Dusty is looking worse by the hour... - Help!

Dusty is 11, and aside from a few UTI's in his life, and being my sprayer, has been pretty healthy.

He goes into the yard some, but is mostly in. He does have fleas, and is due for his Frontline.

This morning at breakfast he ran to the bowls like usual, but then started making a clicking sound with his teeth, and threw up a hairball. I've seen a couple hairballs around, but I'm never positive it's him and not Scaredy. He chose not to eat, and as far as I can tell, hasn't eaten since.

I'm not sure if he's drinking water, but he will lick ice cubes. He won't take any food, treats, even butter off my finger (he normally loves it).

The deal breaker was this afternoon when I saw a liquidy hairball on the hardwood floor, and it was tinged pink. I know it was him, he was in the area, so off to the vets we went. It was not pee.

The vet did an exam, lab serum chemistry 12, lab electrolytes, and cbc. Said bloodwork looked good, except something about an elevated white blood count in relation to parasites or allergies. I had already suggested he might have worms since he has fleas (have never seen a sign of a worm, though).

They gave him Cerenia - which I believe is an anti-nausea shot,
Drontal tablet
qty. (5) Famotidine tablets to help with stomach irritation
and 1 Knockout Area Treatment, which I believe is the topical wormer.

I swear he wasn't looking this bad when I brought him home. They wanted me to give him his first Famotidine pill this evening, which I did, but I couldn't help but wonder if this is WAY too much medicine in his system.

Tonight he is listless, wanders from room to room, lies down awhile, licks a little of an ice cube - sometimes - refuses food, is sort of hiding, and generally looks uncomfortable. It also looks like his lips are ever so slightly parted.

I gave the vet a million reasons for why he might be sick: he had milk yesterday (never has bothered him, but he hasn't had it in a long time), could he have been poisoned, etc. etc.

Now, after reading through some similar recent threads on here (Rocko), I'm wondering if he could be blocked with hairballs. The vet said his abdomen was pulpy, not hard, and he didn't fight them when they messed with him.

Well, he won't let me near him. I try to pet him, he gets up and walks away.

Then I wondered, what if it's his teeth, or that stomatitis (sp?) thing I've read about? If he had a bad tooth, blood might come out when he barfed.

He is just so uncomfortable. Could any or all of the medicines he's received today have caused his extreme discomfort tonight?

If ANYONE on here has any ideas, thoughts, vibes - if you've made it this far - please let me hear from you. I know I'm not going to sleep tonight...

I was having major problems with my Parker like 2 years ago. The days where he was pukey both liquid and hairballs, he was restless and just wanted to be left alone.

Sometimes he would vomit for a couple days before and after a hairball. He was giving anti-nausea medication. I found it wasn't until the next day that he started getting better. He would not eat or drink the day of the vet visit and just kept to himself.

I'd follow the vets directions and just keep an eye on him. If he's not better tomorrow, take him back. He could still just be queasy and bothered by being poked and prodded at the vet.

I also noticed a HUGE change in Parker when he had fleas. In fact, his whole personality changed. Maybe your guy is uncomfortable from that too.

I could be totally wrong here. This is just my experience. So yeah, maybe just wait it out and see how he feels tomorrow. But if he is enjoying the ice cubes, let him have them at least to keep fluid in him. If you're really, really concerned, call your local animal ER and ask what they think.

for Dusty!

Thanks for your response! That's what I'm hoping for - I did just get him to lick canned food gravy off his plate. He didn't want the solids, but I'll settle for anything right about now.

Dusty has always been my fat cat, which is why him not eating is so frightening. That and the fact I lost one ten years ago when things snowballed to him not eating and he finally died at the vets. (Long story)

The fleas are definitely a problem. I got a spray for the house (I've used it before) and I've got the Frontline here, but haven't applied it yet (it totally freaks Dusty out when he sees the package). Now I want to wait till he's better. For the 3rd summer in a row, Mickey has turned into a complete schizophrenic - I think due to fleas - and won't come inside for anything more than to eat. Just meows shrilly until I let him out - jumps on high shelves, won't walk on the carpet, so I know fleas can mess with their heads.

I did take Dusty to the ER vet three weeks ago for what seemed like a freak thing - he came in and was coughing/gagging horribly, holding his head up like he was trying to get air, listless, wouldn't settle down, just horrible coughing. After an hour of it (it was midnight) I took him to the ER Vet and on the way I felt a stiff piece of grass on his nose - but it wouldn't brush off. He was terribly agitated in his carrier and coughed even harder. Got him inside, he quit coughing and started meowing. (he hadn't meowed through any of it) I mentioned I thought perhaps the grass had come OUT OF HIS NOSE and they did find a phlegmy piece of grass in his carrier. He was fine, and I don't think it's related to this - but I also mentioned it to the vet today.

Again, thanks for listening and for your calming response!

Being a fat cat makes it harder for them to process hairballs I believe, (especially since they cant groom as well, so the fur builds up and then when they do groom, its a lot of fuzz) so he may just be temporarily blocked. If you can get him to at least lick a bit off your fingers, that would be great because he is at risk for fatty liver disease.
Vibes for Rusty! (who I just noticed isnt orange like i thought he'd be XP)

Thanks, Minka. Yeah, he's not fat any more, age is taking care of that. He weighs around 12 lbs. at the moment.

