My cat is 14.5 years old and until the last week or so still acted like a kitten - running up and down the stairs, etc. He is a sweetheart who always wants to be wherever I am - if I'm cooking dinner, he's sitting in the kitchen doorway, comes upstairs when I go to bed, perches on the back of the sofa when I watch tv, etc.
He went to the vet for his annual exam 2 weeks ago. The only strange thing was that he'd lost about a pound since his prior checkup (11 lbs. down to 10), and since the beginning of Nov. there were about 3 times when he pooped outside of the litter box, which the vet just chalked up to older cat behavioral issues. The vet did do a blood test at that time to check for diabetes, thyroid issues, etc., and everything came back normal.
Fast forward to last week. Last Thursday, I don't remember anything unusual, and I was home all day. On Friday, I came home from work to find the cat hiding on one of the chairs under the dining room table. That's not super unusual since he likes to sleep under there sometimes, but it was unusual that he didn't come out when I went into the kitchen put out the canned cat food for his dinner. He loves his canned food and usually starts begging for it the second I walk in the door. On Saturday morning, he hadn't eaten any of the food I'd left out and was still hiding under the table. He would eagerly scarf treats when I offered them, but wasn't interested in coming out to his regular food and water dishes, and would growl/angrily meow if I tried to pet him. When he did come upstairs I noticed that he seemed to be walking slowly and unsteadily and limping, had trouble jumping up onto a low stool, etc.
I called the vet Saturday afternoon, since in addition to the above behavior he hadn't used the litter box at all in at least 1.5-2 days. When I talked to him, he said it didn't sound like an emergency since he wasn't straining to pee in the litter box, but made an appointment to see him on Monday morning and said to take him to the 24 hour vet if he got worse, started vomiting, etc. Saturday night he seemed a tiny bit better, he came up to finally pee in the litter box, ate and drank, and the jumped up on the bed with me for a little while, but then he went right back down to hide under the table, where he stayed almost all day Sunday.
At the vet yesterday, the vet checked him out and palpitated his paws to see if maybe he'd somehow fallen and injured himself causing the limping and pain, but he didn't seem to be in pain when she did that. She thought there was a small possibility that he's having a reaction to his rabies shot, though unlikely that was given two weeks ago. She also gave him an enema, since he hadn't pooped in the litter box for several days at that point. He's also lost almost another .5 lbs just since his appointment two weeks ago. She gave him some pain meds, and gave me more to give him every 12 hours and said to see if they helped.
So basically, they haven't been able to figure out what's wrong, and the pain meds do not seem to be making much of a difference - he has come out from under the table to sit up next to me today, but he is just sort of laying there with a listless look in his eyes (not sleeping, I haven't seen him sleep since Sat. or Sun.) and it is breaking my heart. He does still have a good appetite and has gone in to eat several times this morning in addition to gobbling up the treats that I've brought to him.
The vet told me to call her if the pain meds hadn't improved things by late this afternoon, which looks like it will be the case. I'm guessing that the next step is an x-ray or an MRI? I just want to figure out what is wrong with the poor little guy and see if there's anything I can do to help him feel better. I've canceled my NYE plans to stay in with him tonight.
I'm not sure why I'm posting this...maybe just to vent since I'm working from home today but am having trouble focusing on work, or on the long shot that someone's experienced something similar with their cat and has an idea I should raise with the vet. In any event, positive thoughts for kitty would be appreciated...
He went to the vet for his annual exam 2 weeks ago. The only strange thing was that he'd lost about a pound since his prior checkup (11 lbs. down to 10), and since the beginning of Nov. there were about 3 times when he pooped outside of the litter box, which the vet just chalked up to older cat behavioral issues. The vet did do a blood test at that time to check for diabetes, thyroid issues, etc., and everything came back normal.
Fast forward to last week. Last Thursday, I don't remember anything unusual, and I was home all day. On Friday, I came home from work to find the cat hiding on one of the chairs under the dining room table. That's not super unusual since he likes to sleep under there sometimes, but it was unusual that he didn't come out when I went into the kitchen put out the canned cat food for his dinner. He loves his canned food and usually starts begging for it the second I walk in the door. On Saturday morning, he hadn't eaten any of the food I'd left out and was still hiding under the table. He would eagerly scarf treats when I offered them, but wasn't interested in coming out to his regular food and water dishes, and would growl/angrily meow if I tried to pet him. When he did come upstairs I noticed that he seemed to be walking slowly and unsteadily and limping, had trouble jumping up onto a low stool, etc.
I called the vet Saturday afternoon, since in addition to the above behavior he hadn't used the litter box at all in at least 1.5-2 days. When I talked to him, he said it didn't sound like an emergency since he wasn't straining to pee in the litter box, but made an appointment to see him on Monday morning and said to take him to the 24 hour vet if he got worse, started vomiting, etc. Saturday night he seemed a tiny bit better, he came up to finally pee in the litter box, ate and drank, and the jumped up on the bed with me for a little while, but then he went right back down to hide under the table, where he stayed almost all day Sunday.
At the vet yesterday, the vet checked him out and palpitated his paws to see if maybe he'd somehow fallen and injured himself causing the limping and pain, but he didn't seem to be in pain when she did that. She thought there was a small possibility that he's having a reaction to his rabies shot, though unlikely that was given two weeks ago. She also gave him an enema, since he hadn't pooped in the litter box for several days at that point. He's also lost almost another .5 lbs just since his appointment two weeks ago. She gave him some pain meds, and gave me more to give him every 12 hours and said to see if they helped.
So basically, they haven't been able to figure out what's wrong, and the pain meds do not seem to be making much of a difference - he has come out from under the table to sit up next to me today, but he is just sort of laying there with a listless look in his eyes (not sleeping, I haven't seen him sleep since Sat. or Sun.) and it is breaking my heart. He does still have a good appetite and has gone in to eat several times this morning in addition to gobbling up the treats that I've brought to him.
The vet told me to call her if the pain meds hadn't improved things by late this afternoon, which looks like it will be the case. I'm guessing that the next step is an x-ray or an MRI? I just want to figure out what is wrong with the poor little guy and see if there's anything I can do to help him feel better. I've canceled my NYE plans to stay in with him tonight.
I'm not sure why I'm posting this...maybe just to vent since I'm working from home today but am having trouble focusing on work, or on the long shot that someone's experienced something similar with their cat and has an idea I should raise with the vet. In any event, positive thoughts for kitty would be appreciated...
