My senior cat is withdrawn, wobbly, and drinking more. What's wrong?

If Teddy Bear Eddy is normal in the front end and is eating and drinking normally then he may have arthritis or a back injury causing his rear legs not to work right due to discomfort. If he's wobbly walking in the front, has a head tilt or having trouble eating then it could be an equilibrium problem from an ear infection. A small amount of blood in the stool probably is not related, cats can get that when the stool is hard or during bouts of diarrhea. If he doesn't improve after a week or so of rest I would bring Teddy in for an exam. They will check his ears and may recommend X-rays of his back and pelvis to determine the cause. If needed they can give him a safe pain medication. Please never give cats human pain medication as none is safe for cats. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Teddy Bear Eddy.

This degree of weakness and behaviour change is very concerning and likely to indicate severe injury or illness,especially in light of the sudden increase in thirst. An urgent vet check and urine or blood test would be recommended to identify the underlying cause. Although he is not very old for a cat you should be prepared for potentially bad news given the severity of his symptoms

Hi and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Good hear Teddy is eating and drinking okay and urine and defecation is normal. Sniffing along with lethargy may indicate an upper respiratory infection but could also be a wide variety of any other illnesses. I would recommend Teddy see his veterinarian soon for an exam. Your veterinarian may recommend a course of antibiotics if a respiratory infection is suspected or may recommend x-rays or blood work if another cause is suspected. I hope this helps!

Poor Nelson! From your description, I would say that something is definitely wrong. 13 or 14 years is really not overly old for a cat, certainly not old enough to cause these symptoms due to "old age." Some common causes of weight loss, decreased appetite, and acting lethargic along with peeing in odd places and difficulty walking would include diabetes, hyperthyroidism, or chronic kidney disease. I would recommend having Nelson examined by a vet as soon as you are able to - he/she can do basic blood work and a urinalysis to check for these problems and help determine what is causing his symptoms. In many cases, these illnesses are quite treatable once a diagnosis is made, so there's a good chance that your vet will be able to help.

Your kitty needs to be seen by a vet. These are concerning symptoms in an older cat. They can become dehydrated very easily. Not eating can be caused by numerous things including things with the gi tract itself and diseases of any other organ system (kidneys, liver, etc). Your vet can perform an exam and then likely will recommend starting with bloodwork +/- xrays. This is the best plan to figure out what is going on and to get your kitty feeling better. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hello and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! From your description of signs, I would strongly suspect that Flynn may have diabetes. This very commonly causes increased thirst and urination, sticky urine (from the sugar in the urine) and weight loss. Other common causes of weight loss and increased thirst and urination in cats are kidney disease and thyroid disease. I have seen many cats that have more than one of these diseases at the same time. I would strongly recommend taking Flynn to a veterinarian for blood work and urinalysis. This will be the first step in diagnosing his actual condition so that you know how to treat him. I hope this helps and that Flynn gets feeling better soon!

It is fairly rare, but ask your veterinarian if your kitty may be suffering from Cushing's disease or liver disease. Also sometimes cats can still be hyperthyroid, even though the thyroid parameters are within normal limits (this is called euthyroid sick). He could also have a tumor. In any case, this needs to be investigated further.