely fine other than the diarrhea. I did switch her from Meow Mix dry food to Hill’s Science Diet Senior dry food. I weaned her off of it over the period of about a week and she seemed to like the new dry food. However, back in February my mom bought the wrong bag and got the Hill’s Adult 1-6 instead of the Hill’s Senior. Again, she is eating and acting 110% normal. I took her to the vet the other day and her exam was completely normal and nothing was found after abdominal palpation. Her fecal test was negative for parasites and her blood work was normal, other than increased eosinophils (the vet thinks this is due to her allergies) and elevated thyroid (but not hyperthyroid yet). I am really worried because last year, my 13 year older cat had similar symptoms (but she also would not eat, rapidly lost weight, and vomited a ton) and she ended up having a very aggressive intestinal tumor and we had to say goodbye to her only a month after diagnosis. I scheduled an abdominal ultrasound with an ultrasound specialist for Wednesday and I am absolutely terrified of the results. I am really hoping it is just a food intolerance or IBD, but I have convinced myself it is cancer. If it is, I will take her to an oncologist for treatment like I did with my last cat. I am so worried and can’t stop freaking out about it.
