What’s wrong with my cat? (TW: very sick cat)
February 13, 2024 6:53 PM Subscribe
Our terrifying bruiser of a house panther (cat tax) is very sick. We’re in the middle of rounds of tests with the vet, leading to what seems like an ominous conclusion. I guess we’re mining hopium, here. Input from vets or experienced cat owners very welcome. Snowflakes…
Gnome is 12-13 years old, and he’s a big boy. At his highest weight, on steroids for a terrible flea allergy, Gnome topped the scale at 30 lbs. He had the frame to handle it, but just barely. We did manage to successfully wean him off steroids and switch to cyclosporine, and he did really well - dropped back down to 22 lbs with a careful diet, and for a few months seemed fine. He was still a bit chunky, but on his frame it wasn’t terribly obese - just well within mocking range. We were happy with it.
In late October 2023, we were told his teeth were bad and “resorbing”, and he had dental surgery to yank a bunch of teeth. After that he was a bit drooly, but we were told that was expected, and it seemed to settle after a bit. But as time went on, we started to notice he was still losing weight - in spite of us no longer making any attempt at keeping him to a diet or a restricted food schedule. (In December, a very sick human elderly person descended on our household, in need of a LOT of care, and we just couldn’t maintain the dieting.)
Three or four days ago, we also noticed he was eating a bit oddly (though heartily - he hasn’t lost his appetite, still loves to eat, will even steal dog kibble if nothing else is on hand), and drooling more. We also noticed a bump on his lower jaw, looking almost like he’d grown a rounded tooth back, and figured that was causing the eating weirdness. We got him to the vet, and were extremely alarmed to learn he was now 17 lbs - a loss of about 5 lbs in as many months, without trying. The vet was also alarmed. She ran a blood panel, testing for diabetes, hyperthyroid, and kidney disease. She thought the bump on his jaw was unrelated - it didn’t look like cancer to her, and she thought it was likely gingival hyperplasia (gum overgrowth, basically), which is a rare but known side effect of cyclosporine use in both dogs and cats.
All the blood tests came back normal. Her next recommendation was a chest x-ray - on the theory that if the bump in his mouth was actually oral cancer, it would likely have metastasized to his lungs, and we’d see it on the x-ray. This could save us the expense of a biopsy under anaesthesia. The x-ray was this morning - we’re waiting now on final read from a radiographer, but the vet (not our vet, but a vet) who looked over the scan didn’t see any masses herself.
So our actual question, finally: If the final read also comes back negative…. then what?
The expense of the biopsy is not entirely out of our range, but it would be a big hit to our finances which have already taken a lot of hits due to the aforementioned elderly sick relative. From what we’ve read, the prognosis for oral cancer in cats is terrible, and even treatments that are successful yield pretty terrible results (much of lower jaw gone, lifelong feeding tube, among them). We won’t be pursuing treatment if it’s oral cancer; we’ll just be making him comfortable and happy until we can’t anymore.
The usual advice in this situation seems to be: if you don’t know what it is, and the test to find out is too expensive, try treating the cat for something that it MIGHT be and see what happens. But in this case, I don’t know what that might look like.
What kinds of things MIGHT this be, other than cancer, diabetes, hyperthyroid, or kidney disease?
Losing weight rapidly, with no loss of appetite; bump on front of lower jaw where a tooth was removed (vet says it doesn’t look like a tooth shard); fur starting to get matted on his flanks; on cyclosporine for allergies. Otherwise seems fine - purrs, likes cuddles (but only a certain undisclosed number of cuddles before he bites you - situation normal there), doesn’t seem any more lethargic than usual.
In this situation, what kinds of things could it be that we could try to treat? If you’re a vet or a savvy cat owner with generally sufficient but not unlimited funds - what would you do?
Gnome is 12-13 years old, and he’s a big boy. At his highest weight, on steroids for a terrible flea allergy, Gnome topped the scale at 30 lbs. He had the frame to handle it, but just barely. We did manage to successfully wean him off steroids and switch to cyclosporine, and he did really well - dropped back down to 22 lbs with a careful diet, and for a few months seemed fine. He was still a bit chunky, but on his frame it wasn’t terribly obese - just well within mocking range. We were happy with it.
