Miss Scarlett Goes To The Vet

Miss Scarlett 2005.

"Everything I know I learned from my cat: When you're hungry, eat. When you're tired, nap in a sunbeam. When you go to the vet's, pee on your owner (or on the vet)." ~ Gary Smith

Miss Scarlett has always been a butterball, pear shaped, heavy in the behind. Just two years ago she weighed in at a little over 16 pounds. Scarlett made friends with my mom and started sitting next to her at mealtime. She developed a love of ice and would push an ice cube all over the floor, so we started giving her a small bowl of ice and she would sit licking the ice to her hearts content. Scarlett became more active, turning and twisting and rubbing up against any hand offered; sleeping for ten or fifteen minutes in one place then moving. And the weight loss started. It has been gradual, over a full year or perhaps longer. She still eats well, stays hydrated, but the weight continued to come off. We thought at first she was just working it off or that the ice and water intake decreased her food intake.

Miss Scarlett, January 2007

I noticed that she tended to run to the cat box often, perhaps two or three times an hour and the weight loss seemed out of proportion to her food intake. My first thought was diabetes or hyperthyroidism as these are both common in older cats. So Scarlett went to the vet where she purred through the whole exam and then peed on her vet. While she had lost over half her body weight, her tests for diabetes and hyperthyroidism were negative and there was no indication of liver failure or kidney failure. He gave her a de-wormer as a precautionary measure and did an x-ray. No visible tumors, but a rather large bladder stone. Bladder stones don't normally cause weight loss, but explain some of her symptoms. So we are waiting for a consult with the specialist, but I feel certain this will have to include a surgical removal of the stone.

She has her picky taste in wet food too. What will she eat and eat voraciously? Fancy Feast, but only beef, liver and beef or mixed grill flavors. She turns her nose up to chicken and any sort of seafood. Miss Clover on the other hand, wants nothing but salmon pate. Rhett, Willow and Chloe will eat anything. Nicky, just as he was as a little kitten, is always the last to the table so usually he doesn't get the wet food, just the dry kibble. As I type, Miss Scarlett is having her breakfast in peace and quiet in the sunroom, with only Max looking on (and drooling) from the outside. Will let you know how things turn out....

Update: The special consultant thinks she needs a Thyroid Suppression Test before any surgery. Anesthesia is more dangerous on cat or human with hyperthyroidism. So we shall see.

Miss Scarlett loves to visit with other kitties, as long as it's on the computer and not in her personal space. So she will be heading over to Cats on Tuesday, hosted by gattina. She may be a little hyperactive but Scarlett will still board the Friday's Ark, hosted each week by The Modulator. She also wants to go to the Carnival of the Cats, hosted by Tacjammer this week. If you don't hear her coming, it's because she took her collar off again. She loves to run around without that bell.

(end of post)