19 years old - uti - won't eat or drink

The last UTI Brittany had came on a bit slowly and although she was uncomfortable, she still ate and acted normally.
This time, it came on suddenly and although she seems interested in food and water, she will barely eat or drink at best. Usually, she leans to the food or water and then walks away. My girlfriend has tried many, many different kinds of food.

I understand that being sick can suppress an appetite but she weighs 4 pounds and I'm worried that by the time the Clavimax has time to be effective, it'll be too late.

Last night, her eyes looked sunken in so we used a syringe to squirt Gatorade and water down her throat, about 10mls in all over an hour or so. It seemed to help.

Her blood tests are normal except for low potassium. Another vet will be making a house call today at 2.
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Here are my questions on cat health:
1. Are there tricks to get her eating and drinking ?
2. How often can a cat of her weight be given 0.25 Pepcid AC ?
3. Is it likely this is the end ?
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Here is a question about human health:
1. When a cat dies, is it better to wait a while before getting another cat or just to get another cat very soon ?
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Thank you.

1.A. Tricks for eating: Get the absolute most STINKY canned food you can find, microwave it for 15 - 20 seconds to release all those disgusting odors. With cats, the worse it smells, the more likely they are to eat it.
1.B. Tricks for drinking: Adding chicken broth or tuna water to the water will help to promote drinking.

2.Pepcid is for nausea, it should be given 2 times a day, unless your vet has stipulated a different amount. It depends on kitty.

If her eyes are sunken in, she's getting very dehydrated, and would most likely needs fluids, at least subcutaneous, if not not intraveinous.

3. Nineteen is a very good age for a kitty. There's no way of saying whether this is the end or not. See what the vet says about her physical. Just keep in mind her quality of life.

As for your human question:
There's really no way I can answer that. Just how every kitty is different, every person is, too. Some people honor their lost kitty's memory best by getting another kitty immediately, and continuing showing the best love and compassion the same way they did before with their kitty they loved, now to a kitty who needs that love and compassion. Others need time to mourn, and will continue their endevour when the time is right. When that time comes for you, you just have to go by how you feel about the situation. If you feel you need another kitty soon after, don't feel guilty, she knows you aren't replacing her; and if you need to wait, wait.

Good luck with your baby girl! I know you will do what is right!

Okie

Thank you for the help. We'll try your suggestions, improvise, and hope for the best. I hope we'll be smart enough to know what the best is.

Originally Posted by dmh

Thank you for the help. We'll try your suggestions, improvise, and hope for the best. I hope we'll be smart enough to know what the best is.

Click to expand...

Don't worry... you will.

My girlfriend got out of work early and tried the suggestions with no luck. Maybe if I'd asked yesterday they would have worked - thinik waited too long. Taking lucnh break now to go over and help force water and Gatorade. Will try about 5 mls since afraid more will make her throw up.

Questions:
1. About how many mls of water does a 4 pound cat need per day ?

1. No online advice can replace direct veterinary intervention. If you suspect that your cat may be ill, please contact your vet immediately. You are welcome to look for advice in the health forum while waiting for that appointment, but never delay proper veterinary care waiting for Internet advice. Remember that cats, and especially kittens, are very adept in keeping pain to themselves and delaying treatment may cause irreversible damage.


I would suggest calling the vet and asking how much water they feel you should try till they get there..

Just a FYI No one here is a Vet and NO one should be giving medical advise

Originally Posted by sharky

1. No online advice can replace direct veterinary intervention. If you suspect that your cat may be ill, please contact your vet immediately. You are welcome to look for advice in the health forum while waiting for that appointment, but never delay proper veterinary care waiting for Internet advice. Remember that cats, and especially kittens, are very adept in keeping pain to themselves and delaying treatment may cause irreversible damage.


I would suggest calling the vet and asking how much water they feel you should try till they get there..

Just a FYI No one here is a Vet and NO one should be giving medical advise

Click to expand...

Please take your kitty to the vet... She is only four pounds, dehydrated, 19 years old, and so quite fragile... It is not time to gamble here, IMO.
Also, I am not sure about gatorade... If anything, unflavored pedialyte.
Please, at least call the vet, if you are on a crunch for money, that doesn't cost anything. Try to get some Hill A/D from he vet's office.
Baby food also works well. Meat/meat broth only, NO ONIONS, NO garlic. (Beech Nut is a good brand), the others have onions ans garlic.

