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Old April 4th 07, 03:08 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
tension_on_the_wire
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Default Lethargy, voice loss, weight loss, thirst

On Apr 3, 5:38 pm, wrote:
Our 11 year old cat who is usually pretty spry just lies around
everyday and doesn't eat as much and is losing weight. She has
increased thirst too. All of this sounds like diabetes, but she has
also lost her voice. She doesn't purr anymore and when she does meow
(which isn't very often anymore), she sounds really hoarse and it
usually either sounds like a little squeak or kind of a hiss. She
doesn't seem to have any pain anywhere in her body. We've got her an
appointment with the vet, but we tried to put it off for a while
hoping it was just a cold or something, because it's so traumatic for
her to go to the vet, and we hate putting her through that. Does
anyone have any idea what might be wrong with her? I'd just like to
hear some guesses before her appointment tommorow. Thanks!


Good luck with your appointment tomorrow. Don't be surprised if they
want to check her thyroid levels. Hyperthyroidism can cause rapid and
significant weight loss in older cats, and also causes hypertension
which results in larger amounts of urine loss from pressure effects in
the kidneys. I'm not sure about the voice, but the thyroid is in the
neck region, and if there is a mass effect in the neck, it could
theoretically affect both the thyroid and the larynx.

Diabetes is still a strong contender too, and more reason to go sooner
rather than later since it can occasionally present as a silent
killer, even in people, where the diagnosis gets made after someone
passed away in their bed. Fortunately you already have an appointment
made. Weight loss in cats should always be attended to immediately,
since they can die quite quickly even from plain digestive complaints
that result in a biochemical storm known as fatty liver. Is your cat
at all overweight to begin with?

--tension