Sick cat, hand hold please!

[drspouse]

And maybe talk me down a bit!
Our lovely black cat is 12, been active and a good rat catcher till earlier this year.
He went off his food, kept hiding and lost weight. He was a bit tubby so that wasn't a big deal. We changed his dry food, all well, back to his usual hungry self but didn't put the weight back. Now in about the last month he's lost another 20% of his weight, he's eating a bit but not as keen as normal, very quiet.
He went for weight and blood test yesterday, supposed to get results today and if no obvious cause we will get a scan.
Separately we lost my mum earlier this year and I am not surprisingly feeling quite fragile. My mum had an aggressive cancer, she was old but very healthy and active, so of course my mind is going to the worst places.
Please either tell me gently the possible bad news or else give me some hope!
(Cat tax - he's taken over my bookshelves)

He's beautiful, looks like my rescue cat I adopted.
Have you heard back from the vet's yet?
You'll be wanting the best for him whatever that is, I hope he'll be ok 💐

Hello, sorry to hear about your Mum and lovely puss. I am posting to give you some hope, if I can,
Last December, our cat stopped eating. Her vets ran the usual investigations but could not give us a diagnosis. We pushed for a referral to a veterinary hospital, and and after more scans and tests she was diagnosed with a congenital disorder that manifested itself mainly in painful throat and stomach that stopped her from eating. One consultant at the hospital was, in particular, fantastic. She ended up being tube fed at home for nearly four weeks until her pain was controlled by gabapentin which she is still having as needed. She was in the hospital for three weeks and we thought she would die. But slowly, she ate and recovered.
I would strongly advise you not to have them sit on this if he is not eating well, as it can lead to problems with internal organs. Ask if they have a hospital they refer to and push for this. I wish you all the best for him and if I can help at all, please message me. X

Mine lost weight and was eating ok, it was his thyroid. Hopefully it's something simple like that. It's understandable that your sensitive ATM, you've had a rough time of it

How is your lovely cat, OP?

So sorry for the loss of your mum DrS and your boy looks gorgeous. Do you have any news?

So Lovely Cat has had blood tests and nothing seems untoward, but he's struggling with breathing and hasn't put on any weight (though I did buy him a load of posh cat food on Amazon Prime day) so he's going in for a scan/x-ray on Tues. Nil by mouth from 11pm the night before. I was a bit ruffled by her saying "are you ok to leave it till Tues as we haven't got space before".

We have news, it's quite good really... but not very nice for Lovely Cat.
Somehow he has managed to break FIVE ribs. We are not sure if a local scrote has kicked him or he fell jumping over the garden wall (his usual route to rat catching).
He's home after sedation and an x-ray and has painkillers. Hopefully he has many more years of keeping the local rat population down.

5 ribs…someone has definitely hurt your cat, the poor baby.

Glad you’ve got to the bottom of it, lots of TLC for him. Hopefully the dickhead that did it is going to have some karma come his way

He may have been hit by a car or a bike?

Poor lad, broken ribs are so very painful as the only way to rest them is to stop breathing - which isn't recommended!

The poor darling! Get well soon. X

OMG poor cat! I'm glad you know what it is now. I hope he gets well soon.

DH said the vet showed him that 3 of them were already healing. It has been a week or two since he got very bad with his breathing/eating so it could have happened then (just with the delay of getting vet appointments, having a blood test and an examination first).
Lovely Cat hasn't complained or fought us when picking him up or the vet when examining him, which must have thrown a red herring as he doesn't act like they are tender when you touch him.

Well he's had three pouches and some dried tuna snack things so I think it's safe to say he's feeling better.
He is still having a CT next week though which thankfully is covered by his insurance.