male cat stomach bloated

by cris
(woodbridge, ontario, canada)

HI

I have a male cat who is about 13 years old and who has had urinary track infections. His body produces a large amount of crystals a lot of the time and there was a span of about a year where he needed to go get "flushed" at the vets every couple of weeks until he had surgury to widen his opening to urinate easier. He has been on a strick diet for years now and is much better. About two weeks ago he refused to eat any of his regular dry or wet food. He will only eat food that is of lesser quality than he needs and I know it is not good for him. But I do not know how to get him to eat his own food. Also starting last week his stomach is swollen/bloated. It was like that for 2 days, then went down to normal and was bloated again starting yesterday. He does not appear to be in any pain. Some days he walks around like he usually does and somedays he will spend most of the day in his bed. Also when he goes to the litter box he misses the box and hits the floor. He threw up once last week and once yesterday which is unusal for him as well. He has lost a substantial amount of weight over the last few months even though during that time his eating habits did not change. He hates going to the vet so I am trying to do some research before I have to take him there. Any idea of what could be wrong with him.

Thanks

Cris

Answer by Kate
Hi Cris

i know it can be very upsetting for a cat to visit a vets but in this case considering your cats age and symptoms i really would recommend a visit sooner rather than later.

i am not a vet and so cannot diagnose but his symptoms do suggest something wrong which needs to be properly diagnosed. weight loss can be a sign of several different conditions, from, heart disease, thyroid issues, diabetes etc hopefully it is none of these but i would say that the sooner you can have him checked out the better. i know from my own experience that leaving it for too long can cause further problems.

i hope he is Ok again soon

best wishes kate

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