Please send vibes

I haven't been around in quite a while due to work and medical issues, but I still see some familiar names. I could really use some vibes and support right now for my new cat, Grace.

Grace was my next door neighbor's cat until about a month ago, when my neighbor moved. She had been looking for a new home for her cat, but couldn't find one. In the course of the move her cat "accidentally got out". She mentioned it to DH, and we've been looking for the cat but couldn't find her until about a week ago when DH came home and found her in our driveway. She's probably around a year old. She's been spayed and declawed. (We named her Grace. I have no idea what my neighbor called her. When I called her to let her know I found her, she never called her by name and never even asked how she was.)

We took her in and fed her (of course) and took her to the vet the next day for a checkup. We did a blood panel on her and found out that she has liver damage...probably fatty liver disease and an infection.

We started her on Baytril and Flagyl and B12 injections. I took her back to the vet for a recheck and another B12 shot on Tuesday and she was jaundiced. Another blood panel shows that some of her liver values are improved, but her bilirubin is way up and her potassium is down. Yesterday we started subcutaneous fluids, which I have do do daily. We also started her on a potassium supplement and an appetite stimulant.

She hasn't eaten much since she got here, but today she's eating even less. She won't eat anything except Fancy Feast dry food (I was able to find out that her old person only gave her Friskies dry.) I've been able to get her to eat a little of the Fancy Feast Appetizers treats, but no other wet food. At this point I just need her to eat something. Today she'll hardly eat anything at all...just a little dry food.

She's so mad and afraid of me at this point. I can't blame her...I've been poking pills in her since she got here, and now I've just poked her with a needle. I got the subcutaneous fluids into her, but she cried the whole time. (And I started crying immediately afterwards. )

Please send vibes for this poor little girl. She's a very sweet little torbie, and she deserves so much better than what she's gotten so far.

Oh what a sad situation. "accident"...yeah right.

Bless you for taking Grace in and caring for her. It sounds like she is given every opportunity to get better, now it's up to her to pull through.

Have you considered offering her some chicken baby food? I don't know why but kitties seem to like it even if they don't want to eat anything else.

Sending good vibes to Grace

Sending a ton of for Grace.

Oh Tari, how horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Forget enticing her to eat right now. Get cans of a/d and a syringe, and feed her. I know she's scared of you, but especially in her condition, she MUST EAT.

I'll find the link to Carolina's videos about syringe feeding.

I'm supplementing one of our kitties' with a syringe right now. He actually likes being fed this way (go figures!), and that is not usual. But just in case things change, I just ordered this bag: http://www.amazon.com/Klaw-Kontrol-G.../dp/B004NESEAW

A large is for a 10 - 15 pound cat.

Mega for Grace!

Here's the thread with the video on how to syringe feed: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...hlight=cat+bag

And here's her Why I love my cat bag - video thread.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, lots of prayers for you and her- and I'm with the whatever she wants, let her have - if it's the dry Friskies, offer her some if you can. I also agree that if the vet agrees, try the A/D...whatever is in that seems to entice lots of cats...my girl ate it when she was on clavomox and refusing even her beloved turkey (and, yes, I did go out and buy the best organic turkey I could find at Whole Foods)

Wow, that is so sad.

I think it is absolutely wonderful that you took her in and are taking amazing care of her!

Syringe feeding might be something you want to look into. Check out the group below. I found it very helpful for when my kitty, June was sick.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/F...isted-Feeding/

Good luck and I will send good vibes to Grace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ vibes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks so much, everyone. I really could use the support right now.

I talked to the vet about her eating today. We did try to get her to eat the A/D, but she refused it. We're starting a new appetitite stimulant today and DH got her to eat some tuna. I'm going to try some chicken baby food when I get home this afternoon. If she still won't eat by tomorrow morning, we're going to start force feeding her. Like many have said, she's GOT to start eating some more.

We're also going to bring her into the vet's office daily for her subcutaneous fluids. They're way more capable than I am, and it actually seems to stress her out less than doing it at home. DH brought her in this afternoon, and when she got home she came out of the carrier and went straight for her food dish. I hope that's a good sign.

