What’s wrong with my cat
Discussion
My cat lost its meow and started losing weight. He’s about 10.
Took it to the vet who detected a slight heart murmur (a 3 on a scale of 1-5) and teeth could be a little better. Had a temperature / fever.
Did blood tests which ruled out the likely liver / kidney / thyroid / diabetes issues.
Continued to eat very little and lose weight. Have him antibiotics for the fever which has now gone.
Vet said it could be teeth but reluctant to anethetise without checking heart issue first, but he also agrees he can’t see how either would result in such a sudden and complete loss of appetite.
He crunches the odd hard treat which makes me question teeth issues but he is grinding them loudly when he eats which he never did before.
Said it could be cancer but hasn’t elaborated on how to check for this.
I googled it and the lack of meow over such a long time - over 4 weeks now suggests an issue with the throat - possibly a tumor?
Luckily now he’s eating a tiny bit but I need to find out what is wrong. Need a good idea of where to focus attentions as no insurance and each option is fairly expensive to explore and already spent a lot.
Thanks
Took it to the vet who detected a slight heart murmur (a 3 on a scale of 1-5) and teeth could be a little better. Had a temperature / fever.
Did blood tests which ruled out the likely liver / kidney / thyroid / diabetes issues.
Continued to eat very little and lose weight. Have him antibiotics for the fever which has now gone.
Vet said it could be teeth but reluctant to anethetise without checking heart issue first, but he also agrees he can’t see how either would result in such a sudden and complete loss of appetite.
He crunches the odd hard treat which makes me question teeth issues but he is grinding them loudly when he eats which he never did before.
Said it could be cancer but hasn’t elaborated on how to check for this.
I googled it and the lack of meow over such a long time - over 4 weeks now suggests an issue with the throat - possibly a tumor?
Luckily now he’s eating a tiny bit but I need to find out what is wrong. Need a good idea of where to focus attentions as no insurance and each option is fairly expensive to explore and already spent a lot.
Thanks
Our moggie (21 now and a total bag of bones) lost her voice a few years ago (for months on end). It comes back again from time to time and has gone again just this last few weeks. Not sure if weather related.
Nothing obviously wrong other than old age and everything is hard work for her, but she seems happy. Her teeth are poor too but doesn't stop her eating.
Does your cat still meow, i.e. make the mouth movement but no sound comes out? Does he seem ok otherwise? Does he purr?
Nothing obviously wrong other than old age and everything is hard work for her, but she seems happy. Her teeth are poor too but doesn't stop her eating.
Does your cat still meow, i.e. make the mouth movement but no sound comes out? Does he seem ok otherwise? Does he purr?
Switch to soft food to check if it's tooth pain?
My cat has a heart murmur and I was led to believe it is very common in cats. His miaow disappeared 2 years ago.
Surely you need to check bloods first, then x-rays, then go from there? How can they have not given you any indication of where to go next? Try a different vet for a second opinion. It will be worth it.
Could the cat have eaten something stupid? Waste disposal in our house is a key topic. My cat once shat out a 20cm long bit of plastic which was literally hanging out of its arse dragging diarrhea around the hallway as he ran around in a panic thinking he was being eaten from behind. Not to mention the half-eaten piles of Babybel Wax everywhere. They are a f
king nightmare sometimes.
My cat has a heart murmur and I was led to believe it is very common in cats. His miaow disappeared 2 years ago.
Surely you need to check bloods first, then x-rays, then go from there? How can they have not given you any indication of where to go next? Try a different vet for a second opinion. It will be worth it.
Could the cat have eaten something stupid? Waste disposal in our house is a key topic. My cat once shat out a 20cm long bit of plastic which was literally hanging out of its arse dragging diarrhea around the hallway as he ran around in a panic thinking he was being eaten from behind. Not to mention the half-eaten piles of Babybel Wax everywhere. They are a f
king nightmare sometimes.Thanks for comments so far. Reassuring that similar has happened to others.
To be clear he had had blood tests and it showed nothing wrong.
X-rays haven’t been mentioned by the vet but I think this is a good idea due to possible throat issues.
