What could be wrong with Misty?

[Stenograsaurus]

My cat, Misty, is sick. She has lost a lot of weight. She has a funny smell to her. She seems to have a difficult time eating her food. I had started feeding her table scraps and she was gaining weight on that. I had to leave town for four days and when I came back, she had lost the weight again. She only had regular cat food to eat. I have caught her numerous times drinking out of the toilet. I check the water and it's always empty so she's drinking a lot. She has urinated outside of the litter box. (The litter box is on the second floor and she's been going in the laundry room on the first floor.) I called the vets and they told me to bring in a urine sample. Well, she won't cooperate for that. I have to shut her up in one room to do it and I think she's too stressed to go. Then I was gone for four days. Misty is, I'm guessing, eight years old. We rescued her in '94 and she was in between a kitten and a cat. Are all these symptoms signs of a urinary tract infection? I'm a little worried it might be liver disease or cancer. I know her age doesn't help any. Any comments are appreciated. Thanks.

[michelene]

Ask if it could be diabetes. Excessive thirst and urination are one sign. My neighbor George (RB) had been diabetic for two years and got a daily insulin shot. Diabetes made his fur look dry and ragged. It also gave him a strange smell which could have been the ketones on his breath. His humans did their best to maintain him, and his behavior indicated that he had been loved well.

I hope it turns out not to be diabetes.

[purrley]

The vet needs to do the blood work to make the correct determination. Excessive weight loss is no good - cats go down hill really fast - get your kitty looked at ASAP:(

[AmberLee]

Me three. It sounds like diabetes to me, too. Is she very listless? Hope you can get Misty in quickly. {{{Misty and Mom}}}

[4 feline house]

My guess is the "funny smell" is ketones, which means she has developed insulin-dependent diabetes. She is at risk of dying if this is what she has. She will go down quickly.

I don't mean to scare you, and without being able to sniff her myself I can't say for sure.

The body's cells use glucose as fuel. Everything you eat is turned to glucose since this is the only fuel the body can store. Insulin is the "key" that lets the glucose into the cells. In insulin-dependent diabetes, the pancreas is destroyed due to an auto-immune reaction, and insulin is no longer produced. In an effort to maintain itself, the body starts destroying its own tissue. A byproduct of this is a substance called ketone, which is poisonous to the body. In the meantime, all the glucose is circulating through the blood, unusable by the body. The kidneys then begin to work overtime, trying to flush the ketone and excess glucose from the bloodstream, and excessive thirst and urination result. The body continues to break down fat and muscle for fuel, and excessive and rapid weight loss results. In the meantime, the ketones build up, and concentrate as the body dehydrates from the kidneys attempting to balance the blood chemistry. Ketones have a "sweetish" smell, some say like rotten fruit. It is evidently a pretty strong smell. I have never been able to smell it on myself (like we can't smell our own BO or badbreath;) :D ) but once my doctor only had to walk into my hospital room to determine that I was still "ketotic" without even having to do a blood test.

Don't wait to try to get a urine sample, she needs to go to the vet now. And if you described all the symptoms, including the smell, when they suggested taking a urine sample, I would think about how much I like this vet, as the weight loss, excessive thirst and "funny smell" are such huge red flags that even a vet student should figure out that she may be diabetic and needs to be seen now.

Good luck with her, and I hope it's not something so serious.

[Edwina's Secretary]

I agree with Leah (aka 4 Feline House -- so good to see you again!) I have been thinking about your Misty all day. I would NOT be happy with a vet who gave the "urine sample" response you received.

I hope you get her seen quickly!

[Stenograsaurus]

Misty goes to the Vets tonight at 7:15. They said about doing a blood test for Leukemia. I asked them if they could check for diabetes and their response was, we can check for whatever you want us to check for. I thought, well, isn't this the Vet's Office? Shouldn't you be telling me what to test for? I told them I was having a hard time getting a urine sample and they said they could do that there. I'm debating testing for the Leukemia. My cat is never outside. I think they have to have contact with other felines to get Leukemia. Is that accurate and logical? What all should I have her tested for? I was thinking of having a urinalysis done to see if she has a UTI and a blood glucose done for diabetes. Any other suggestions?

[tatsxxx11]

In humans at least, there is generalized blood panel that screens at one time for many values, including blood sugar, creatinine, BUN, etc. Hemoglobin and hematocrit and a liver profile would be seperate tests. From your description, it does sound a lot like diabetes. She is around the age it may begin to show symptoms. Especially polyurea, polydypsia and poyphagia...excessive urinating, thrist and hunger. Although she doesn't seem to be wanting to eat much. But the unpleasant odor you speak of, coming from the breath especially, is a strong indicator, i.e. ketosis. 4Felinehouse gave an excellent description. With quick intervention, the condition can be treated!! I am saying LOTS of prayers for you and your dear Misty. Please write soon with an update. Hugs and kisses to you Misty.