In late October 2023, we were told his teeth were bad and “resorbing”, and he had dental surgery to yank a bunch of teeth. After that he was a bit drooly, but we were told that was expected, and it seemed to settle after a bit. But as time went on, we started to notice he was still losing weight - in spite of us no longer making any attempt at keeping him to a diet or a restricted food schedule. (In December, a very sick human elderly person descended on our household, in need of a LOT of care, and we just couldn’t maintain the dieting.)
Three or four days ago, we also noticed he was eating a bit oddly (though heartily - he hasn’t lost his appetite, still loves to eat, will even steal dog kibble if nothing else is on hand), and drooling more. We also noticed a bump on his lower jaw, looking almost like he’d grown a rounded tooth back, and figured that was causing the eating weirdness. We got him to the vet, and were extremely alarmed to learn he was now 17 lbs - a loss of about 5 lbs in as many months, without trying. The vet was also alarmed. She ran a blood panel, testing for diabetes, hyperthyroid, and kidney disease. She thought the bump on his jaw was unrelated - it didn’t look like cancer to her, and she thought it was likely gingival hyperplasia (gum overgrowth, basically), which is a rare but known side effect of cyclosporine use in both dogs and cats.
All the blood tests came back normal. Her next recommendation was a chest x-ray - on the theory that if the bump in his mouth was actually oral cancer, it would likely have metastasized to his lungs, and we’d see it on the x-ray. This could save us the expense of a biopsy under anaesthesia. The x-ray was this morning - we’re waiting now on final read from a radiographer, but the vet (not our vet, but a vet) who looked over the scan didn’t see any masses herself.
So our actual question, finally: If the final read also comes back negative…. then what?
The expense of the biopsy is not entirely out of our range, but it would be a big hit to our finances which have already taken a lot of hits due to the aforementioned elderly sick relative. From what we’ve read, the prognosis for oral cancer in cats is terrible, and even treatments that are successful yield pretty terrible results (much of lower jaw gone, lifelong feeding tube, among them). We won’t be pursuing treatment if it’s oral cancer; we’ll just be making him comfortable and happy until we can’t anymore.
The usual advice in this situation seems to be: if you don’t know what it is, and the test to find out is too expensive, try treating the cat for something that it MIGHT be and see what happens. But in this case, I don’t know what that might look like.
What kinds of things MIGHT this be, other than cancer, diabetes, hyperthyroid, or kidney disease?
Losing weight rapidly, with no loss of appetite; bump on front of lower jaw where a tooth was removed (vet says it doesn’t look like a tooth shard); fur starting to get matted on his flanks; on cyclosporine for allergies. Otherwise seems fine - purrs, likes cuddles (but only a certain undisclosed number of cuddles before he bites you - situation normal there), doesn’t seem any more lethargic than usual.
In this situation, what kinds of things could it be that we could try to treat? If you’re a vet or a savvy cat owner with generally sufficient but not unlimited funds - what would you do?
Did your vet discuss taking him off the cyclosporine? Persistent progressive weight loss is a side effect of cyclosporine and if that's his only symptom I'd be tempted to take him off it and see if his weight stabilises.
posted by Rhedyn at 8:40 PM on February 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by Rhedyn at 8:40 PM on February 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
Your vet checked to see if there was an infection at the site of the oral surgery? And/or there's no fever?
posted by amtho at 8:42 PM on February 13, 2024
posted by amtho at 8:42 PM on February 13, 2024
I’m sorry poor Gnome is going through this. My house panther Mojo started losing weight rapidly in his later years; in addition to the things you already mentioned, my vet tested for pancreatitis and inflammatory bowel disease. They did an ultrasound but we did not do a biopsy. At the end of the day there was no specific diagnosis, he just wasn’t absorbing enough nutrition. The vet pointed us to some research on ideopathic chronic enteropathy. The treatment plan was trying different diets to see if anything could slow the weight loss. The Moj was an old man who’d had a lot of health problems through his life and at that point we chose to feed him what he liked best, so can’t comment on effectiveness of the different options our vet recommended.
posted by tinymojo at 8:53 PM on February 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by tinymojo at 8:53 PM on February 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
**TW: Story about how my cat died. I genuinely hope yours gets better and has many more years of cuddles left. 💙
**
I can’t respond to any specific course of action with regard to treatments/prognosis etc. I’m going to answer your “then what?” question based on my personal experience with my 14 year old cat who got very sick very quickly: I wish I had let her go sooner. She hated the vet and her last few days were spent in a traumatizing mess of shots and forced pills and overnight stays at the vet while we waited on test results. She died in front of me and my partner at home and it was awful—in retrospect, I feel selfish for putting her through all of that just because I was scared to lose her.
