Lethargic + lost appetite, advice needed please

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Bee7
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Lethargic + lost appetite, advice needed please

Post by Bee7 »

Hi everyone,

I'm so happy to come across a message board as its been a while since I have been active on one and everyone seems to do everything on social media these days so wasn't sure if they even still existed! This may be a long post so I apologise but I'm very worried about my boy and would absolutely appreciate any advice.

My 15 year old boy Hernie(neutered, indoor only) was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism 6 and a half years ago. He had a thyroidectomy and has since been on Thyronorm which has controlled his Hyperthyroidism nicely. He has check ups and blood work every 3 months.

On 21st July he had a funny turn that had me so scared that I rang for a vet to come out to him. He had been sitting next to me normally when he suddenly lurched forward(I thought a fly had landed next to him causing him to pounce at the time) made a distressed cry, lunged off the sofa landing on his belly and walked away swaying all over the place. He started dry heaving then started panting. He walked off wobbly and panted again, before lying down as though he couldn't stand anymore(almost like collapsing) and panted one more time. At that point I thought he was dying. I sat on the floor next to him and rang the vets and told them what had just happened and that I was terrified he had had a stroke or something. A vet came out to us less then an hour later and they couldn't find a thing wrong with him. Listened to his heart, checked his temperature etc etc and were just baffled. He even ran away from them without so much as a wobble. The vet gave a metacam injection incase he'd injured himself jumping off the sofa but was otherwise happy with his condition and could not think what could have caused what I witnessed.

This was a new vets I saw because I moved to a village an hour away just a few months ago. Hernie had slowly been developing a new goitre(over the course of the past 3 years) and our old vet had always advised monitoring its growth as it was growing so slowly and they didn't want to rush into surgery with his age. The past few months the goitre had started growing faster. I mentioned this to the visiting vet and she advised he spend the day at the vets so a FNA, blood pressure and blood tests could be done. This was arranged and happened about 10 days ago. Leading up to this day of tests, from the day this funny episode happened his condition slowly deteriorated each day with him eating less and less as the days went on and getting more and more tired/lethargic.

The tests revealed absolutely nothing. His blood pressure was perfect, we have since had the FNA results which shows the goitre is cystic(though obviously cancer cannot be completely ruled out), and his bloodwork showed his kidneys, liver and thyroid levels are all perfect. The vet was happy and suggested maybe OA as a reason for this lethargy and appetite loss along with needing dental work. Her plan was to repeat all the tests 2 weeks later and then see about dental work and OA treatment.

Those tests happened on the Friday and by the Monday we were rushing him back to the vets where we saw a different vet as an emergency, as his condition as I say has just gotten worse and worse. He was given a vitamin B injection, an antibiotic injection(as he developed a gunky eye over that weekend) and the vet administered Mirtazapine with an 8th of a tab to be given every 2 days and Famotidine to be given every day in the hope they would help bring his appetite back.(this vet also disagreed with the other vet about OA possibly being the cause of his deterioration).

The tablets and injection did seem to help with his appetite at first but the past few days I have resorted to syringe feeding him Liquivite as he isn't eating anywhere near enough or drinking. He is urinating normally as i had been syringing small amounts of Oralade(a cat rehydration drink) this past week to make sure he didn't become dehydrated in this heatwave. He most definately is not enjoying the heat(neither are his brother or my dog though) and his lethargy is also getting worse each day. He hasn't pooped in about 10 days so today was his 3rd day of having Lactulose(at 1ml a day). His breathing is also getting heavier each day. It is all extremely worrying.

I had a phone appointment with the 2nd vet I'd seen a few days after he was seen by her and as his appetite had improved a little she was happy to just prescribe more of the same tablets(and lactulose) and see him back in 3 weeks for another vitamin B injection.

A couple of times I have looked at him and thought that we are losing him and I do realise that I may well have to prepare myself for the worst( and it would be the worst as he is honestly the sweetest most gentle boy in the world and the best patient you could ever ask for ❤️ ) but I thought it worth creating a post to see if anyone reading has ever experienced anything similar and might know what on earth is going on so that I can do absolutely everything possible to try and get Hernie through this.

I really do apologise for the length of this post and truly thank anyone that stuck with it and read it all, whether you can offer advice or not. My boy deserves the very best from me as it is what I have always gotten from him and he has always been there for me during my darkest moments so I owe him more then I could ever repay but I hope to try.
Kate S
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Re: Lethargic + lost appetite, advice needed please

Post by Kate S »

I'm so sorry to read about your poor cat. I can't really give you any advice only to say this forum does help with sharing our stories. I came across your post as I need to give my kitty Mirtazapine again. She has CKD, hyperthyroidism and recently a mild dose of pancreatitis. I'm supposed to be giving her up to 6 meds a day but the last few days she has avoided them in everything I have put them in. How to get a cat to take an appetite stimulant if she is not eating? I can't pill her directly, so looks like the vet again :roll:
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Mollycat
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Re: Lethargic + lost appetite, advice needed please

Post by Mollycat »

Sorry, can you clarify, what is FNA and what is OA?

