elderly cat health question

[Bertha Venation]

Harry is 16 years old. Apart from damage done to his ear during teeth cleaning a few years ago, and a leap from 5 stories onto concrete, he has never had any health problems.

He was once a healthy-looking, robust boy, but in the last couple of years he has been losing weight to the extent that all of his bones are visible, and feel sharp poking his skin out. He does not seem to be in any pain, although he seems very unhappy with the cold setting in. He is extremely cantankerous.

We had him thoroughly checked out last year and learned that there is nothing wrong with him. He eats well, drinks lots of water, has no elimination problems.

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else has had such a cat -- sick looking but healthy. Anyone?

Any thoughts on my sweet Harry?

[HopeHoops]

1. Ask the vet to check out thyroid function.

If that vet won't do it, ask another one to do it. Even at 16, you can treat that pretty well up until the point where they stop eating.

[Bertha Venation]

2. that's one of the things the vet checked last year

I'll call to ask if it should be checked again. Thanks.

[HopeHoops]

5. I lost one that way. He was 16. Same deal - fine one year, too far gone the next.

If yours is still eating and crapping, you're probably in the safe zone for treatment. An "OK" a year ago is a LONG time for a cat that age. If the vet doesn't buy into that, find another one and just have that test done (unless you really like the vet).

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. Yes, do that. I have 2 16 yo kittehs who have it and they got all bony when they were sick. Also,

their little hearts sounded like jack hammers.

[GoCubsGo]

20. Blood chemistry can change a lot in in a short period of time

My 16-year-old went from having borderline kidney disease to 25% function in about six months. He's really boney. Poor, old cat.

[TZ]

3. elderly cats lose weight

Even if they are mostly healthy. But yeah, sounds like it could be thyroid, which btw, is pretty easily treated.

[Bertha Venation]

9. I didn't know.

:hi:

[MrsMatt]

4. I've had dealings with two elderly cats in my lifetime

one passed on at 19, the current one is 17. They both became pretty skinny as they got older.

Bettina my 19 year old developed severe arthritis, kidney problems and thyroid issues. We started giving her baby aspirin for the pain (1/2 tablet every 3 days), but had to move up to prednisone (10mg / day). She got around pretty good until the last year of life, when she could no longer hear or see. But she still managed to go up and down the stairs in our house, but would use the wall of the stairwell to help her keep her balance (we tried to keep her on one level, but she insisted on going where she wanted when she wanted).

My current cat Nancy has a very bony backbone, but is otherwise extremely healthy and limber for her age. She has mild arthritis and may have thyroid condiition similar to that of Bettina that we are keeping an eye on. She eats fine, but sometimes forgets where the litter box is and uses my clothing (the vet thinks she may be developing kitty dementia). She's also gotten lax in her grooming - she used to be very fastidious but now is riddled with mats that she fights to keep me from either combing or cutting out.

Good luck with Harry - he sounds normal to me, just getting old.

on edit - he's beautiful!

[Bertha Venation]

8. I'll bet Nancy is a real sweetheart

despite the problems old age is beginning to bring. Give her this from me, gently. :hug:

[cherish44]

6. My senior cat has lost weight

He started getting pretty skinny a couple of years ago. He's almost 17 and still going strong, just a loose in the skin. Good appetite for sure, he's developed a taste for pizza in his old age!

[Bertha Venation]

7. Harry digs yogurt.

Weird tastes, these cats get, eh?

[raccoon]

10. Has he been tested for diabetes? that causes weight loss.

Lovely cat, he is.

[Flaxbee]

11. Does he have his own personal heating pad and / or heating blanket?

We have an older girl (who has always been rather susceptible to cold) and her favorite place is the cardboard box with the foam padding with a heating pad placed between a towel (pink, please - she prefers pink towels). With a little catnip sprinkled around on the towel. :)

My beloved Tommy got thinner as he aged, but he was also suffering from kidney failure.

Some older cats do just tend to get a bit 'weedy' as my mom calls it - as all of us mammals age we lose muscle mass. If the vet says he's ok, just make sure he's warm and no worries.

How are you? Mrs. V? How is her family doing?


