My 16 year old cat lost his meow

My 16 year old cat lost his voice last weekend. He went from howling constantly to being a little hoarse for a day and now complete silence. He opens his mouth to meow, but nothing comes out. We have had all his senior blood work done and all it showed was that he is in early stages of chronic renal failure. The vet said his throat doesn't look red or irritated, no fever, and his chest sounds clear. He does have a heart murmur which he didn't before, but aside from that he is in good health. The vet now wants to do the same blood testing that they did a month ago again, plus put him under anesthesia to get some chest x-rays to see if there is a change in the shape or size of his heart. He is playing, eating, going to the litter box regularly. If he didn't lose his meow I would say he is doing great! Is there any advice on what it may be before we spend another 300.00 on tests we JUST did and x-rays to find if there is a heart problem we probably can't fix?

Reply
Hi
I totally understand your situation as i too was in a similar situation with my old cat. She had a heart murmur and we took her to the vets who had a lo-cum on and who wanted to do all these tests too. we waited and spoke to our usual vet who was soo great. he said, that due to her age and the fact that their would be little treatment and that she was fine in herself he did not feel that the tests were needed and so we did not have the tests done. When she finally did die much later, she died sue to the fact that she broke her leg and had other medical conditions. So we were glad we did not put her through other tests which at the end of the day would not have benefited her much. I feel that you too are in that situation.

As cats get older they like humans do get frailer and this can also include having a weaker meow. As long as the vet cannot see anything in her throat which could be affecting her throat and she is fine in herself. If it were me, i don't think i would have the tests done. But of course it is totally your decision.

A good vet should be honest with you and give you all the options. Some vets are money driven i'm afraid especially if they work in a large practice or vet chain. It may be worth thinking about getting a second opinion elsewhere if you cannot make up your mind what is the best thing to do for your cat.

best wishes kate

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