Hungry, but won't eat... Help!!!

Hello.

My cat is about 10-12 years old. We took her to the vet over a week ago for a normal check-up when we noticed that she was sufferring from extensive hair loss. She was cleaning herself so much that she got constipated, had hairballs in her throat, and went so far as refusing to eat - even though she clearly had a desire to. She was hungry but couldn't swallow, lost a lot of weight, and had to be force-fed at the vet. She was given medication for the constipation and went through an endoscopy to remove some hair that was lodged in her throat. After an extreme haircut, she finally came back to a rennovated household but her eating habits are still out of whack. She's rarely eating - if you could call it that - but seems physically famished. We don't get it. Whenever she does try to eat, she eats canned food that's been stored in the fridge, but refuses it whenever it's at room temperature so it's not like she pigs out. Whenever we mix it with dry food, she seems to want to suck on the dry food, but not chew it. Whenever she eats anything hard and crunchy (like her snacks) or something chewable (like a small piece of chicken) most of what she chews falls out of her mouth so she can't be swallowing a substantial amount of food. The vet says that she is physically ok and that she can't find anything wrong with her teeth or the rest of her tiny body, but the tests showed elevated stress levels. That can't be the only reason for her lack of appetite(sort of)??

What can we do?? Any suggestions would he highly appreciated.

Thanks,

Elizabeth

but what was the cause of the hair loss? 

it seems as if she likes cold food?

you could try liquid CatSure as a supplement http://www.petco.com/product/14328/PetAg-CatSure-Meal-Replacement.aspx

or 

the REBOUND liquid diet  http://www.virbacvet.com/Products/Nutrition/ReboundLiquidDiet.aspx

http://www.revivalanimal.com/Rebound-Liquid-Diet.html

also, you can try using a Feliway diffuser

We moved to a new home due to the remodelations, but we were living there for about four months and she had never shown any symptoms such as these until the end of those four months. In short, we still have no idea why or what produced the massive hair loss. Out vet can't seem to answer that either.

Thank you so much for your recommendations! I will definitely let you know if any of them work.

GatitoFeroz said:

.. She ... had to be force-fed at the vet. ... She's rarely eating - if you could call it that - but seems physically famished.

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Elizabeth, did the vet discuss hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver) with you? Did they discuss the importance of her eating with you?

I'm so sorry about the stress due to the renovations and this strange huge amount of hair loss.

And I don't want to scare you, but cats not eating can become very dangerous very quickly. Their bodies are not designed to utilize energy from body fat, and not eating can flood their livers with fat. It can become a lethal problem due to liver failure if not addressed. The cure is proper food - and if she won't eat it, you have to assist feed her. Sometimes hand feeding her, or using a spoon - and if necessary, you'll have to use a syringe.

I have to assume that the vet did not send you home with a syringe or food to use in it.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_hepatic_lipidosis.html

For your kitty, you already know what caused the problem, and that has been resolved. But she needs nutrative support to get her back on track:

The so-called “fatty liver” represents one of the most common causes of liver failure in the cat and it stems from the basic design of the cat. Cats evolved as predators of small birds and rodents, eating multiple small meals throughout the day. Their physiology is geared towards a completely carnivorous diet and with the presupposition that cats would live lean and never have the opportunity to develop extensive fat stores.

Of course this all changed when cats become domestic. The modern housecat has every opportunity to become overweight and while this may not be of disastrous consequence on a day to day basis, should the cat get sick or lost and stop eating, a very big problem erupts. The fat stores mobilize. Normally, in starvation, fat is moved from the body's storage depots to the liver for processing into lipoproteins but the feline liver was never intended to handle huge amounts of mobilized fat. The liver becomes infiltrated with fat and fails. Complicating matters are the high dietary protein requirement that is unique to cats; protein malnutrition develops very fast when cats do not eat.

TREATMENT

The cornerstone of treatment for lipidosis involves aggressive nutritional support. (In other words, a high protein diet must get into the cat to reverse the metabolic starvation state.) If this is done carefully, the recovery rate approaches 90%.

Click to expand...

The article at Marvistavet goes on to discuss how to get the food into kitty.

Vibes for you and your girl.


P.S. I have asked that this thread be moved to the Health Forum, as this is a very serious health problem, not a feeding issue.

It's extremely important that you get some food into her on a regular basis, even if you have to force feed. You could try syringing small amounts of wet food mixed with water into her mouth, several times a day.
The problem with cats is once they stop eating they can very quickly get into the habit of not eating - becoming anorexic. Plus health concerns like fatty liver disease.

You say she wants to eat and has an appetite, so I'm wondering that there is something wrong with her throat?
I suspect something is causing her stress which has led to her over-grooming herself to the point of hair loss. Coupled with her refusal to eat I believe there is an underlying health issue that the vet has missed. Perhaps you could get more extensive tests?

LDG said:

Elizabeth, did the vet discuss hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver) with you? Did they discuss the importance of her eating with you?
I'm so sorry about the stress due to the renovations and this strange huge amount of hair loss.
And I don't want to scare you, but cats not eating can become very dangerous very quickly. Their bodies are not designed to utilize energy from body fat, and not eating can flood their livers with fat. It can become a lethal problem due to liver failure if not addressed. The cure is proper food - and if she won't eat it, you have to assist feed her. Sometimes hand feeding her, or using a spoon - and if necessary, you'll have to use a syringe.
I have to assume that the vet did not send you home with a syringe or food to use in it.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_hepatic_lipidosis.html
For your kitty, you already know what caused the problem, and that has been resolved. But she needs nutrative support to get her back on track:
The article at Marvistavet goes on to discuss how to get the food into kitty.
Vibes for you and your girl.

 

P.S. I have asked that this thread be moved to the Health Forum, as this is a very serious health problem, not a feeding issue.

Click to expand...

I agree with what LDG said. If cats don't eat, they can develop hepatic lipidosis (also known as fatty liver disease).
Here are some  more websites to help you understand hepatic lipidosis :

http://www.acvim.org/websites/acvim/index.php?p=214

http://www.cat-world.com.au/hepatic-lipidosis-fatty-liver-disease

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_hepatic_lipidosis.html