[LukeHall1995]

Hi LukeHall1995, your poor dear cat. Good job he has you to look out for him, well done.

I totally agree with chillminx's comments.

He definitely sounds as he needs a dental if he is up to one? In the meantime I would offer him very soft foods, the pate type. I could list a few soft foods you could try, should you want me to? He needs blood tests done, for a complete health check - all the usual for an elderly cat- kidneys, liver, diabetes, thyroid etc and his blood pressure checked if he is up to it.

One of my cats shook her head a lot until she was tested, diagnosed & treated for hyperthyroidism, which is common in older cats.

Presumably they saw ear-mites in your dear cat's ears? With some cats they never go completely. Some cats lose their balance for reasons other than ear problems, one of my cats did when on a wrong dose of medication (that or a side effect to that medication) and the same cat had a similar mouth problem to your cat, but was sadly unable to have anaesthetic, although nothing would stop him from eating his roast chicken, bless him, & various other foods. The teeth grinding or mouth grinding was horrible to listen to. He also had hyperthyroidism, diagnosed by a blood test. Hopefully your cat has lots of water available to him?

Please let us know how he gets on.

Thank you both for the detailed replies, I really appreciate your time spent helping me with this!

They checked his teeth and just noticed the tar build up and red gums, will they go into much more depth if they do a proper dental checkup? I will also get blood tests done so I can find out what's wrong with him.

Yes please! We've tried pate, he seems to eat a little bit but very slowly. I've seen him try and use his paw to eat a lot at the moment and it seems to eat very slow and some food just drops from it's mouth. We've tried lots of wet foods such as kitten food too. I tried some sardines this morning which he loved! But he only ate a small amount although it was trying to eat for around 10 mins.

Did your cat find it difficult to eat even when it did have roast chicken etc? I am cooking one tonight and I'm sure he'll try to eat some

Hyperthyroidism looks like it could be likely, his fur doesn't look to great at the moment. He has a lot of water available and seems to be drinking a bit more than usual - perhaps he isn't getting the water from his wet food as much so he's drinking more regularly.

I will get an appointment booked asap.

Thank you!

 

[LukeHall1995]

Thank you for the reply @chillminx

I asked my Dad if we could book the vet (as he has been taking it) and he said it has already had a dental checkup when they discovered the sore gums and tarred teeth for which they gave antibiotics for.

Will they do another checkup more in depth?

I have a comb and I will start using it! I have only seen it lick it's paws at the moment but not lick the rest of it's body like usual.

Anyway we have an appointment for it tomorrow now. Will try and feed it again when it's woken up and I will also try liquidising the food to see if it laps it up.

I have had the cat for 5 years, it came in stray and very skinny and rough. We fattened it up and got him looking healthy and it was only since ear mites a few months ago he's started to look unhealthy.

The dentist said it was just missing teeth and bad teeth that makes them think he's old. He's always been playful and I never thought it looked like a very old cat up until now where he's lost weight.

 

[LukeHall1995]

Also I forgot to note he has gone deaf since ear mites too

 

[LukeHall1995]

Okay let's see what the vet says tomorrow, hopefully they can do something along the lines of that tomorrow. Hoping it's just a dental issue!

I will find out tomorrow.

Yes could be, I do think personally it's younger than the vets think it is.

They said it could be an ear infection that's why they gave us antibiotic tablets and also another ear drop medication. They said if it doesn't work (which it isn't) it could be a tumour in its ear and is most likely that

Lots of brown pieces come out of his right ear when he shakes his head, the medication doesn't seem to be working to clear his ear up at all. Not a single medication that we've gotten from the vet has worked so far for it's teeth grinding and ears which is not good.

Thank you

 

[LukeHall1995]

Cat is now booked in tomorrow morning to be sedated and looked into his mouth.

Let's hope they can sort him

 

[LukeHall1995]

Hi @carly87 thanks for your reply!

We have asked the vet to do so and they will be doing that

Will they look much deeper into the ear than how they could without sedation? Also what did they find different when they did a deep irrigation with your dog?

