Samson is not taking food.

Hi all,

I could really use some help with my cat. I am living in Ethiopia and cannot find a good qualified Veterinarian to assist with diagnosis and treatment. There are precious few vets here, no prepared pet foods of any sort nor support for animals in distress.

My cat (Samson) who I have had since a kitten has stopped eating. Three weeks ago his leg was seriously injured in an accident and has not been properly treated. I believe it is a tendon or muscular problem although without access to X-rays it is impossible to tell. He limps like a wounded war hero and I worry it is permanent.

I was briefly treating him for pain using a mild anti-inflammatory and Aspirin (which I now know was not the correct thing to do). As an outcome of the treatment he stopped eating full meals five days ago. Yesterday he refused altogether and so this morning I have him on an oral syringe with liquified pork (from a can).

He is very lethargic and sleeps all through the day and night. I don't know exactly what to do except give him an oral rehydration therapy and force feeding. I also have him on 1cc daily of Vitamin B in liquid form to encourage an appetite.

My question: How much vitamin B is OK to give? How much liquid ORS daily is necessary for a 4 pound cat? How much food by syringe should he be getting? Sorry for all the questions. Does anyone know the answers or can anyone possibly offer help for Sam. I have doubts he will survive without intervention.

Many thanks.

I don't have any advice to give you, but I'm bumping this thread in the hopes that someone else can help you.

Sorry you have no resources there. How old is your kitty? 4lb is very little.

Well thanks Vball99. Good thing this was not an emergency I could not handle!!!!

Let me tell you what I have done since I wrote. Samson was on the verge of death yesterday. That was why I wrote looking for help in you SOS column. As I never recieved a response and was unable to connect to the internet most of the day I took things in my own hands.

There was no time to wait.

First, I bumped up the dosage of vitamin B complex to more than triple the recommended daily amount. That means I gave Sammy 3 oral syringes of 2CC each in a liquid form. I also put him on an Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) at the same time and administered eighteen 5ml doses throughout the day which totalled 90 ml of liquid.

The idea there was ot get his electrolytes back in balance and to rehydrate him quickly although I still don't know how much a 2 kilogram cat usually drinks in one day. For anyone unfamiliar, Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) is used extensively in Africa and the Third World to combat the negative effects of diarrhea and dehydration associated with a wide range of ilnesses that kill hundreds of thousands of people each year. 

Third, I bought a small electric coffee grinder and a can of Tulip brand pork (imported from Denmark). Ethiopia is a very orthodox Chrisitian country. Pork is not eaten here by anyone except foreigners like me and so it is very expensive if you can even find it.......I found it and took it home.

Fourth, I picked up the biggest feeding syringes I could find which were 10 CC's each. When I got home I put what I estimated to be a daily portion of meat (for Samson) in the grinder and after adding corn oil and water it was ground into a very thin liquid.

Thin enough to be drawn up by syringe and fed to him by mouth.

Over the course of the day I used all of it which amounted to 60 or 70 CC's of food. Samson was far too weak to fight and so took it all without much effort although he did object a little. By evening I was noticing he was more alert although he still looked terrible. Over the two weeks since his leg was injured his fur lost its sheen and his eyes were no longer glossy and clear.

To make a long story short (yes, I know this post is long), Samson made what I consider to be a remarkable recovery. Literally overnight he has bounced back and is eating on his own this morning. Demanding food is more like it. He slept like a baby last night and is resting in a normal way now.

For anyone else reading this I just want to make a few comments.

1) Never, never give a cat Aspirin or anti-inflammatories even if it is in pain. This was a huge mistake on my part.

2) If your cat stops eating......take action. I mean take action fast. I learned this is a huge warning sign of trouble.

3) If your cat stops drinking you had better plan on staying home and giving hourly care to rehydrate him.

Anyway..signing off. Sorry that there was nobody there to help when needed them but all is now well.

Samson in Ethiopia

I am so glad that Samson is better. He's very lucky that he has you to take care of him. How is his leg doing?

Not good. I am trying to arrange an X-ray but it is not easy. There are not facilites for animals here. Hell, there is insufficient facilities for people. I will see what can be done though. He may come back to Canada with me and get surgery as I don't think it possible here. Now that the swelling is down and I am examining him more closely I can detect the bones are not aligned. I am no doctor though. About all I can offer him is a leg massage and good wishes.

Hi Samson in Ethio, and welcome to TCS!

In no way would I dispute your assessment of the lack of veterinary resources over there....only as a FWIW would I suggest that just maybe (if you haven't done this already) a call to the Canadian consulate might open something up on that front...???

A few thoughts on "what if it's a fracture?": not long ago I read a quote from a Vet to the effect that, 'so long as the two pieces of feline bone are in the same room, they will reconnect' (!!!) - so, if I'm reading between the lines correctly, and you're working on getting some human medical attention for Samson, consider that quote in your process.

One more thought - should you be bringing him back for medical attention: you won't want to be faced with any import quarantine nonsense at the border - if I were considering coming home, I would ensure the Consulate had paved a very smooth pathway for me ahead of time.

If you don't have it, here "they" are: http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/kenya/offices-bureaux/contact-ethiopia-contactez.aspx?view=d
 

Hoping this helps! Boy, do I feel for you in all this. Please keep us posted.

another FWIW.......you said

I was briefly treating him for pain using a mild anti-inflammatory and Aspirin

Click to expand...

Can I ask, exactly what he was given? If these things are not North American products, exactly which ingredients do they contain?

I'm asking in case there are known/acknowledged remedies/remediations for these in felines, they could be suggested to you and, if they are such that they may have damaged some organ/s, you could at least be informed.

Noted, White Shadow. Bringing Sammy back will be problematic. The capital city of Addis is known as the Rabies capital of Africa. There are thousands of stray dogs and cats. I do not know if it is even possible to take a cat out of the country. I will be checking into it because if he were seized it would likely result in his being destroyed. Not even sure there is a certification available for vacccines. So many things that we take for granted back home are just not available here. Like mosquito spray of all damn things. On the other hand it is a fantastic place to live and to visit. Very friendly and beautiful. I can recommend it for anyone who likes to travel.

Sure, the medication is called Diclo-Denk 50. I was shaving off a cat sized piece and crushing it up before administering. The other med was a children's liquid aspirin formulation which I have now disposed of. Both were from India if I recall. The worst thing I gave though was two doses of Ibuprofin. He almost died.

Tell everyone if they do not know this (I did not know) that Ibuprofin is utterly toxic to cats. NEVER give a cat that product. Actually, don't give any pain killers to be safe. The one vet I found suggested I use Valium in a 1mg dose but at that point the poor guy was so close to the edge I was certain it would finish him so I never tried it. As of now he is off everything and recovering nicely. Appetite is very good again although he still limps.

Thanks for taking an interest. I think the crisis is behind me now. There is definitely a bone issue going on though. I am thinking it is actually the back that is injured, not the leg.