He’s always been on soft food (it’s just some treats which are hard) and now he just eats these treats which are like a runny paste. Hoping these will keep him going for long enough to find what the issue is
To be clear he had had blood tests and it showed nothing wrong.
X-rays haven’t been mentioned by the vet but I think this is a good idea due to possible throat issues.
He’s always been on soft food (it’s just some treats which are hard) and now he just eats these treats which are like a runny paste. Hoping these will keep him going for long enough to find what the issue is
Similar with my cat, now 14. Vet says as they age they can suffer from inability to get enough vitamin B12 from food, so they eat but can't get enough nutrition.
Body fat disappears, they lose appetite and go into a rapid circular decline where they can't digest anything, eventually throwing it up or getting rapid onset diarrhoea so even less B12 intake. They stop eating, or prefer to chew grass as always hungry or have stomach pains. Then they throw that up.
Rear haunches go thin, and muscle strength declines to the point of them getting the staggers.
Cat was diagnosed 10 months ago, vet gave her shots of steroids and B12, was back to her old self in two days.
Same symptoms reappeared last month, took her straight to vet who repeated the shots and she recovered within the day. Shots and vet visit were £50.
So maybe something similar.
Disclaimer: I'm not a vet.
Body fat disappears, they lose appetite and go into a rapid circular decline where they can't digest anything, eventually throwing it up or getting rapid onset diarrhoea so even less B12 intake. They stop eating, or prefer to chew grass as always hungry or have stomach pains. Then they throw that up.
Rear haunches go thin, and muscle strength declines to the point of them getting the staggers.
Cat was diagnosed 10 months ago, vet gave her shots of steroids and B12, was back to her old self in two days.
Same symptoms reappeared last month, took her straight to vet who repeated the shots and she recovered within the day. Shots and vet visit were £50.
So maybe something similar.
Disclaimer: I'm not a vet.
Edited by Slushbox on Tuesday 10th July 15:44
Whilst I can understand the vets concern re the heart murmur I think the more pressing issue is your cats difficulties with eating.
Lots of animals with heart murmurs have general anaesthetics and it does sound like your cats mouth needs looking at in detail.
However I am not a vet so you obviously need to follow their advice.
I hope he is feeling better soon. Is he on pain relief medication?
Lots of animals with heart murmurs have general anaesthetics and it does sound like your cats mouth needs looking at in detail.
However I am not a vet so you obviously need to follow their advice.
I hope he is feeling better soon. Is he on pain relief medication?
torqueofthedevil said:
Hi - I can get him back into the vets this Friday.
Il ask for the b12 jab, pain relief and chance the anaesthetic for his teetH.
Thanks all
I would be inclined to ask about pain relief before then and get it started sooner, if he can't tolerate an nsaid type of pain relief (though if his bloods were all good he should be able to) they could do an opioid based one. It would be useful to see if he feels more comfortable with some on board (and I am very surprised they didn't tbh) Il ask for the b12 jab, pain relief and chance the anaesthetic for his teetH.
Thanks all
The b12 is a good suggestion, the last practice I worked at used it a lot for cats and dogs.
Managed to get him in today - weight has dropped again.
Asked what the last injection was that he gave - it was a steroid jab.
Asked for B12 and he said there was no evidence to support it doing anything but was happy to give it. Which he did.
I asked for pain relief jab which he gave and then some liquid Metacam which he said was the same as the jab he’d given. Said this is also an anti inflammatory so would help with any throat issues, but he looked down his throat and couldn’t see anything.
Going to see how he does and on Monday see if he needs teeth doing. His teeth don’t look bad to me but I think it’s most likely issue.
Feeding him a cat soup and pastey treats which seem to be going down a bit.
Asked what the last injection was that he gave - it was a steroid jab.
Asked for B12 and he said there was no evidence to support it doing anything but was happy to give it. Which he did.
I asked for pain relief jab which he gave and then some liquid Metacam which he said was the same as the jab he’d given. Said this is also an anti inflammatory so would help with any throat issues, but he looked down his throat and couldn’t see anything.
Going to see how he does and on Monday see if he needs teeth doing. His teeth don’t look bad to me but I think it’s most likely issue.
Feeding him a cat soup and pastey treats which seem to be going down a bit.
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