Old cat, positive vet appt, why am I not reassured?

[ravenousbugblatterbeast]

I last posted about 6 months ago - we lost 2 cats in about 2 months, both extremely suddenly. I took the surviving cat to the vet for a check up, he's the eldest, at about 16 (an ex stray cat). He had blood tests, which showed raised urea but not creatinine, so probably the result of mild dehydration, nothing to worry about.

He's been very fussy about his food ever since, refusing the choicest cuts, the most expensive teeny tiny tins, typical cat behaviour I appreciate, and coupled with the fact that he now has no competition for food.

In the last few weeks he's suddenly gone very thin, is off almost all food (apart from a whole tin of tuna last night ) and when he sits on my lap his body feels cold.

So I took him back to the vet today (usual practice, but a different vet), who gave him a pretty good going over as far as I could see, and said according to their records he'd gained a kilo (now weighing in a 4.6 kilos) although with another breath he said they might have weighed him wrongly last time - as far as I'm concerned to lose a kilo from where he is now he'd have no head... The vet mentioned the prevalence of hyper thyroidism in older cats, but generally said he was absolutely fine and to bring him back in 6 months if I wanted him to repeat the blood tests.

On the drive to the vet I was genuinely rehearsing how to tell my husband I'd had a desperately ill cat put down, and suddenly this cold, food-refusing bag of bones is in fine fettle???

Is it just me? We were all soooo upset when we lost the other two cats, I realise I'm probably over-sensitive to the third, but it seemed really odd to be dismissed so, so, positively!!

[Lizcat]

4.6kg is really good for a late teenage cat a lot of them drop down to beneath 3.5kg even very large cats. Cats also seem to get fussier with age and prefer smellier foods.

[ravenousbugblatterbeast]

Thanks, I had no idea re. weight, he just seems so thin to me. He turns his nose up at fish, even uber posh Encore fish (which I swear you could make into fish pie and no-one would notice...) and I'd have thought it was tastier/smellier than chicken, which he eats more often. This is part of the cat charter isn't it, to keep "owners" guessing about their food, and to refuse something they loved ooh 30 seconds ago... Where's that "pulling out my hair" emoticon when I need it!

[tabulahrasa]

Re the weight - my not elderly cats are 3.6 and 2.9 kg. They're little cats, but to be underweight at 4.6 he'd have to be a huge cat.

If you're worried about him getting thin - take him just to get weighed once a month that'll give you an idea of if it's changing or staying the same

[ravenousbugblatterbeast]

Perhaps he weighed him wrongly today?? I've just got on our (not terribly reliable) scales with and without him, and it looked like they changed by less than 4 kilos.

Did you have to pay a consultation fee every time you got yours weighed monthly?

[Onemorning]

The nurse at the vet's might do it free if you're worried, particularly if you think they weighed them wrongly last time.

My old boy (17) has heart disease and epilepsy (both treated) and possible arthritis. He's a big lad and weighs about 4.5-5kg which is good for an old boy.

He's definitely feeling the cold more, hardly spends any time outside now and has started sleeping on our bed.

Big hugs, I know how horrible it is to worry about our lovely old boys!

[tabulahrasa]

The nurse did it for me - they charged me, but nowhere near the vet's consultation fee