Thank you

 

[LukeHall1995]

Thanks @carly87 sounds like it worked amazingly! Hoping the same applies for my cat. Glad you're dog can hear you again

My cat has been the vets today and has had 3 teeth out. It has just returned and I can still hear it grinding! It's eating, but it's still having a hard time eating it all up, it seems to drop out still. I am hoping it's just because the operation was only today... but I'm suprised I can still hear it grinding!

They didn't comment on the ear but it is back tomorrow for a checkup so hopefully have some answers there.

 

[LukeHall1995]

Hi @chillminx

Yes hopefully, he hasn't eaten today looks like he wants food but won't eat it. He is also just sitting and keeps resting his chin on the floor like he did the day before his operation, which is strange. I haven't seen him sleep since the operation yet.

He has an appointment tonight so they will tell us about the ear etc so hoping to get some answers!

@TriTri Thank you for the food recommendations!! I will get some pate and I will mix it together, thanks for that! I will also try the other foods you recommended He did have blood tests, something was low in his blood but not by too much so they rang to mention the risk of bleeding to death during the op, but went ahead and he was fine luckily!

Hopefully he gets better soon, I just hope it's worked. I find it strange he's sitting a bit differently just like before the op, but that could be due to the pain still. Was eating yesterday when it looked lively after the op but today he's not ate anything and seems anxious.

@carly87 Ah that's good to hear, glad it's healthy!

I'm not too sure, I have been mixing my sentences with it or he without thinking about it.

Thanks!

 

[LukeHall1995]

Hi @chillminx

He will be seeing a vet in 5 hours, he is drinking a lot of water today so hopefully he's hydrated.

They didn't give us any pain relief for today, I think they gave him an injection yesterday though. I will be asking the vet when I'm there, although the vet we're using don't seem to be doing a good job. When we went for the operation, they said we hadn't booked in and it was just a consulation even though they definitely booked it in on the phone with us as they said the cat musn't eat after 9pm.

They were just going to do a consultation on another day instead and even though it wasn't eating, they were just going to tell us to take it home without any medication. They also said what are we panicking about it's only lost 3lbs since the last visit and the last visit was a week ago!!!

I am hoping tonight they have answers for what's wrong with the cat and to also provide it with the correct medication.

Nauseous sounds about right, it's been falling over the past few days and losing it's balance I think it's most likely the ear. I'm getting desperate for answers now, if they still don't know about the ear when we see the vet tonight then that's the 6th visit and nothing has changed.

We have cooked meat and also some white fish for it. Let's see what happens tonight, I do hope they find what's wrong with it's ear as that's the main problem.

Thanks

 

[LukeHall1995]

Thank you, have tried all sorts today but nothing. Even sardines he wouldn't have

Thank you, let's hope so!

 

[LukeHall1995]

Update from the vets!

They found a polyp very low down in his ear and they are using antibiotics to get rid of it.

He has had a fluid injection and antibiotics. I noticed one pupil is bigger than the other and his head is shaking slightly, could this be from the drugs?

He has just woken us up by non stop meowing from downstairs and when I come down he was walking around stumbling and meowing he has the vet in a few hours, I’m worried why he’s meowing a lot I hope it’s not in pain. He doesn’t look too good

Just have to wait for the vet appointment in a couple of hours. Very worried now about the meows and the fact that it’s been 2 days where he hasn’t eaten. They did give him a fluid injection though with nutrients.

 

[LukeHall1995]

Unfortunately he had to be put down this morning :Sorry

The polyp was too close to the brain and it had effected all his nerves. The pain relief injections it had the day before were not working at all hence why he had been meowing with pain all morning non stop. With it not eating either there was nothing more we could do

Thank you for your help everyone, Alan will sorely missed :Bawling He had a good life up until the past couple of months and I'm glad he walked into our house one day where he stayed ever since. He was the most demanding cat and I am going to miss waking up at night to his meow to be fed, lying on my hand while i try to work on my computer and sleeping on my pillow

Rest in peace Alan

 

[LukeHall1995]

Thank you for the kind messages, missing him already

 

[LukeHall1995]

I am so sorry to hear this very sad news. He will suffer no more and is at peace. Please take care of yourself you did the kindest thing by letting him go. RIP sweet boy. xxx

Thank you