Aging cat licks litter, has long-time bloated abdomen and has strange spastic attacks

Question
QUESTION: Kitus is approx 14 years old, female tortoiseshell. She has always been overweight with a lot of flabbiness after a litter of kittens. She was being cared for by my boyfriend's mom for most of her life, along with another black female, who was also overweight. They had both been fed kibble their whole lives. When they came to live with us and our 2 male kittens just under a year ago, we started slowly changing their diet to one of raw meat, which I had done a lot of research about and decided that it was a much healthier option for them. All 4 cats were thriving and the black female lost a lot of weight and is now regular cat size.

Kitus,however, lost no weight, but eats exactly the same amount as the others. We now are wondering whether it is some kind of bloating or swelling. For the past few years she has not used her hind legs to jump up onto furniture and instead claws her way up, but displays no sign of pain and runs around quite happily.

Over the past few months she seems to have a sensitive spot on her lower back, she licks it often and sometimes reacts with a meow when touched there (much the same way as many cats seem to react when scratched there). Because of her large tummy, it is hard for her to reach that area to lick thoroughly, but she is always focusing her attention there.

Her behaviour lately has become more and more erratic, although she has always been somewhat of an eccentric cat. She has always been very friendly and social but does not interact much anymore. She has always been vocal and continues to be so. She seems quite lost a lot of the time, as though she is not sure what to do or where to go. She sometimes will not walk over the threshold to come inside when she is being called for food and will wait to be picked up and taken to her bowl. She occasionally goes to the litter tray and will lick the silicone litter a few times. The strangest behaviour is when she is attempting to lick a spot on her back and goes into a kind of spastic attack, turning round and round and kicking in what looks like a tapdancing routine. She also has a strange smell - not rotten or usual bad breath smell, but a bit acrid and almost salty (difficult to describe).

She occasionally disappears for a couple of days, but recently was gone for 4 days and we feared the worst. She was home this morning but wasn't very enthusiastic about eating. She sat out on the deck with her elbows up, which I always interpret with cats to mean that they are for some reason not happy. She seemed more lost than usual and looked all over for somewhere to settle down, meowing all the while. She eventually accepted a cardboard box that I put out for her and I left her there for the morning. When I came back a little while ago she was grooming and then went into another one of her spastic attacks, but this time was on her back which I haven't seen before. They only last a few seconds so I couldn't make out much. Afterwards she purred for a long time.

We can't afford to take her to a private vet so I will probably go to the SPCA tomorrow, but it is quite a distance away from where we live and I am so reluctant to put her under more stress. If these are simply signs of aging, is there anything I could perhaps do to make her more comfortable without having to take her to the clinic? Could you please advise? Is there any way I can tell if she is in pain and any over the counter medication I can give her if so?

Thank you very much for your time.

ANSWER: Well this is a tough one. Your cat really needs to be seen by a vet and have a good exam to see what is really going on with her. A cat that is obese is that way for many reasons. Kibble is not the main reason, but free feeding a low quality kibble is a contributor. Cats that become obese also can become diabetic, skin conditions from not being able to self-groom, and have spinal problems from the weight. Her not using her hind legs is an indicator that she is having some sort of issues with her spine or pelvis.

The spastic attacks that you see can be neurological in nature- meaning that she might have some nerve pain in her back. That is something we see often with obese cats as well.
Again, a vet needs to see her for that.

Also remember that a 14 yr old cat is like an 88 year old person- so they do start to get some cognitive issues at this age. There is medication and some supplements for that as well that the vet carries.

I know you didn't ask about diet but I have to say that an all meat raw diet for a senior cat is not a good idea. Too much protein is not good for her older kidneys and a diet that is all one ingredient is also not good for any animal. Even wild cats eat a more balanced diet then just raw meat. They eat their whole prey- skin, bones, and the greenery in their stomachs which gives them the carbohydrates that they need.

There is nothing you can give her over the counter that will do her any good. I would be very concerned for her health which is why I would have her examined by a vet.
I know she will feel a bit stressed going to the vets but it will be worth it.
I hope she does well. Please let me know what the vet says.

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QUESTION: Thanks very much for your reply. Her condition has deteriorated quite a bit over the last couple of days. She is not eating at all and hardly moving. I took her to the local SPCA yesterday morning but they weren't able to help much other than to rehydrate her (she was 40% dehydrated) and give her an appetite stimulant, which didn't work. Last night she seemed quite disoriented, stumbling around erratically but mostly staying stationery in a series of frozen poses, mostly head down. Her hind legs don't seem to be working very well. We were concerned she might not make it till morning. She is now still mostly not moving except for the occasional lick or scratch or meow or moving a few steps and sitting down again. We are taking her to the vet in an hours time and hopefully will get a better idea of her condition. We have no idea if she is in pain or not.

I do agree about the raw meat at her age (though they do all get bones and skin included in their meals) and if we can get her healthy again I will put her on a more suitable wet food.

Thanks again for your time. I will let you know what happens at the vet.

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Later. Unfortunately the vet  suspected that she had reached a fatal stage of liver failure. He said that they could run all sorts of tests, but it was highly likely that she would not make it. He said that she was definitely in a great deal of pain and we had to take the awful decision to put her to sleep. We are heartbroken but at least she at peace now.

Answer
Hi Maria,
I am truly sorry to hear that about your kitty. I was suspecting liver cancer but you can never know unless you are there putting your hands on her.

Your vet is a good one to be able to let you know that without doing all of the tests FIRST. I like vet's like that.

You are right, she is at peace and it is always us who suffer the pain of losing them. My prayers are with you and your family. You did the right thing so you can have some comfort in that.

Thank you so much for letting me know. I do appreciate it.