**
In short, please do whatever you feel is necessary and within your means to make his final years the best ever, whether that be medical intervention or whatever else. It sounds like it’s still possible this could be something relatively minor and treatable. But also listen to your gut when/if it starts to seem like his quality of life is suffering. We always want to feel like we did everything we could, but sometimes “everything we could” is too much.
posted by a.steele at 9:49 PM on February 13, 2024 [11 favorites]
**
I can’t respond to any specific course of action with regard to treatments/prognosis etc. I’m going to answer your “then what?” question based on my personal experience with my 14 year old cat who got very sick very quickly: I wish I had let her go sooner. She hated the vet and her last few days were spent in a traumatizing mess of shots and forced pills and overnight stays at the vet while we waited on test results. She died in front of me and my partner at home and it was awful—in retrospect, I feel selfish for putting her through all of that just because I was scared to lose her.
**
In short, please do whatever you feel is necessary and within your means to make his final years the best ever, whether that be medical intervention or whatever else. It sounds like it’s still possible this could be something relatively minor and treatable. But also listen to your gut when/if it starts to seem like his quality of life is suffering. We always want to feel like we did everything we could, but sometimes “everything we could” is too much.
posted by a.steele at 9:49 PM on February 13, 2024 [11 favorites]
If cyclosporine is giving Gnome an "off" scent to the rest of the pets, changes in their behavior could link to his weight and fur issues.
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:06 PM on February 13, 2024
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:06 PM on February 13, 2024
We've had a lot of cats and always struggle when they get to this age and the stage of decline where there's no immediate answer. In our younger years we simply did not have the money to spend on any treatments beyond antibiotics and an occasional overnight stay at the vet, so perhaps I've become a bit hard-hearted about this, but even now with more disposable income I see more downsides to putting an elderly pet through the trauma of invasive procedures to maybe, possibly, find out what "it" is and then be forced to make another series of difficult decisions. It is a kindness to let a pet go before their life becomes truly miserable. If this were my situation, I would talk to the vet about palliative care.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 4:21 AM on February 14, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Sweetie Darling at 4:21 AM on February 14, 2024 [2 favorites]
What kinds of things MIGHT this be, other than cancer, diabetes, hyperthyroid, or kidney disease?
I had a fairly medically complex cat, so this is coming from that particular perspective. I'm not a vet. And I'm also sorry you are going through this. It's heart wrenching trying to help a sick animal friend.
Those are all the big bad old cat diseases, so once you knock most of those off the list things seem to get more troublesome to figure out. Older cats can also have trouble keeping on weight. So it could be a lot of back and forth trying to pin down exactly what's going on.
With cancer the unfortunate part is bloodwork can come back fine until it doesn't. My late kitty was getting clear tests and then he wound up poorly and an ultrasound showed the masses. So it crept up. And even an ultrasound isn't a trivial test for an older cat because there is some sedation involved - so there is a cost-benefit analysis to do for even going down that exploratory route.
Prednisone is a common treatment for many cat maladies. So that might be worth a conversation (and they might also help with some weight gain as well if that's needed). Increasing his food intake and monitoring that as best as you can (with a multi-cat household, that can be a losing battle).
At his age, just making sure he's happy, comfortable, and otherwise just dealing with him day-by-day might be what you're looking at.
posted by eekernohan at 6:13 AM on February 14, 2024
I had a fairly medically complex cat, so this is coming from that particular perspective. I'm not a vet. And I'm also sorry you are going through this. It's heart wrenching trying to help a sick animal friend.
Those are all the big bad old cat diseases, so once you knock most of those off the list things seem to get more troublesome to figure out. Older cats can also have trouble keeping on weight. So it could be a lot of back and forth trying to pin down exactly what's going on.
