My 12 year old cat is very sick

Question

My 12 year old cat has been losing a lot of weight all of a sudden. She behaves fine, but she is always hungry. As soon as she finishes eating, however, she goes straight to her litter box and has been having diarrhoea every time.

I've been giving her canned food because she acts like it is hard for her to eat hard food, which I did because of her age. I thought that maybe she had worms, although I've never seen any in her stool. I went ahead and gave her the exact amount it said to give her, then I repeated dosage again in 2 days. This has not helped her.

I changed her food to grain-free food (both hard and soft) which has helped her diarrhoea to thicken up just a bit, but she is still getting extremely thin. You can feel all her bones everywhere on her body. Her hair has also been getting very knotted. She is a long hair cat and I brush her regularly, but lately it's been badly knotted to the skin

She still eats like crazy and drinks water regularly, but today she has just been lagging. I don't have the money to take her to the vet, but I can't stand the thought of not trying to help her either.

Does anyone have any idea what could be the problem?

Answer 1

Your cat is still eating and drinking and this is a good sign, but it still needs to go to a vet

Several of the things you mention in your question are signs of possible serious illness. For example, the knots in the fur mean your cat is having problems cleaning herself, which could suggest your cat is in pain.

The other problems do also need you to take her to the vet. Call the vet and tell them like it is: that you are short of money, but your cat needs help.

We have a question about this subject: I can't afford vet treatment, what are my options?

Diarrhoea is very dangerous for cats because they can get dehydrated very quickly, so it is important to get help as soon as possible.