help! sick cat!
 

We have a very sick cat. Schatzy has been to the vet so many times, we should own the place by now! She has had evey blood, urine, and stool test. She has had x-rays and ultra sound. She does not have thryroid, diabeties, or an infection. All tests are normal. The next option is for exploratory surgery. Schatzy is sick, 13 years old and I'm not sure she can handle surgery. She has gone from a healthy 10.5 lb cat to a sick 4.5 lb cat in the last 9 months! What ever she has comes in cycles. For a week to 10 days, she acts fine. She eats and plays as a normal 13 year old cat. And then for the next week Schatzy throws up everything! She is on Hill's z/d because the vet said maybe its protein but she vomits that too. For the vomiting week she acts like a starved cat!(which she is!) and scrounges food from where ever she can get it, including begging from us! She gets to the point of throwing up only foamy clear liquid (nothing else left). We really need some help! The other cat, Cassie is a year old and just came from the vet a week ago and she is fine. (Schatzy does not eat her food because Cassie likes wet and dry mixed and Schatzy is dry only.) Thanks for any help any one can give!

OH so sorry to hear this! The extreme weight loss, hunger and vomiting sounds like hyperthyroidism, but you say the blood tests were normal and there is no tumour on the thryroid gland.

Has she been checked for inflammatory bowel disease?

I really have no clue but for a cat to lose half her body weight is shocking. Has she been x-rayed to see if there are any tumours anywhere internally?

I hope you find an answer for your poor kitty!

If this is happening in 7-10 day cycles, it may be a reaction to something else in the household that is happening at the same intervals. Cleaning products? Does she go outside? Garbage collection day? Trying to think of weekly occurrences in my own household - housekeeper, gardener & garbage pick-up. My Pop almost died once from poisoning from a flea product he was using on his border collie - bathe the dog, get sick, feel better, bathe the dog, get sick, feel better, bathe the dog-etc. Only clue they had was the cycle. You might want to really do some investigating around the neighborhood if your cat goes outside.

Thanks for the thoughts on Schatzy. I heard just the other day that Swiffer Wet Jet is bad for animals. I use this all the time on my kitchen floor. Could this be what is making her sick? She is a total indoor cat so she is around this whenever I clean the floor. Someone else suggested it was my gas fireplace. I have never heard of either of these before. Are they correct?

I don't know about the gas-fireplace,I hope it won't make cats sick.One of my cats,Vinnie,loves to lay really close...sometimes I am afraid he'll boil,he gets soo hot.Why would the fire-place make them sick???
But I,ve heard Swiffer Wet Jet is not good for pets,it's strange however that she gets sick in cycles.
I had one cat once who was overweight and diabetic,he lost half his body-weight in less than two weeks and when he lost his fat a tumor appeared the size of a tennisball,but unlike yours,he went downhill quickly and had to be pts :sad:

swiffer wet jet
 

That whole wet jet thing was a hoax. As for the cat, friends of ours recently went through this with their cat. Had all the same sort of tests. Finally, what was discovered was an intestinal blockage that could not be repaired. I don't know if this helps or not. Sorry she is so sick.

BMDlover,I am happy to hear about Wet-Jet,I don't use it,but I use the wet cloths...I take the cats out for a bit every day and of course end up wiping the floors every day from little kitty-paws,but I certainly do not want to poison them :thumbs up
Karen,sorry for hogging your post and your very serious questions...I am hoping someone can help your little Schatzy and please come back and let us know :love:

Schatzy
 

chico2 about the fireplace; supposedly the gas fumes that naturally leak out. Hopefully there are no fumes that leak out. Schatzy loves the fireplace, too.
She just started her good cycle so she is eating right now. When she had x-rays they were looking for blockage. The vet suggested surgery as the next step. But with over $900 due up front, especially at this time of year, I can't afford to do it. (I was already told "we are not a bank, we do not lend money and that is what a payment plan is, lending money.) So I am hoping for an alternative way to help her. My 16 year old daughter is already starting to mourn.