What could be wrong with Misty?

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.

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.

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:(

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

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.

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!

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?

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.

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

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.

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!!!!!

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

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 :) )

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

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