The health of my older cat

[erinnyes]

Hi! I felt like posting here due to having some concern about my older cat, Woobie. The problem is, she just seems in generally poor health. She's been to the vet, and when she had bloodwork done they told us that she did have some liver function issues but that it wasn't serious yet. She's been on the Hills Perscription K/D diet for a while now (almost a year), and it seems her health is going very gradually downhill.

Our family has had Woobie for many years and I realize that some of these problems may very well just be due to natural aging. I believe she is about 15 now, however, and can't help but feel that her downhill spiral is a bit premature? She seems to have very little energy and very little appetite. She's always been an extremely picky eater and will not touch canned foods. She eats the Hill's Diet with moderation and used to really enjoy snacks like popcorn, a little milk or chicken, which we stopped giving her once she started her special diet. But she is very, very thin now. I monitor her eating habits very carefully to be sure she hasn't stopped, but she vomits rather frequently. You can pet her and feel bones sticking out under her fur, and her coat itself is dull, a little scraggly, and lately she's been losing very large clumps of it. Also, her claws seem to grow very erratically, which I thought was a sign of kidney problems? But I'm not sure.

I am definitely taking her to the vet again, but thought I might ask for people's viewpoints here as well? Maybe others have experienced similar problems with an older cat and know something that helps, or at very least makes her more healthy. I've heard that some cats really respond to different foods, especially canned foods with few byproducts, but I haven't yet been able to get her to eat any.

Thank you for reading my little novel here. I hope some of you might know what to do!

[Medusa]

My blackie, Boo, is thin and I can feel his bones, too, but I had his senior blood work done not too long ago and he's fine, just in advanced years; he's 18. Your vet told you, however, that Woobie has some liver function problem, so I'd say that it's good that you're having him checked again. I don't have any suggestions for you, just prayers that all will go well. Please keep us posted.

[kb2yjx]

Did Woobie have a T4?? To check thyroid function...Also, to tempt her to eat, try chicken baby food. I use that as the ULTIMATE bribe food....Please keep us posted on your Woobie! I have Norton, who is 17, a thyroid and kidney kitty. He refuses to eat the kidney food. To me, this is OK, I rather have him eat something, than not eat the prescribed diet...Norton has been eating Pet Promise Chicken, and he kidney values have been excellent(he also get sub q fluids three times a week).

[krazyaboutkatz]

Welcome to PT. I'm so sorry to her about your cat. It's so hard to watch them age and have health problems. So far I haven't had a cat with kidney problems but I've heard that giving them pepcid will help to stop or decrease their vomiting. You might want to ask your vet about this. A vitiamin B12 shot might also help her coat and it may also give her more energy. I hope that her vet visit goes well and that you'll be able to make her as comfortable as possible. I'll keep her in my thoughts and prayers.

[erinnyes]

Hello again! Thank you for all your advice! I read and wrote down a lot of the suggestions. As far as tempting her to eat different foods, I have tried, but she seems to only really want to snack on greasy or salty things, like cooked chicken skin and popcorn, and those are out for the obvious reasons. I have bumped up her vet appointment to Monday because she's freaking me out a little, losing very large clumps of fur on her underbelly and legs. I have been watching her very carefully (easy to do when her favorite hangout is a pillow on my bed), but I've pretty convinced it's not a case of overgrooming, she just seems to be losing big chunks of fur. To compensate I've put a space heater in my room to make sure my skinny kitty doesn't get any chills, so I hope that's helping rather than making more hair fall out.

I've written down to suggest the t4 and vitamin b12 to the vet. Those seem like good ideas, and I can't recall if she's been checked for thyroid health before or not. I want to say she has, but I will find out when I see the vet. I'll also try some chicken baby food and maybe organic canned foods and see if those entice her a little more. She eats her current K/D food with great disdain.

Thanks for all the thoughts! I will let everyone know what happens on Monday!

[kb2yjx]

Npw that you mention the Woobie eats K/D(canned???), our Tina Peepers, who was eating Royal Canin canned Duck for allergies, was put on the canned K/D when her labs came back indicating early kidney disease. THEN I noticed that Tina was pulling out her fur(which had grown back nicely while she was on the Royal Canin Duck). I decided that at 12 and a half years, I want her to be comfortable and not itching to death, so despite the little higher protein in the RC duck, I switched her from the K/D to the RC duck. She is considerably LESS itchy and her fur is growing back. My vet agreed with the switch. Maybe your Woobie is allergic to the K/D....please let us know what happens at the vet!!! Sorry I was so wordy...

[moosmom]

Erinnyes,

I also have 2 senior cats. My oldest will be 15 or 16 on Mother's Day. Mollie Rose is having issues right now with her finickiness. Lately she's been very clingy. Every morning I make her a scrambled egg with cheese. She snacks on it throughout the day along with her dry crunchies. I've noticed that she's lost weight too. She's never acted like this before and it has me concerned. I'm going to make an appt. for her when I get paid. I think a little bloodwork is in order.