I am going to try and post this on as many forums and email it to as
many people as possible. I am desperate for answers. The cat whom I
love more than anyone/anything is not doing well and I want to save
him.

About 3 months ago Nate, my eight and a half year old male neutered
cat, began to lose weight. Within the last few weeks this weight loss
became very noticable(before I thought I was just paranoid). A trip to
the vet revealed that he has lost a little over 2 pounds(since
November). We just haven't found out why. Here's what we do know:

- In November I brought him to his neurologist because he was exibiting
some head shaking and scratching at his right ear. He said his ears
were relatively clean and prescribed an ear wash which I was reluctant
to use(fear of safety, I'm a bit of an "it must be natural!" nut).

- He has seen a neurologist because, over 2 years ago, he had a
neurological episode that resembled a vascular stroke - cause still
unknown. His right limbs were paralyzed but he has recovered well with
only a little weakness left, mostly in his front leg. At the time, he
was on prednisone(yes, it's scary drug but so was the "stroke") and
antibiotics - which might not have helped at all.. we'll never know. He
hasn't been on any medications or had any other neurological episodes
since.

- About 2 weeks ago I brought him to a nearby vet and had bloodwork
ran. Everything came back normal with the exception of low potassium
levels(no vet has seen this as a concern) and a thyroid test that I
believe was 2.8(I was told it was in the normal range but we rechecked
it anyway and it came out normal again). His potassium levels were low
in his November 2005 bloodwork and I have read that this can be an
early indicator of kidney problems but I also know that prednisone can
lower potassium levels.

- He was supposed to have a fecal(done on second visit.. no parasites)
and a urinalysis at the time but they could not get either from him.
For some reason, on a subsequent visit for an abdominal ultrasound,
they still did not collect urine from him. I haven't noticed him
urinating or drinking more frequently until tonight when he seemed to
be drinking more than usual. We were running the heat pretty high and
he had had dry treats and sardines earlier so that might have been why,
though. The abdominal ultrasound showed nothing abnormal with the
exception of some "debris" in the bladder, which my current vet does
not see as a concern(though he wants me to get him in for the
urinalysis-at the original clinic-, of course.)

- When I brought him to the original vet I made the mistake of agreeing
to a Rabies vaccination(who vaccinates a sick cat.. or any indoor cat
for that matter? I know.. I made a stupid mistake, as did the vet) and
a dewormer(again, stupid. I know better). He went downhill quickly that
night, appearing very weak when he had seemed relatively normal(aside
from the weight loss) before. I rushed him to the emergency room in
tears, they checked his vitals, and he began to recover the next day.

- He had a chest and abdominal(I believe) xray and everything looked
fine.

- He had an echocardiogram and everything looked fine.

- He saw an internal medicine specialist and she was stumped.

- He had been on Wellness(mostly wet, mostly the chicken formula)
exclusively for almost 2 years. In October, however, we switched one of
our cats over to a Limited Ingredient Rabbit & Pea formula to rule out
food allergies. The other cats(I have 4 total) were still getting
Wellness at first, then it was just Rabbit & Pea for everyone until the
2 pounds of weightloss was confirmed. Now everyone is on Wellness again
with occasional treats like Greenies, chicken babyfood, tonight's
sardines(canned in spring water, no salt added, with bones), and a bite
now and then of "people food"(My boyfriend and I are vegans so this
means vegetarian foods of course.) With the exception of the evening of
the Rabies Vaccination, Nate has been eating with the same enthusiasm
as before for the most part, though very recently I believe there might
have been a decline.

- He has become less active than he was before. At times he seems
lethargic but other times he'll play a bit or explore the house.

- He seems down and just.. not feeling right.

- He might be seeking out heat moreso than usual. Our house can get
pretty cold(we live in Occidental) and he's grown very attached to the
blazing heat of the wall heater.

- He doesn't appear to be defecating or urinating more than usual but I
work fulltime and am gone about 13 hours of the day(long commute,
sharing a car) and three other cats are using the boxes. Tonight I did
notice that he got in the box, scraped around, did nothing, and got out
and then repeated this a few minutes later but it was right after I
cleaned the box and his siblings began to use it so I don't know if
it's a concern or not. I don't think he was actually trying to urinate
or deficate.

- He seems hydrated, no vomiting, no loose stool that I have noticed,
no fever, no high blood pressure, no low blood pressure, no rapid
heartbeat, no noticable swellings, no coughing even(he was coughing
when I brought him to the first vet but he has always had a seasonal
cough around this time of year and it's been dismissed as allergies..),
no sneezing, no discharges of any kind. He seems healthy aside from the
dramatic weight loss and decreased energy/mood.

- He is a completely indoor cat though he slipped out and became lost
for a few days about 3 years ago. When I got him(over 8.5 years ago) he
was a young feral kitten.

He's seen a total of 4 different vets, an internal medicine specialist,
and a cardiologist. We live in Occidental so we started with the
Forestville Animal Hospital(he saw one doctor there, another was
present for his abdominal ultrasound, and one saw him at Animal Care
Center in Rohnert Park the night I brought him in after the Rabies vac.
reaction - she just transfered to the Forestville clinic from ACC). He
then saw the other two doctors at ACC and the last doctor he saw was at
the Central Animal Hospital(?) in Petaluma(his ACC neurologist refered
us to him). The latter vet has suggested waiting a month to see if
switching back to Wellness puts some weight back on him. The next step,
after the urinalysis of course(I am very upset that this has not been
performed. I think they simply forgot on his last visit to the
Forestville clinic), would be a CT scan to look for tumors that the
ultrasound might have missed. I am willing to pay anything to save Nate
but I fear that I will exhaust all of my funds trying to figure out
what is wrong with him only to not have any money left to treat him. I
have maxed out all of my credit cards(I am still in quite a bit of debt
from the neurological episode and a short period of unemployment) and
spent my rent money. In otherwords, we are almost completely broke. I
have asked everyone I know(which means a few people) for money but no
one is able to help. I can and will try applying for more credit cards
and of course saving every penny I make(I make $10 an hr so yeah it's
not a lot) but I'm told a CT scan will be over $1000.

So I'm looking for suggestions of places to bring him for further
testing/more opinions. Perhaps a place where I can make payments or
even do a work exchange(I have some experience from volunteering at an
animal shelter, pet sitting, and just living with animals all my
life.). I'm mostly, however, looking for answers. What could this be?
Have you heard of something like this before? Diabetes is ruled out, he
doesn't seem to be urinating enough for it to be a kidney issue, it
doesn't seem to be neurological, his thyroid was rechecked in a more
thorough test but the vet suggested that we recheck again in a month as
it(hypertyroidism) could show up then, he has no known parasites so
far, and he might have put on a little bit of weight within the last
few days(hard to tell, we're trying to get a hold of a baby scale.) Any
ideas here? Any questions?

ANY advice would be greatly appreciated. This is my son here and I love
him very much. He's a wonderful, very special, and incredibly sweet cat
and he deserves the best of care.

Thank you to anyone who reads this.

-Megan