My cat is acting very strange and losing weight

by Darlene
(Franklin MA)

My 12 year old Siamese has lost 2/3 weight. I brought her to my Vet and was told she was dehydrated, had over active thyroid, fever, raised red blood count and did not eat for nearly four days that i can tell. She also drank little or nothing. After the four day period she ate some dry food and drank some water, and since then she has eaten only a small amount of dry food, will not touch wet food which was always her favorite.

I was told that she is most likely terminal. However this was before she ate. The other issue is she will not stay with me other than to greet me then goes and stays in places like above the cabinets in my kitchen.

I am not able to pay for extensive testing past what I have already done. I wanted to ask if in lieu of the fact that she is eating, even the minuscule amount of water and food if I should continue to hold out hope or as my Vet has implied because she feels she is terminal should I consider having her put to sleep.

I am aware that she is ill but the last thing i want to do is act rashly. However I love Sadie so much I am having a difficult time trying to come to terms with this and wanted to ask another professional that I know cares and your site says to me you do.

I wish I had a million dollars but I do not. My Vet has told me it does not matter how much money I have or the tests done.

When she stopped eating my Vet stopped the thyroid and antibiotic medicines she had given me and each time I try she stops eating the little bit she does.

I want to thank you so very much for your help and advice if you can do so. I have looked around and when I saw your site I felt I had come to the right place. I hope you can add something to help me make this very hard decision. I know you are unable to give me too much advice but at this point I feel I should at least ask another Vet an opinion based on the above information.

As I do not have a Paypal account I am asking my friend Stan Baker to donate in my name. I hope this is OK. He will do so right after i send this off.

Thank you again
Darlene Eckert

Answer by Kate
Hi Darlene
well what can i say this does rather sad. You did not say why the vet thought she was terminal, are there other health issues apart from the thyroid probelm I wonder.

My own cat has thyroid problems about 2 years ago and she is older than your cat. She would eat and eat, and drink and drink but was getting thinner and thinner and weaker and weaker.

The vet did some tests and diagnosed a thyroid problem. he put her on medication to try and reduce the size of the thyroid andd then about 6 weeks later She had an operation to remove the thyroid. Now she is fine but....

the operation cost us lots of money in fact with all the tests, medications and operation we had a bill of around £800 but luckily we had pet insurance and we only had to pay about £200 in the end.

So regarding your situation. I have two thoughts. If the vet is saying that he thinks it is a waste of time giing her medications as she will not survive anyway , he must bne saying this for a very good reason. Other wise he woukld be recommeding further treatment and at least giving you the choice of treatment if you could afford it.

My other thought is if you were able to pay for extensive treatment then I would say get another opnion from another vet. This way you would at lest know if paying for treatment was worth it or not.

However as you say that you are unable to pay for treatment, I am afraid to say that if she has a thyroid issues that without medication it is unlikley that she will survive long, as this problem does not go away by itself.

I understand your pain in this situation, it must be terrible for you. I was lucky to have insurance and I can imagine how difficult it would have been for me if I had not. However my vet never told me that it was useless to treat her. So do not blame yourself. Just think even if you had all the money in the world, if the issue is terminal then nothing could save her in the end.

My parting words are these. If your cat is suffering in any way then you only have one decision to make. A pianful one, but one that could help your cat in the end. A kindness that only a loving caring cat owner can give.

I do not know if my words have helped, I hope they have in some way. It is never easy at times like these, I know.

My thoughts are with you, best wishes Kate

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