Send positive energy for Jester at the vet today

I've been telling the vets for months that Jester's weight loss is a problem. (One friend even suggested that I was being an alarmist and that perhaps nine pounds was the correct weight for him - even though he's never been heavy and he's a very long kitty.)

Back in December - when he weighed in at nine pounds - the vet suggested that he might never regain that weight.

So I rallied with Jester and, because he just absolutely will not eat the high calorie / low carb food that would be the best help, I started over-feeding him. At one point I had him eating over 2.5 cans per day. By February, he had only gained just shy of half a pound.
One would think that should have sent alarm bells off with the vet, but it didn't.

Now I'm at work all day long and not around to really push him to eat as much. Still I've been mostly getting about two cans into him every day.

Last week we went for a checkup because he felt even bonier than before.

Not only did he lose that tiny amount of weight, he was down to 8.1 pounds. The vet tested him for CKD and thyroid, but both came back negative (although I know that thyroid can sometimes test negative even when there's a problem).

On top of all that, my baby is prone to upper respiratory infections and last week he started having symptoms. (Friday he had mucous in his eyes and Saturday he sneezed out some snot on my leg.) Which, of course, meant that he's been off his feed. Getting extra food in him was even harder. And, of course, his favorite foods are now not so tasty. I accidentally found something he is mostly eating - although the carb content is higher. Somehow, I'm still getting nearly two cans into him daily.

(No, he absolutely doesn't like fortiflora or any of the other toppings that some people have had success with.)

Miraculously, through all this, his BG numbers have been pretty freakin' good - nearly all blues and just a few of yellows for more than a week. Frankly, with all that's been going on, I haven't given him insulin since Saturday night (and none on Saturday morning). In fact, since the beginning of the month, there have been a total of eight times I skipped injections entirely.

Mostly he behaves like himself - grooming, litterbox, cuddling, purring, joining me in bed. He isn't playing or chasing things, but when a bug shows up - he does smack it down and eat it. I just need him to gain even some of this weight back. It breaks my heart to see him so painfully thin.

The vet is going to give him a battery of tests tonight to try to figure out why Jester keeps losing weight.

And the potential cost is scaring the crap out of me. (I have an application in with DCIN, but haven't heard back yet - not even to say it's been received.)

I'd appreciate any positive energy folks could send our way. We're due at the vet's office at 5:00PM eastern time.

tia

 

I hope you get some answers.

 

Sending tons and tons of prayers and good vetty-vines for Jester, tons and tons of (((hugs))) for you.

 

Sending good energy your way. I hope your vet can uncover what's going on and I hope DCIN can help.

 

Vines that you find the issue and it is something easy to fix.

 

Sending vines to you.

 

Thinking positive thoughts for you & Jester today!! Hang in there! Big ‘s

 

Come on Jester, make it something simple and easy!!!

 

Tests are going to cost about $200.
Get is giving him injectable Cerenia in case he's feeling nauseous.

 

What tests are they going to do?

 

Vet said it was a complete CBC.
After that he'll X-ray Jester's lungs to see there's a tumor.
He said he might do a feleuk test too, just in case.

 

What is that?

 

Have a hug.

I hope the vet is able to give you an answer for this weight loss so you can help Jester put some gru on his bones.

 

Feline leukemia

 

I haven't seen the test results myself, but according to the vet Jester has an intestinal infection that's also affecting his pancreas and liver. He says the specialist at the testing lab says it's not pancreatitis.

Is that something that would affect his body's ability to process food and make him lose weight?

In any case, I'll be going tonight to pick up antibiotics, Cerenia, and some foods for syringe feeding until he starts eating on his own again. I gave him a few syringes last night and a couple this morning. When I pulled out treats for one of my other cats, Jester came running and ate some of those too.
Were they good for him?
Nope.
Did he eat them?
Yep.

If I'd had a whole bag of the things I would have fed those to him until he stopped.

I know we're not out of the woods yet, but I'm hoping things will start to get better.

 

Infection is probably the best option on the menu-- if you're lucky, a course of antibiotics will put him back on the right road.

And good news on the appeal of those treats! So at least you know that there's something he's interested in eating!

 

Well, I also gave Jester some of the YAZ samples I had on hand. He ate some in the morning and some in the evening on Tuesday.

Forget it this morning. Sniffed and sniffed, but wouldn't eat them.

It's heartbreaking to see your baby wasting away, yet still sitting in front of you asking for food that he won't eat.

 

Hopefully the Cerenia will help with that. I agree that an infection is a better thing to be dealing with than a lot of other unmentionables.

 

I'm agnostic but I did put in a good word with Francis.

 

Poor little baby. My Dweezy was so thin and it was so hard to see. I would always feed him but it didn't work. The underlying issue needs to be fixed.

Sending big hugs to Jester. Eat and feel better, dear one.

 

On the plus side, Jester did eat about a third of a can of food on his own this morning. Mind you, I was working with him the whole way - stroking him, heating the food or re-positioning it in the bowl.
At one point he walked away as though he was finished for the time being. It was almost time to leave for work so I figured I'd take the hint.

Then he broke my heart when he walked with me out to the kitchen as I was on my way out the back door.
He generally only does that when he wants me to feed him and I didn't have another spare minute.

Planning to pick up more of the same food on my lunch break and see if I can entice him to eat more this evening.