Prayers for My J.R., Please

My J.R. suddenly stopped eating; Wednesday is the last time I can actually remember him eating. We have a multi-cat household and although I try to keep my "radar" out, I just missed this. I took him to our vet this morning. Blood tests show nothing conclusive, but Dr. K. is suspecting hyperthyroid. We won't know until Monday or Tuesday. He got sub-q fluids and was prescribed an appetite stimulent. I think he keep it in his mouth, because he started the I-ate-something-nasty drool. I didn't see the pill anywhere, so maybe he did ingest some of it. In any case, the fluids and the pill didn't work and I began assist feeding him this evening. I only got 9 ml in him before he said no more. I'll try some more in another couple of hours. I gave him a mixture of Wellness Chicken and Herring and Nutri-cal.

I do have to say I just have a very bad feeling about this, so any good thoughts and prayers you all can send our way would be much appreciated. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer.

Sending many prayers for J.R. and for you

I'm sorry J.R. isn't feeling well. Good thing you caught it before too much time went by.

Keep trying the appetite stimulant. It can take a couple of days before it's effective.

Are you doing fluids at home? If J.R. isn't drinking enough water, he'll feel miserable and it will only make things worse. Make sure to monitor his water consumption carefully.

I'm glad you're assist-feeding. Even if you can only get J.R.to eat a little at a time, it's ok, as long as the food you've given him over the course of the day adds up to a fairly normal amount. Wellness is a good food. Will J.R. eat the chicken or turkey flavors? They are higher calorie than the chicken & herring. You may also want to try Max Cal by Iams. It's about 333 calories per can - so even a little goes a long way. Max Cal is the perfect consistency for syringe-feeding, too. The food is sold at vet's offices. Sometimes they'll give you a can or two to try so you don't have to buy a whole case (12 6oz cans), which hopefully, you won't need.

If J.R.'s got hyperthyroid it can be treated with meds, or cured with I-131 therapy. It's also possible he's got a virus that's upsetting his stomach. My youngest cat got such a virus a few years ago and needed to be fed through a tube. Fortunately, that only lasted a couple of days before he began eating again on his own.

In the meantime, it sounds like you're doing everything you should be doing to help your little guy. Just try to be as positive around J.R. as you can, even though you're worried. He needs you to help him feel calm and reassured, so hang in there.

Lots of good thoughts and prayers going out to you and J.R. Please let us know how he's doing.

Hugs and thoughts go out to you and JR. Try some stage1 baby food too. Cats seem to go for that. It would be right consistancy for tube feeding. Good luck. Keep us informed

for JR.

Prayers and for JR

Prayers and vibes for J.R.

Originally Posted by Bella713

Prayers and vibes for J.R.

Click to expand...

Adding mine for a quick and full recovery.
J.R.

Thank you all so much for the good thoughts and prayers.

I woke up this morning at 2:30a a little afraid of what condition he would be in, but he is acting more J.R.-like. He still isn't eating on his own so I gave him a total of 10 ml of food before I had to go in to work for 4 hours. I'm home now and just gave him 5 more ml and he is giving himself a thorough bath. That's a good sign, don't you think? My husband offered some Fancy Feast just before I got home, but no-go. We will give him fluids in a little while because he still seems a little dehydrated. And I'll try the appetite stimulant, also.

His sister, Baby, was diagnosed with CRF last August and we found out on 2/7/09 that one of our other cats, Bailey, is diabetic! What with testing Bailey's BG and keeping track of his numbers and monitoring Baby and all the others, not to mention working overtime (totally grateful to have a job) and trying to keep the house moderately clean, I'm feeling just a little overwhelmend!

Thanks again for your responses. It really helps to vent a bit. No one else but another cat lover can know how devasting it is when there is something wrong with our babies.

I know its so hard, I have one that was a stray, but isn't any longer because I'm keeping him is FIV positive and anemic, trying to introduce him to my FIV negative guys, plus Patch one of my guys has HCM just found out, so keeping up with the separate medications can be a handful. Many more Prayers and for you both.

J.R. has started eating all by himself!!!!

We went to Petsmart and I got a variety of foods to tempt him, but it was the turkey baby food in the end that jump-started him. He is now eating some kitten dry food.

Thank you all for your kind words and well-wishes. You are the best!! I knew those TCS vibes would work!

That is terrific news. More Prayers and for a full recovery.

So glad things are looking up - more best wishes for a full recovery.