Question for DVM or others with cat health knowledge

[The Captain]

DVM gone riding - or others who have experience in this area - I'd appreciate it if you would chime in.

We have an older kitty (14yo) that has lost about 20% of her body weight in the past year.  This is the oldest kitty I've ever had (lost many to feline leukemia, kidney failure, feline HIV etc) so I'm doing the best I can to meet her changing needs.

I know cats are very good at masking symptoms so I took her to the vet for a special visit.  We had a full blood panel done.  All the results are in and are 100% normal.  She appears to be very healthy otherwise and is fed a prescription diet from the vet (along with out other cat) so we know her nutrition is sound. 

So now the vet wants to do an ultrasound/specialist consult with no promise that this will find anything.

Our girl is acting normally, eating a bit less but still has a good appetite, output still is normal etc.

We've spend close to $400 on the tests so far with the next round estimated at about $450. 

We've ruled out the easier to treat conditions, kidney, throid, etc.  If there is anything else it could only be cancer, right?

I'm not sure if we should keep stressing her out with vet visits or if we should get the next round done.

If this were your girl what would you do?

 

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

If her eating is still good, and she's still fairly active, I wouldn't jump into getting a bunch more tests done just yet.

She's an older kitty - and some do tend to lose weight as they become seniors (over 10).

My first cat lived to 27, the last one before the one I have now lived to 22. The second one did lose weight in the last few years.

Unless your kitty is showing signs of a possible illness/tumor/loss of appetite, etc - I'd hold off on pouring money into more tests right now since the latest tests came back clean.

[mmhmm]

If she were mine I'd go ahead with the ultrasound and specialist consult, Captain. 20% loss of body weight in a year is significant. If her renal function was found to be normal with the testing that was done, it's not a urinary problem (those are pretty common in older cats). Thyroid is ruled out, as well. While it could be cancer, it could also be a benign growth that could be removed or something else that could be treated. I'd want to know so I could either proceed with treatment or decide what to do to make her the most comfortable, but that's me.

[kittensaver]

Here's my rule for testing (for people AND for animals): if the doctor can see (as in, visually on the body, on a blood panel, on an x-ray), feel/palpate, or hear (stethoscope) a problem or a potential problem and wants to get a confirmation of a diagnosis - I say go ahead with the more sophisticated/more invasive procedures and analysis. If there is a REAL suspicion of trouble of course you want to move ahead. But if the doctor is just privately on a "fishing expedition" because he/she doesn't know what else to do, I say stop. But that takes some discernment on your part to try and be able to tell the difference!

Recently, my 9 year old alpha female began projectile vomiting her food back up - sometimes twice a day (and she was losing weight). We were VERY concerned about her. Her visual exam was clear (no mouth, throat or esophagus issues), no lumps, bumps or tumors in her belly, no problems on "the other end." A complete (and expensive!) blood panel showed nothing except that she was healthy. The doctor wanted to move to ultrasound and possibly exploratory surgery. We said no, changed her food and put her on a feline vitamin and immune supplement - and within a week she had stopped vomiting. That was April and she's been fine ever since.

OF COURSE you will do what you know is best for your feline companion =^..^= , JMHO use your common sense and discernment.

[Peace Of Mind]

Jun 25, 2014 12:55:27 GMT -5 The Captain said:

DVM gone riding - or others who have experience in this area - I'd appreciate it if you would chime in.

We have an older kitty (14yo) that has lost about 20% of her body weight in the past year.  This is the oldest kitty I've ever had (lost many to feline leukemia, kidney failure, feline HIV etc) so I'm doing the best I can to meet her changing needs.

I know cats are very good at masking symptoms so I took her to the vet for a special visit.  We had a full blood panel done.  All the results are in and are 100% normal.  She appears to be very healthy otherwise and is fed a prescription diet from the vet (along with out other cat) so we know her nutrition is sound. 

So now the vet wants to do an ultrasound/specialist consult with no promise that this will find anything.

Our girl is acting normally, eating a bit less but still has a good appetite, output still is normal etc.

We've spend close to $400 on the tests so far with the next round estimated at about $450. 

We've ruled out the easier to treat conditions, kidney, throid, etc.  If there is anything else it could only be cancer, right?

I'm not sure if we should keep stressing her out with vet visits or if we should get the next round done.

If this were your girl what would you do?

