Hi everybody, I'm new to the site and I am concerned with my kitty's recent behaviors.
I believe my cat is about 10-12 years old, he is an indoor cat.
We took him to the vet for his yearly vaccinations, and since is demonstrating unusual behaviors. He's been lethargic and now lays only on our linolium floors, he has also lost his powerful meow.
His back near his hind legs seems bonier as if his belly has dropped.
We are very concerned.
Could this be aging? It seems awfully sudden.
He eats fine, but we recently had to give him a kitty laxative because we didn't notice as much solids in his box.
He got his shots about 3 weeks ago.
PLEASE HELP.
It would be unusual for this to be a vaccine raction 3 weeks after the vaccination, but one concern is the lack of stool production, which means he probably isn't eating much either (hence dehydration and cause for weight loss, your observation of loss of body mass). Get him back to your vet immediately for a full exam, including bloodwork, urinalysis and thyroid function testing, all of which need to be done on an annual basis for any cat over the age of 7 years.
Since he seeks linoleum (cool surfaces), this could be indicative of a breathing/respiratory/heart problem, so discuss this thoroughly with your vet and opt for at least an x-ray to evaluate heart size, check for lung or respiratory problems, rule out heart murmur, etc.
Please don't wait on this. Get your kitty seen immediately.
Thank you for the reply.
Kitty is drinking plenty of water and seems to be urinating fine.
we're trying a potasium supliment and senior food now to see how he does.
Right now money is very tight and it would be hard to have all these tests done right now.
I don't even have insurance for myself and I have my problems too, So research is my only option at this time.
Does anyone else have any suggestions?
THANK YOU AGAIN.
This is why we strongly suggest seeing your vet. No way to know your kitty's health history, any forgotten comments, or things really behind the scenes (message forums are not meant to be substitutes for veterinary exam and care)
While I feel confident this is probably not a vaccination issue at all, you must remember kitty's age and consider that an underlying health condition could be surfacing that is totally unrelated to the vaccinations given three weeks ago. Lethargy, obvious weight loss, and/or dehydration are all serious concerns that must be addressed by a vet before the condition escalates into a worsening problem. A few conditions that would be common in a kitty this age might be kidney, liver, heart conditions, not to mention diabetes, IBD, hyper or hypothyroidism. If your vet never performed a baseline blood profile prior to the vaccinations, then he could have missed a potential underlying health condition and therefore should not have given vaccinations at that time, until the health problem had been identified and addressed. Stress can induce any number of underlying health problems, so it's important to get kitty seen at the first sign of illness......that being lethargy, weight loss and I'm guessing dehydration.
To save costs, you could start with a general chemistry profile to monitor liver and kidney function.....a quick x-ray could also be taken to detect hidden dangers concerning organ size/function/inflammation, etc. You can discuss diagnostic options with your vet to utilize the most cost efficient test(s) based on kitty's current symptoms and previous health history. He would be happy to discuss your options and start on the conservative side as a starting point.
Did your vet advise the potassium supplement, and if so, for what purpose? Or, are you doing that on your own? If so, discuss that with your vet, as supplementing should not be done unless under the vet's supervision.
