Hi folks -- long-time lurker here...
I'm having the same problem with my Wallace. He's 10
in July, half-Maine Coon tiger-tuxedo tabby, used to
be 20 pounds. Now he's starved himself down to 9
pounds, and up until last Thursday, the vet was
mystified. All his bloodwork is normal. (He's not one
of my FeLeuk rescues, so I guess he's a bit OT,
sorry...)
Three weeks ago, he seemed to be sick. He had an eye
infection, and wasn't eating. He looked like he'd lost
a lot of weight -- he'd looked mostly normal up until
recently, but there's been so much family stuff going
on, I didn't think too much about it until the eye
infection and when he got picky about his food.
I took him in to get bloodwork, thinking that it would
be hyperthyroid (which has been the case with three of
our family cats in different households). Nope --
everything in the bloodwork was normal, except for his
dehydration. Huh. He did have an elevated temperature,
so they gave me antibiotics, eye medication, and gave
him 150ml of Ringer's solution subq for the
dehydration.
A few days later, a family emergency came up and I had
to go stay with my grandparents for the better part of
a week. I brought Wallace with me, and he perked up a
great deal. He was eating (although no where near his
usual amount), but he was only licking the gravy off
the wet food, not eating the chunks. He'd eat some
kibble, too, but didn't even get through a half-cup
during the five days we were there. Still, he seemed
strong and even jumped up to sleep on the bed and sat
in the window.
After the family crisis passed, we came home to our
apartment and the other four cats. Wallace gets along
with all of them, pretty much. One of them is his twin
brother, Bruce (who is still over 20 pounds of furry
purring goodness). I have one rescue, Oliver, who has
never really fit in and plays dominance games from
time to time, so I thought Wallace's anorexia might be
a behavioral problem, reacting to yet another of
Oliver's power plays. This theory got more credence
when Wallace seemed to droop when we got home -- I
think he'd liked being an only cat for five days. :-/
About a week after that, he'd stopped eating again,
and I took him back to the vet. This was last Friday,
June 8. This time, Wallace did not have a
temperature, and his eye infection was gone, but he
was dehydrated again. Doc's scale said he'd gone up to
12 pounds, but I don't think it's right. When I weigh
him at home (holding him while I weigh myself, then
weighing myself and getting the difference), he's only
9.5 or 10 pounds.
When Doc did the physical exam, he palpated a mass in
his abdomen that he did not feel two weeks prior.
Wallace has a bad habit of chewing on plastic, so I
was thinking that perhaps he'd gotten himself an
obstruction, but the doc didn't think so. He's
thinking lymphoma, and we're getting an ultrasound and
biopsy this week.
I'm doing subcu fluids at home (100-150ml, depending
on how much it seems like he needs), and have been
syringe feeding. Doc also gave an Rx for Periactin to
stimulate appetite, and it seems to have worked a bit.
Sometimes Wallace's stomach can't take the periactin,
though, and he vomits it up. The past two days, he
vomited a *lot*, mostly bile and fluid. But last
night, I didn't wake to the unmistakable sound of
kitty yakking, so I think this is good.
Wallace is using his litterbox, but he's started
urinating frequently, with small volume. I'm really
scared for his kidneys at this point -- even if he
wasn't in kidney failure before, this anorexia and
dehydration will throw him into failure.
Has anybody had experience with a mystery anorexia,
and then lymphoma? I thought lymphoma was unusual in
FeLeuk negative cats. :-/ I think I need to have him
tested for FeLeuk again -- he hasn't been tested since
kittenhood, but he's a strictly indoor cat and hasn't
been exposed (that I know of) to a FeLeuk positive
cat.
I guess I'm asking for prayers and good thoughts for
Wallace, too. He's been my baby since he was three
weeks old, and I had to bottlefeed him. I've put his
whole story on my blog, here:
http://lyonessnyc.livejournal.com/52532.html
I've had some success in syringe feeding him A/D, and
last night I bought a can of KMR feline milk replacer
and mixed some of that in with the A/D. I actually got
a couple of tablespoons into him, and he slept on the
bed most of the night (not under it).
I'm scared for my baby.
Thanks for listening.
-Jean ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
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