But this morning he ate well, and is acting much more normal, if Dusty can be normal. I'm going to call the vet and see if it's imperative that I give him more of those pills - clearly one of his 10,000 meds didn't agree with him yesterday. I just don't know which one.

Thanks for the vibes, guys!

Originally Posted by threecatowner

Thanks, Minka. Yeah, he's not fat any more, age is taking care of that. He weighs around 12 lbs. at the moment.

But this morning he ate well, and is acting much more normal, if Dusty can be normal. I'm going to call the vet and see if it's imperative that I give him more of those pills - clearly one of his 10,000 meds didn't agree with him yesterday. I just don't know which one.

Thanks for the vibes, guys!

Click to expand...

Post an update if you can about the meds. Glad he's reacting better today.

Poor Dusty and poor you . Just want to send my "get better Dusty" vibes. All of those meds, all at once, YIKES. I am sure it was a bit too much plus the added stress of going to the vet wiped him out. Hope he is doing better today

The famotidine is Pepcid and will help settle the stomach and deal with any gas/nausea. The clicking noise (grinding teeth) is a sign of what we humans know as heartburn and tells you that your kitty has an upset tummy. If you're going to use it long-term to help, you can get the generic version at Wal-Mart and give it to him. It's used a lot with kitties who are older and have CRF. You can grind the pill up and give it in a syringe of water about 30 mins before feeding.

Fleas rob kitties of their strength quickly as it causes them to be anemic and their red blood cell count to be low. Many times, a vitamin B-12 shot is given to anemic kitties or kitties with lots of fleas to help boost the red blood cells, which helps kitties (& humans) feel better, feel stronger, and do better.

Callie used to struggle with hairballs and constipation due to her CRF. To help keep her regular, we fed her plain canned pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie spice) and also gave her Miralax once daily. This helped the constipation as well as the hairballs.

One thing I noticed with Callie was that if she was constipated or hadn't had a BM, then her tummy would get upset and she wouldn't want to eat anything. That's why it was so important to give her canned food and the supplements to keep things moving. We also found that feeding her several small meals throughout the day helped keep her tummy settled and cut down on all the other problems. So, it could be that if you can keep him regular, you can keep the hairballs to a minimum and keep him eating.

Today Dusty is as normal as he ever was. Starved to death. I tried not to overfeed, fully expecting a pile of barf on the floor. But nothing.

If I had to guess, I'd say yesterday the shot for nausea, on top of the topical worm med did him in. They mentioned he might be a little sore; he was extremely uncomfortable last evening, and it really scared me.

I have 5 of those pills to give him for irritated belly; I thought about calling vet and asking if it was necessary, but got busy and didn't. So I gave him one tonight, and he's not acting weird.

I worry every time any of my cats gets a shot or medicine - I've seen so many kitties on here have bad reactions.

And then there is the matter of the pink tinged hairball I saw yesterday. Will I ever know why that happened? Who knows?

Thank you all for the vibes, and for caring - I really appreciate your help!

I'm glad he is appears to be feeling better. I hope you put the flea med on him though. Fleas have to be horrible for cats. I know it's enough to drive me crazy if I get bit by one.

For the 3rd summer in a row, Mickey has turned into a complete schizophrenic - I think due to fleas - and won't come inside for anything more than to eat. Just meows shrilly until I let him out - jumps on high shelves, won't walk on the carpet, so I know fleas can mess with their heads.
[/quote]

Nigel has been with us for just over 3 years and this is the second time the fleas appear to be making him almost nutso. Same time as last year so I'm going in for some Frontline Plus which we've had no trouble with.
Our 3 other cats are much less prone to flea problems, but they have always been in and out. I think Nigel used to be an indoor cat. Other than this he's really thriving.
Marty

I wistfully remember the days of strictly indoor cats. *sigh*

We brought in a lovely stray male several years ago, and he just could not stay in. Coupled with the fact I had 3 young kids at the time, and was doing childcare here, the door was constantly open, and he wasn't staying in.

Then he taught Dusty how to go out. I live in a quiet area, I grew up with indoor/outdoor cats, so I relented. Then Mickey came, and wanted out, and so on and so on. Interestingly, Scaredy - the feral female I brought in a few years back - does not have any interest in going out. Thank heavens. It was so much easier back in the day when I was single living in an apartment on the 3rd floor - my cats never got close enough to the outside to want it. Then when I moved here, they were well trained to be in.

And we never had a flea problem in those days, either.

I'm not sure Frontline plus works as well as it used to, but it's pretty much what we use. Up until 2 summers ago, though, I have never seen them turn into crazies from the fleas.

I just think fleas have been more abundant these last two years in my area. The problem with these spot on treatments is that if the fleas don't bite, then they don't die. So the fleas can still come in from outside on your pet and drop off and set up residence inside. The Frontline has to be put on the pets monthly to be effective. I switched to Advantage for my cats and two dogs. My cats don't go outside but the dogs can bring in the fleas so I am always checking everyone with a flea comb. So far so good. Hope Dusty is doing much better