Good Vibes for Max!

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post here on TheCatSite. My 9 year old cat Max has been experiencing some difficulties lately. He really hasn't been himself for the past 2 1/2 weeks ever since he had 4 teeth extracted, but has been definitely different since last Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon Max vomited twice and seemed extremely lethargic. He's usually a very vocal and active cat. Worried, my wife and I took him to the Emergency Vet (VCA Mission Valley). They put him on fluids and ran a NOVA and PCV/TP test which didn't really turn up anything out of the ordinary. They wanted to run more tests, but we elected to bring Max home instead and ultimately have the tests run at a different vet (we were very dissatisfied with our VCA experience, but that's for another story).

Max has been better--but still not himself, lethargic and not too interested in eating. He's lost some weight too.

We took Max to the Cheshire Cat Vet in San Diego on Saturday (yesterday) and had some tests done. The vet prescribed Cyroheptadine as an appetite stimulant, flagyl Metronidazole as an antibiotic w/ anti-inflammatory properties, and metoclopramide for the nausea. She ran a full general health panel and a pancreas-only test.

His liver values were fine, his pancreas tested normal, but he does have a high white blood-cell count.

Our experience w/ Cheshire Cat Vet was the polar opposite of our experience with VCA. They truly love cats and were extremely thorough. The vet even called us today (Sunday) on her day off to let us know the test results! She's going to likely prescribe a broader spectrum antibiotic.

We still have to push him to eat, but we've found that changing up his food helps in case he's developed a taste-aversion to his normal food due to the nausea. Cats aren't always the best at doing the things that are hard but necessary (but neither are people)! We feel like if we can get him to eat and drink, he has a better chance at fighting off whatever is wrong with him.

My wife and I are trying to think positive. We love Max so much and the thought of being without him is so hard. We're monitoring him and trying to pass positive energy down to him. He's an indoor cat, but we've been taking him outside on little outings every couple hours and they seem to improve his mood. He even leaped into the air and killed a giant grasshopper when my back was turned...something he's never done. He wasn't too happy when my wife and I had to take it away from him!

Max is one-of-a-kind and we love him very much. Thanks for any positive vibes.

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Awwwww, Max is so lucky to have you and your wife! You are great parents. The fact that he killed a giant grasshopper is good. He is still interested in things. That is never a bad sign.

Maybe it is taking him longer to come back after the extractions. Four teeth is quite a few.

You are doing everything right. Your vet sounds like an angel to call you on Sunday no less!

I would keep up the walks outside since they stimulate him. Hopefully you will know more this week as he gets meds into him.

You certainly have vibes from me and my gang! Please keep us posted.

Max is so handsome and so fortunate to have you and your wife as his cat parents. I'm also glad you found a great vet! Sounds like this one is a keeper.

I'm with the previous poster on keeping up the trips outside since he seems to respond well to those. I'm also of the opinion that he might just be having a bit of a hard time after the extractions. Four teeth is a lot to have removed at once and the pain from that can be tremendous. It's also possible that he's developed some type of infection at the site of the extractions. Hopefully between the appetite stimulant and the antibiotic you'll see some improvement this week.

I don't have any advice to offer, but wanted to wish Max well and hopes that he is his old self again soon. He is lucky to have such devoted humans to care for him.

Just good wishes that Max makes a quick recovery - he truly is lucky to have such loving parents.

Thank you so much everyone!

One thing that is interesting, he seems to like it when I feed him with a spoon!

The vet suggested we try baby food and he seems to like that.

Many cats do love that special attention. Don't be surprised if, once he's better, he'll still expect you to sit there and spoon feed him.

Did the vet that did the extractions not send you home with an antibiotic or want to see him back in a week? If not, that sounds a bit odd. I'm glad to hear you like the other clinic better.

Just make sure you keep a close eye on him. All three of those meds he's on can cause neurological symptoms, sometimes not until after being on them for a little bit. If his behavior changes in anyway that even slightly alarms you get him back in to the vet quickly.

I hope he heals up soon and back to his normal cat self.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Many cats do love that special attention. Don't be surprised if, once he's better, he'll still expect you to sit there and spoon feed him.

Did the vet that did the extractions not send you home with an antibiotic or want to see him back in a week? If not, that sounds a bit odd.

I'm glad to hear you like the other clinic better.

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You know, looking back it was a little strange that he didn't get sent home with something or ask to follow up. They did give us some pain medication, but not very much! I was also surprised that although the ER vet and his normal vet are owned by the same large parent company (they operate a lot of vets in San Diego), there was no electronic access to his medical records. I now have my own copy of his records....kind of interesting stuff to read, too!

Gonna go see if he would like a few more spoonfuls of food!

Is there an update on Max today.

Max showed strong signs of improvement today! He enjoyed his supervised outings outside and ate quite a bit of food. We only gave him one dose of the anti-nausea and one dose of the appetite stimulant but he still was really into his food. Unfortunately, he still is having some diarhea.

He will be having an ultra-sound tomorrow! Thank you so much for the continued good vibes. We love Max so much.

Max sounds like a sweetie and is one lucky cat! Glad to hear he's improving!
Sending good vibes your way!