By the way - Harry's lovely.

[zen_bohemian]

12. My 15 year old is really skinny too

she used to be so fat, now she seems so frail looking, its come on over the past couple of years. She gets around fine and eats well, she is just so skinny and her back seems more humped than it used to be.

[libodem]

14. Our cat

Bob is 13 and he lost his tyroid function, became skinny, boney, and his fur was dull and brittle. Poor guy ate like crazy and still looked homeless. I thought he might be becoming diabetic. Poor old fighting dude he also turned up positive for that feline aides virus.

When we were at the vet for his abcess and had all his tests done to see why he was so thin, he seemed pitiful enough to put to sleep. He's my 26 yo son's kitty boy and so his death sentence isn't up to me.

So the kitty got his head wound cleaned and a shot of antibiotic. He got a thyroid pill. He felt so much better he went out and brought us a dead baby squiddle ( squirrel) the next day.


OMG, I hate that. He wanted to bring it inside. Feral blood runs in his cat veins.

Good luck with your diagnosis and treatment for your meow-meow.

[JBoy]

15. Could be kidney problems. Quite common for older cats.

Both of our cats eventually succumbed to that.

When you say your cat "drinks lots of water", do you mean quite a bit? That's a sign that the kidneys aren't doing their job properly.

Here's a link that describes the problem and some of the symptoms: http://pethealth.petwellbeing.com/wiki/Cat_Kidney_Disease

[Raven]

16. My cat, Miles, was 23 when I had to put her down. She leaped

tall buildings in a single bound to the very end. She was very thin but ate and peed and was healthy. I noticed the beginning of the end when she stopped eating and slept a lot.

[grace0418]

17. My Frankie is going on 18 years old. He is still chubby around the middle but you can

feel the bones in his legs and spine more. It seems like loss of muscle tone from age. But certainly get his thyroid checked to be sure. Frankie has kidney issues, I'm sure that will be what is the end for him. It's extremely common in cats. He's lived almost 8 years longer than his brother, so I feel pretty lucky with every day I get.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. Well, Good News And Bad News

Sometimes elderly cats suddenly lose consistent blood chemistry. Thyroid, kidney and pancreas functions all get weird at once.

We had one go from old but vibrant to "no choice but to put down" in about 4 weeks. Her blood work was a MESS! Everything that was bad to be high was high. Everything that was bad to be low was low.

Yet, her sister is 5 months older, has gotten really skinny in the past two years. But, she's still alert, active, friendly and behaves like herself in every way. We had the same blood work done on her and she's completely healthy.

So sometimes older cats just lose body mass but they're just fine. Other times, it's a sign of rapid and irreversible decline.

Just keep an eye on the kitty. Any really unusual changes in behavior or habits should trigger a vet visit, stat.
GAC

[elocs]

19. Mine is 17, still doing well, had her thyroid zapped 12 years ago

at the University of Wisconsin Vet Hospital, so I've had to be careful about her gaining weight and getting fat. Actually my vet likes to see her because it reminds him of what a normal sized cat should look like. Her appetite is still very good though.

My first cat lived to be 20 and went to skin and bones at the end, so much so that when I took her to have her put to sleep the vet could not find a vein and it took 3 tries. I was with her and was ready, having cried it out on the way there (I had her since I had found her at 3 days old), but by the third attempt I had lost it. Funny, it was so many years ago but I can still tear up in writing about it.

[Curmudgeoness]

21. It is never good for a cat to lose much weight, but it isn't

the end of the world. I have been using a product called Nutri-Cal to keep weight on my one kitty. She has kidney disease, but I really worry about the weight loss. This is a high calorie supplement that cats just love, comes in a tube, and seems to be very tasty for cats. Maybe this would help.

[Gormy Cuss]

22. I got nothing but

Harry's hot, in a feline sorta way.
:+

[kimi]

23. I think you've gotten lots of good advice here

so just want to say - Harry is a gorgeous guy! Very wise-looking, very with-it looking kind of guy. You and your nice lady and the other kittehs in the house must have lots of intense discussions!!

Best wishes to the old guy. I hope he stays around to spread his wisdom for awhile. :hi: