15 year old not eating

I have a 15 year old cat in my care that is not thriving. She belongs to a guy who is serving in the National Guard.

I've had her for about a year. I took her to her vet a year ago to get her UTD on shots, etc. The vet told me she has been losing about a pound every year and I was sure I could change that. My cats all are pretty plump;)

Well, I put her on wet food and she gained 3/4 of a pound. But at her annual checkup,she has lost that and another half pound. This week she has stopped eating almost totally. I can't get her to eat more than a half of a can of cat food in a day. She doesn't drink much either. Occasionally she will throw up part of her meal or just liquid. She's literally skin & bones. She's down to 6 pounds. The vet says her blood work is fine and nothing seems to be wrong.

Could she be ready to leave this world? I don't know if I should see another vet or just leave her alone. I can't reach her owner to ask him. I certainly don't want her to suffer. She's a sweet old gal.

I'm in a quandary. Any suggestions?

Mary

Please consider taking her to another vet ASAP. Second opinions are always a good idea in my opinion.

However, it may certainly be that her time is coming. 15 years is a plenty long life for a cat. It is just a pity if her time comes while her owner is still gone.

I would get a second opinon from another vet. I would get the blood work up results and take them with you so that kitty doesn't have to go through that again plus the expense.

Hi Mary, it's a difficult situation you are in since you are not the owner of the kitty. I do alot of cat-sitting and if I were in your shoes I would at least make sure she has a clean bill of health; that is, no kidney failure or heart troubles, etc. That way you can narrow it down to just age. The fact that she's not drinking much concerns me. Would she let you give her some water by mouth?

I looked after a really sweet orangie named Sandy and when he reached the age of 14 he really started to slow down and before he made the trip to the RB at 15 he was not eating much at all. He especially had a bad time during the heat of the summer. Good luck and please keep us posted.

Thanks guys.

I just called the Dale's (the cat) vet and asked them to fax Dale's records to my vet. My vet said she would like to see the blood work report and then decide if she should see Dale. If she wants to see her, it'll probably be tomorrow. I'll let you all know what happens.

I sure appreciate having understanding people to talk to.

Mary

PS. I'll try a squirt or two of water tonight and see how she does.

I'm so sorry to hear that the cat isn't eating and is losing weight. I'd also get a second opinion. Good luck and please keep us updated.

Did the vet do a thyroid test? I don't believe a thyroid problem would show up on regular CBC etc. It's a separate test where blood is drawn from her neck and sent out for lab testing. Good luck and keep us posted.

Well, the little stinker has decided to eat better. I kept her in a cage yesterday so her food would be available and not swiped by the other cats. She ate about 1/4 can during the day but no water to speak of. At 5:30 I gave her about 1/3 can of fresh cat food and she ate about half of that. I mixed some tuna water with plain water (sorry, no clam juice available!) and she dived into that. Even though I tried to limit how much she drank all at once, she still vomited a couple of hours later. Mostly liquid again.

She spent the night with me on the couch and in bed. Ate some more (about 2 Tablespoons) at 10 PM and another 3 at 4 AM. Even drank some plain water. And left a BIG pee bisciut this morning!

Wish she would eat this well every day!

I'm anxious to hear what my vet says. I trust her more than Dale's vet. No real reason except that I have a history with one and not the other.

I'll let you know.

Mary

Any updates Mary?

Sorry I haven't updated before this.

Dale is now confined to a cage all day with plenty of food. She has run of the house when I'm there, but has to stay in the cat room when I'm not. She isn't afraid of the dogs, but I don't totally trust them with her.

She's still eating at 3 AM on the nightstand. And her food and water is disappearing during the day at a reasonable rate.

I called the vet today and they hadn't received the records from her original vet because their fax was down for a couple days. I asked for them again and will call my vet tomorrow if I don't hear from her today.

I'm wondering if she could have IBS. Some days she doesn't vomit at all and eats well, other days nothing stays down and she really doesn't want to eat. She loves tuna cat food, but it usually comes back up later. Maybe too rich?

I'll let you know what I find out.

Mary

2:15 PM

My vet just called. We discussed what could be causing her to vomit. Her blood work seems OK, although one of the tests was a little high and could indicate pancreas problems. She said she would be glad to see Dale and possibly give her a cortisone shot to help stop the vomiting and give her more appetite. She doesn't want to subject her to a lot of tests at her age. Either do I. I think Dale and I will be visiting my vet Thursday. There may not be anything we can do.

