Thread: Aging Maine Coon male cat

Originally Posted by purrfect79

My 15 year old male cat is losing weight and not eating much. A trip to the vet 3 weeks ago for laryngitis, his heart, lungs and body temperature were normal. He was given antibiotics and he bounced back to being his normal self. But now he is not eating much again. Any ideas?

Hi

any news - how is the patient?
Did you have any nlood work done? Can you give more info as to how much your cat drinks? Has anything changed in his routine of life?
My thoughts travel to kidney trouble. How is his mouth? Has he eaten at all? Is he dehydrated (sticky saliva, ruff will not smooth out after being pulled up) - if so can you give fluids? (Ringers' solution 100 ml, lightly warm) subcutaneous. Neurobion shots will also stimulate the appitite - BUT you need to have some blood work done - at least the Kreatinine (kidneys)
Otherwise give him some Felovite Vitamin paste with Taurine and his most favorite food. (If it is kidney problem you need to feed however only chicken or white fish with enriched white rice, Vitamin C, B and A & D - no red meats. Reason you want to feed a low / high quality protein diet). Stay positive.

Oh and I forgot -
It could also be a hair ball or feline constipation - quite common in elderly cats.

Cuddles puttycat

Wow! You know your stuff Puttycat! very impressed. I can see youa re going to be a great addition to the forum family!

I agree it does seem as if it could be renal or teeth,teeth being the easy one to deal with,also agree that bloods should be done to narrow things down,I always tend to get mine blood checked anyway when they get to middle age & seem off colour for no reason,if it comes back clear good if not hopefully you catch problems at the start but I have to say if I couldn't get fluids into my animals by mouth to keep them hydrated then they would be straight down to the vets day or night for them to inject them either sub cut or put onto a drip.
I always have the equivalant of animal hydration sachets in my animal first aid kit, as they help replace the electrolyte balance the same as for us & can be very handy in cases of diarrhoea or vomiting.....