Please help

brians · 02-07-2005, 01:44 AM

Hi, I'm new to this forum... our cat, Patches, is sick, we don't know why and we're wondering if anyone could help us. She has lost a lot of weight recently (within the past month)... she currently weighs 5 - 5.5 off from her usual 7.5 - 8.5. She has become very lethargic & unplayful, and has stopped grooming herself. She is about 3.5 years old. The vet couldn't find anything wrong & tests for feline leukemia & HIV were negative. Her appetite is somewhat finicky, we've tried dried, moist, mixed, chicken, tuna, scraps, whatever to get her to eat, but she doesn't seem to eat much of anything anymore. If anyone has any suggestions please share them.

coaster · 02-07-2005, 09:18 AM

a metabolic disorder, such as thyroid, could account for weight loss and lethargy. has the vet checked for this?

Gudewife · 02-07-2005, 09:48 AM

Did your vet do a full blood panel to see if there is any sign of infection or abnormal values? That'd be my very first move. Also, a detailed, close look at the mouth, teeth, and gums is in order, as a sore mouth can cause a variety of ills in cats (including most of the things you listed). Sometimes a second opinion can uncover something that never would have crossed the first vet's mind, so that's another option.

In the meantime, she needs to eat to avoid serious liver problems. Try some plain chicken or turkey baby food, deli meats, boiled chicken, or tell your vet that she's refusing food and see if she will get you some Hill's prescription A/D food (it's mainly for tube feeding, but lots of sick animals will eat this when nothing else works) and show you how to force feed with a syringe. That's a lot of weight to lose in the space of a month, so you'll want to keep a very close eye on her liver function and get some calories into her no matter what.

Adrienne · 02-07-2005, 10:03 AM

I always suggest getting a second FeLV and FIV test. They don't always show up right away. FeLV didn't show up in my cat unitll almost 2 years after we had him. He had gotten it before he came to live w/ us, because he never left the house (our vet did house calls for him). The symptoms that you suggested are probably the symptoms for many different illness, but that is exaclty how my cat use to act before we found out he had FeLV. Good luck.

HAILEY · 02-07-2005, 02:10 PM

Please see my post "health Information". Hope your kitty gets better.

brians · 02-07-2005, 05:14 PM

Thank you for your suggestions, we took Patches to a second vet today and had blood work done, unfortunately the diagnosis is really bad... she is suffering from acute kidney failure. He went over the numbers with us, I don't recall off-hand what they ment, but they were very bad. If anyone is interested in seeing the numbers I can post them.

We had her put on a 48-hr IV, but there's only a 20% chance she'll pull through. If she doesn't improve, we will have to put her to sleep... we are heartbroken...

Because of the suddeness & apparent isolation of the incident, we think she might have gotten into something toxic. Aside from household cleaners and other everyday stuff that's always been around the only chemical substance that has been introduced to the household recently is DIF wallpaper remover gel. I don't recall seeing her lick the walls or the bottle, but we all know cats can be sneaky. I have looked at the MSDS for this and it is not toxic (to humans at least). Does anyone know any different, perhaps a website listing toxic chemicals for animals? Again, help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

coaster · 02-07-2005, 05:21 PM

awwwww....really sorry to hear that, brians

thank you for going to the effort & expense of finding out instead of just letting the poor little thing waste away. we're hoping with good care she still pulls through.

Gudewife · 02-07-2005, 05:37 PM

Very sorry to hear this. There are a lot of things that can be toxic to cats. Antifreeze spills in the driveway are a common cause of pet poisoning; antifreeze tastes sweet, and causes quick and severe kidney damage. Anything containing mineral spirits can be toxic to pets, as well. Lillies are also extremely toxic to cats, as are some other common houseplants.

Here's one link to a page with commonly found indoor and outdoor cat toxins, I'm sure there are others:
http://www.cats.alpha.pl/toxic.htm

I'm hoping that the IV fluids help and Patches pulls through.

brians · 02-09-2005, 06:32 PM

A sad follow up... after a hopeful first day on the IV, Patches quickly regressed. Today she was totally unresponsive and panting heavily... we had her euthanised... we were with her to the end and she will be with us forever.

We thank you all for the suggestions and support.

myfamilia · 02-09-2005, 10:37 PM

I came in late on this thread. I'm so sorry for your loss. Did you ever find out what could have caused her to get so sick?
So sorry

02-07-2005, 01:44 AM	#1 (permalink)
brians Kitten Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 10	Please help Hi, I'm new to this forum... our cat, Patches, is sick, we don't know why and we're wondering if anyone could help us. She has lost a lot of weight recently (within the past month)... she currently weighs 5 - 5.5 off from her usual 7.5 - 8.5. She has become very lethargic & unplayful, and has stopped grooming herself. She is about 3.5 years old. The vet couldn't find anything wrong & tests for feline leukemia & HIV were negative. Her appetite is somewhat finicky, we've tried dried, moist, mixed, chicken, tuna, scraps, whatever to get her to eat, but she doesn't seem to eat much of anything anymore. If anyone has any suggestions please share them.

