Think My Cat Is Dying

[Jessica Martin]

Hi there,
Please can anyone help at all!??
My cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and is having difficulty breathing. He is periodically open mouth breathing. He is eating very little but still shows interest in food and is drinking little water but hovering over the water bowl. He also has a swollen belly maybe fluid? Is there anything anyone can recommend I try for him? He is 16 years old and I dont want to give up on him if there is something that may help him but also dont want him in pain.
I have DMSO but dont know if this would help or how to give it to him and have been looking into colloidal silver but am at a loss.
I am aware he should go to the vet but he is a very nervous cat and do not want to stress him out. He also would not take the thyroid meds prescribed by vet. I have been giving him this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pet-Wellbe...sm+cats&qid=1569876481&sprefix=hyperth&sr=8-7 but not sure if it's good or bad?
Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Jess

 

[LUH 3417]

I’m so sorry. My cat has bladder issues and peed blood. Progesterone helped her a lot. It was hard to put it in her mouth but sometimes I rub it on her ears. Not really relevant to your cats situation but peat seems to think of it as very life promoting.

 

[methylenewhite]

Nutritional yeast tabs. Seriously. My cats would sell their souls for just one pill of yeast.

 

[yerrag]

Give your cat selenium ASAP.

Does your cat have bulging thyroid that can be felt as 2 lumps? This indicates hyperthyroidism.

I noticed this in a cat I had but at that time I didn't know what the lumps meant, but the cat had grown thin and acted different. He would be wide-eyed and wouldn't blink much, and he had become thin and wouldn't eat much. He looked very stoic.

Before he died, his breathing was very labored.

Is he still there? It wouldn't take long for him to die after he showed labored breathing.

From that experience, I was prepared the next time and I was able to save two younger cats by giving selenium.

 

[LUH 3417]

Nutritional yeast tabs. Seriously. My cats would sell their souls for just one pill of yeast.

I found out my cat loves nutritional yeast after she spent 25 min meowing at the bottle and trying to open it. I’ve never seen her love a food substance so much...not even $4 canned lamb liver and kidneys

 

[Jessica Martin]

I’m so sorry. My cat has bladder issues and peed blood. Progesterone helped her a lot. It was hard to put it in her mouth but sometimes I rub it on her ears. Not really relevant to your cats situation but peat seems to think of it as very life promoting.

Thank you for replying, yes my mother mentioned progesterone but she wasnt sure how much to give him, I think at this point anything is worth a try.

 

[Jessica Martin]

Give your cat selenium ASAP.

Does your cat have bulging thyroid that can be felt as 2 lumps? This indicates hyperthyroidism.

I noticed this in a cat I had but at that time I didn't know what the lumps meant, but the cat had grown thin and acted different. He would be wide-eyed and wouldn't blink much, and he had become thin and wouldn't eat much. He looked very stoic.

Before he died, his breathing was very labored.

Is he still there? It wouldn't take long for him to die after he showed labored breathing.

From that experience, I was prepared the next time and I was able to save two younger cats by giving selenium.

Thank you so much for replying.
Is there any specific selenium I should give him? Or any liquid form? And what dosage? He has lost a lot of weight he is very very thin but can still jump and has interest in food. His breathing is okay sometimes but then he open mouth breathes. He seems to have difficulty swallowing and wretches a bit when eating or drinking at first. Think his throat is swollen but hes so skinny I'm not sure if it's his bones or his thyroid glands I can feel.

 

[Jessica Martin]

I found out my cat loves nutritional yeast after she spent 25 min meowing at the bottle and trying to open it. I’ve never seen her love a food substance so much...not even $4 canned lamb liver and kidneys

I found out my cat loves nutritional yeast after she spent 25 min meowing at the bottle and trying to open it. I’ve never seen her love a food substance so much...not even $4 canned lamb liver and kidneys

Thanks for the info pinacolada. Is there any particular brand? And can I crush them down and put on food or in liquid do you think? As I mentioned he seems to have difficulty swallowing and has bad teeth anyway due to age.

 

[marsaday]

He needs to take the vet meds ideally.

