Suggestions for CRF cat not eating food, only treats!

Aussie has been getting slightly worse over the last few weeks. I've already talked to the vet and she'll be getting her bloodwork done again on Saturday to make sure nothing new is going on, but I'm pretty sure this is primarily nausea related. She's been going through cycles where she'll eat okay for about a week and then suddently stop. She then starts crying because she's so hungry so I'll pacify her with treats (nutritionally balanced and coated in a phosphorus binder). After getting fluids into her (sub-q), she'd generally start eating again within 24-hours. The timeframe of her eating periods has gradually shortened. Now she will only eat for around 24-hours and then stop again, begging for treats.

I'm now up to giving sub-q's every other day and don't feel this is just a dehydration thing, as she's urinating very well and often. She drinks a TON as well. I can tell it's nausea related because she licks her lips a lot and I believe she associates her food with her tummy upset so she refuses to eat it. I've now gone through three different foods and leave all of them out at a time. The vet has told me to increase her Reglan to 1/4 twice a day (instead of once) to see if that helps, but so far it really hasn't. I've also tried giving her cypro numerous times, but all that does is make her cry louder and longer for treats. She still turns her nose up at all three foods!

Does anyone have any suggestions on either our routine or meds that really seem to help with this? Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by mews2much

Have you tried famotidine?

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Actually yes, but then I read that you're supposed to give it two hours apart from Reglan as the Reglan cancels it out or something. I'll try it again separately and see how it goes. Thanks for reminding me!

Originally Posted by mews2much

It is hard having CRF cats on so many meds.
My Coco has to take some meds 2 hours apart also.
How many things is your cat on?

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Not too terribly many. She's on the following routine:

a.m. - 1/4 Reglan, 1 Tumil-K (potassium) and 1 Azodyl (probiotic for CRF)
p.m. - same
Sub-q's every other day, around 150mls

And now I'm trying to space at least 1/4 famotidine daily, if not twice. I gave her one last night at 7pm and then her other pills at 9:00. Around 9:30 she got in the box, pooped and then immediately jumped out and vomited. It seems no matter how much Reglan she is on or how soft her stool is, she almost always vomits after defecating. She did go again with a small stool in the middle of the night and didn't vomit. I wish I could get that part resolved for her as well. Hopefully the vet will have some other ideas for her when I go in on Saturday. She did eat a little of her regular food this morning, but not much.

I forgot to put the aluminum hydroxide in my list. It's on everything she eats though.

She's not constipated because I've seen her vomit even after passing a pretty runny stool. And she goes at least once a day. That's why I can't figure out why she's vomiting after, unless it has something to do with what's on her stomach when she goes. Last night her stomach was pretty full (meds/treats) and the second time when she didn't vomit, it was fairly empty. So that might be part of the trigger as well. It shouldn't matter but that's about all I can think of.

I'm starting to wonder if she should be on pred, at least at a very low dose. One of my co-workers had a CRF cat for many years and he said pred was about the only thing that would really help with the nausea and refusing to eat. They'd just have to give one every now and then to get the cat going again. I don't know, I'm going to keep looking but I'll likely ask the vet on Saturday when we go.

I did as natural as possible with my CRF girl which meant most conventional meds were as needed antibiotics or the appetite stimulant....

I suggest have a conversation with your vet as EACH animal is different and so is the course of the treatment...

what is she eating>?

are any of the meds relatively new( ie last month or so)

First thing, very important: Stop leaving food out all the time.

When a cat is feeling nauseous the smell of food will make her feel even worse.

Even if she is not feeling nauseous, the food being out all the time becomes a constant smell, and begins to mean nothing.

One more reason: what a cat's brain senses the smell of food, the digestive enzymes start working, even if the cat doesn't eat. So then she's got a belly full of digestive acids, making her feel even worse.

Offer small, tiny, meals frequently. Give her a whiff of what you are about to offer her then wait a minute before actually putting it in front of her.

