Hi there, My Mom has a Maine Coon, altered male, about 8 years old. He has really cut down on his eating and drinking. She has taken him to the Vet and he did not feel any bowel blockages. He did do blood work and only found a slight elevation in the liver enzymes. I don't think he has a lot of knowledge in the breed.

My question is; I there something we need to look at here, is there a condition that they may have that we need to check for????

Any insight would be greatly appeciated.

Thank you,

C~

-- Anonymous, September 17, 1998

Answers

When cats of any breed do not feel well they will cut back and/or stop eating & drinking. If this goes on more than a few days the cat will lose weight at too rapid a pace, which can have dire consequences of it's own. One of the first areas of the cats body to lose weight is it's back, along the spine. If your mom can detect a noticable difference in the prominence of the ridges along the kittys back, there is a problem in the offing. The Vet should have a weight history of the cat, and should be able to determine if his weight is getting too low. I would suggest x-ray and/or Ultra-Sound exams, to rule out the serious issues like tumors. I recently lost a furry friend of 15 years to a very fast growing carcinoma. It could be something simple, perhaps a change in the food or environment, or it could be deadly serious. A second opinion and thourough exam couldn't hurt! Best of luck, Steve

-- Anonymous, September 18, 1998

We just lost my Main Coon last week from Intestinal Cancer. We miss her very much. She was very loving and precious to us. I believe that she conracted this disease because as a kitten she was full of parisites when I got her from the Humane Society. She had been dumped along with her sister in an empty field.

All through her life she had abnormal stools but always was a good eater and drank lots of water up until about 3 months ago when she started to fail. Do you think maybe that could have been the cause of her Cancer or maybe it was just a genetic thing. Thank you for letting me express my feelings about her. Loosing her is a very hard thing for us to get over. She was 10yrs 9 mos. ----Julie

-- Anonymous, March 29, 1999