old kitty question

[CountAllVotes]

Hi all!

My old kitty is coming up on 15 years of age. She seems to be very happy and lively, playful, etc.

However, she has slowed in her ways a bit and no longer climbs fences and occasionally misses a jump when she tries to do it too fast. She runs very fast and can easily out run my other two far much younger cats.

The problem is that I've noticed that as she gets older it seems she has lost weight. She has always been a very lean cat and a very finicky eater. She eats the dry food I order for her happily and she gets pieces of cooked lamb, chicken and occasionally a bit of canned tuna with juice on the side. She even likes bites of freshly cooked bread at times.

The weight loss has been attributed to her age by my husband. I'm a bit worried about it myself. I told him I thought maybe I should take her to the vet and have her checked out but he said NO because she gets so upset when you take her to the vet. She becomes so frightened that foam pours out of her mouth in fear and the worry is that she'll die out from a heart attack if this is possible (?).

All of this said, I don't know what to do. As I said, old kitty seems to be doing just fine but has been shrinking a bit with age.

Any comments or thoughts are really appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

[demnan]

1. Cats do lose weight with age

also some cats develop thyroid issues. My cat Lily is 18 and was plump in her youth but has thinned down somewhat. If you are worried, can you get one of those vets who make house visits? They could run some blood tests on the cat to see if thyroid is an issue. If it is she can be given medicine to regulate the thyroid.

How are her bowel movements? Typically cats with thyroid problems have runny bowels.

[japple]

2. They do tend to shrink with age. My 16 yr. old cat, Tiny,

has started to feel bony and I think it's because their skin gets thin and baggy, just like people. Tiny has lost some of his kidney function but that, too, may not be due to his age. He has also lost quite a bit of hearing and his eyes look different - darker and pitted (can't think of another term to describe it, but there are dark spots in his iris).

Maybe you could get something from the vet that would calm your kitty before you took her into the office for a check up. Rescue Remedy, Feliway or herbals might help, too.

[blondie58]

3. she sounds fine- sounds like a real love

however, my first foster that I took in was skinny- emaciated, due to thyroid condition that he required medicine for. Tigger could just not get enough to eat, yet he was so skinny. I knew that it was basically hospice care for a cat, but there was something about this little guy- he had such a wonderful spirit. He lived with us for about a year until he passed.
I wouldn't worry too much unless she gets super skinny, but the thyroid thing was the first thing that came to my mind. But if you have to go to the vet, have you ever tried Rescue Remedy on her? It works wonders for some cats, or humans for that matter. My shelter uses it for any cat who has to go to the vet or is going to be in a stressful situation.

Good luck! Do you have any pictures?

[Tammie]

4. We all lose body mass with age.

Without any other symptoms, your husband is probably right. But your peace of mind is worth something too. When in doubt, check with the vet.

[CountAllVotes]

5. thanks for the replies

everything about old kitty is fine (normal bowel movements, no problems in the litter box). I've had fecals done on her a few times since we got a third cat (who she just loves btw). Nothing at all abnormal has ever shown up.

I'd hate the thought of losing her because she gets so scared when you take her to the vet. She has skin cancer because she is all white but luckily it has not recurred in almost 5 years now. This has nothing at all to do with weight but it has a lot to do with why she is so scared of the vet. Her teeth are all still in place and appear to be sound, no red gums or anything and she had them cleaned after one of the recent cancer surgeries.

She is an indoor cat so I don't fear she has a disease or anything (she doesn't got outside much anyway because of the skin cancer issue). I hope it doesn't recur because I dread having to deal with it as it requires major surgery (she's had 3 surgeries for this problem in the past 7 years - all required major blood work, etc. - no abnormalities but I was told that the chances of recurrence are 100% *sigh*).

We're trying to fatten her up but it isn't working very well but she is sure enjoying it. :)

I'll try not to worry about it anymore. I'll worry when/if the skin cancer comes back again and just let her be until such time may come.

She is an odd-eyed cat, 1/2 Siamese and 1/2 something else. Here is a picture of her taken a couple of years ago (she has aged a lot even since this picture was taken even I've noticed).



Thanks again you guys, you've put my mind at rest! :)

[Tammie]

6. Pure-White!!

Amazing how they can keep themselves so clean!! She looks good. Sorry to hear that she's had skin cancer. that must be tough to deal with. Hope she stays in remission for a good, long time.

Give her lots of hugs from me and my kitties!! :hi:

[CountAllVotes]

7. I'll give her lots of hugs!

This is one good thing about a white cat - you can tell if something is wrong pretty easily because of the color. She keeps herself perfectly clean and her coat is bright and shiny. It has actually improved a lot since I began feeding her a cat health food after the China scare last year.

She has a good appetite, but nothing ever excessive with her.

Frankly, I'm surprised she has lived to be this old and I too really hope the cancer stays away. It has occurred on both temples several times and I'm thinking that the skin is pretty dead now after the surgeries as it tried to come back but it scabbed over and the lesion fell off! *whew*

She is a self-curing animal it seems!

Thanks for the compliments and I'll be sure to let her know how beautiful you think she is. Many people think the same and when they see the one green eye and one blue eye that really sells her.

I wouldn't trade her for anything. She is highly intelligent. When my dog Buddy died I was crying and she came up to me and licked the tears off of my face. So, yes, she is a real love and I would never do anything to harm her. I think she's spent too much time at the vet IMO. The only good thing she has going for her re: the cancer is that she has a very slight pigmentation on her tail (a yellowish tint) which the vet said helps the condition not be as extreme.

Thanks again!!

[yellerpup]

8. I'd have her checked out.

Thyroid problems are often a precursor to chronic renal failure which leads to more weight loss. Heart problems can also cause a kitty to lose weight. My Pandora was diagnosed with heart problems at 15 but lived to 18 with no complications until the very last day of her life. The CRF thing, once that takes hold it can be hard (to impossible) to turn around, especially in a senior kitty. Good luck with her.

Edit for grammar.

[tencats]

9. Twice I noticed that one of my older cats had seemingly lost a bit of weight.

Twice I dismissed the apparent weight loss as nothing serious because I could see nothing else amiss with the old cat at the time. Twice months later I regretted that I didn't just simply take them up to the Vet for a little show and tell when I first noticed. While with both cats the Vet discovered nothing on the surface but weight loss is a good indicator and begs a further search for the cause. With both cats a feline geriatric blood panel reveled that I had a cat in rapid decline(dying). Twice when I read the lab report I picked my kitty up, held her and apologized. Both cats are surviving yet and doing ok, one from two years ago the other was from last December. I hope that for myself and my cat's sake that I will always notice when they have slipped in weight because the serious problems are so commonly masked otherwise and the darn cats don't tell me when they are seriously ill.

[CountAllVotes]

10. thank you and the others here for the advice

I called the vet and I'll take her in next Tuesday for a routine visit with her vet that has been treating her for the cancer over the years. I can't believe how much the price has gone up - $50.00 just for a look. :wow:

I sure hope she is ok. I couldn't forgive myself if there was something wrong that could be corrected and I hadn't done anything about it.

I managed to convince my husband that this is the right thing to do (NOT easy!). He'll likely go with me as she is "his" cat so to speak (well, she favors him I'd say) so maybe that will help to calm her.

I really hope she is ok! I'll let you know what happens.

yellerpup: I hope you are reading this too! :)

[emilyg]

11. One of mine is 18

has lost weight. Otherwise holds her own.

[CountAllVotes]

12. thanks for this

she was up early this a.m. and was playing with the 20 lb. flamepoint tomcat I have. She was wrestling w/him out in the garage and they were chasing each other around. He can't catch her as he is a rather clumsy very huge cat (and rather overweight too I might add).

She came back inside and then began teasing the cat #3 and chasing her around. She had the toy that came with this other 3rd cat. She hides it and brings it out to taunt her as the toy came from the local animal shelter as did cat #3. I never see this toy otherwise (where does she hide it I often wonder?).

I seriously wonder how could she possibly be sick?

It is likely a good idea to follow through with this in any event. She may need some dental work I am thinking.

I plan to keep the appt. anyway as she is awfully thin regardless of how I personally see her. Maybe that is why she is suddenly so visibly energetic and youthful. She likely knows I made that appt.

Glad to know your old cat is going good still too!

Thanks again!

[emilyg]

13. Please keep us posted.