[Gio]

Any news on Misty's conditions? I will be keeping her in my thoughts.

[Stenograsaurus]

Well, I took Misty to the Vets last night. She only weighs 7 pounds. I also have her son, Fawn, who use to weigh slightly more than her. So I went home and weighed Fawn. He weighs 14 pounds. I'm estimating Misty lost about 4-5 pounds. I was shocked. Either she had a gradual weight loss that I didn't notice or it all happened at once. Her kidneys are enlarged and slightly hard. She's a little dehydrated. He put her on clavamox drops (antibiotics) and uroeze (urine acidifier) and nutri-cal (nutrients and calories). She has to go back for two weeks to see if there is any progress. Hopefully it's just a urinary tract infection and it will clear up with these meds. He said that he didn't want to be hard on the pocket book so he's going to try the least expensive approach first. I think that's why they suggested the urine sample and not the blood work route when I called. The economic situation in Altoona is not good. We've lost four or five factories within the last year. There is just no work here. I'm afriad that it's going to slowly become a ghost town. I don't know if we can financially care for a diabetic cat. Emotionally, I would love to do anything possible for her. But I have to face reality. I'm just praying that it's just a UTI and I won't have to explore the other options. Keep your fingers crossed and the prayers coming.

[purrley]

Fingers and Toes are crossed with hope and loads of prayers go out to you and your Misty. We'll be praying for your town too!!!!!

[AmberLee]

Fingers and paws are crossed here. Hang in there, Misty!

[Logan]

I am anxious to know what you learned at the vet too. I hope "no news is good news". Please update us when you can.

Logan (all paws and fingers crossed for good news here :) )

[tatsxxx11]

Hugs to you dear Misty, and to your wonderfully loving and caring Mom. Sounds like you have a very caring vet there as well.:) Of course, we will be turning up the prayer power till we hear Misty is on the road to recovery. Love to you Misty from Sandra, Mr. B and Oliver

[Gio]

Paws, fingers and lots of positive thoughts from us too!

[tatsxxx11]

How is Misty!!:confused:

[Stenograsaurus]

I think Misty hates us right now. We have to give her three different medicines twice a day. Well, she hates the medicine. We are able to get the liquid antibiotic down and we've purchased a syringe for the nutri-cal so we can get that in her too but she will not take the uroeze pill. The first morning I put it in a piece of cheese and she ate it. I thought, good, that will work. When I tried to do the same thing that evening, she refused to eat it. The next day I got out the left over rigatonies. (she loves pasta and sauce) I put the pill in a piece of rigatoni. She ate it. Well, that evening when I tried the same thing, she refused to eat it!!! I said, you know, I can give my dogs pills twice a day for two weeks and use the cheese thing the whole time and they never catch on. I do it with my cat once and she's figured it out!!!! So I crushed the pill and rolled a piece of the meat and sauce over the crushed pill and worked it all in. I put it in front of her and she refused to eat it. I guess I have one smart cat here. I'm heading into town tomorrow so I'm going to buy some canned food and crush the pill and put it in that. Hopefully that will work.
Misty used to love to be picked up and held. Now every time I pick her up, she growls. I don't know if she's hurting or if she just thinks I'm taking her out to give her her medicine again. She was just laying on my lap purring but when I picked her up she growled. I just don't want her to be in pain. If she turns out to be diatetic, does anybody know roughly what the cost of their care would be?
Well, better go tackle the cat and give her her meds now. :eek: Thank you all for your kind words and support.

[michelene]

Pilling a cat is not easy. Sometimes it seems impossible. Even when Richard and work as a team, the pill doesn't always go down the cat's gullet. You have my sympathy on that. I would search Google about feline diabetes and look at the sites that end in .edu or .org to get an understanding of how it is usually treated. Then I would call a local veterinarian specializing in treating cats to ask about treatment and estimated cost.

[libracats]

Steno, my saving grace as far as pilling was the Pill Popper!! It is a wonderful invention. When I pill a disagreable cat I find that wrapping them in a towel and pilling them very quickly with a pill popper is very easy. I felt awfull at first restraining them like that but I found out in the long run that they are much less stressed when they are retrained than when you are fighting with them to get the pill down. I am praying for your kitty.

[Ila]

Hope Misty continues to do better with the meds. I know what it is like having a sick pet there just like kids you wish you could be them so you knew what they were feeling so you could help them.

[tatsxxx11]

Hi Steno...I'm not sure exactly what the diagnosis was??? Did the vet definitely diagnose diabetes or UTI??? Sounds like she is being treated for an infection:( I hope she's feeling better. Pilling can be so distressing for kitty and human! I agree, restraining Misty with a towel, holding her close to you and pilling with the pill popper, would probably be the easiest and least stressful approach. Not easy though, I know. Please give Misty kisses from me. Prayers and well wishes are being sent to you and precious Misty.:)

[Stenograsaurus]

Sandy, the Vet really didn't diagnose her. He said that she definitely had an infection but he wasn't sure where. He took a urine sample and said "when urine looks like this, it is not good." He said that her body isn't breaking down the urine. She has not been diagnosed as diabetic. He said that he would treat it as a UTI to see if that works. He wanted her to come back in two weeks ( one week from today) to see if there is any progress. If there is no progress, we have to explore other options. So far, there's been no progress. :(
The smell eminating from her body is now the same smell as her antibiotics. She's not eating her food. When I feed the cats in the morning, she'll sit in front of the food bowl and meow. She'll lick the food but she will not pick it up and eat it. So I started feeding her table scraps. She eats a little of that. I know it's not good for her, but at least she's getting some food in her.
I honestly don't know if she'll pull through this. I do tend to expect the worse though so hopefully I'm just thinking that way and she'll be fine. We'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for the prayers and support from everyone.

[zippy-kat]

I do hope she pulls through! Please give her a big hug and kiss from me. You guys are in my prayers!

[bubba sade's mom]

Steno:

I'm a little concerned that your vet may actually have really misdiagnosed Misty unintentionally!

Excessive water consumption, rapid weight loss, and enlarged kidneys with tenderness when picking her up could all be signs of renal failure (kidney disease).

We just lost our kitty Junior almost 2 weeks ago to feline CRF (chronic renal failure) and as his disease progressed he had the same symptoms...smelled peculiar, lost weight, excessive water consumption, lost appetite, and near the end he was tender and unhappy about being picked up. We were fortunate enough to catch the CRF early and managed his illness for about 1.5 years before he finally got visibly sick and succumbed.

Don't want to alarm you, but a blood screen would allow your vet to look at Misty's creatnine and BUN levels in her blood--two major signs of CRF. I pray for you & Misty that she turns out okay, but waiting 2 more weeks to find out could be serious for Misty.

Know that my sincerest thoughts and prayers are with you & Misty!

[tatsxxx11]

Absolutely right Bubba Sade's Mom! Please try and get a second opinion, and some MUCH NEEDED blood work done stat!!!! I think some of us mentioned that earlier, that a rountine blood chemistry and sugar would be critical in diagnosing Misty's illness. I can't understand why the vet did not do this? CRF can be controlled, and give you some additional quality time with Misty, IF, and I do say IF that is the case. But as has been said, I think if you can, you should get her checked again asap; by another vet if possible. Please give Misty hugs and kisses from us. My heart is breaking that this poor baby is not eating and feeling so poorly...:( Prayers for Misty and Misty's Mom....

And Bubba Sade's Mom...I am SO sorry you lost your furbaby Junior:( I lost my beloved Fritzy to CRF. It was so very hard and heartbreaking. Please accept my most sincere condolences on your loss. I know my sweet Fritzy is there at the RB Bridge, welcoming Misty to that beautiful place where pain is no more.

[Stenograsaurus]

I think you guys might be right. I had a gut feeling that something wasn't right here. I was reading the uroeze pills and it says on there do not administer to animals with kidney or liver disease. I thought, why is he administering these when he doesn't know if she has liver or kidney disease. That didn't make sence to me. I think I'm going to call my old Vet and tell them everything and make an appointment for there. I changed when we moved because the old place is an extra 20 minutes and this new place is only 20 minutes away. But , you know, it's worth the 40 minute drive (one way) to assure she goes to a competent vet.
I bought the pill popper. I am very impressed with this. The Vet's office said that she needed the Uroeze pills for her kidneys. She got two pills down and she has thrown up afterwards both times. I can tell when it's her now since she's the only one that gets table scraps. (That's all she'll eat) I think I'm going to stop giving her them also until I get to talk to the new/old Vets. I'll keep you posted.

[libracats]

PLEASE PLEASE KEEP US POSTED!!!

Steno, Please let me know how Misty is, I am thinking about her.

[Stenograsaurus]

Misty goes to the Vet's tonight at 7:00. I'll probably post tomorrow how she is doing. She no longer has an odor to her and I think she's gained a little weight. Hopefully that's a good sign. She's still not eating that well. I imagine she'll have to ease into eating again. Her stomach probably shrunk. (I wish I had that problem). I'm still feeding her table scraps, usually just chicken and pasta. That's her favorite. I think she's eating some of the cat food again also. It's hard to tell when you have more than one and you free feed them, but the food is disappearing faster than before. Either Misty is eating some also or Fawn loves this new food. Since it has chicken as its number one ingredient, Misty might eat it. I'll keep you posted.

[gini]

January is such a busy month for me I hadn't read this thread before today.

I will be thinking all good thoughts for Misty and her vet visit tonight.

You have been given excellent advice by everyone here, so I won't add to it........getting the second opinion is such a good idea.

When my cats have been ill, it breaks my heart, so I offer you understanding and hope that Misty is back on the right track and getting better.

[Stenograsaurus]

Well, I took Misty to the Vet's last night. Her kidneys are no longer enlarged. Her urine is clear. She gained two ounces. I said about the weight loss and her not eating. I said that I've been feeding her table scraps. He said that I need to force her to eat her food by not feeding her table scraps. I said, she can't eat her food. She just stares at it, meows, licks it but doesn't eat it. So he looked at her teeth. Voila, that's the culprit. She has gingivitis and periodonitis. Her teeth are so bad that she can't eat her hard cat food. She goes in next Thursday (Valentine's Day) to go under anesthesia and have her teeth cleaned. They're going to try to get her in earlier. I went home and checked Fawn's and his are fine. These cats have been on the same food for the past seven years. I thought hard food helped to clean their teeth. I can't believe how bad they were. I hurt just looking at them. Now I'm hoping she's strong enough to handle the anesthesia. If it's not one thing to worry about, it's another, huh? Well, thank you all for your concern and prayers. I'll need more prayer next Thursday.

[AmberLee]

{{{Misty and family}}},

So glad to hear her urine and kidneys are fine now. So sorry to hear of her tooth and gum issues. Will continue to track your progress and wish you well.

[AmberLee]

Hee, hee Chuck/Spence...

Healthy teeth and claws can be a mixed blessing, can't they?

The heater at work has been a bit wonky lately so I wore short-sleeve blouse at this week's customer meeting. :o Was amazed at the number of questions I got on my fur-babies. (And one question about whether I hang around inept knife fighters...)

[sirocco]

Steno, I´m so glad it´s turned out something not so serious as we thought it could be!!!! All my prayers are with You and Misty for next Thursday, so give her a big hug from Spain... Siro also sends all his support! Please tell us how she is doing these days - if you can spare some time from caring for Misty :)

Nita

[bubba sade's mom]

Steno:

Big relief to hear that Misty's on the path to good health! Albeit her mouth is in turmoil. at least that's treatable.

Best of luck with her kitty dentistry next week--sounds like she'll be right on track after that little trip. :D

My little Sadie is 5 1/2 and she's getting her teeth cleaned this Fall for the first time. Tartar is finally starting to build up after all these years. Alas, the joys of cat people, eh?

So happy for you!

[lynnestankard]

SO PLEASED it's nothing awful Steno., I know it's bad enough, but at least it's been spotted and there's one little furbaby having lots of prayers said for her next Thursday. She'll feel so much better afterwards - and so will you. xx

Lynne

[lynnestankard]

Originally posted by SpencerTheLion
...gee, I wish Ernie's teeth were not quite so healthy :D

LOL Chuck - that's definitley Spencer speaking - yes? :D

Lynne

[tatsxxx11]

Dear Steno..I am SO, SO relieved to hear that Misty's kidneys are OK!!!!!! Of course, dental work is no fun...(poor baby!) Hope all goes well next week! Hugs and kisses to the patient! Love, Sandra, Mr. B and Oliver!!!

[michelene]

Steno--
What a relief that Misty's situation is much less serious than it seemed originally. Hope all goes well with the anesthesia and cleaning. All my boys had to have their teeth cleaned this fall, and Buster has had his cleaned at least once before. Misty is still in my prayers for a best outcome.

[Gio]

My Maya had this done just a few months ago. The vet usually checks their teeth when he gives them their yearly shots and this time Maya's gums were quite inflamed.

My vet told me that the anesthethic they give them for this type of procedure is a lighter one (at least over here) and Maya came round quite quickly.

I'm pleased that you found out what was causing her not to eat, I'm sure things will improve after her teeth are cleaned.

[luvdemabys]

Hey, Steno....HOW DID IT GO??? HOW IS THE PRECIOUS GIRL?????

[Stenograsaurus]

Here's a picture of Misty.

http://www.photogra.com/galleries/33894/curr/7106097_20020308_221233_20020308221233.jpg

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

How is Misty doing. It was breaking my heart to read all of these posts. I hope she is doing good, I will surley remember you guys in my prayers. Give Misty a pat and BIG HUG for me and Tinky.

[Stenograsaurus]

Originally posted by Sara luvs her Tinky
How is Misty doing. It was breaking my heart to read all of these posts. I hope she is doing good, I will surley remember you guys in my prayers. Give Misty a pat and BIG HUG for me and Tinky.


She's doing great. She's gained weight and is back to her normal self again!!!! :cool: Thank you all for your support during my difficult time.

[lynnestankard]

Oh Hurray!! :D

Another poorly furbaby made better yippee :D

Lynne