How are his kidneys ? Very often bad thyroid and kidney go together and 16 is old.

From my experience of loosing 8 cats over the last 12 years it is often better to let them go a little bit earlier because their health in the final months is usually poor. We have often ended up keeping them alive for our benefit and not the cats.

If the cat is sitting in the Sphinx position this is often a sign the cat is in pain and so you must act on this.

One cat had the operation to remove her thyroid because she was overactive. This obviously costs more than the pills, but she had about half a year of oldish health and then she had to be put to sleep.

When cats get to 12 y/o they tend to start to get all these problems. The best thing we have found is to feed them a raw meat diet and keep away from the dry foods.

 

[LeeLemonoil]

I am a vet and I can only recommend seeing a colleague, there are too many possible causes for the symptoms you describe, so I abstain from guessing or recommending anything else. It might be an infection and then rather easily cured but only if the vet diagnoses it.

A 16y old tomcat is very old as you know. See if he likes any of his favorite foods or goodies. How is his mobility and other behavior? Any drastic changes?

 

[ecstatichamster]

Progesterone and pregnenolone are always helpful.

another often is activated charcoal

These kept my very sick dog alive a long time last her death sentence.

 

[Jessica Martin]

Thank you @pinacolada, @methylenewhite @yerrag @marsaday @LeeLemonoil @ecstatichamster for all of your help so far.
i have attached what i have found in my local Holland and Barrett (uk) do any of them seem suitable? although i did notice a lot of bulking agents in all of them.
Also is nutritional yeast the same as Brewers yeast? any recommendations if these are not suitable and doses would be greatly appreciated.
thank you all so much

 

[Jessica Martin]

@ecstatichamster i was considering using activated charcoal. How would you recommend administering it? I know it is very good for pulling out toxins, which im guessing he is full of as his belly is bloated.
Also i put rubbed a little progesterone in his ear this morning.

 

[boris]

More important would be to know first: What is the daily diet of your cat (all his life until now) and how often do you feed him?

 

[ecstatichamster]

@ecstatichamster i was considering using activated charcoal. How would you recommend administering it? I know it is very good for pulling out toxins, which im guessing he is full of as his belly is bloated.
Also i put rubbed a little progesterone in his ear this morning.

I put granules in my dogs food. Her favorite that she would eat.

 

[methylenewhite]

Get brewer's yeast tablets. Cats like to crunch on them.

Update. Sorry I didn't notice that he has difficulty swallowing. Get powder form and mix it with some semi-liquid food.

 

[methylenewhite]

I found out my cat loves nutritional yeast after she spent 25 min meowing at the bottle and trying to open it. I’ve never seen her love a food substance so much...not even $4 canned lamb liver and kidneys

same here. My cat just accidentally found brewer's yeast tabs that my GF was taking. The cat spent about 30 mins trying to open it.

 

[Jessica Martin]

Get brewer's yeast tablets. Cats like to crunch on them.

Update. Sorry I didn't notice that he has difficulty swallowing. Get powder form and mix it with some semi-liquid food.

I bought nutritional yeast but he doesn't seem interested. May try it on some food.

 

[Jessica Martin]

Hi @yerrag I bought selenium. Its 50ug, how much would you recommend? He weighs about 4lbs.
@ecstatichamster I rubbed progesterone in his ears this morning and he seems to be breathing better, no longer open mouth breathing at the moment which is great. He also seems to have perked up a bit.

 

[redsun]

Hi @yerrag I bought selenium. Its 50ug, how much would you recommend? He weighs about 4lbs.
@ecstatichamster I rubbed progesterone in his ears this morning and he seems to be breathing better, no longer open mouth breathing at the moment which is great. He also seems to have perked up a bit.

Have you ever tried feeding your cat some organs like beef liver or kidney? Pretty cheap to get at any store. Probably would fix em up and the cat will actually want to eat it. Fed beef liver to my cat who was all down in the dumps depressed and not doing much. Fed her 3 oz maybe of beef liver(it was a whole pre-packaged slice) and the cat's entire personality just changed to energized, lively, and happy just like that. Cats need organs.