Cat owners/lovers: Please help

[DisneYE]

Seeking opinions on my cat.
17 y/o female. Small/skinny rescue cat.
Eating less the past couple of days.
Today she started puking the little she ate.
She's curled up into a ball and behind the coach all day. Barely ate at all yesterday and today.
She has a vet appointment for tomorrow but I'm worried about what it could be.
I love her, been with me all her life (I rescued her as a kitten) but I'm afraid it's the beginning of the end.

Any advice/comments?
Guess I'll find out what's going on tomorrow with vet but wanted to read what you think if anyone had this happen with their cats.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Honestly it might be something minor like a stomach bug/ dehydration but the vet would know best (I’m not a vet). I have cats too so I understand the worry. Keep positive. I’ll pray for your cat to get better.

 

[PollyannaMom]

You're doing the right thing by seeing the vet tomorrow. But for now - we definitely worry about our furry friends when they can't tell us what's wrong!

 

[DisneYE]

Honestly it might be something minor like a stomach bug/ dehydration but the vet would know best (I’m not a vet). I have cats too so I understand the worry. Keep positive. I’ll pray for your cat to get better.

Thank you!

 

[Babs Johnson]

Hope all goes well at the vet for your kitty.

 

[NannyBeBe]

If she is vomiting immediately after eating, it could be a blockage. This happened to my dog and she had to go to emergency surgery to save her life. I don't want to alarm you but blockages can be very dangerous.

 

[fly girl]

Has she been drinking water? Using the litter box?

Cats are prone to kidney issues. Our cat who lived until 20 would have yearly kidney flush along with teeth cleaning the last 4 years of his life. It did make a difference, especially since he wouldn’t eat the specialty cat food.

Hopefully you’ll get good news tomorrow. Keep us posted!

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Sending prayers for everything to be ok!

 

[DisneYE]

If she is vomiting immediately after eating, it could be a blockage. This happened to my dog and she had to go to emergency surgery to save her life. I don't want to alarm you but blockages can be very dangerous.

Yup. sadly. She eats a little and she vomits 2 minutes after.
You could be right, but I hope not. Will see what the vet says

 

[DisneYE]

Has she been drinking water? Using the litter box?

Cats are prone to kidney issues. Our cat who lived until 20 would have yearly kidney flush along with teeth cleaning the last 4 years of his life. It did make a difference, especially since he wouldn’t eat the specialty cat food.

Hopefully you’ll get good news tomorrow. Keep us posted!

Yes, she's drinking water normally and goes to the litter box.
It's the food part that she seems to be rejecting. We give her a mix of both dry (dish always full) and wet food (as a 'treat' bc she really prefers wet food).. have done this all her life and she was ok until a couple of days ago when she stopped eating both.

Thank you for your reply and comments.

 

[kymom99]

I had a cat with severe constipation. She was very sick but they cleaned her out and she was good as new. They found she had some arthritis in her lower back that they thought maybe made it painful to go.
However, given her age of 17, as stated before, kidney failure is a very real possibility. Every one of my cats eventually went into kidney failure. And it can seem to come in suddenly but they reach a tipping point in kidney function where symptoms become more obvious.
Just love on your kitty as much as you can and hope for a good report tomorrow

 

[HiStitch626]

Our senior cat went through something like this about 18 months ago. It turned out to be constipation. So after a number of tests and 48 hours at the vet, what she really needed was an enema. Hoping that the solution for your kitty is similar.

 

[BrianL]

Our senior cat went through something like this about 18 months ago. It turned out to be constipation. So after a number of tests and 48 hours at the vet, what she really needed was an enema. Hoping that the solution for your kitty is similar.

Yes, This has happened to my cat. She may look bloated and may not be pooping. Mine has gotten that a couple of times due to a hairball blocking things up. The first time I brought her in for that, they actually tol me about the enema that, "You can do it yourself." Um, no. I didn't care what it cost - they were doing that! The nice thing is that my cat felt much better pretty much immediately. OP, I do hope it's just a minor issue like that. I use a product called Cat Lax to help prevent that.

 

[Tattylou]

You are doing the right thing to bring her to the vet. They will probably do some blood work and hopefully it isn’t anything too serious. I have a 17 year old cat too. We love him so much. I know how worrisome it can be when they are old and not feeling well.

 

[DisneYE]

You are doing the right thing to bring her to the vet. They will probably do some blood work and hopefully it isn’t anything too serious. I have a 17 year old cat too. We love him so much. I know how worrisome it can be when they are old and not feeling well.

Aw. Hope your cat stays with you for many more years. They are lovely creatures that enrich our lives.

We took our cat to the vet, indeed they did bloodwork on her and turns out she has issues with her thyroid and kidney, but normal for her age..so, minor issues and she's mainly bloated. Overall she's ok and with a few meds prescribed hopefully she'll get better soon
I was worried it'd be something major that would require surgery but thankfully not the case.
Thank you and everyone else for the replies. - This is why I love this place.

 

[Tattylou]

Aw. Hope your cat stays with you for many more years. They are lovely creatures that enrich our lives.

We took our cat to the vet, indeed they did bloodwork on her and turns out she has issues with her thyroid and kidney, but normal for her age..so, minor issues and she's mainly bloated. Overall she's ok and with a few meds prescribed hopefully she'll get better soon
I was worried it'd be something major that would require surgery but thankfully not the case.
Thank you and everyone else for the replies. - This is why I love this place.

Glad to hear the prognosis was overall good for your kitty! That’s always nice to hear.
Thank you for the well wishes for mine. He is on blood pressure meds, but otherwise he is going strong.

 

[low-key]

Shes old so it could be anyhting, I let things try and work out before vet, cause they cost so much, 90 percent of the time they do, If she is drinking water that is a good sign

 

[DisneYE]

Shes old so it could be anyhting, I let things try and work out before vet, cause they cost so much, 90 percent of the time they do, If she is drinking water that is a good sign

Yessir, you are correct. First thing the vet asked, 'is she drinking water'? Said if she's drinking then she's mostly ok.
Thank you.

 

[elphaba91]

I would speak to the vet about switching her to kitten food. Kitten food has a higher fat content (as kittens are expected to be trying to put on weight) whereas senior cats are usually thought to need some help to keep the pounds off. We had a little old lady who lived to almost 20 and I think the kitten food helped her. My current 2 also love an animal milk formula called Divetelact (but referred to as “milky” in our house). They only have it every few days as a treat, but it would work like a Sustagen for an elderly cat.

 

[QueenIsabella]

We had an oldster who died a couple years ago. He had a brain tumor--we kept him going as long as we could, but when he could no longer keep food down, we knew it was the end. He was super, super skinny, so we fed him kitten food--it's high in calories and went down easy. They sell it in small packs, so you can give small amounts at a time.

I hope it's nothing serious for your kitty. Given his age, you just never know. It's so hard, letting them go when it comes time.