 

Did they check her teeth?  Even if it appears they are eating good sometimes a bad tooth prevents them from eating as much as usual.

All of my cats who've reached senior years lost weight and it averages 2 lbs.  I keep my kitties a bit plump for this reason.  When they get sick or have issues those few extra lbs. help them survive in my experience. 

I put my seniors on a senior diet of wet and dry food and make sure they ALWAYS have fresh water - both faucet and bottled.  They like both at different times and they love it fresh. 

Regarding the ultra sound - My Mattie was diagnosed with lung cancer 2 years ago when she was coughing/vomiting constantly.  They did the x-rays and found a large mass in her lung and wanted to do an ultra sound too.  I asked what could be done and they said surgery (approx. $2-$3K) and IF she survived the surgery she MAY get another year with radiation and chemo.  She was 14 years old and I said no way.  Nobody in my family who had cancer ever did well after doing all that crap and they were tortured, bald and sickly their last days and I would not want to do it and I did not want to put her through that. I wanted to spoile her rotten her last days and let her enjoy her remaining life.

That was 2 years ago this coming July 14th.  She will be 16 in Sept and is doing great.  So, after my experience, my answer is don't do it.  As long as she is not in pain and is eating and doing all her potty things normally I'd just allow her to enjoy her life.  What I would do is change her food.  If you'd like suggestions that worked for my kitties I'll be happy to give the brand and flavors.  And the other vet I took her to said she could still afford to lose a pound or two and that there was no way it was lung cancer as she'd be gone by now and felt it was just allergies/asthma (sp?).  I guess like us as they get older they sag and her big belly is under her now so she looks thin to me. 


ETA:  DH wanted to do everything the first vet suggested.  I fought him on it and he thanks me constantly for not putting her through that for nothing.  He still gets sick to his stomach at the thought of putting her through surgery she didn't even need and this vet is very respected and considered one of the best in our area.  

[The Captain]

Yep the vet checked her teeth.  He said if he didn't know better he wouldn't put her a day over 7 and her teeth are in very good shape.

They get fresh water twice a day (more if they jump up on the bathroom sink and ask). 

She was a little pudgy before, now she is supposedly the "ideal" weight.  Hope she maintains.

Yes - please let me know what kind of food your kitties get - Peace Of Mind.

Problem is the other is is a plumper, so I have one that need to drop a few pounds and one that I'd like to see gain a pound.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

This sounds a lot like what happened to my last 2 cats. Gomez was a healthy 11 lb cat. He ate normally, and was one of my few cats that liked people food. In a year, he went from 11 lbs to 8. I took him to the vet and they ran a metabolic panel on him, looking for issues like thyroid and diabetes. All came back normal. I did everything to increase his caloric intake, including feeding him kitten milk and kitten chow. He was now at 7 lbs.

His teeth looked as good as they did when I took him in when I got him (at what I thought was ~1 year) as they did at the end. No oral issues.

Vet ran another metabolic panel, and he had what appeared to be some slight elevation somewhere, but nothing out of the normal. Vet suggested I take him to an internist.

Internist did an ultrasound on him. All his organs looked normal, other than possible inflammation of the bowel. He did another test looking at pancreatic enzymes to see if he was able to metabolize proteins. These came back normal. His only other suggestion was to do an exploratory surgery. I was not willing to put a 12 year old cat through this, and considering that his teeth looked as good at 12 as they did at 1, I really was not sure that he wasn't older than 12. He continued to eat well, but continued to lose weight. The vet's best guess that he had some sort of diffuse cancer. The light went out in him, and I had him euthanized.

Gizzy, his brother was 13. He was at the vet in December to get his teeth cleaned and he was 14 lbs. In March, he was 10 lbs. The vet was able to palpate a mass on what he thought was his spleen, and the mass showed up on the xray. Made arrangements for surgery and the deal was that if the mass had invaded other organs, the vet was going to euthanize him on the table, but if it was contained in the spleen, he could live without that. The mass had gone into his stomach and liver, the vet knew it was hopeless and didn't bother to proceed any further.

I am really not sure which is the best way to go. I could have had Gizzy awhile longer, but not sure how much longer he would have been pain free. Gomez, I never really was sure if he was comfortable. Cats tend not to show pain and I was always looking for signs that he was hurting. He just grew incredibly weak, which was heartbreaking to watch.

There is no easy solution IMO.....