With cancer the unfortunate part is bloodwork can come back fine until it doesn't. My late kitty was getting clear tests and then he wound up poorly and an ultrasound showed the masses. So it crept up. And even an ultrasound isn't a trivial test for an older cat because there is some sedation involved - so there is a cost-benefit analysis to do for even going down that exploratory route.
Prednisone is a common treatment for many cat maladies. So that might be worth a conversation (and they might also help with some weight gain as well if that's needed). Increasing his food intake and monitoring that as best as you can (with a multi-cat household, that can be a losing battle).
At his age, just making sure he's happy, comfortable, and otherwise just dealing with him day-by-day might be what you're looking at.
posted by eekernohan at 6:13 AM on February 14, 2024
I understand the impulse to try and Dr. House this situation but the odds are very high that it is one of the Big Four you listed--there's a reason those are the main things they test for in older cats. Most of those, luckily, are pretty treatable and the treatments are minimally invasive (depending on how amenable your cat is to injections/pills/food changes).
I'm a little surprised that the vet is convinced the gingival hyperplasia/cyclosporine are unrelated but I don't know what the vet is seeing, so who knows. We had a family dog develop a hyperplasia and then get infected -- it came on slowly and then quickly, and she lost weight and stopped grooming despite clearly still having an appetite. A small surgery and round of antibiotics sorted her, so if all of the tests come up negative for your kitty, you might push on that.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 6:49 AM on February 14, 2024 [2 favorites]
I'm a little surprised that the vet is convinced the gingival hyperplasia/cyclosporine are unrelated but I don't know what the vet is seeing, so who knows. We had a family dog develop a hyperplasia and then get infected -- it came on slowly and then quickly, and she lost weight and stopped grooming despite clearly still having an appetite. A small surgery and round of antibiotics sorted her, so if all of the tests come up negative for your kitty, you might push on that.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 6:49 AM on February 14, 2024 [2 favorites]
My older cat had within-range levels in his thyroid panel, but our vet advised treating him as if he was hyperthyroid anyway, after some similar changes (sudden weight loss, extreme appetite, increased vomiting, peeing everywhere).
He is now on the lowest dose of thyroid meds she could prescribe, and has stabilized a whole lot. Gained a little weight back, has stopped peeing on things, and his personality came back (this is big! he had become a desperate skeleton, wailing for food and otherwise ghosting us.) We changed his food, since kibble now reliably makes him puke; he will still eat it when he can, so we have to feed our two separately now. We're also more vigilant about where he can go in the house, since there are still spots where he will occasionally pee given the chance - but he's doing SO much better.
If any of his bloodwork is sub-clinical but slowly moving in the direction of one of the big four you listed, maybe ask your vet if they recommend getting ahead of emergent stuff by treating it.
I'm sorry your kitty is getting old! It's so heartbreaking. We lost our last cat to cancer and it was just such a horrible slide over the course of several weeks, suddenly he couldn't walk or get in the box or clean himself, I thought it was neurological but when I took him in the vet discovered masses on his spine.
I am in camp low intervention high comfort for end of life issues. They don't know that eventually they might be healthy - all they know is that they're in pain, and you are trying to hurt them (my poor cat did NOT want antibiotics or gabapentin, he interpreted all meds as torture.)
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:45 AM on February 14, 2024 [1 favorite]
He is now on the lowest dose of thyroid meds she could prescribe, and has stabilized a whole lot. Gained a little weight back, has stopped peeing on things, and his personality came back (this is big! he had become a desperate skeleton, wailing for food and otherwise ghosting us.) We changed his food, since kibble now reliably makes him puke; he will still eat it when he can, so we have to feed our two separately now. We're also more vigilant about where he can go in the house, since there are still spots where he will occasionally pee given the chance - but he's doing SO much better.
If any of his bloodwork is sub-clinical but slowly moving in the direction of one of the big four you listed, maybe ask your vet if they recommend getting ahead of emergent stuff by treating it.
I'm sorry your kitty is getting old! It's so heartbreaking. We lost our last cat to cancer and it was just such a horrible slide over the course of several weeks, suddenly he couldn't walk or get in the box or clean himself, I thought it was neurological but when I took him in the vet discovered masses on his spine.