I feel so bad that she's so scared and mad at me right now. She was SUCH a loving cat the first week, and now I can barely get her to look at me. Fortunately, she's not so mad at DH, so she at least gets some comfort from him. (I hope that doesn't change next week, though, when I have to go out of town on a business trip and he has to pill her.) My focus right now, though, is on keeping her alive...if I manage that I'll have time to make it up to her later.

Originally Posted by MiLu

"accident"...yeah right.

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I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt until I talked to her. After the conversation, though, it was fairly obvious. It's probably a good thing she's on the other side of the country now, because I'd dearly love to slap her.

to you and little Grace. Bless her tortie heart!!! Thanks for saving her. She didn't deserve to be thrown away by you neighbor!!! I'm so happy she got you now!!!

I hope you are getting her to eat, even if you have to force feed her

ARRRGH!!!

I got home and her food bowl was still at the same level it was this morning, so I tried the baby food. She wouldn't eat it. So I figured I'd try finger feeding her a few bites to see if that got her interested. It didn't...it just ticked her off more. Not only that, it upset her so much that she went to the other side of the room and promptly barfed up all of her stomach contents...a WHOLE stomach full of food!!!

I'm so stupid! The only thing I can figure is that DH gave her more food when he was home earlier and didn't tell me about it. She was eating before I made her puke.

for Grace and a big for you

Sending warm thoughts to both of you!!

She's eating today. She'll only eat Friskies or Meow Mix dry but at least she's eating. I've got a kitty buffet set out here for her with about four different food options. She'll sniff at the Fancy Feast but won't go near the Blue Buffalo. (Hey, I had to try...)

She still hates me, but it's not quite as bad today since we've had the vet's office handle the subQ fluids the last couple days. It's definitely less stressful for her when they do it. (Not to mention for me.) She calms down right after she gets home and curls up in her favorite chair to sleep. Fortunately, our vet is only about 4 minutes away.

Right now, she's sitting on the table next to the computer meowing at me. I try to spend some time every day in here doing something besides pilling her or otherwise tormenting her. I got her to play with me a little bit last night, and this morning she even rubbed against me and let me pet her for a few minutes. (I just pilled her, so at the moment she's mad at me.)

She's tired of being locked in this room, and regularly tells us about it, but it would be too stressful to try to introduce her to my two boys just yet. The boys are both aware that she's here and are curious, but don't seem to mind. She, on the other hand, hisses every time she gets a glimpse of one of them.

Tari, you have to force feed her... Please do not take this as being blunt, and I don't understand why your vet didn't say this to you (amazes me how relax a lot of vets are about this ).... But if you don't, this kitty will not get better... she will only get worst (sorry to be blunt again, but if this is in fact Fatty liver, she will die if not fed).
Again, I am so sorry to say this, but with fatty liver disease, you really need to feed - there are no two ways about it - food IS the medicine, and she needs to eat the whole nutrition for the day that she needs (This means feeding her all her nutrition needs, not a few CCs, but if her caloric intake is 1 1/2 cans of food, force feeding that amount, divided in 4-5 feedings a day)
I know it is really hard, really heartbreaking and stressful, but there are reasons why she is not eating on her own, and to break that cycle the only way to do it is force-feeding. If you leave it up to her it will not happen. Essentially, her liver is eating her body from inside (very simplistic way to put it), so she doesn't feel hungry - it creates a vicious cycle, and there is no natural way to break it.
The best food to use on this case, IMHO is A/D - it is nutrient packed, easy to go through a syringe, you don't need to dilute it, and super tasty.
This is a long road, If I were you, I would seriously consider investing on a cat bag. I medicate Bugsy every day, and at times I have medicated him 2-3 times a day, and force fed - it made the difference in between him hating me and not. It completely took the stress out of our relationship, and it can save yours too.... The one I recommend the most is called Klaw Kontrol - not the most durable, but the most user friendly, and the one the kitties like the most for sure. The most durable is called The Cat Sack.
Anyways, LDG posted a couple of videos - they were actually of me force-feeding Lucky, and another one of me pilling Bugsy (I think).
If you can not force feed her, I would consider a feeding tube - whatever you do, please be proactive.... and please please don't take me wrong, ok? It is just that everyday she doesn't eat her situation will get worst....
Also, there is a lot of helpful information here: http://www.assistfeed.com/FeedingTechniques.htm

Aw, I'm sorry about her throwing up.

