Fingers and paws crossed here for good news. Please let us know how he's doing. Lyska, my oldest cat, is 14 and has also lost some weight, but everything else about her appears normal. Does anyone else know if cats normally lose weight as they get that much older?

Been to the vet this afternoon and as I feared it's not good news. Today his breathing has become laboured as well.

The vet had a feel, and his bowel area is very squealchy and lumpy, it could just be the lymph nodes swollen from the diarrhoea, but going on his history of weight loss, recurrent diarrhoea, its more likely to be a growth. She was mainly concerned about his breathing and said we shouldn't let it get any worse.

They said they can do blood screening to see if they can find the problem, however that is £80-100 and she said there is still very little hope that they would be able to do something that would prolong his life by any length of time.

Brought him home, but keeping a close eye on him, he has just curled up and gone to sleep. She has given us 3 sachets of food for sensitive stomach's to see if he can tolerate that........

Keeping an eye on his breathing and if it gets any worse we will have to make the decision...........

Don't know if it's me being selfish, but just want a few more days with him.............

Think the other cats know - they keep going up to him and sniffing - the puppy can't work out what's going on............

You could try going to a Homeopathic vet. They might have some suggestions. I think acidophilus for the diarhhea would help. But still....17 is really getting up there for the average cat. My oldest is 13 and that's equal to @75 in humans. Figuring one human year is equal to four cat years that makes him @ 91 in human years. That's a respectable age for anyone.
The thing that really sucks about having cats (and pets in general) is that they don't live as long as we do.
Hope things work out for the best.

I have a 17 year old female cat and she has not had a problem yet. If she skips a meal I get worried. I can feel your anxiety and can relate to how you are feeling. I will keep you and him in my prayers. Hoping for a good outcome to your vet visit!!

Update

Well we are now 5 days on, and he is still with us. He isn't suffering, he is happy, demanding food all the time, drinking, and wee'ing and poo'ing (yep still diarrhea though!). Going outside and jumping on to the top of a double rabbit hutch, then from there to the top of a 7 foot fence, and then down onto the neighbors tool shed and into their garden !!!!!

We spoke to the vet today the one we saw last Wednesday, and she was really surprised that he is still going, she thought we would have had to make the decision during the weekend at the latest.

I asked if there was anything he could be given to help stop the diarrhea to give his system a break and a chance to recover. She said the swelling could be doing it, and although she thinks it might be cancer and the only way of knowing that is with a biopsy which we can't do as he wouldn't survive the anaesthetic, it could be swollen lymph nodes due to the diarrhea.

I said that he had a poo which was half solid half loose the other day, but since it's all been loose, but we did run out of the food she had given us. She is putting a box of 12 sachets for us to pick up tomorrow and also some anti-inflammatory tablets to see if that helps. She said they will make him hungry and thirsty, so ensure we feed him little and often, and always have water down for him.

She said if he is still hanging on when we get to the end of the box of 12 sachets (which from the sound of it she doesn't think he will be), then we will re-evaluate. She asked how his breathing was and I said settled down, just wondering if he was stressed with the visit to the vet which is what increased it.

She asked about his weight, and I said he seems to gain a little and then lose a little, but doesn't appear to be losing as much as he is gaining. She agreed that he is obviously getting some nutrients and energy out of the food that he is eating, as otherwise he would be lying around all miserable and lethargic.

So I've had 5 precious days with him, and unfortunately been working nights on most of them. Tomorrow night (Tuesday) is my last night shift for 2 weeks, so hopefully he will still be around, for me to enjoy and make a fuss of.

We are having plenty of cat fights at home at present, as our youngest male is trying to overtake the 2 female cats and the puppy in the hierarchy stakes, so that when Tigger goes (he obviously knows that Tigger is ill) he is in a position to take the top cat spot.......oh well, it happens in nature, just interesting to watch it happening in the house. Lucky our youngest male used to be terrified of Alexi, it's now the other way around.......she is petrified of him, as he keeps having a go at her.....oh well it will all settle down eventually.

Thanks ALC67 for your suggestion of acidophilus - have looked it up and it sounds promising, at present can only find suppliers in the USA but will keep looking, should be able to get it over here in the UK. Will give the anti-inflammatories a try, and if no joy will get some of that and try it.

Thanks again everyone

Cath

Thanks for the update and glad to hear he seems to be doing well. Yes, every extra day you get with him is a blessing so love on him and make a fuss over him. I'm sure he appreciates the extra attention as well.
We'll keep our fingers and paws crossed for you all.

If you can get him to eat some PLAIN unflavored yogurth (not greek youhurt, too strong) that should help too. It has beneficial bacteria in it. Try a health food store or on-line health food/vitamin retailer. They should have acidophilus available. You don't need one specifically for cats. Any typw will do the job just as well. I've had a lot of success with it. A good kitty vitamin might help too..

Thanks guys for all your support on this, by the time we go back to the vets on Wednesday (2 days time) I would have had him for an extra precious 3 weeks.....we've had lots of cuddles and tears through that time........we're trying one last thing today and tomorrow and that is we are feeding him just chicken pure cooked chicken, nothing else and see how that does.....he's had his first feed this morning, and though he's had one poo it's been of a thicker consistency, so will see what happens for the rest of the day, will give him more lunch time and again this evening and see.......

He's now got a cold as well - really nasally dear of him......should see him trying to eat and breath at the same time - bless - will have to see what the vet reckons on Wednesday - but unless this chicken works it looks like today and tomorrow might be my last days with him and I'm back to work tonight - but at least I would have had these extra 3 weeks with him.

Just keep me and him in all your prayers and thoughts especially on Wednesday.

Will update here on Wednesday once we know the outcome.