Any Veterinarians Around?

[Eggsnham]

Two things.

The first and more urgent thing is this: my cat has been sick lately, losing a ton of weight to the point of being emaciated, being generally weak and tired, and suffers through the occasional bout of diarrhea and vomit. We took her to a local vet clinc, and they did some blood work and (after about 18 hours of trying) got a urine sample from her. They also gave her an injection for nausea, that seems to help her out a bit.

She's also appearing to be getting better. She's eaten the chicken and rice my mom made for her, and she seems a little more alert than she did yesterday, in addition to the fact that when she pooped, it was solid (according to my mom anyways, that litter pan is toxic; I don't know how my mom can stand being near it), but I'm still worried. Her condition, while it does seem to be improving slightly as of late, was still a rapid decline in a matter of a week (she's been losing weight over the course of about a month, though). We're waiting for the blood and urine test results from the vet, but I still felt like I should ask somebody, even if it's only some random people over the internet.

In any case, the three main ideas surrounding her condition are these:

Hyperthyroidism

Chronic Renal Failure (just curious, is there such a thing as kidney transplants for cats?)

Or an inconsistent diet. Which would make some sense since she seems to like eating the dog's food more than the dog does, coupled with the fact that she sometimes gets table scraps.

Anyways, the second thing was to ask how much schooling one would need in order to become a licensed veterinarian. I know it's a lot of schooling, but I just wanted to know approximately how much. Sure, I could just use Google, but this IS the advice forum, right?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Not a vet. Have had a lot of pets.

Has intestinal cancer been ruled out yet? What was kitty's white blood cell count? Was it elevated? How is her energy level? How social is she? Does she hunch? Isolate? Are her bowel movements becoming less frequent? When she defecates, does the excrement feel hard/impacted? Is her stomach distended at all?

Oh Renal failure...what's her frequency of urination? Renal failure can be dealt with if it's caught early enough. I've seen cats go for years with barely functioning kidneys. But it's something you need to get on top of and stay on top of very early. No, there are no kidney transplants for cats, unfortunately.

On a side note...what do you feed the cat, aside from dog food (bad) and table scraps (bad)?

 

[Eggsnham]

Not a vet. Have had a lot of pets.

Has intestinal cancer been ruled out yet? What was kitty's white blood cell count? Was it elevated? How is her energy level? How social is she? Does she hunch? Isolate? Are her bowel movements becoming less frequent? When she defecates, does the excrement feel hard/impacted? Is her stomach distended at all?

Oh Renal failure...what's her frequency of urination? Renal failure can be dealt with if it's caught early enough. I've seen cats go for years with barely functioning kidneys. But it's something you need to get on top of and stay on top of very early. No, there are no kidney transplants for cats, unfortunately.

On a side note...what do you feed the cat, aside from dog food (bad) and table scraps (bad)?

We hadn't even considered intestinal cancer, to be honest. We're still waiting on her blood and urine test results, so I can't say what her white blood cell count is.

Her energy level seems to be quite low, she's been sleeping most of the day today and yesterday.

She isn't seeking social interaction, but she's okay with being approached and given attention. As for hunching, she seems to be okay on that level.

Isolation? Sorta. She goes to the spots she normally goes to and just sleeps. She's not really hiding, though.

From what I've heard, she poops on a normal frequency, and as of late, her "business" has been solid. Not hard/impacted solid, just normal solid. Which is good, as she was having pretty bad diarrhea a couple days ago. And there is no stomach distension. At least as far as I can tell.

Frequency of urination? Maybe once or twice a day in a small amount. Like I said, the vet had to try for almost a day to get a urine sample from her.

And finally, we feed her normal cat food. Although we've been feeding her boiled chicken and rice for the last couple days, the vet seemed to think it would help (and to be honest, it does seem to be helping, if only a little bit). We don't let her eat the dog's food, the only time she ever really gets any is when she licks the spoon that we use to scoop out the dog's wet food with. That may be enough to set off some sort of nutritional imbalance, but I wouldn't know.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

We hadn't even considered intestinal cancer, to be honest. We're still waiting on her blood and urine test results, so I can't say what her white blood cell count is.

Her energy level seems to be quite low, she's been sleeping most of the day today and yesterday.

She isn't seeking social interaction, but she's okay with being approached and given attention. As for hunching, she seems to be okay on that level.

Isolation? Sorta. She goes to the spots she normally goes to and just sleeps. She's not really hiding, though.

From what I've heard, she poops on a normal frequency, and as of late, her "business" has been solid. Not hard/impacted solid, just normal solid. Which is good, as she was having pretty bad diarrhea a couple days ago. And there is no stomach distension. At least as far as I can tell.

Frequency of urination? Maybe once or twice a day in a small amount. Like I said, the vet had to try for almost a day to get a urine sample from her.

And finally, we feed her normal cat food. Although we've been feeding her boiled chicken and rice for the last couple days, the vet seemed to think it would help (and to be honest, it does seem to be helping, if only a little bit). We don't let her eat the dog's food, the only time she ever really gets any is when she licks the spoon that we use to scoop out the dog's wet food with. That may be enough to set off some sort of nutritional imbalance, but I wouldn't know.