No more than a teaspoon at a time in the dish. Too much food for a kitty who doesn't feel good is daunting, overwhelming. Use small ceramic or glass saucers. Wash with scalding water between servings (no soap)

Warm the food to make it smelly and appealing. Put it in front of her where ever she is. No matter how little of it she eats, pick it up when she stops eating, stir it around and offer it again. If she turns away, remove it immediately.

If she eats all of the teaspoon full tell her how wonderful she is, and in a few minutes offer her a little more, in the same ritual.

Learn whether she prefers you to sit with her when she eats, or if she prefers to be left alone. If she likes you to be with her, sit next to her and offer her some on your finger. Some cats really love to be hand fed.

Originally Posted by tamgirl99

I forgot to put the aluminum hydroxide in my list. It's on everything she eats though.

She's not constipated because I've seen her vomit even after passing a pretty runny stool. And she goes at least once a day. That's why I can't figure out why she's vomiting after, unless it has something to do with what's on her stomach when she goes. Last night her stomach was pretty full (meds/treats) and the second time when she didn't vomit, it was fairly empty. So that might be part of the trigger as well. It shouldn't matter but that's about all I can think of.

I'm starting to wonder if she should be on pred, at least at a very low dose. One of my co-workers had a CRF cat for many years and he said pred was about the only thing that would really help with the nausea and refusing to eat. They'd just have to give one every now and then to get the cat going again. I don't know, I'm going to keep looking but I'll likely ask the vet on Saturday when we go.

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Azodyl is known to cause nausea and vomiting in cats.

I recommend you discuss taking your cat off the Azodyl and see if the vomiting stops and her appetite improves.

Sometimes quality of life is more important than treatment.

Phosphorus binders (Aluminum Hydroxide) can also cause nausea and vomiting. But I'd ask about the Azodyl first.

Otto said a lot of what I was going to say... multiple small meals, heating the food, etc. Cats need to smell their food (which is why it can be difficult to get a cat with a cold to eat) and heating it makes it smell more, also stinky foods.

Put a dab of food on her nose or on her gums - this will stimulate her to start licking, which in turn stimulates her eating mechanism. I've seen many a cat not be interested in food at all, and by doing this, it's almost as if a light bulb goes off in their head and they are like "oh, hey.... there's food."

Have you tried baby food? Gerber's Stage 2 Chicken & Gravy seems to be a favorite. Warm it slightly, dab it on her nose and gums so she gets a lick or two in and see if she likes it.

It's tough - I've been there! Best wishes for you both!

I've never heard that Azodyl can cause vomiting and in fact, have read only the opposite! I'll see what stopping it does, but she's always done really well with it. The vomiting and nausea is pretty new for her (around 2 weeks). And my vet knew nothing about Azodyl, but given that it's a probiotic (which in my opinion is very safe) and recommended by the CRF cat group, I gave it a shot. She's been on it for around 3 months with no issues. Also, none of the meds she is on are new in the last 3 months, other than the famotidine I'm now trying since this has all started.

As I said in my first post, I'm talking to the vet about all of this and I'm taking her in for another check of her bloodwork to be sure nothing new is going on. I just like to get other opinions on tips and tricks or meds that worked well for their cats, so that I can make those suggestions and see what the vet says.

I need to clarify the food situation as well. She only eats dry food, not wet. We tried the wet route over a year ago and it was a complete failure with her almost going into hepatic lipidosis so I will not try it again (you can read the old posts here if you want to search for them). I will try taking her dry food away, but I have to figure out a way for my little one to still have access. She has IBD and requires small meals throughout the day or she gets sick. When I'm home she only eats wet but the dry is a way to tide her over while I'm at work or sleeping.

The foods I have been using for Aussie are: Hill's K/D, Purina Kidney formula and Adult Max Cat Chicken (for urinary) coated in AH. It's the same thing with each one. She'll eat well on them for about a week and then stop cold turkey.

