Cat Batman 13 years old Male Neutered DSH ~10 lbs
Behavior: He seems hungry a lot, he seems to be eating a lot but not gaining weight. He is always asking for attention and/or food. He does sleep well during the day and at night when he is well fed. His coat seems very scruffy at times and other time it seems much better. Some days he seems happier and is purring/snuggling other days he will just sort of sit next to me and seems kind of off. He scavenges for any people food he can find. He tries to eat plant matter, leaves, sticks, grass, or anything he can find. I find occasional spit up usually with hair or something he ate in it. He’s been know to eat things like fake plants as well. We spends time on our deck and he was trying to eat the bristles on the grill brush. I tried cat grass and he was ripping it up by the roots. #1 & #2 in litter box appear normal, occasionally he will have an accident. He has some burping or indigestion type noises, I can feel when he sits on me, this has been better lately. He scratches his ears/neck/head area I notice it daily sometimes more or less.
Energy: His energy seems pretty good. He knocks things off the counter when he wants to eat which he as always done. Some days he seems to jump great and is occasionally playful, other times he seems much slower moving & I have noticed him very slowly going up the stairs. I believe he may have some arthritis.
Appetite: He is hungry and eats quite a bit each day. He is on raw food North West Naturals, and also sometimes eats freeze dried or canned food. I recently switch him to raw from mostly canned food and he does seem much improved with his appetite. On canned food he was always hungry but very picky and it was a constant struggle to get him to eat. I see him drink water usually once per day, he has filtered tap water. Today I saw him drink from fountain for the 1st time, I purchased a few months ago.
Mood: Seems pretty good and friendly, seems to worsen the more canned and less raw food they eat. My daughter and my other cat pester him a lot which is not ideal. He just wants to snuggle with me morning and night. Sleeps & waits for food, knocks things off my counters, sometimes plays. My daughter is 18 months old so that definitely added some stress to his life.
Diet: Northwest naturals raw turkey and chicken, primal raw food topper turkey and chicken. Some freeze dried and canned food. Previously eating Merrick Canned, then before that weruva/tiki cat canned, then prior to that they were on a raw ground meat organ bone supplemented for his entire life. His vet wanted him on canned food due to his health issues & I tried it for about 1 year and I do not think he did well at all on canned food. Always hungry, picky, scruffy, greasy yellow coat on canned food. (He is an all white cat)
Vaccination: Initial distemper and leukemia vax as kitten then rabies every three years only. Ab’s three times over last several years, had a dental about 3 years ago.
Primary Problem: Weight Loss, he fluctuates around 9.5-10.5 lbs but he seems pretty thin to me. He used to be around a 12 lb cat. Unexplained past issue of occasional low blood sugar and falling episodes, could not confirm these are connected. The 1st falling episode was at least 5 years ago and he was eating raw and completely healthy at that time. It’s happened two times since then and all 3 times completely resolved with AB’s.
Secondary Issues: He had a bald spot on his back & thinning hair around his ears recently, has improved since increasing raw food. His coat seems greasy at times but gets better on raw food. He scratches his head/ears. He is eating well on new raw food for the last few weeks. He has a bean sized growth on his inner left leg. It seems smaller or larger at times and at times it seems closer to his groin and others closer to his knee. Not sure if it could be aspirated because of his temperament at the vet. Depending on the Veterinarian, some say he definitely has a heart murmur and other say he does not have a heart murmur.
2020 Diagnostics:
Spring 2020 he stopped eating and vomitted something green & rotten. Bloodwork normal, X-rays, sent to idexx revealed air in lungs and stomach from swallowing too much air. This is when we stopped feeding raw and switched to mostly canned food. Switched his food dishes and holder and fed him separately from other cat he was gobbling his food so my other cat would not eat it. He started eating again but never fully recovered.
Fall 2020
He seemed not well, scratching his ears a lot. He has a history of what I believe could be vestibular disease. A few times prior he started falling over and NOTHING was found wrong with him, other than a possible low blood sugar but that was not consistent. This resolved twice with AB’s.
So in Fall of 2020 he seemed off and I thought maybe he was off balance again, brought him in for BW normal except for low blood sugar. Brought him home and cleaned ears as advised by vet & falling started shortly after that, went to ER they determined he was stable & sent me home with nothing both vets refused to give the AB’s. Next day 2nd ER visit, abdominal US showed inflammation of the gallbladder and early renal disease. Was given Clavamox & Flagyl and recovered well but never gained weight back.
They also did a test for his Pancreas I believe to rule out a tumor that could cause his low blood sugar. His BG has tested LOW and low normal at different times over the years but sometimes he would be fine and it would test low, or he’d be falling over and it would test normal. The first time we identified the low BG was routine bloodwork for his dental 3 years ago.
*I tested his BG at home about a week ago, 95 after eating breakfast, 95 after 2 hours, 93 3 hours after that.
Treatments: I’ve tried cosequin, fish oil, multivitamin treat, probiotic powder. He will not eat these things consistently and they tend to make him more picky/suspect of his food. His vet wants to medicate him so he can be calmer for vet visit and retest his thyroid. His thyroid increased last year but was not out of the normal range. I clean his outer ear carefully with TrizKetoUltra every few weeks and that seems to help cut down the ear scratching.
I would like to pursue holistic treatments and preferably have a vet come to our home to examine him and draw blood. The vet visits stress him out a lot and I don’t think they can examine him thoroughly due to his temperament at the vet. At home he is a complete love & I can do anything with him.