The only thoughts I had have been ruled out, I do hope you get to the bottom of it and he can have some more quality time with you.
Bee7
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Re: Lethargic + lost appetite, advice needed please

Post by Bee7 »

Mollycat wrote: Sat Sep 10, 2022 9:15 am Sorry, can you clarify, what is FNA and what is OA?

The only thoughts I had have been ruled out, I do hope you get to the bottom of it and he can have some more quality time with you.
Thank you for your reply. FNA = Fine Needle Aspiration(where they use a slighter bigger needled syringe to take a sample of suspect lumps to be examined under microscope) and OA = Osteoarthritis.


Sadly we had to say goodbye to my gorgeous Hernie on 23rd August as he just deteriorated beyond help 😢 😞 I'm absolutely heartbroken still as he truly was my best friend. After we said goodbye I wrapped his body in a blanket and we brought him to a lovely crematorium, but before bringing him there we unwrapped him to say goodbye again and he had leaked alot of blood and fluids from his nose 😔 after a Google search about this I am now convinced that it was heart issues causing his symptoms that last month(more specifically hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) and I have been angry that despite spending a day at the vets having tests this wasn't picked up on as I believe if we had started treatment when I first noticed his symptoms we could have had more time with him and he would still be here now 💔 but I'm trying to put those thoughts out my head as they will only torture me. If it wasn't for the fact that I still have his brother and our dog(both of whom miss Hernie terribly) I doubt I would have got out of bed after losing my boy.

I just hope this post might help someone in the future who has a cat with similar symptoms. If anyone does have a cat with the same symptoms that Hernie presented please insist on your vet investigating heart problems. I did ask my vets about this at the time and was told he would need to be sedated for further testing, but everything I have now read says an ECG can be done without sedation. I have also read that heart issues usually arise in hyperthyroid cats eventually so again I am angry this wasn't considered more seriously by the vets, but its too late for my boy now 😔 I wish anyone reading this with a cat showing these symptoms the best of luck.
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Mollycat
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Re: Lethargic + lost appetite, advice needed please

Post by Mollycat »

I am so sorry for your loss, especially under such traumatic circumstances. May he be running carefree at the rainbow bridge.
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Ruth B
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Re: Lethargic + lost appetite, advice needed please

Post by Ruth B »

I'm so sorry to read about the outcome, and can only say that you did your best for him, even if the vets did miss something. Try not to dwell on what happened it will only tear you up inside. Hernie had a long and happy life with you and all he cared about was how much you loved him, and in the end you loved him enough to know it was time to say goodbye and let him be at peace.
Kate S
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Re: Lethargic + lost appetite, advice needed please

Post by Kate S »

I'm so sorry for your loss. You helped him as much as you could and he knew he was loved
Bee7
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Re: Lethargic + lost appetite, advice needed please

Post by Bee7 »

Kate S wrote: Sat Sep 10, 2022 7:24 am I'm so sorry to read about your poor cat. I can't really give you any advice only to say this forum does help with sharing our stories. I came across your post as I need to give my kitty Mirtazapine again. She has CKD, hyperthyroidism and recently a mild dose of pancreatitis. I'm supposed to be giving her up to 6 meds a day but the last few days she has avoided them in everything I have put them in. How to get a cat to take an appetite stimulant if she is not eating? I can't pill her directly, so looks like the vet again :roll:
I'm really sorry, I didn't see this reply when I posted mine and have only just seen it now. So sorry to hear your kitty is unwell, how are they doing now? Has her appetite picked up at all? Keeping everything crossed for her 🤞 it's so so hard to get medication into a cat that isn't eating. Hernie was always so so good taking his Thyronorm with it being a liquid, right upto the last morning he was with us 😔💔 but he really hated the tablets that I had to give him those last couple of weeks, one of those being the mirtazapine. They made him gag every time, it was so horrible bless him. It lead me to researching alternatives and I actually came across something called MIRATAZ. It is the trans dermal version of mirtazapine, meaning it is a gel that is typically applied to the inside ear flap where it is absorbed through the skin and from everything I read about it it seems very promising for kitties that are refusing to eat and therefore difficult to medicate. I never got the chance to try it with my Hernie, I wish I had found it even just a few days sooner 😪 but I had to pass the info along to you if there is a chance it could help another kittie. Its so horrible to see our babies unwell so my thoughts are with you and your girl.
Bee7
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Re: Lethargic + lost appetite, advice needed please

Post by Bee7 »

Thank you all so much for the replies, they are very kind words. I don't know if I will ever got over the loss of Hernie to be honest and although deep down I know I didn't really have a choice but to make the decision I made, there will also always be a part of me that regrets having made the decision. Even more I regret that I didn't bring him to a different veterinary practice for another opinion. I just miss my boy more than anything, I really do. 18 months ago I had 3 teenage cats and now I only have one and it's just heartbreaking. I'm just trying to be as strong as I can be for Hernies brother and his Canine brother because I know they are suffering right now too with his loss. He has left a massive hole in all of our hearts and will most definately never ever be forgotten 🧡
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