Here's the update from yesterday - She's been on the Reglan twice daily for 3 days now and is continuing to vomit at least once a day. Last night, she vomited after about 1.5 hours after her famotadine and the night before it was around 30 minutes after the Reglan. It seems neither of these is helping with this. So after she vomited last night, I decided not to give her the Azodyl/Reglan before bed and instead went the more natural route with only Slippery Elm. She's had it in the past and did really well on it. She slept through the night and appears to have eaten a little as well. She also defecated without vomiting. I gave her another one this morning about 30 minutes after her regular meds (Potassium/Reglan/Azodyl) so we'll see how she did when I go home in a bit to get her for the vet.

I really appreciate everyone trying to help. I think if I can just get her tummy under control everything will be smooth sailing again. It's the ONLY sign of CRF she even has. Hugs to all!

broth ( chicken ) added to food seems to help here ...

I'm not saying that Azodyl is not safe, but, belonging to many pet forums, I have heard of many cats who cannot tolerate it.

I would not call it a probiotic-exactly, and it is not labeled as such on the official website. Yes it contains

Patented formulation of naturally-occurring beneficial bacteria (Kibow BioticsÂ[emoji]174[/emoji]) that metabolize and flush out uremic toxins that have diffused into the bowel.

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But does not call itself a probiotic. It works by drawing urea nitrogen and other impurities out of the blood, to save the kidneys from having to process it.

http://www.vetoquinolusa.com/pages/pro_azodyl.html

Since it is not a new med to Aussie, the vomiting may just be related to the disease itself. CRF is a roller coaster, some days are good, some not so good.

I want to clarify that I did not recommend you take Aussie off anything she is on, without discussing if first with her vet.

I'm sure you and your vet are working as a team to proved the best care for Aussie.

PS it may just be from empty stomach. The advice from techiegirl to put some on her mouth is excellent. And to try baby food, as techie girl also recommended, just be sure there is no spices or onions in it.

Ootay could not go more than a few hours without food in her stomach or she would vomit. In fact I got up at 3 a.m. every night, and 6 a.m. every morning, for her last year, to feed her. None of the other cats would stir, they knew the middle of the night chicken feasts were for Ootay only.

And arranged my life around being able to come home every 3-4 hours to feed her. It took months for that habit of waking in the night to fade once she was gone.

We just got back from the vet and so far so good. We'll get the kidney values tomorrow but her CBC was normal and she's actually gained 8 ounces! Leave it to her to actually GAIN weight while in CRF.

Anyways, while we wait for her labs to come back, the vet wanted to switch her from famotidine to zantac. I could have sworn I had some here but guess I ran out so I'll have to pick some up later. We're going to hold off on the Reglan as well to see if how the Zantac does for her. If she starts having major trouble defecating, I was told to start the Reglan back up but keep it separate from the zantac. Hopefully the zantac will help her more than the famotidine.

I decided to review all of her labs from the past two years since she was diagnosed with CRF. I thought I'd post them here so you can see how it started, then when we had her crash in January and her recovery in March. I am hoping today's values are as good as they were in March. Then we'll know for sure that once we get her tummy under control, it will be smooth sailing again for her.

July 2008
BUN - 64 (15-34)
Phosphorus - 4.6 (3.0-7.0)
Creatinine - 4.3 (0.8-2.3)
Potassium - 3.6 (3.9-5.3)

May 2009
BUN 38 (10-30)
Phos 4.8 (3.4-8.5)
CRE 2.3 (.3-2.1)

Jan 2, 2010
BUN 129 (10-30)
Phos 10.0 (3.4-8.5)
CRE 9.2 (.3-2.1)

March 27, 2010
BUN – 58 (15-34)
Phosphorus – 3.9 (3.0-7.0)
Creatinine – 3.3 (0.8-2.3)
Potassium – 4.8 (3.9-5.3)

You can see from her tremendous drop on Phosphorus over the last 2.5 month period that the aluminum hydroxide has done wonders for her. I forgot to write down Potassium for January, but it was extremely low. It is now back in the normal range with two Tumil-K daily.

Sorry otto. I should have just said beneficial bacteria but most people are more familiar with the term probiotic (at least I think!) so I used that. Thanks for the tips. I have tried baby food in the past along with about everything else anyone has ever thought to try. The only thing she will consistently eat that even remotely resembles wet food is queso, but I can't quite let her live on that now can I.