I am in camp low intervention high comfort for end of life issues. They don't know that eventually they might be healthy - all they know is that they're in pain, and you are trying to hurt them (my poor cat did NOT want antibiotics or gabapentin, he interpreted all meds as torture.)
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:45 AM on February 14, 2024 [1 favorite]
I have a 24lb house panther myself, who is about to turn 10. Is your little fella vomiting a lot? We had a concerning time where our guy (Hound) wouldn't hold food down and was losing weight rapidly. It turns out he had developed a poultry allergy! He also has IBD. So we had to change his diet. It looked VERY scary there for a moment though.
posted by pazazygeek at 8:51 AM on February 14, 2024
posted by pazazygeek at 8:51 AM on February 14, 2024
Response by poster: Thanks SO much for all the thoughtful replies here - to some extent, just validating our choice not to go to extremes is really comforting.
We got the x-ray results back officially, from the radiographer, and as I expected there's no sign of cancer there. Which leaves us in unknown territory - Gnome has never been one to select an easy diagnosis!
After talking with the vet, we're going to lower his dose of cyclosporine over the next 2 weeks, then take him back in for a check-up to get his weight and see if the bump has changed or if it's gotten painful (so far it doesn't seem like it). Then if he hasn't reacted to his allergy on the lower dose, we'll lower it further, until we can hit the lowest possible dose.
In the meantime, we'll spend the next few months being watchful of his weight, keeping him happy, making him comfortable. If he starts to seem like he's in pain, or stops eating, or declines in other ways, we'll be having an end-of-life conversation with our vet.
Our vet's read on him is essentially - if he's still alive 3 months from now, it wasn't cancer. Given that 3 months is likely the prognosis even with treatment, we're not going to do a biopsy. At that point, if he's okay, we can re-evaluate whether we can trim back the bump based on his condition and ability to tolerate anesthesia. It's a sad place to spend the next 3 months, but it does at least seem like the right course.
Regarding his age - until he started really losing weight 3 months ago it seemed like he'd live forever. The ones we've lost before have made it to 20ish. I know decline can happen really fast in senior cats, but this has just been astonishing.
Again - thanks so much! I'll add an update here when we see where we land later on.
posted by invincible summer at 10:06 AM on February 14, 2024 [8 favorites]
We got the x-ray results back officially, from the radiographer, and as I expected there's no sign of cancer there. Which leaves us in unknown territory - Gnome has never been one to select an easy diagnosis!
After talking with the vet, we're going to lower his dose of cyclosporine over the next 2 weeks, then take him back in for a check-up to get his weight and see if the bump has changed or if it's gotten painful (so far it doesn't seem like it). Then if he hasn't reacted to his allergy on the lower dose, we'll lower it further, until we can hit the lowest possible dose.
In the meantime, we'll spend the next few months being watchful of his weight, keeping him happy, making him comfortable. If he starts to seem like he's in pain, or stops eating, or declines in other ways, we'll be having an end-of-life conversation with our vet.
Our vet's read on him is essentially - if he's still alive 3 months from now, it wasn't cancer. Given that 3 months is likely the prognosis even with treatment, we're not going to do a biopsy. At that point, if he's okay, we can re-evaluate whether we can trim back the bump based on his condition and ability to tolerate anesthesia. It's a sad place to spend the next 3 months, but it does at least seem like the right course.
Regarding his age - until he started really losing weight 3 months ago it seemed like he'd live forever. The ones we've lost before have made it to 20ish. I know decline can happen really fast in senior cats, but this has just been astonishing.
Again - thanks so much! I'll add an update here when we see where we land later on.
posted by invincible summer at 10:06 AM on February 14, 2024 [8 favorites]
Try softer food, my old girl prefers a partially-liquid diet these days -- those little packets from Wellness Core and Fancy Feast are big hits.
posted by credulous at 10:16 AM on February 14, 2024
posted by credulous at 10:16 AM on February 14, 2024
Thanks for the update! Fingers crossed it is just cyclosporine issues and that everything stabilises once the right adjustments are made. Your vet's approach seems very sensible to me.
