New Here... My cat isn't eating or drinking

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sheeshshe

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Thank you thank you thank you!  

Well, he hadn't been eating the canned stuff at all, and my other cat kept eating it LOL

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I put more out this morning bc he is scoping out the dry stuff and tried 1 piece and said, eh.  He ate some!  He didn't eat a ton of the wet stuff, b ut he spent about 5 minutes with it licking it and eating some of it. 

Ok, how long till he is out of the woods?  If he keeps this up for a week do you think he'll make it?  I hope so!  I wonder if I will have to give him supplements for the rest of his life or not.  

The kids are all excited this morning saying, he got fatter! haha.  right. LOL.  He ate probably a whole ounce of fish last night before bed.  I stopped him at one point because it looked like he was going to throw up bc he ate so much.  :)
 
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sheeshshe

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Know what I noticed this morning?  He doesn't have goopy eyes! yeah!

Ok, so in case any of you are wondering, this is my Pretzel... it is an older picture from couple of months ago :)  He has captivating eyes <3


And just to show his crazy personality, I'm always finding him doing odd things, like this.  And about die laughing my head off.

Who comes up with this stuff? LOL

 
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sheeshshe

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He is a hilarious kitty <3 <3 <3  

Today he's been eating and drinking on his own.  He seems to be laying a little more low this afternoon, I wonder if yesterday's pepcid is starting to wear off a bit.  But earlier he came up to me and wanted me to pat him.  :) :) :)  I thought he might actually purr, but not yet. We'll get there!

OH!  And then earlier he came up to me with a gleam in his eye like he wanted something, so I told him to sit... in which he did and I gave him a treat bc I was near the treats... but he didn't eat it.  But he ate the fish I gave him.  :)

And then earlier he was walking around slinging his tail.  Which his tail has been between his legs for the past 3 weeks.  Its still rather low right now, but I"m optimistic that he'll be hanging that tail high soon!  aww.
 
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sheeshshe

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We have faint purring!!!!!!! yeah!
 

carolina

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We have faint purring!!!!!!! yeah!
:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:
How is the eating and drinking?
Have you tried any cat food yey?
Fancy feast IMHO is a good bet.... and from the vet, Hills A/D is a good one too.... Kitties love it, and it is a great recovery food! :vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes:
 
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sheeshshe

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YES!  He is eating cat food!  Canned and I even caught him trying a little dry.  :) YEAH!!!

He got me up this morning all purring loud in my face wanting me to pat him :) :) :)  He is coming back!!! YES!!!!!
 
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sheeshshe

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I weighed him 2 days ago.  I just weighed him now.  He has gained 4oz!  
 

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Got your PM, but wanted to reply here.
I am so happy you hung in there with Pretzy! He is an adorable boy and has a super mommy who is willing to go the extra mile for him.


One thing, hon, I would suggest ditching the dry/kibble food and just transition him to all canned. He'll be much better off in the long run with canned only (and grain-free if you can swing it). Ya see, kibble contains a lot of unnecessary ingredients--and it is extremely low in moisture. Kitties are physiologically and biologically not made to have the thirst drive like humans, dogs, and other mammals have. This means they will be in a state of dehydration because they just will not drink enough water on their own to stay hydrated. By feeding a good canned food (or balanced raw diet), kitties receive the moisture they need from the food they eat and will stay hydrated to keep them in tip-top shape and avoid diseases such as CRF/CKD, diabetes, etc. In a nutshell, kitties are built to get their moisture/water from the foods they eat--and kibble doesn't cut it.

My kitties are on a raw diet (I know this isn't do-able for everyone), and they rarely drink water. If I see them drinking more than a sip or two of water once a week, I know something is not right. The same can be said of a canned food diet, except I noticed before we went to raw, that they did drink more often than on the raw diet. Clear back years ago when I fed kibble, they were always going to the water fountain or bowl. I wish I would have known back then what I know now because I feel that Tuffy may not have developed CKD when he was only two. I blame a good part of this on kibble.

Sorry, didn't mean to "lecture" here.
I just want Pretzel to have many, many more healthy years with you. I am so happy he is improving every day!
 
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sheeshshe

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I understand completely.  I wish we could.  We have SOOO many food restrictions for the kids in here, our food bill is astronomical.  :(  My husband is already lecturing me on 'don't let them get addicted to that wet food".  blah blah blah :(

Makes sense.  My girl kitty drinks like it is going out of style!  It makes complete sense to me.  Is there a cheaper way to do it? Like buying in bulk online or something?
 