02-07-2005, 10:03 AM	#4 (permalink)
Adrienne Cool Cat Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 959	I always suggest getting a second FeLV and FIV test. They don't always show up right away. FeLV didn't show up in my cat unitll almost 2 years after we had him. He had gotten it before he came to live w/ us, because he never left the house (our vet did house calls for him). The symptoms that you suggested are probably the symptoms for many different illness, but that is exaclty how my cat use to act before we found out he had FeLV. Good luck. __________________ Thanks catlover_2004

02-09-2005, 10:37 PM	#10 (permalink)
myfamilia Tom Cat Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: california desert Posts: 501	I came in late on this thread. I'm so sorry for your loss. Did you ever find out what could have caused her to get so sick? So sorry __________________ It's easy to understand what cats want, just listen to what they say...MEeee NOWwww In loving memory of Bugs, forever I will miss.

02-07-2005, 09:18 AM	#2 (permalink)
coaster Banned Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Wisconsin, USA Posts: 17,798	a metabolic disorder, such as thyroid, could account for weight loss and lethargy. has the vet checked for this?

02-07-2005, 09:48 AM	#3 (permalink)
Gudewife Cat Addict Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 2,159	Did your vet do a full blood panel to see if there is any sign of infection or abnormal values? That'd be my very first move. Also, a detailed, close look at the mouth, teeth, and gums is in order, as a sore mouth can cause a variety of ills in cats (including most of the things you listed). Sometimes a second opinion can uncover something that never would have crossed the first vet's mind, so that's another option. In the meantime, she needs to eat to avoid serious liver problems. Try some plain chicken or turkey baby food, deli meats, boiled chicken, or tell your vet that she's refusing food and see if she will get you some Hill's prescription A/D food (it's mainly for tube feeding, but lots of sick animals will eat this when nothing else works) and show you how to force feed with a syringe. That's a lot of weight to lose in the space of a month, so you'll want to keep a very close eye on her liver function and get some calories into her no matter what.

02-07-2005, 02:10 PM	#5 (permalink)
HAILEY Kitten Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Posts: 14	Please see my post "health Information". Hope your kitty gets better.

02-07-2005, 05:14 PM	#6 (permalink)
brians Kitten Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 10	Thank you for your suggestions, we took Patches to a second vet today and had blood work done, unfortunately the diagnosis is really bad... she is suffering from acute kidney failure. He went over the numbers with us, I don't recall off-hand what they ment, but they were very bad. If anyone is interested in seeing the numbers I can post them. We had her put on a 48-hr IV, but there's only a 20% chance she'll pull through. If she doesn't improve, we will have to put her to sleep... we are heartbroken... Because of the suddeness & apparent isolation of the incident, we think she might have gotten into something toxic. Aside from household cleaners and other everyday stuff that's always been around the only chemical substance that has been introduced to the household recently is DIF wallpaper remover gel. I don't recall seeing her lick the walls or the bottle, but we all know cats can be sneaky. I have looked at the MSDS for this and it is not toxic (to humans at least). Does anyone know any different, perhaps a website listing toxic chemicals for animals? Again, help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

02-07-2005, 05:21 PM	#7 (permalink)
coaster Banned Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Wisconsin, USA Posts: 17,798	awwwww....really sorry to hear that, brians thank you for going to the effort & expense of finding out instead of just letting the poor little thing waste away. we're hoping with good care she still pulls through.

02-07-2005, 05:37 PM	#8 (permalink)
Gudewife Cat Addict Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 2,159	Very sorry to hear this. There are a lot of things that can be toxic to cats. Antifreeze spills in the driveway are a common cause of pet poisoning; antifreeze tastes sweet, and causes quick and severe kidney damage. Anything containing mineral spirits can be toxic to pets, as well. Lillies are also extremely toxic to cats, as are some other common houseplants. Here's one link to a page with commonly found indoor and outdoor cat toxins, I'm sure there are others: http://www.cats.alpha.pl/toxic.htm I'm hoping that the IV fluids help and Patches pulls through.

02-09-2005, 06:32 PM	#9 (permalink)
brians Kitten Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 10	A sad follow up... after a hopeful first day on the IV, Patches quickly regressed. Today she was totally unresponsive and panting heavily... we had her euthanised... we were with her to the end and she will be with us forever. We thank you all for the suggestions and support.

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