MotherofKitties
Member Since 2018
I've come here for some advice as I can see from previous threads that everyone here is very knowledgeable and helpful!
Apologies in advance for the essay:
Our approximately 10 year old moggie, Sooty, has recently had some health issues. We adopted him on 25th August last year from our local cat charity. His previous owner was murdered and the family didn't want him, so the charity stepped in and took him. He was up for adoption for 3 years! He is black, older and shy, so not an attention grabber to most.
We adore him though, and he gets on with our other two cats well. He came to us at 7.6kgs - this was confirmed by his vet not to be fat but just muscle. He is a very large cat in frame so he doesn't look overweight and he has always been very active.
We live next to a school and a graveyard, so there is plenty of space for him to explore. He started to lose a bit of weight when he came to us, which we put down to how much exercise he was getting (he'd be out 14+ hours a day and wouldn't come back for food until he was desperate).
His weight loss seemed to become more severe this summer. He also appeared to be drinking more and began urinating around the house. We took him to the vets for tests as he was beginning to look thin, which had never happened before. His weight had dropped to 5.6kg. They ran standard blood panels with a T4 test also, all came back fine. Urine tests came back fine, so I asked them to do imaging to rule out anything more sinister.
They did x-rays and ultrasounds, which appeared to show a mass in his abdomen. They said it was almost certainly cancer but they couldn't say with any certainty where it was coming from or how advanced it was. We were obviously devastated as everything you read about feline abdominal cancer is fairly grim. They suggested that they open him up and get a closer look at what was going on and if it could be removed, how advanced, etc. We discussed chemo and other options.
The day came and they opened him up and there was nothing there. They said his pancreas was very inflammed and sore looking, with the associated lymph nodes being the same. His liver also appeared to be leathery and old. They took biopsies anyway, which confirmed pancreatitis as the issue.
They were very surprised, as he has had very few symptoms of pancreatitis apart from the weight loss. He had shown no pain, vomiting or diarrhoea, appetite was fine! But that's the confirmed diagnosis. They can't tell me whether it was chronic or acute, or whether it may happen again.
They suggested a vet diet but from research that doesn't seem to help either way. What can I do to prevent this from impacting his potential quality of life, and life span itself? He seems very happy and has been through-out the whole process. He has been steadily gaining weight back, now back to 6kgs and looking less boney. We are simply feeding him more to get the weight back on.
Does anyone have anything that may help him long term? Literally anything would be so appreciated.
Thank you, and sorry for the essay!
Apologies in advance for the essay:
Our approximately 10 year old moggie, Sooty, has recently had some health issues. We adopted him on 25th August last year from our local cat charity. His previous owner was murdered and the family didn't want him, so the charity stepped in and took him. He was up for adoption for 3 years! He is black, older and shy, so not an attention grabber to most.
We adore him though, and he gets on with our other two cats well. He came to us at 7.6kgs - this was confirmed by his vet not to be fat but just muscle. He is a very large cat in frame so he doesn't look overweight and he has always been very active.
We live next to a school and a graveyard, so there is plenty of space for him to explore. He started to lose a bit of weight when he came to us, which we put down to how much exercise he was getting (he'd be out 14+ hours a day and wouldn't come back for food until he was desperate).
His weight loss seemed to become more severe this summer. He also appeared to be drinking more and began urinating around the house. We took him to the vets for tests as he was beginning to look thin, which had never happened before. His weight had dropped to 5.6kg. They ran standard blood panels with a T4 test also, all came back fine. Urine tests came back fine, so I asked them to do imaging to rule out anything more sinister.
They did x-rays and ultrasounds, which appeared to show a mass in his abdomen. They said it was almost certainly cancer but they couldn't say with any certainty where it was coming from or how advanced it was. We were obviously devastated as everything you read about feline abdominal cancer is fairly grim. They suggested that they open him up and get a closer look at what was going on and if it could be removed, how advanced, etc. We discussed chemo and other options.
The day came and they opened him up and there was nothing there. They said his pancreas was very inflammed and sore looking, with the associated lymph nodes being the same. His liver also appeared to be leathery and old. They took biopsies anyway, which confirmed pancreatitis as the issue.
They were very surprised, as he has had very few symptoms of pancreatitis apart from the weight loss. He had shown no pain, vomiting or diarrhoea, appetite was fine! But that's the confirmed diagnosis. They can't tell me whether it was chronic or acute, or whether it may happen again.
They suggested a vet diet but from research that doesn't seem to help either way. What can I do to prevent this from impacting his potential quality of life, and life span itself? He seems very happy and has been through-out the whole process. He has been steadily gaining weight back, now back to 6kgs and looking less boney. We are simply feeding him more to get the weight back on.
Does anyone have anything that may help him long term? Literally anything would be so appreciated.
Thank you, and sorry for the essay!