The first thing I need to say is DO NOT give Pepcid unless your vet has suggested this. Same advice for the Gatoraid. Human medications are not made for animals and in some cases (particularly a small 4 lb cat) can be lethal or at the very least do much more harm than good.

As Sharky said, you really need to get your cat to a good vet. Nobody here is qualified to offer veterinary or medical advice so please get proper information from a professional.

Just got back.
Thanks for all the concern. We've been to the vet who suggested Pepcid, approved Gatorade, and prescribed Clavimax or something that sounds like that. Her blood and urine tests are ok except low potassium.
Mobile vet will be there in an hour so I have ot leave here in a bit.

After squirting water and Gatorade down about 1/2 hour a go with a syringe, I force fed her 1/4 mg of Pepcid and she struggled a bit, 15 or 20 seconds. It doesn't sound like much but she's weak and I'm worried she burned too many calories struggling and that I might have done more harm thatn good. Maybe I should've just diluted it and squirted it. Maybe I just shoudl have waited for the vet.

48 minutes til the vet shows up so I'm leaving here in 40 min again but expect to be back withing 1 hour.

I'm afraid she's going to die very soon.

Thanks for writing back.

Before the Claximox was more dilute, it was mixed differently. This time it's twice the concentration but half the dose. Last time she was eating fine but this time her appetite problem started before she was getting the medicine.

The vet suggested we continue with water + Gatorade (or Pedialyte). She also told us to squirt some fish oil down her throat twice a day. She showed us how and immediately after, Brit took a couple of bites of food! After that, she took 2 laps of water. Could be the oil taste got her hungry. I'm hoping she gets more energy after she digests that oil.

The vet was surprisingly optimistic which helped my girlfriend a lot and me a little. Might sound crazy, but our better attitudes might help Brittny; this cat is really, really aware of people's feelings.

How low is the potassium? The Vet hasn't considered that supplementing the low potassium might be an idea? Low potassium will cause lethargy, lack of appetite, and can also cause heart rhythm issues (it effects muscle function, and the heart is a muscle). I used to have an old kitty w/ kidney failure and other issues and when her potassium would go low, she'd have hindleg weakness, be lethargic, no appetite, etc. We'd supplement with Tumil-K, from the Vet.

Hasn't the Vet considered giving this poor kitty some subQ or IV fluids? Significant dehydration can also cause a cat to feel just rotten. And 10cc's of Gatorade will not be enough fluids at all to properly rehydrate, not at all. Ask the Vet about subQ fluids. this is even something you could be taught to give at home. If cat becomes very very dehydrated, kidneys will shut down. This is not a nice way to "go."

I don't know how low the potassium is and the vet that measured it opens at 6:00p. It's 10:10a here.

Neither of the vets mentioned those ways for us getting water or potassium into her.

I'm going to look into those things now.

Thanks.

Just got back.
The vet said to continue with her instructions. One of the things we're force feeding is B+K which has potassium.
Brit fights the syringe (no needle) at first but when dripping out the contents, she seems to like it. She still won't eat or drink on her own. Yesterday, despite her weakness, she could still muster up tiny bit of playfulness and a even purr.
Today she appears weaker.

Ehhh, I would go to another vet. It really concerns me that she has not been given SubQ fluids... and has not been eating/drinking. It is pretty standard for vets to give SubQs to cats who have not been eating for a while. I don't remember if you said, but has her kidneys been checked? What about thyroid? I would get a second opinion from a differnt vet...

I do not want to scare you, but cats can get liver issues from not eating, and it can be fatal.

I hope she gets well soon.

Been to 2 of them. Will try 3rd after work for fluid shot.
I'm not optimistic.

The fluids are similar (maybe even the same thing) to a human getting an IV at the hospital.

I really hope the 3rd vet can help.

No exaggeration to say advice from this forum helped save Brittany. Thankyou.

Looks like 2nd vet's fish oil and Pet B+K helped.
Friday, the Clavimax seemed to start showing results and she also started drinking and barely nibbling.
Saturday we got her to drink Ensure.
Sunday she ate a good amount of tuna fish.
This morning Super Supper, maybe 2 tablespoonfuls.

She's acting more normal but's stil a lot weaker than normal, everything in the litter box seems normal again, and she even groomed some last night.

We're not 100% relieved yet but maybe 75%.

Thanks for feeding advice and subq advice (might need in future though didn't this time).