Drinking more than normal

[tryingtobethebestican]

We went away for a few days last week and since we got back I've noticed lovely seventeen year old cat seems thinner. He is also drinking l more water than usual and thinking about it the litter tray has need changing more often than normal because so wet. He seems to have lost weight too because you can feel his backbone and he just seems to have aged a LOT in the last couple of weeks. I'll try and get a vet appointment tomorrow but can someone please reassure me. That his is ok

I didn't leave him on his own! I just read that back and it sounds like I did.

Yes, definitely a vet appointment is required. The most likely issues are hyperthyroidism and renal (kidney) problems, both very common in older cats.

I'm afraid we can't reassure you as there is almost certainly something wrong. If is a thyroid issue though at least something can be done about it and it's much easier to treat than failing kidneys or diabetes. So I hope the vet will be able to tell you that it's something treatable.

My cat did this (weight loss, more drinking, more litter tray) & passed the blood tests fine. Nothing could be found truly wrong. Our best bet at moment is he might have a bit of IBD (so I've now got him on steroids). He's had some of the IBD symptoms for YEARS but without weight loss/drinking loads.

The steroids are tiny, easy to feed & old-cat is puking much less than he used to, so they may be having a beneficial effect.

£180 for the appt & blood test, though. Ouch.

Thank you, he has kidney disease poor thing so just off to the vet to get some special food and powder for him. They also said he needs blood pressure checks next week and need to get a urine sample to make sure he hasn't got an infection. I feel bad because kidney function is less than 25% I think they said so I wish I'd taken him sooner but its only been the last week that he's been drinking a lot more than normal.

@lljkk I'm glad your cat is improving a bit now and ouch at vet bills...

At least kidney disease is so common that they must have a lot of good ways to manage it. How did they determine his kidney function?

They just said it is less than 25%.