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sheeshshe

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how do I boost his iron?  he is licking any dirt that comes in the house like he is going to DIE if he doesn't get any.  I can't keep him away from it.  I'm sure he must be anemic from the bleeding ulcer, his poop isn't black as of last night!
 

orientalslave

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Black faeces indicates blood in them and isn't a normal colour.  Not sure what the licking is about, maybe his sense of smell and hence taste is disturbed at present.
 

ak12taco

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Hi, Im so sorry to hear the stress you and the kitty are under...Im very new to this, joined minutes ago, and like yourself Im seeking answers...heres the thing my cat was 8 yrs old part calico part Maine Coon, very beautiful orange and white cat, sweetest lil guy EVER....and he was very healthy except 2 colds that now I look back on might have not been colds at all....2 weeks ago he started hiding and not being active, sneezing like CRAZY, I blew it off as allergies, after all the crap was floating around, his eye then began leaking, which was clear at 1st...then became bloody/brownish....but after 5 days he was fine, for 2 days...then his other eye immediately started "bleeding" like and I noticed a DRASTIC weight reduction...he was strictly indoors with another 9 yr old male who WASNT sick so I began to worry it was something "worse" because he quit eating treats and he was a TREAT BANDIT lol...anyhow we noticed a foul smell in our home for 2 days ....at this time Taco was mainly under our bed and only came out occassionally...now mind you this is like day 9...he came to the bathroom one eve when I was bathing our 3 yr old and meowed at me and looked at the sink...TACO LOVED DRINKING WATER!...especially out of the bathroom faucet, YEAH! my baby was better...or so i thought....but he couldnt get up on the cabinet...I helped him up...then 2-3 minutes later he couldnt get down...I again helped him and made an appt with the vet for the NEXT DAY....back under the bed he went..that night i laid on the floor near him begging him to eat, he gratefully drank tons of water from the dish i followed him around with for hours, lol...so we arrive at the vet and they took him for vitals, came and told me he was hypothermic...?? ok, its 100 degrees here in the shade on Galv island...hypothermic?! body temp was 95....shouldve been 101-102 degrees....they put him on a heating pad and wanted to do tests...Feline aids and leukemia came back negative, but the vet said his chest was taking such deep breaths he didnt seem to have pheumonia...but they determined he was cardiac arrhythmic, hypothermic, pleural effusion and azotemic....they said he had SOME fluid in his chest, not his lungs, his chest...which indicates usually congestive heart failure and is apparently a leading cause in death in cats his age ...they did all sorts of diagnostic profile and blood counts and urine ...said most likely his kidneys were failing and that was causing the heart failure...suggested i take him to er for animals about 35 miles away for CHEST TAP...granted they had already had him on sub cutaneous fluids and LASIX...the reason for sending me away is it was at this point closing time and they COULD do chest tap there but wouldnt have anyone overnight to monitor him and he would need 4-6 constant monitoring after the tap...we then agreed since it wasnt a ton of fluid I would bring him back at 730 in the morning for the procedure....at this point i was a disaster! splitting headaches, eyes so swollen from crying i could barely drive us home...but home we went...he seemed somewhat better, he actually stayed out of hiding for abut 5 hrs...YEAH!!! and he peed!!! couldnt get in the litter box due to weakness but he peed right by it....whatever, cool...long as he is peeing right?! I laid on the floor for about an hr with him, crying and petting him and gently speaking to him, telling him if he couldnt take the procedures we were about to put him thru it was ok to quit...we arent financially well off but I probably wouldve sold my body at that moment to make my Taco all better, I knew the expenses would be great but i loved him and would do anything except see him suffer and I dont envy anyone the decision of putting a four legged friend down, i knew i wasnt strong enough to make that move...so I prayed and asked God to let Taco go in peace if he was only gonna continue to suffer...but he made it thru the night, although I died a thousand deaths that night...we arrived at the vet I got down on the floor and told him everything was gonna be ok they were gonna make him all better...at 1130 am they called and told me when they started to shave his chest for the tap he stressed out and wasnt breathing on his own I needed to come quick, I drove 40 miles in 25 minutes but he died before I made it....so I say all this to you because I thought HE HAD A COLD...it was something so much worse...but looking back after 2 days of endless research because I refuse to be clueless about Tacos death and I have another cat I WILL RECOGNIZE symptoms in from this day on...the night I laid on the floor with Taco I hated myself for not taking him sooner...but apparently cats are good hiders at sickness, its in their nature from their ancestors in the wild, ALSO cats are prone to kidney disease because of smaller uretheas (sp?) as well as heart disease becuase of something to do with only a left side artery..and ORANGE colored cats have an even smaller uretha...making kidney failure even more likely...I learned that even though he was 18 lbs he was always very skinny in the tailbone section, apparently this is an early indicator...and his desire to DEVOUR water...thirst is a sigh when we thought it was a spoiled quirk of his...apparently when we do first put 2 +2 together on kidney disease the cat has probably lost already 75% of the kidneys proper functioning...YOU know your animal better than anyone...make sure you are looking for underlying causes to your babies sickness...rule out nothing til the tests say so...when a cat stops eating it sets them up for all sorts of bad things apparently and when you throw in dehydration the situation becomes grave....I am waiting for our vet to open tomorrow to get copies of lab reports etc and would be happy to share them with anyone who has a sick sweetie and cant figure it out...high levels of BUN amongst other things are key pointers...if only I had known all this 2 weeks ago....but you can best believe my other cat will be at the vet 1st sign of decrease in anything...lol...good luck to you and your kitty!!!
 
