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Old July 9th, 2013, 01:40 PM
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Christine79 Christine79 is offline
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My cat's mystery illness...

Hello all,

For the last 2 months, my tiger tabby Diablo, 6 1/2 years old, (I know, evil name... he was an evil kitten that grew into the sweetest cat, we have to find him a new name!) lost a lot of weight.

He had a clean bill of health on his annual vet visit last April 2013. A bit over weight at 17.1 lbs, but great otherwise.

Since then, it looks like he melted away. Now at 14 lbs and very weak after less than 2 months. For the last 2 weeks we have seen 2 different vets, done blood tests, and he is healthy on paper, they have no clue what is wrong with him. One vet tried antibiotics for 10 days, but he still has a fever today.

He was eating right up until this weekend, and drinking. Regular bathroom visits. He doesn't go outside.

He will not eat or drink. Still goes for milk though. The only thing wrong is that he has a fever, which indicates that he has some kind of infection, but both vets are clueless on what it could be.

Today one of the vet is trying tests for Leukemia and HIV, but really where could he have gotten that??

Did that ever happen to anyone? He used to be be so alive and funny just 2 months ago, now he sleeps all day. It's heartbreaking.

If anyone has inputs, please share, I will consider anything at this point!


Christine
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  #2  
Old July 9th, 2013, 03:46 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Oh no, so sorry about Diablo's health issues! Do you know what sort of blood work was done and can you get copies of all the results? What about other tests, like a urinalysis?

What is his stool like? (ie soft? hard? colour?)

What does he eat?

Is he an indoor cat or does he have access to the outdoors? Feline leukemia and FIV are retroviruses that are communicable between cats, either from a bite, passed down from the mother cat, or from exchange of bodily fluids.

If he tests negative for FeLV and FIV, would a specialist or an ultrasound be an option? Perhaps a holistic vet could also give you more insight.

In the meantime, it's crucial that he eat. Try offering him anything you can think of that might help jump-start his appetite. Plain chicken baby food, pieces of cheese, boiled chicken breast or some KFC with the skin removed, canned salmon, sardines, Temptations cat treats, stinky canned Fancy Feast with nutritional yeast sprinkled on top.... whatever it takes. Here are some more tips:
http://www.assistfeed.com/FelineAnorexia.htm

I hope you get to the bottom of this soon!
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Old July 10th, 2013, 08:27 AM
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Christine79 Christine79 is offline
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Hi!

The vet had the usual blood work that looks for diabetes and kidney problems, everything is normal... Also Leukemia and FIV, I will have the results today. The next step are x-rays.

Diablo eats Low protein vet food. I switched to that food when Bosco was diagnose with Kidney problems, the vet said it was no problem for Diablo to switch to that too since he was overweight, that's nearly 3 years ago.

He is an indoor cat, the most he has been outside is on my 3rd floor balcony with no access to meeting strange cats.

Yesterday he actually went to his bowl and ate a little. It looks very difficult to eat. I know he has a desire to eat, but something isn't right. He always had perfect teeth, and my vet doesn't see an abscess or anything wrong.

He hasn't groomed himself in 3 days. The milk gave him diarrhea, dark goo like molasses.

Poor thing. He looks miserable.

Thank you so much for the foods suggestions, I will try everything, he is very picky already (never liked canned food) so I hope I don't have to start "force" feeding him.

I'll keep you updated!

Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarcatmom View Post
Oh no, so sorry about Diablo's health issues! Do you know what sort of blood work was done and can you get copies of all the results? What about other tests, like a urinalysis?

What is his stool like? (ie soft? hard? colour?)

What does he eat?

Is he an indoor cat or does he have access to the outdoors? Feline leukemia and FIV are retroviruses that are communicable between cats, either from a bite, passed down from the mother cat, or from exchange of bodily fluids.

If he tests negative for FeLV and FIV, would a specialist or an ultrasound be an option? Perhaps a holistic vet could also give you more insight.

In the meantime, it's crucial that he eat. Try offering him anything you can think of that might help jump-start his appetite. Plain chicken baby food, pieces of cheese, boiled chicken breast or some KFC with the skin removed, canned salmon, sardines, Temptations cat treats, stinky canned Fancy Feast with nutritional yeast sprinkled on top.... whatever it takes. Here are some more tips:
http://www.assistfeed.com/FelineAnorexia.htm

I hope you get to the bottom of this soon!
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Old July 10th, 2013, 08:53 AM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Christine79 View Post
Hi!

The vet had the usual blood work that looks for diabetes and kidney problems, everything is normal... Also Leukemia and FIV, I will have the results today. The next step are x-rays.

Diablo eats Low protein vet food. I switched to that food when Bosco was diagnose with Kidney problems, the vet said it was no problem for Diablo to switch to that too since he was overweight, that's nearly 3 years ago.

He is an indoor cat, the most he has been outside is on my 3rd floor balcony with no access to meeting strange cats.

Yesterday he actually went to his bowl and ate a little. It looks very difficult to eat. I know he has a desire to eat, but something isn't right. He always had perfect teeth, and my vet doesn't see an abscess or anything wrong.

He hasn't groomed himself in 3 days. The milk gave him diarrhea, dark goo like molasses.

Poor thing. He looks miserable.

Thank you so much for the foods suggestions, I will try everything, he is very picky already (never liked canned food) so I hope I don't have to start "force" feeding him.

I'll keep you updated!
Could there something stuck in his gums or throat that making it painful to eat ? Has he vomit after eating any food? Have you tried salt free baby food and you could add some water to it so it would easier to eat.
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Old July 10th, 2013, 09:06 AM
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Just a thought, does he go outside at alll? Is any of the blood work abnormal? Or even on the high or low end of normal? We sometimes see symptoms of a tick-borne infection before the blood work shows definitive signs. So, for example, if we have an ailing dog (usually lethargy and inappetence) and the bloodwork shows low (but still in the normal range) levels of platelets and normal range high or low WBC, chances are what's ailing them is a tick-borne disease. They can be devilishly tricky to detect so we usually just start treating with doxycycline on those occasions and that does the trick.

Also, did the vet check his mouth well? I have little experience with cats, but sometimes I think if their teeth are bad, they'll stop eating?
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Old July 10th, 2013, 10:01 AM
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Christine79 Christine79 is offline
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Hi!
My vet used to say Diablo could be in commercials for oral health his mouth and teeth are so clean and perfect. 3 days ago my vet checked his mouth again and she sees nothing wrong with his teeth. He is not vomiting or anything.

The fever indicates some kind of infection or virus, and although he doesn't go outside at all, I will mention tick-borne infection.

Thanks for the tip!


Quote:
Originally Posted by hazelrunpack View Post
Just a thought, does he go outside at alll? Is any of the blood work abnormal? Or even on the high or low end of normal? We sometimes see symptoms of a tick-borne infection before the blood work shows definitive signs. So, for example, if we have an ailing dog (usually lethargy and inappetence) and the bloodwork shows low (but still in the normal range) levels of platelets and normal range high or low WBC, chances are what's ailing them is a tick-borne disease. They can be devilishly tricky to detect so we usually just start treating with doxycycline on those occasions and that does the trick.

Also, did the vet check his mouth well? I have little experience with cats, but sometimes I think if their teeth are bad, they'll stop eating?
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Old July 10th, 2013, 09:56 AM
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Christine79 Christine79 is offline
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Maybe there is something stuck, but nothing we can see. My vet inspected him quite thoroughly. He has not been vomiting at all.

I will try salt free baby food, thanks for the suggestion!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Barkingdog View Post
Could there something stuck in his gums or throat that making it painful to eat ? Has he vomit after eating any food? Have you tried salt free baby food and you could add some water to it so it would easier to eat.
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  #8  
Old July 9th, 2013, 04:58 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Maybe you could try mixing some supplements into the milk , start of with a little so your cat will not know what you're up to. I hope the vets will find out real fast what wrong with your cat. Do have any house plants your cat could had gotten into?
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Old July 10th, 2013, 08:29 AM
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Christine79 Christine79 is offline
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The milk gave him diarrhea, so I have to find something else. I started to think about poisoning as well. I do not own any plants, so now I am going through my household thinking of what he could have been in contact with...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Barkingdog View Post
Maybe you could try mixing some supplements into the milk , start of with a little so your cat will not know what you're up to. I hope the vets will find out real fast what wrong with your cat. Do have any house plants your cat could had gotten into?
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Old July 10th, 2013, 08:35 AM
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Christine79 Christine79 is offline
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Other possibility that I am throwing out there...

Could he have that much of a physical reaction to our new rescue Lucie?

He really doesn't like her.

I put Lucie in a closed room for a week so Diablo and Bosco would smell her and get accustomed. They were fine. But Lucie is a very intense kitten when she plays and kind of scared Diablo out of his fur a couple of times, so he doesn't want anything to do with her anymore.

Anyone knows if depression is common in cats?
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