Hello all,
I used to post in this group a few years ago, back when my four
year-old cats Benny and Dewey were babies. I don't recognize anyone,
but I thought I'd drop in to tell my story about Benny.

My husband and I started to notice that Benny was losing weight back in
October, but it didn't seem too significant to us. No ribs showing,
etc., so we just figured he lost a little weight. He actually looked
pretty good, the way a person would if he/she lost five or ten pounds.
Then in the beginning of November, he seemed a lot lighter when we'd
pick him up. So I started giving him extra tuna flavored cat food with
his regular meals about two weeks before his annual check-up.

At the check-up last Saturday, we found out that he'd weighed in at 12
pounds 4 ounxes last year, and he dropped down to 9 pounds 6 ounces.
The vet immediately ran some blood work and tried to get some urine out
of him, though Benny's bladder was dry. On Monday, the vet called and
said Benny's creatinine level was at 3.5, which is above normal but not
nearly as high as a typical CRF cat. On Tuesday, we brought Benny in to
be looked at for a few days. With IV fluids, his creatinine level
dropped to 2.4 (nearly normal) in less than 24 hours. The vet was able
to get a urine sample, but for days (even now) no culture was grown,
though there were trace amounts of white blood cells in his urine,
pointing to an infection. Better to have an infection than CRF... He
tested negative for leukemia and feline AIDS. An X-ray was taken on
Wednesday: kidneys looked fine, heart was fine, lungs were clear. There
was some fecal matter in his intestines, but he wasn't eating much so
that probably accounts for the stuff in his intestines.

We picked him up yesterday (Friday) and he looked skinnier than when we
brought him in. The vet wants us to fatten him up, as Benny barely ate
anything while he was at the vet. In the last 24 hours, he's been
eating very well, chowing on mostly dry food and drinking water. Every
so often, he asks for food, and we remind him that there's still some
more to nibble on in his bowl. He takes our reminders and nibbles on
his dry food. Sometimes we add treats to get him even more
enthusiastic. (Benny has always preferred dry food, though he'll eat a
little canned with his meals, especially tuna flavored cat food.) A
little while ago, he had a BM, so his digestion seems like it's running
normally. He's been playing, chatting with us, and being his regular
cute self.

If he puts on weight, he should be fine. I'm concerned that he won't
and that he might still be in the very, very early stages of renal
failure. The vet wants us to keep him posted about Benny's progress and
will want him back to check his weight. If there is no improvement, the
vet will perform a biopsy on Benny's liver, renal glands, and lymph
nodes.

Anyone ever run into something similar?

Thanks for reading.

Best,
Alex