Once corpulent and voracious, we noticed just over a month ago that she was suddenly far skinnier than she'd ever been. Frankly, she hadn't been getting quite as much attention as she normally got. Our focus was divided on account of the tiny human being we suddenly had hanging around. So each of us thought the other had been feeding her, which explained why her bowl was never empty. (She used to empty that bowl very, very quickly and then pester us until the next meal.) There were also several, ahem, loose bowel movements to contend with.
Off we went to the vet, who confirmed what we already knew: serious weight loss. What we didn't know was why. We wondered if she was having trouble adjusting to the new member of the family? But she'd been incredibly respectful of Vivi since we brought her home from the hospital, never showing any signs of aggression. (And those of you who know her, know she can get her growl on if she doesn't like you.)
The vet kept her overnight and ran all sorts of tests and took some x-rays. Conclusion: healthy, aging cat. The vague beginnings of kidney disease, which is apparently very common, but nothing to be concerned about yet. She suggested switching her diet to a geriatric plan.
Done and done.
And then the vomiting started. At first we chalked it up to some of the new food, so we cut that out right away. But still, every few days we'd find another mess. Our carpet was starting to look patterned. Otherwise, however, she was acting perfectly normal. Jumping up on the couch to cuddle with us. Clamoring for her nighttime treat. Meowing up a storm.
But a month later, we couldn't deny that things weren't getting better. Plus, the diarrhea was back.
So we returned to the vet, who found she'd lost even more weight and reran some tests, to see if the kidney disease had suddenly rapidly progressed. Nope. She armed us with some meds - antacids in case her stomach is upset and something to firm up her stools. We're only a couple of days in, but it's not looking good.
She'll be 15 in May. I've had her since she was six months old. If you're a fan of Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy, she's my demon. But how far do you go?
3 comments:
Hey Tammy - it's Katy P (from Centennial). I get my lurk on on your blog from time to time to admire your kid and think "shit, I should really blog too." ANYWAY - did they test for hyperthyroid? Sophie McPedersen, who is 13, was having similar issues around Christmas. Like your furbaby she had some vague kidney badness plus a bladder infection, but the test came back showing hyerthyroidism in its early stages. Highly treatable when caught. She gets pills ground up in Cat Pate (aka Fancy Feast) twice a day, and she's her same old crotchety self now, if not a little bit more frail than before.
It's awful watching them suffer, isn't it. You're a good cat mom for doing whatever you can to help her.
Hey Katy! Thanks for this. They did all sorts of test on her. Turns out that it's a blockage in her bowel. Both vets that she sees feel certain that it's cancer. We feel she's too old to put her through surgery and chemo, but she's responding well to some steroids for now.
Hope you and Sophie are well.
You must be glad that they can at least make her more comfortable for the time being. I'm so sorry Tammy - you're a good fur-mum for making it possible for her to be her little cat self as long as she can.
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