posted by Rhedyn at 10:25 AM on February 14, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Rhedyn at 10:25 AM on February 14, 2024 [2 favorites]
IANYV but IAAV. Your vet may not have access to it, but dental x-rays of the affected area in the mouth (requires a special machine and technique that not all general practice vets may have) might help determine if there is bone destruction or what the "inside" of that mass looks like prior to determining if a biopsy is necessary. You might consider going to a veterinary dentist who will be more aware of all the many, many things that can cause mass-like lesions in the mouth, from infections to retained tooth roots to benign tumors to more malignant tumors. There are entire textbooks devoted to diseases of the oral cavity in dogs and cats, each with its own prognosis and appropriate treatment! It is absolutely impossible to give a real prognosis without an actual diagnosis, so don't latch onto overly simplistic conjectures based on a complete absence of data (but do do what's right for your family financially, no judgment!).
posted by SinAesthetic at 10:51 AM on February 14, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by SinAesthetic at 10:51 AM on February 14, 2024 [2 favorites]
I am wondering why it sounds like the vet isn’t thinking about the recent tooth resorption and extractions as being potentially related to this.
posted by bananana at 11:27 AM on February 14, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by bananana at 11:27 AM on February 14, 2024 [3 favorites]
My boy Milo (also 13-ish) had similar sounding symptoms. A full dental appointment under anaesthetic led to the extraction of a lower canine tooth which seems to have sorted it out.
It took a while to get there. Many different vets swore there was no sign of inflammation or infection. Milo wasn’t x-rayed, but his chin-lump was biopsied and no cancer was found. A couple of vets guessed acromegaly. But under anaesthesia they found that it was the tooth, and they pulled it and gave him an antibiotic shot.
That was about two months ago, and now the chin swelling has gone down and the drooling is lessened (now basically only when he eats). He looks just about his normal self.
I’m only one data point, but if your vets feel it would be safe to anaesthetise Gnome for a full dental cleaning and checkup, I would recommend it based on the symptoms you describe.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:53 PM on February 14, 2024
It took a while to get there. Many different vets swore there was no sign of inflammation or infection. Milo wasn’t x-rayed, but his chin-lump was biopsied and no cancer was found. A couple of vets guessed acromegaly. But under anaesthesia they found that it was the tooth, and they pulled it and gave him an antibiotic shot.
That was about two months ago, and now the chin swelling has gone down and the drooling is lessened (now basically only when he eats). He looks just about his normal self.
I’m only one data point, but if your vets feel it would be safe to anaesthetise Gnome for a full dental cleaning and checkup, I would recommend it based on the symptoms you describe.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:53 PM on February 14, 2024
Possibly unrelated to the rest -- matting could be due to reduced grooming, which is a common sign of arthritis, fairly common in older cats. I think the other big things to watch out for one that front are changes in gait and/or hesitancy or unwillingness to jump up to or down from places he used to happily go.
posted by ktkt at 6:05 PM on February 14, 2024
posted by ktkt at 6:05 PM on February 14, 2024
Honestly your vet sounds…a bit out of their depth. They have no other indications to link a presumptive cancer diagnosis with this dramatic weight loss other than the presence of an oral mass which she doesn’t think is related to him having difficulty prehending food? And he’s got clean bloodwork? Without a biopsy she had no way knowing what kind of tumor this could be or what its prognosis is. Yes, certain oral tumors in cats are incredibly aggressive (SCC and OMM) but she doesn’t know it’s either of these types. If your cat has responsive gum disease your cat could have stomatitis and could be having significant oral pain and difficulty eating from that and could benefit significantly from full mouth extractions. Like, there are soooooo many other avenues to look at. It’s okay if y’all are tapped out, but you’re from what you’re saying I don’t think your vet is really giving that many great options.
I’m not a vet, I was a credentialed veterinary technician for tens years and I am married to a veterinary specialist who agrees you should get a second opinion.
posted by OsoMeaty at 8:34 PM on February 14, 2024
I’m not a vet, I was a credentialed veterinary technician for tens years and I am married to a veterinary specialist who agrees you should get a second opinion.
posted by OsoMeaty at 8:34 PM on February 14, 2024
I mean waiting and seeing is always an option as long as your animal isn’t in pain but the fact that he’s having difficulty eating (prehending his food), is drooling, and has lost a significant amount of weight loss makes me think has oral pain or pain elsewhere. Cats are amazing at masking discomfort and sounds like Gnome is starting to not be able to mask his. Idk there’s so many more options than just biopsy or nothing. Did he get sedated and have a full mouth exam? I have so many questions.
posted by OsoMeaty at 8:45 PM on February 14, 2024
posted by OsoMeaty at 8:45 PM on February 14, 2024
Response by poster: He has had a full mouth exam and x-rays, prior to extractions of multiple teeth that we were told were "resorbing" in late October. The bump is white, not broken or bleeding, and located at the very front of his lower jaw, where a tooth was extracted and where it almost looks like a tooth is trying to grow in.
We also wondered if there had been some issue in the extraction process, but the vet told us it didn't look like that. She also said it didn't look like infection. This is the vet we've used for all our animals for the past 5 years, and recently they also recommended tooth extraction for our two other boy cats who are also Gnome's age, also due to "resorption".
If that's sounding fishy, maybe we DO need a second opinion! We had no reason to distrust this vet prior to this - but we'll definitely discuss tonight.
posted by invincible summer at 10:32 AM on February 15, 2024 [1 favorite]
We also wondered if there had been some issue in the extraction process, but the vet told us it didn't look like that. She also said it didn't look like infection. This is the vet we've used for all our animals for the past 5 years, and recently they also recommended tooth extraction for our two other boy cats who are also Gnome's age, also due to "resorption".
If that's sounding fishy, maybe we DO need a second opinion! We had no reason to distrust this vet prior to this - but we'll definitely discuss tonight.
posted by invincible summer at 10:32 AM on February 15, 2024 [1 favorite]
Did the blood panel come back and what was his thyroid level?
posted by dum spiro spero at 3:00 AM on February 16, 2024
posted by dum spiro spero at 3:00 AM on February 16, 2024
Response by poster: Blood panel came back with no evidence of anything - kidneys good, no diabetes, no thyroid issues. We've got a follow-up appointment this Wednesday and we'll be checking the mouth bump and his weight there.
The vet did suggest lowering the dose and frequency of the cyclosporine - so we actually just stopped it a week ago.
And this may be just wishful thinking... but we all think it seems like he might have gained a little weight back, and my housemate thinks the bump might be a bit smaller.
More updates when we've seen the vet again though. If we can't get answers to some of the very good questions people have asked here - we'll be heading somewhere else for a second opinion.
posted by invincible summer at 2:44 PM on February 24, 2024
The vet did suggest lowering the dose and frequency of the cyclosporine - so we actually just stopped it a week ago.
And this may be just wishful thinking... but we all think it seems like he might have gained a little weight back, and my housemate thinks the bump might be a bit smaller.
More updates when we've seen the vet again though. If we can't get answers to some of the very good questions people have asked here - we'll be heading somewhere else for a second opinion.
posted by invincible summer at 2:44 PM on February 24, 2024
Response by poster: Hi all, just wanted to add an update and retire this question!
Good news - Gnome is FINE. We waited and waited for the expected decline, and all he did is get healthier and healthier.
After we stopped the medication, he started gaining weight back. He's 19.15 lbs now, which is still heavy for a cat, but he's a HUGE cat.
The lump in his mouth receded and then vanished over the past few months, and on our vet visit today, it was completely gone.
Thanks so much, everyone, for all your well-wishing and advice!
posted by invincible summer at 6:32 PM on July 5, 2024 [3 favorites]
Good news - Gnome is FINE. We waited and waited for the expected decline, and all he did is get healthier and healthier.
After we stopped the medication, he started gaining weight back. He's 19.15 lbs now, which is still heavy for a cat, but he's a HUGE cat.
The lump in his mouth receded and then vanished over the past few months, and on our vet visit today, it was completely gone.
Thanks so much, everyone, for all your well-wishing and advice!
posted by invincible summer at 6:32 PM on July 5, 2024 [3 favorites]
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
Gnome was an indoor/outdoor cat when he was younger (out in the backyard during the day, inside at dark), but has been exclusively an indoor cat for the past 5 years. He has no known issues other than his very extreme allergy to fleas, which used to make him lick his belly raw on the regular until we got him treated.
We haven’t noticed anything strange in litter box usage patterns.
All three other cats are healthy and have normal behavior.
posted by invincible summer at 7:21 PM on February 13, 2024