Cat won't eat after spay, low white blood cell count

Hi all,

This will be a long post because I'll try to make it as informative as possible We took our seemingly completely healthy and energetic 8 year old rescue to surgery on Saturday. She had been an indoor only cat since August, no contact with other cats except her kittens, who she stopped nursing about a 1.5 month ago (had nursed them for a very long time, they were born in July). That's when we took her to a new home, where she adjusted well, loved it much more than her first foster home, lives there strictly indoors, no contact with other animals, just the family who adopted her. She has never been vaccinated, and considering her age, we don't want to have her vaccinated and will keep her strictly indoors. She weighs 9 pounds but with her frame, she should weigh about 7. She used to be a voracious eater, and very skinny too, but since her rescue she put on some weight, developed a penchant for dry food and won't eat anything else, no wet food, no cooked or raw meat, no liver. She had two heat cycles after we separated her from her kittens and a few days after the last one we took her to the vet's (should have done it sooner but money was an issue).

Before the surgery, we thought we could feel a lump near one of her nipples, so she was x-rayed and no tumors could be seen anywhere, also the vet palpated her and the lump turned out to be umbilical hernia. That was fixed during the surgery.

Due to her age, blood tests were also done before the surgery, and everything was normal (red blood cell count was excellent, as well as hemoglobin, just a little under the maximal recommended amount), liver, kidneys, everything was in working order. Except for the white blood cells, which were 2.5 and the normal range is 5-11. Her lymphocytes were 0.8 (should be 1-4) and granulocytes were 1.7 (should be 3-12). The vet said that she might have had a cold recently, or the low count could be related to her heat cycle which had just finished. They spayed her, but we need to bring her in for antibiotic shots every two days until the incision is healed, in case there is an infection her body can't fight off due to low white blood cell count.

The problem we encountered after the surgery is that she won't eat or drink. First we didn't see her do it but assumed she might have been doing it when we sleep. I did see her walk to her bowl with food, but she only licked the kibble, didn't actually take it in her mouth. We took her to the vet's yesterday for her antibiotic shot and they said she was hydrated and was probably drinking when we don't see her. The vet also checked her teeth and could see no gum inflammation or anything that would cause her pain. It should be noted that I did force feed her yesterday, I mixed Royal Canin Recovery food with some water and fed her with a syringe, but she only got about half an ounce of it, not sure it had a dramatic effect on her hydration levels. She could swallow it normally, and licked and cleaned her lips and paws when they got smeared with food. We weighed her kibble yesterday and so far it shows that she hasn't eaten. I am trying to be patient and wait till the evening, and if nothing changes I will go back to force feeding. She is otherwise as playful as a kitten, has been since Sunday evening (only 24 hours after the surgery), she plays kitty soccer with her toys, cuddles with the family, you can't tell that she's been in surgery or that she hasn't been eating since. What's happening with her and what can I do to make her eat on her own? Also, do you think low white blood cell count could be more serious than my vet seems to think?

P.S. Here's one thing I will try when I go there tonight, she used to eat kitten kibble while she was nursing (that's when she put on all that weight), we then put her on light food for overweight cats and she actually slimmed down, although she's still overweight. So I guess I will try to offer the kitten kibble she used to eat in case she prefers it to the kibble she gets now.

P.P.S. It has just occurred to me that maybe her throat is sore because of intubation during the surgery, any ideas how to relieve soreness of throat in cats?

I do know sometimes they don't feel like eating for a while after surgery, sometimes up to two days. However, you say she's playing normally, which would indicate she's "recovered" from the anesthesia. With her being overweight, although this is counterintuitive, you really do need her eating (if they begin using up their stored fat, it can damage their kidneys). Seems force feeding her what you can is best for now, if she won't eat the kitten kibble either.

Have you tried enticing her with chicken baby food? Boiled chicken? Fancy Feast foods? Often these will get a cat eating again when other foods fail.

Thanks for the reply LDG, it did occur to me I could boil some chicken and try to get her to drink the water, that maybe warm chicken soup would help with the soreness if her throat is the problem. I highly doubt she would eat the meat though, before the surgery she wouldn't eat anything but kibble, not even tuna! But I will try tuna today too, just in case. She's my father's cat now so I am waiting for his update, if she hasn't eaten since yesterday I will go there and stay overnight, and try these few things. If nothing else helps then force feeding it is!

Great news, my father has just called, the cat is eating The knot that has been sitting in my stomach for two days is finally gone. Looks like it was probably just a case of sore throat, but this is her first independent eating in 80 hours, I think it's good she got some nutrition yesterday from syringe feeding (although I ended up with a bite wound )

Now I can go back to worrying about the low white blood cell count, any ideas where that might stem from?

Great news!

I'm really not familiar with WBC issues. Red blood cells I know LOL, but not white. If it is related to a heat cycle or an infection, it should resolve shortly here. Did they say when they wanted you to bring her back in for a follow-up blood panel?

They didn't, probably because the cat is lively and energetic and all other test results were good. Though later it occurred to me that maybe they suspected a more sinister virus like FIV or FeLV but didn't think we should worry about it until the cat's health has taken turn for worse (they did say a virus can cause low wbc count, but that it was probably some minor cold). I hope I am just being a pessimist, maybe they just honestly thought the cat was healthy and no further tests were needed. Now that the food crisis is over I will ask more questions tomorrow, when the kitty gets her antibiotic shot.

I was going to ask if she had been tested for FeLV, because that's the most common cause for a low WBC count that I can think of. Especially since she's been intact for so long and has probably mated with dozens of males, so she was at high risk for FeLV. Here's hoping it was just a fluke and she feels better soon!

Thanks Willowy, I thought it could be a sign of FeLV but I wasn't sure I won't be at peace until I have her tested, because I kept all her kittens, so that would mean that all my pets have FeLV

On a positive note, she has just eaten again, this time double the amount she ate last time, so she is definitely getting better