Behavior: He seems hungry a lot, he seems to be eating a lot but not gaining weight. He is always asking for attention and/or food. He does sleep well during the day and at night when he is well fed. His coat seems very scruffy at times and other time it seems much better. Some days he seems happier and is purring/snuggling other days he will just sort of sit next to me and seems kind of off. He scavenges for any people food he can find. He tries to eat plant matter, leaves, sticks, grass, or anything he can find. I find occasional spit up usually with hair or something he ate in it. He’s been know to eat things like fake plants as well. We spends time on our deck and he was trying to eat the bristles on the grill brush. I tried cat grass and he was ripping it up by the roots. #1 & #2 in litter box appear normal, occasionally he will have an accident. He has some burping or indigestion type noises, I can feel when he sits on me, this has been better lately. He scratches his ears/neck/head area I notice it daily sometimes more or less.
Energy: His energy seems pretty good. He knocks things off the counter when he wants to eat which he as always done. Some days he seems to jump great and is occasionally playful, other times he seems much slower moving & I have noticed him very slowly going up the stairs. I believe he may have some arthritis.
Appetite: He is hungry and eats quite a bit each day. He is on raw food North West Naturals, and also sometimes eats freeze dried or canned food. I recently switch him to raw from mostly canned food and he does seem much improved with his appetite. On canned food he was always hungry but very picky and it was a constant struggle to get him to eat. I see him drink water usually once per day, he has filtered tap water. Today I saw him drink from fountain for the 1st time, I purchased a few months ago.
Mood: Seems pretty good and friendly, seems to worsen the more canned and less raw food they eat. My daughter and my other cat pester him a lot which is not ideal. He just wants to snuggle with me morning and night. Sleeps & waits for food, knocks things off my counters, sometimes plays. My daughter is 18 months old so that definitely added some stress to his life.
Diet: Northwest naturals raw turkey and chicken, primal raw food topper turkey and chicken. Some freeze dried and canned food. Previously eating Merrick Canned, then before that weruva/tiki cat canned, then prior to that they were on a raw ground meat organ bone supplemented for his entire life. His vet wanted him on canned food due to his health issues & I tried it for about 1 year and I do not think he did well at all on canned food. Always hungry, picky, scruffy, greasy yellow coat on canned food. (He is an all white cat)
Vaccination: Initial distemper and leukemia vax as kitten then rabies every three years only. Ab’s three times over last several years, had a dental about 3 years ago.
Primary Problem: Weight Loss, he fluctuates around 9.5-10.5 lbs but he seems pretty thin to me. He used to be around a 12 lb cat. Unexplained past issue of occasional low blood sugar and falling episodes, could not confirm these are connected. The 1st falling episode was at least 5 years ago and he was eating raw and completely healthy at that time. It’s happened two times since then and all 3 times completely resolved with AB’s.
Secondary Issues: He had a bald spot on his back & thinning hair around his ears recently, has improved since increasing raw food. His coat seems greasy at times but gets better on raw food. He scratches his head/ears. He is eating well on new raw food for the last few weeks. He has a bean sized growth on his inner left leg. It seems smaller or larger at times and at times it seems closer to his groin and others closer to his knee. Not sure if it could be aspirated because of his temperament at the vet. Depending on the Veterinarian, some say he definitely has a heart murmur and other say he does not have a heart murmur.
2020 Diagnostics:
Spring 2020 he stopped eating and vomitted something green & rotten. Bloodwork normal, X-rays, sent to idexx revealed air in lungs and stomach from swallowing too much air. This is when we stopped feeding raw and switched to mostly canned food. Switched his food dishes and holder and fed him separately from other cat he was gobbling his food so my other cat would not eat it. He started eating again but never fully recovered.
Fall 2020
He seemed not well, scratching his ears a lot. He has a history of what I believe could be vestibular disease. A few times prior he started falling over and NOTHING was found wrong with him, other than a possible low blood sugar but that was not consistent. This resolved twice with AB’s.
So in Fall of 2020 he seemed off and I thought maybe he was off balance again, brought him in for BW normal except for low blood sugar. Brought him home and cleaned ears as advised by vet & falling started shortly after that, went to ER they determined he was stable & sent me home with nothing both vets refused to give the AB’s. Next day 2nd ER visit, abdominal US showed inflammation of the gallbladder and early renal disease. Was given Clavamox & Flagyl and recovered well but never gained weight back.
They also did a test for his Pancreas I believe to rule out a tumor that could cause his low blood sugar. His BG has tested LOW and low normal at different times over the years but sometimes he would be fine and it would test low, or he’d be falling over and it would test normal. The first time we identified the low BG was routine bloodwork for his dental 3 years ago.
*I tested his BG at home about a week ago, 95 after eating breakfast, 95 after 2 hours, 93 3 hours after that.
Treatments: I’ve tried cosequin, fish oil, multivitamin treat, probiotic powder. He will not eat these things consistently and they tend to make him more picky/suspect of his food. His vet wants to medicate him so he can be calmer for vet visit and retest his thyroid. His thyroid increased last year but was not out of the normal range. I clean his outer ear carefully with TrizKetoUltra every few weeks and that seems to help cut down the ear scratching.
I would like to pursue holistic treatments and preferably have a vet come to our home to examine him and draw blood. The vet visits stress him out a lot and I don’t think they can examine him thoroughly due to his temperament at the vet. At home he is a complete love & I can do anything with him.
Last edited:
