Given the symptoms, what could be wrong with my cat?

September 22, 2013 12:05 PM

You are not a vet (but maybe you play one on TV). Inconclusive cat symptoms: what could they mean?

Recently, I realized that my beloved 10 year old boy cat has stopped eating like he usually does. Instead of being really excited about his wet food and going after it, he maybe eats half of it and walks away. I took him to the vet on Friday and he had lost 2.5lbs in about three months. He's still relatively normal in personality, but a little less active in chasing the other cat around, I'd say. His bloodwork came back without much. There was a "high normal" return on one of his kidney levels and his white blood cells were a little off, but nothing that the vet felt showed anything. We are waiting to get a urine sample to test the kidneys further. On exam, he showed some signs of maybe being tender in a way that could show arthritis toward his back end. He has stopped jumping up to the bathroom sink for water, but still will jump up on the taller kitchen counter, so I'm not sure if that is a possibility. Another part of this is that I have been traveling every weekend for about a month and only having a few days at home on the weekends. At first I thought maybe he was having anxiety, but shouldn't he return to normal eating when I get home? The problem the vet is having is that it's an awful lot of weight loss for arthritis to make sense, but nothing else is really coming up.

Things done since Friday:
- he was given arthritis medicine at the vet to see how it went while we waited for his Monday appointment and further exam.
- raised up the food bowls so if it is arthritis, maybe he will like that better
- gave him different wet food, which he was all over.

He ate the new wet food without problem and then ate a little bit of the old wet food as well. Could this just be a cat that stopped liking his food? He doesn't really eat the dry food at all anymore, as far as I can tell. Could he be protesting? Or does this sound like something else?

I know you are probably not a vet and the cat is under a vet's care, but I was hoping for insight from other cat owners who may have seen similar symptoms. If food issues are suspected, I am open to food recommendations.

posted by itsacover to Pets & Animals (12 answers total)

Cats are a lot like people. They age in different flavors. Your tom may be adjusting to his middle-aged years. Arthritis may not always be an issue, maybe just sometimes.

I guess you and your vet have talked about cat-geriatrics.

One of our cats gave up the ghost when she was about 16 years old, just walked up on the kitchen stoop one morning, lay down and expired. She had been in vigorous health until that day. Vet said her old heart just quit. My friend had a cat that I was privileged to pet, who was in his early twenties before he finally expired. He was creaky, hard of hearing, and had a few missing teeth, but he knew his way around, liked to butt the legs of human friends, and have people pull gently on his tail. It was all he could manage to climb up the porch steps, but he took his time, and displayed the proper cat dignity his age warranted.

I wouldn't rule out anxiety issues, either. Cats like routines, and notice changes. But they adapt.

Good luck.
posted by mule98J at 12:20 PM on September 22, 2013

You can certainly test some food theories for a few dollars. Try a couple of different foods - different textures, different price points. See if you get an enthusiastic response from any of them.

You might also put the bowl up on a few books or a small box, so that he can eat without needing to stoop or bend.

That may give you a little bit of insight for your appointment tomorrow.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:32 PM on September 22, 2013

Oh, one more thing - give him food in a high-contrast format. So, if the food is dark-colored, put it on a white dish (and if you normally use a bowl, use a dish, in case it's the chin-bowl interface that's the problem). If he's having vision problems, he may be bumping his face into the food.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:33 PM on September 22, 2013

It could be he just got sick of that kind of food, it happens sometimes. Is he an outdoor cat? Is there any way he could have a parasite that's interfering with his appetite?
posted by bleep at 12:35 PM on September 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

Elevated kidney values may mean he just doesn't feel all that well. That was the case with our boy Toby. When he was off his feed his kidney levels would be out of whack. A trip to the vet and a Rx adjustment set things right.
posted by 26.2 at 12:36 PM on September 22, 2013

Cats get sick of eating the same thing over and over. Try rotating between several different flavors of canned food and see how he likes it.

Also, cats' sense of smell (which drives their appetites) degrades as they age. Try serving stinkier food or warming up the food a bit so it smell stronger.
posted by Jacqueline at 1:12 PM on September 22, 2013

Your cat just may be getting elderly--as with humans, cats sometimes lose the ability to process nutrients as they grow older or experience decreased appetite, and so lose weight. However, another thing to keep an eye on is the thyroid, as sudden weight loss can be a sign of the thyroid going kaflooey (a common problem in geriatric cats).
posted by thomas j wise at 1:28 PM on September 22, 2013

A cat of mine nearly starved to death before a sharp eyed vet spotted a resorptive lesion. So yes, have the teeth checked thoroughly.
posted by SLC Mom at 2:07 PM on September 22, 2013

Also be sure that the food you were feeding has not changed in composition. I had been feeding my cat special food for years after he had urinary issues at age two and would not eat the vet prescribed diet. When we moved, I had a pet store special order the food for me.

Which was fine until the last bags came in and they changed the formula and he refused to eat for about 5 days when until I went out and found some other food that "might" work for him.

wife of 445upermag
posted by 445supermag at 2:35 PM on September 22, 2013

I'm glad your cat in under the care of a vet and you will be working as team to figure out what's going on with your kitty. However, I would recommend you see a vet who is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Seeing a specialist vs. seeing a general practice vet could mean a world of difference for the health of your cat.
posted by OsoMeaty at 3:10 PM on September 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm never in favor of serious explanations when a less complicated one will do, but at the far end of the radical spectrum you might consider bowel obstruction, or a twisted bowel. This can be purely mechanical, and therefore won't show up directly on chemical tests. The symptoms would be listlessness and weight loss. Tenderness at the rear end would be expected, since the gut would be uncomfortable. Usually there would be some vomiting, but you're not always about and so you mightn't have seen it, or if the cat is periodically not eating a lot there mightn't be much to see. The vet can check either endoscopically or with an X-ray. Otherwise, I'd be happy to go with a middle-aged cat approaching old age.
posted by alonsoquijano at 3:18 PM on September 22, 2013

"gave him different wet food, which he was all over"

That says a lot right there. I also had a 10 year old cat that had an unexplained weight loss of several pounds. Bloodwork and x-rays were unremarkable. I tried several different kinds of food, found one she liked (kitten kibble in this case), and she regained 1.5 pounds in 3 weeks. IME cats get pickier about food as they get older, and can indeed just refuse to eat something they've grown tired of. Assuming you have a good quality vet who has ruled out the conditions mentioned above as well as thyroid disease and other common weight-loss conditions, and the cat continues to eat well with different kinds of food, the issue may resolve itself. Keep an eye on those kidney numbers, though.
posted by storminator7 at 8:15 PM on September 23, 2013