Cat losing weight, but blood tests were okay

[tamarasue]

Hi. I am new to this message board. My family has a cat, Dixie, who is 12 years old. She has been losing weight since July of 2003. She used to weigh 13 lbs. Then it went to 9 lbs. I took her into the vet -- the vet did a blood test on her and everything came back okay.

Now, Dixie is 7.5 lbs, mostly bones and long fur. It breaks my heart! The vet did another blood test and STILL there was nothing wrong. I am going to get an x-ray taken this Monday. The vet also has her on a prescription cat food, Hills a/d. Also, I have been giving her Amoxicillin (from the Vet) twice a day. I am a wreck because the new food in addition to the Amoxicillin is giving her diarrhea. I just don't want her to lose anymore weight!


Please, please, please -- can anyone give me any ideas what may be going wrong? I love this cat with all my heart. She's part of our family.

Thank you.

[Lucky Rescue]

If the blood tests showed nothing abnormal with the thyroid, kidneys (kidney failure is very common in older cats) or diabetes I really think x-rays or ultrasound may be called for to get to the root of the problem.

Hope you can find a solution!

[amaruq]

((((Tam))))

Cats do get less active when they are older......have you tried kitten food as its higher in fat? Also how come the Antibiotics?
I hope everything goes well on Monday!

[Luba]

Why is she taking the Amox?

[tamarasue]

The vet thought maybe she had some sort of "bug" (meaning bacterial infection), so she put her on the amoxicillin just to be safe.

She still is not herself. She is eating -- that's good -- but the amoxicillin is giving her diarrhea and she acts like she doesnt' have much energy.

It tears me up to see her like this. I hope after the xray on Monday that I'll know more.

THANK YOU so much for all your replies. It helps to know there are people out there that I can lean on.

[Luba]

What is the vet using to make that assumption.

If your cat had an infection it's white cell count would be high! IF not then there is no need really for the amox, it will just make your cat feel worse...and it's destroying the healthy bacteria needed to combat any infection it could get.

What was the blood work done for initially?