I am sorry the vet didn't talk to you about the importance of her eating, and how much she needs to eat. But Carolina did describe it pretty well. You need to keep track of how much she's eating, because if she's not eating enough to at the very least maintain her body weight, you do need to supplement her intake.

You can read the feeding instructions on the dry food. As to the a/d, here is the feeding guide: http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-...re-canned.html One can is 150ml (so one ounce of food is about 30ml).

Laurie and Caroline, I want to assure you that I do understand how important it is for her to eat. She hasn't seemed to eat that much since she got here, but she did put weight on during the first week. And I found out after Friday night's barfing episode that DH had been feeding her, too. He didn't realize that I was monitoring her intake so carefully.

However, she hasn't eaten anything overnight and today, so I started syringe feeding her tonight. Unfortunately, I don't have access to A/D until the vet opens tomorrow morning, so I fed her Royal Kanin kitten formula. I figured the kitten food would be a little higher in calories and possibly easier to digest...and that the wrong food would be better than none at all. We'll move to the A/D tomorrow. I fed an ounce about a half hour ago, and I plan to give her another ounce in a couple hours, and I hope to squeeze in a couple feedings before I go to work tomorrow.

The cat bag's on order, but I used the towel burrito-wrap that I perfected back when I had a house rabbit. She's actually took it surprisingly well. I wouldn't go so far as to say that she likes it, but it's almost like on some level she knows she needs nourishment. She growls a lot, but I'm learning that growling is just her way of expressing her displeasure. (It's quite a difference from my boys, who never, ever growl.) She actually didn't struggle much at all.

Originally Posted by Tari

Laurie and Caroline, I want to assure you that I do understand how important it is for her to eat. She hasn't seemed to eat that much since she got here, but she did put weight on during the first week. And I found out after Friday night's barfing episode that DH had been feeding her, too. He didn't realize that I was monitoring her intake so carefully.

However, she hasn't eaten anything overnight and today, so I started syringe feeding her tonight. Unfortunately, I don't have access to A/D until the vet opens tomorrow morning, so I fed her Royal Kanin kitten formula. I figured the kitten food would be a little higher in calories and possibly easier to digest...and that the wrong food would be better than none at all. We'll move to the A/D tomorrow. I fed an ounce about a half hour ago, and I plan to give her another ounce in a couple hours, and I hope to squeeze in a couple feedings before I go to work tomorrow.

The cat bag's on order, but I used the towel burrito-wrap that I perfected back when I had a house rabbit. She's actually took it surprisingly well. I wouldn't go so far as to say that she likes it, but it's almost like on some level she knows she needs nourishment. She growls a lot, but I'm learning that growling is just her way of expressing her displeasure. (It's quite a difference from my boys, who never, ever growl.) She actually didn't struggle much at all.

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Excellent Tari!
I find 1 1/2 oz to be the perfect feeding amount per syringe feeding meal. You made the right choice on kitten food - and yes any food is better than no food, and kitten food is definitely better than adult, as it is more nutritiously packed.
Before you go to bed, I would try giving her another 1 1/2 oz....
Now, tomorrow, when you start on A/D - start slowly - read up the instructions - A/D is quite rich, so on the first couple of days you will give 3/4 of the food with 1/4 of water, to have her tummy used to it. The greatest thing about it, is that it is not only calorie and nutritiously packed, but kitties love it too, making it a LOT easier to feed - they usually welcome it, instead of jerking their heads around and fighting it. It is also very smooth and syringe ready right off the can, so there is no preparation needed (aside from day one and two) - making feeding that much easier on mom
Tons, tons of vibes for your little girl and you too