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Why is my senior cat sick, vomiting, and weak with normal bloodwork?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Male | neutered | 7 years and 6 months old | 15 lbs

My cat Rambo (9 yrs old) has been sick for almost two months, but in the past week his health is getting noticeable worse. There has been a lot of life changes for him so I thought it was stress and possibly back pain (he's happy where we live now). He has not been able to keep food down, very low energy. I took him to the vet yesterday and all blood work came back normal, he was very upset so they wouldn't give him an x ray so I have to go back Friday for that. Any thoughts? Thank you. Julie

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Leigh, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on November 16th, 2016

If all his bloodwork was normal that rules out kidney disease, liver disease, diabetes, etc. If your vet did not test for hyperthyroidism than a test should be done. An x-ray and/or ultrasound is defintely needed and will, hopefully, provide more information. He could have an infection, cancer, or obstruction/foreign body to name a few other possibilities. If he is not able to keep food down, I am not sure waiting until Friday is a good idea. He may continue to weaken and may become dehydrated. If your vet can't take an x-ray then you could consider taking him to an emergency clinic or another vet that can. An anti-vomiting injection may be helpfull if your vet didn't give him one. I hope that his problem is diagnosed and treated soon!

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    Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Hi Julie, I have to say it does not sound good given the fact that the bloods are normal, instead of an xray I would recommend having an ultrasound done, preferably by a specialist, from an xray there is a fair chance that the diagnosis will be missed again, with the ultrasound there is much greater chance to find the problem. The most common conditions that could be causing this are lymphoma, intestinal blockage and IBD.

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