 

ak12taco

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I also read an increased licking in the groin area can be indicative of CRF...? does he make any strange noises when licking?
 
 

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First of all, I'm so sorry for your Pretzel! And it's great to hear he seems to be on the mend! :clap: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes:

I guess I just don't understand WHY they don't believe me.  Why they won't try and treat him for paint poisoning.  WHY??  this is very frustrating to me.  
But poisoning can affect so many things, usually the kidneys. So it's not like you give a cat "something" to "fix" poisoning. You have to determine if any damage was done.....


how do I boost his iron?  he is licking any dirt that comes in the house like he is going to DIE if he doesn't get any.  I can't keep him away from it.  I'm sure he must be anemic from the bleeding ulcer, his poop isn't black as of last night!
To fix anemia from bleeding ulcers, if that's what it is, iron is NOT the solution. Iron supplements in cats are a tricky thing. I speak from experience - we've dealt with feline hemolytic anemia (anemia caused by an auto-immune disorder) in one of our cats; the other was caused by bleeding ulcers associated with a cancerous mass in his stomach. And IF it is bleeding ulcers, then he needs sucralfate, which has to be prescribed by a vet. The pepcid a/c will reduce production of acid, but it will not REPAIR ulcers. And if he's anemic enough that he's got PICA, I hate to say it, but you really ought to have blood work done to determine the extent of the anemia - and the cause of the problem. I know it's costly, but if you treat bleeding ulcers, and that isn't the source of the problem.... :dk: Either way, a vet would have to prescribe sucralfate.


Black faeces indicates blood in them and isn't a normal colour.  Not sure what the licking is about, maybe his sense of smell and hence taste is disturbed at present.
:yeah: The black stool is either a very disrupted GI colony OR his digesting his own blood.


Please do not self-administer iron to your kitty.

:vibes: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes:
 
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sheeshshe

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His poop stopped being black 2 days ago.  Wouldn't that mean that the ulcer is healing?  The vet will not prescribe sucralfate.  I already asked.  They still keep persisting that it is a blockage and they want to do surgery.  My cat is on the mend, like a huge huge huge ton.  There is no way it is a blockage.  
 
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sheeshshe

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Any way to get him to take the Pepcid?  All of a sudden he is getting sneaky and pretending to swallow it but then hanging onto it in his mouth and then spitting it out later!  I just tried about 10 times just now and there is now way I can get him to swallow it!
 

whollycat

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Any way to get him to take the Pepcid?  All of a sudden he is getting sneaky and pretending to swallow it but then hanging onto it in his mouth and then spitting it out later!  I just tried about 10 times just now and there is now way I can get him to swallow it!
Can you coat it in butter, ghee, or fat? Sometimes that little bit of "lubrication" will help the pill go down the hatch. You can also hold his mouth closed with chin pointing upward and stroke his throat. Also make sure you place it as far back in his throat as you can. Sneaky little fella!
 

whollycat

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how do I boost his iron?  he is licking any dirt that comes in the house like he is going to DIE if he doesn't get any.  I can't keep him away from it.  I'm sure he must be anemic from the bleeding ulcer, his poop isn't black as of last night!
I agree with not giving him iron without a definitive diagnosis.

The dirt eating/licking could be from a nutritional deficiency (too long on his limited diet?), anemia, Pica, or any number of reasons. I've also heard that kitties in the wild will ingest grass and dirt when their tummies are upset. So that could be another possible reason.

For what it's worth, SEB has many nutrients in it, one being iron. Perhaps be more aggressive with giving him SEB (say, 5-10mL at least 3 times a day)? In the old days, pioneers survived for days on SEB alone, so it can even be life-sustaining. Just an interesting tidbit I know about SEB.
  The most important aspect for kitties is that SEB has wonderful mucilage (coating) and healing properties. So SEB is one of the few safe herbs for kitties that I reach for for any number of maladies for kitties. I've even made it into a paste for [non-puncture] wounds.

Can you find a different vet to take Pretzel to? That would be my recommendation.
 
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