Mary

Edited

If vomiting is the most serious problem, you could ask your vet about giving her 1/4 of a Pepcid everyday. That's what Tubby gets because he was throwing up all the time. I guess when they get a lot of acid in their stomachs they throw up instead of getting heart burn like we do, so you eliminate the acid and you eliminate the throwing up. The difference in Tubby's throwing up was extremely dramatic. From about once a day to only once or twice a month now. Ask your vet first though. Good luck!

Dale has an appointment for 8:45 AM tomorrow (Friday).

Of course, now she's eating better. But at least the vet can see how thin she is. Maybe she will have some recommendations for getting her to eat more. Actually, I think PT members will know more ways. Vets aren't as involved if they don't have cats themselves.

I'll let you know what I learn.

Mary

Good luck Dale! :)

Mary, I hope the precious one will improve and have a long life ahead of her. Of course she is perking up because you are taking her to your vet!!!! :rolleyes: Isn't that the way it is always??? I stilll think it is a good thing for you to have your vet establish some baseline for her, so he/she can properly analyze going forward.

When we lived in Lexington, we used Dr. Alan (sp?) Harris in West Columbia. I have no idea who you use, but I was always very happy with his treatment of Mimi and Chuck (our RB Lab).

Logan

My cat Smokey the Elder had a condition 7 years ago similar to Dale's..vomiting and losing weight. She tested negative for everything from FIV to diabetes. She got cimetidine (Tagamet) and frequent feedings of prescription Hills AD, and recovered. I hope Dale does well.

Dale & I visited my vet on Friday. The vet said she couldn't find anything wrong, although a few of her tests were slightly elevated. We discussed the possibility of IBS. She prescribed a pill to reduce the vomiting. I'm to give her 1/4 of a tablet an hour before meals. I can't see that happening very often.

I bought some kitty vitamin paste from Petsmart. Dale wasn't interested so I smeared it on her paw. She' been eating better since then, no vomiting (so far).

I talked to her owner's sister yesterday. Hopefully, she will get instructions of how far to go in her treatment. Dale is doing fine now, but at her age, who knows what can happen.

Dale ate half can of wet food between 10 PM and 5:30 AM last night. I think I'm just going to make sure she has access to wet food at all times. She seems to need several small meals a day rather than two large ones. The vomiting could be mostly from not enough food, or too much at once. A dose of vitamins every other day can't hurt either. The vitamins seem to perk up her appetite.

Logan, my vet is Kelly Goodson at the West Columbia Animal Clinic. Dr Harris is an excellent doctor. He was the one who diagnosed Bear's diabetes and got us on the right track with diet and insulin. My sister takes her two pugs there.

If anything changes, I'll be back. Thanks for the support.

Mary

I'm glad to hear that Dale is doing better.:) :) Please give Dales some hugs and scritches from me.:)

Thanks, Slick. I'll do that tonight.

Mary

Thanks for the update, Mary. I hope that Dale will continue to eat and thrive. It is hard enough when it is your own pet and you deal with something like this, but for it to be someone else's, makes it even more difficult! Sounds like you are doing all the right things, though. What a blessing you are for Dale and the soldier who owns her. :)

One day, hopefully soon, I would still love to meet you in person! I'm glad to know that Dr. Harris is one that you trust too. I know that he brought me through a horrible time with Mimi when she was hit by a car and I was so frightened for her life......one would never know that she had ever experienced this now, thank goodness!!!!! :)

Logan

My last kitty had a similar condition that was never diagnosed. At about 8 or 9 years old, her appetite dropped to almost nothing. Since she was an only child, we were sure it was not a food competition problem.

The vet simply started giving her steroid pills to increase her appetite. She was on them for about 6 years. We never knew what was wrong, but the pills saved her life untili we lost her to kidney failure.

These pills were called Winstroll 2 MG. I think in some areas they have a special pharmaceutical classification because they can be abused. We were lucky to have a trusting and caring vet.

Hugs and kisses to Dale! Glad you're feeling better.

Oh please take her to see another vet. It never hurts to have a second opinion, and did he really run a whole battery of tests to rule things out? Or could it be that her Daddy has had her for 14 years and she's afraid he's not coming back and just gave up?
Does make you wonder but I would first get to another vet and have her checked. I would also give her some Nutrical, my Callie was just diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and I started her on it once a day she gaining weight and doing better. You can get this at Petsmarts, it's for cats and dogs when they're sick. I wish you the best of luck. I'm new here and seems like a terrific place to come and chat!
Linda