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Older cat not eating or drinking

post #1 of 4
10/1/11 at 2:16am
Thread Starter 
I have a cat thats about 11 yrs old. I recently got a new kitten but the vet said at this age It could be more than the kitten. My cat likes the kitten and cleans him, only 2 days of introducing it did my older cat suddenly stop eating and drinking.

He has gotten into the kitten food but the vet said it wouldn't be that. Everyone I talked too said it is just stress from the kitten. To make sure I got an xray and blood test done, his protein levels are high and the vet said his stomach and organ that goes out to the anus is slghtly large...filled with gas. Other than that, all his other tests came out fine, normal white blood cell count, temperature, electrolytes...etc,.

He has taken a few licks of food recently but not ingest it. I don't get why he has just seemed to change for the worse overnight. His stomach is empty, I'm giving him prescribed vitamins, pain reliever, and caloric medication as of yesterday. This cat was well taken cat off, indoor only, never had issues before the kitten, and the kitten is healthy.

Does anyone have any advice or experiences with this.

Thank you
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post #2 of 4
10/1/11 at 9:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by coba11 View Post
I have a cat thats about 11 yrs old. I recently got a new kitten but the vet said at this age It could be more than the kitten. My cat likes the kitten and cleans him, only 2 days of introducing it did my older cat suddenly stop eating and drinking.

He has gotten into the kitten food but the vet said it wouldn't be that. Everyone I talked too said it is just stress from the kitten. To make sure I got an xray and blood test done, his protein levels are high and the vet said his stomach and organ that goes out to the anus is slghtly large...filled with gas. Other than that, all his other tests came out fine, normal white blood cell count, temperature, electrolytes...etc,.

He has taken a few licks of food recently but not ingest it. I don't get why he has just seemed to change for the worse overnight. His stomach is empty, I'm giving him prescribed vitamins, pain reliever, and caloric medication as of yesterday. This cat was well taken cat off, indoor only, never had issues before the kitten, and the kitten is healthy.

Does anyone have any advice or experiences with this.

Thank you
I have no experience in my home with such a case . But I have seen such things happen in no kill shelters across the USA. However with those cases, the older cat(s) did not seem to like the kittens. I would assume, if your older cat did not like the new kitten he would not be groom/lick him. But with cats one never knows, I .

But first I want to say thank you for bringing the cat to the veterinarian first. As a veterinarian technician, what medical information you provided makes the older cat sound reasonably healthy.

So my only suggestion is to try and keep the older cat in a separate room with food, water, bed, and litter box. See if that makes him "happy, calm, and less stressed". If his lack of eating is stress based that should help.

I would suggest if he is NOT better in a week or less you take him back to the veterinarian.

Hope that was somewhat helpful , if you need any clarification please let me know .
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post #3 of 4
10/1/11 at 3:55pm
I had Christy stop eating for a day, and I nearly brought her to the vet before she puked up a huge hairball (thankfully on the kitchen floor) and I realized she had simply lost her appetite because she'd been cleaning herself a lot. I started feeding her hairball treats regularly and she hasn't lost her appetite like that since.

Could your cat's digestive system be clogged up by kitten fur?
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post #4 of 4
10/1/11 at 4:12pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you Cat Person. I have kept him away from the cat. He still hasn't eaten but he did walk towards the food and water...which is a tiny sign of hope.
I'm guessing it most likely is something with the kitten. The kitten has claws and has a playful vendetta against my older cat's tail, stress from kitten wouldn't be far fetched I suppose


Thanks Callista, that's a good point, but I would think if it's just a hairball that it would have been picked up during the x-ray maybe? The vet did point to hairs in an organ before the stomach, but she told me that was normal. I'm actually thinking about going to a different vet for a second opinion. I Hope it is just a gigantic hairball and will come up soon. Actually might make sense, since he was cleaning the kitten before he stopped eating, maybe his body wasn't use to that texture of hair...
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