Deb and Ace (GA)
Member
I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar experience to ours or any ideas on what could be going on with our cat, Ace? Ace has been OTJ since August 2006 and is approximately 10 years old (that is based on the shelter's guess when we adopted him in 2004, I think it is possible he could be older). Last fall we noticed he had lost a lot of weight, so took him to the vet and he was diagnosed as Hyper T. We elected to go with the I-131 treatment, and per the standard protocol our vet wanted to put him methimazole first to lower his thyroid values so that we could make sure his kidneys were OK before doing the I-131. After just one dose of the methimazole, he stopped eating, became extremely lethargic and later started having bloody diarrhea and vomited a few times. We took him to the vet the next day and he spent 4 days there - I think he got one or two more does of the methimzole while there, because at first the vet thought the dose was just too high, before they stopped it completely (in retrospect I think giving the additional doses was a mistake). We finally brought him home and managed to get him well enough to have the I-131 treatment. A month later things were looking good - he had gained back a half pound, seemed perkier (although not back to his old self), coat looked good, and was eating well. We did a blood check and kidney values were OK, thyroid was a little low but vet was not concerned. A week or so before the 3 month check it was obvious he was losing weight again, and was now having liqui-poo. He was still eating, just not as much as normal. We had blood work done, which showed a high white cell count, low red blood cell count, and his thyroid level is still below normal. We did a week on clavamox with no improvement, then switched to metronidazole and sent off urine and poo samples, both of which turned up no problems. After a few days on the metronidazole he started having solid poo again. He has now been off the metronidazole for a week, and continues to have solid poo, is eating OK (just not as much as his old normal self), but remains extremely lethargic and is down to skin and bones. His digestive system also makes gurgling noises (like a person's will do, but I have never heard a cat do that before). We are going to re-run the blood work tomorrow. Vet at first thought he could have IBD, but now that the poo is back to normal, I don't know? He has only vomited once during this ordeal. If through the process of elimination the vet concludes that he has IBD the treatment is steroids, which I would like to avoid if possible so as not to throw him back into diabetes - and again, since the poo issue has cleared up and he is not vomiting, I'm wondering if it really is that. Vet also thinks it could be the low thyroid level causing the lethargy, but didn't want to start supplementing until we know if something else is going on. He looks so sad and miserable - spends all his time curled up on his chair, or in a meatloaf position, but comes to the kitchen and waits for food and eats at each meal; other thing I noticed is that he doesn't seem to be grooming himself very much. Any one have any similar experience, advice, or ideas? I feel bad because this downhill spiral all began with that one dose of methimazole - he was a happy cat before that. Thanks.