If she's not hunching or isolating, or displaying obvious discomfort, that's a good sign, but the crashing weight loss (along with the reduced appetite) still indicates something is seriously wrong. If the weight loss was as rapid and severe as you indicate, I highly doubt it's something as simple as a fussy diet.

In renal failure, you should notice dramatically increased fluid intake and dramatically increased urination. If she's straining to urinate, crystals are a possibility (although males are usually at a much higher risk for that), especially if her diet has been bad.

Define "normal cat food". Most pet food is absolutely atrocious in terms of quality/nutrition. It's like feeding your kid nothing but McDonalds. Health problems are inevitable.

I forgot to ask how old she is.

 

[Eggsnham]

We hadn't even considered intestinal cancer, to be honest. We're still waiting on her blood and urine test results, so I can't say what her white blood cell count is.

Her energy level seems to be quite low, she's been sleeping most of the day today and yesterday.

She isn't seeking social interaction, but she's okay with being approached and given attention. As for hunching, she seems to be okay on that level.

Isolation? Sorta. She goes to the spots she normally goes to and just sleeps. She's not really hiding, though.

From what I've heard, she poops on a normal frequency, and as of late, her "business" has been solid. Not hard/impacted solid, just normal solid. Which is good, as she was having pretty bad diarrhea a couple days ago. And there is no stomach distension. At least as far as I can tell.

Frequency of urination? Maybe once or twice a day in a small amount. Like I said, the vet had to try for almost a day to get a urine sample from her.

And finally, we feed her normal cat food. Although we've been feeding her boiled chicken and rice for the last couple days, the vet seemed to think it would help (and to be honest, it does seem to be helping, if only a little bit). We don't let her eat the dog's food, the only time she ever really gets any is when she licks the spoon that we use to scoop out the dog's wet food with. That may be enough to set off some sort of nutritional imbalance, but I wouldn't know.

If she's not hunching or isolating, or displaying obvious discomfort, that's a good sign, but the crashing weight loss (along with the reduced appetite) still indicates something is seriously wrong. If the weight loss was as rapid and severe as you indicate, I highly doubt it's something as simple as a fussy diet.

In renal failure, you should notice dramatically increased fluid intake and dramatically increased urination. If she's straining to urinate, crystals are a possibility (although males are usually at a much higher risk for that), especially if her diet has been bad.

Define "normal cat food". Most pet food is absolutely atrocious in terms of quality/nutrition. It's like feeding your kid nothing but McDonalds. Health problems are inevitable.

I forgot to ask how old she is.

Yeah, we feed the cats either "Friskies" or "Meow Mix" normally. Dunno about the nutritional value of either brands.

Also, she's about four years old.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Yeah, we feed the cats either "Friskies" or "Meow Mix" normally. Dunno about the nutritional value of either brands.

Also, she's about four years old.

Yeaaaaah I think we're on the trail of the problem, here.

Those are garbage. Flat out garbage. You are feeding your cat garbage, and if it hasn't caused THIS illness, it's going to cause a lot of illnesses down the road.

Have a chat with your vet about a proper food. There are some good foods on the market. All of them are going to be a little more expensive than the crap you're feeding her now, and she might be fussy about them at first, because she's used to eating junk food, but in the long run everyone will be a lot better off. She'll be healthier, and you'll have less surprise vet bills.

 

[Eggsnham]

Yeah, we feed the cats either "Friskies" or "Meow Mix" normally. Dunno about the nutritional value of either brands.

Also, she's about four years old.

Yeaaaaah I think we're on the trail of the problem, here.

Those are garbage. Flat out garbage. You are feeding your cat garbage, and if it hasn't caused THIS illness, it's going to cause a lot of illnesses down the road.

Have a chat with your vet about a proper food. There are some good foods on the market. All of them are going to be a little more expensive than the crap you're feeding her now, and she might be fussy about them at first, because she's used to eating junk food, but in the long run everyone will be a lot better off. She'll be healthier, and you'll have less surprise vet bills.

Well, thanks for the help.

I'll look into a better brand of cat food. Although, the cats seem to really like chicken and rice.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Well, thanks for the help.

I'll look into a better brand of cat food. Although, the cats seem to really like chicken and rice.

Oh they LIKE it.

Doesn't make it good for them.

 

[Eggsnham]

Well, thanks for the help.

I'll look into a better brand of cat food. Although, the cats seem to really like chicken and rice.

Oh they LIKE it.

Doesn't make it good for them.

Yeah, true.

Anything you would suggest?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Yeah, true.

Anything you would suggest?

There's a few different options. Evo is pretty good.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your kitty. Massive weight loss at her age is pretty alarming. Do you know whether or not she was ever vaccinated? Is Feline AIDS or FeLV a possibility? Or have those already been ruled out? Vets will usually start with those.

 

[Eggsnham]

Yeah, true.

Anything you would suggest?

There's a few different options. Evo is pretty good.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your kitty. Massive weight loss at her age is pretty alarming. Do you know whether or not she was ever vaccinated? Is Feline AIDS or FeLV a possibility? Or have those already been ruled out? Vets will usually start with those.

I think she was vaccinated when we took her to the vet a couple days ago, but before that I think she was vaccinated around when we adopted her four years ago...

So yeah, feline AIDS and Leukemia are definite possibilities.