Help! Sick cat not eating.

Fritos, who is my oldest cat at 8 years old and has always been my favorite "baby" even though your not supposed to pick favorites, has not been feeling well for a while now.  I've noticed off and on for the past month or so, he'll have days where he just lies around all day sleeping and when you pick him up he feels stiff........like he doesn't want picked up..........which is very unusual for him, because he's always been the kind of cat that goes floppy and purry when you pick him up.  When he's laying there on the chair his pupils are usually dilated like he's either in pain or just not feeling good.  Thursday morning he didn't follow me out to the kitchen like he and the other 3 cats always do for their canned food breakfast, I brought him out to his dish and he didn't even sniff at it and just quickly walked away and went back to his spot on my chair.  So I took him to the vet Thursday afternoon, she did find that he has tapeworms, but she didn't think that would be causing his symptoms, she also did bloodwork which she said came back looking pretty good.  Since I have 4 cats I can't say for certain if he's munching on dry food throughout the day, since we leave it sitting out all day, I also have no idea if he's peeing and pooping because again........I have 4 cats and I don't know who does what.  Anyhow the vet said her best guess would be maybe he has a UTI and she gave me antibiotics for him and enough wormers for all 4 cats and a pill popper to make the pill giving easier.  She said in 2-3 days he should start getting better if this was the case.  Well he is still acting the same and still not eating, last night I put up all the dry food, thinking this way he'd definately be hungry with nothing to munch all night and he still had no interest in the food   I am really worried about him.  What's worse is since twice a day I have to hold him down and squirt disgusting smelling medicine down his throat, he acts like he doesn't trust me now and that really breaks my heart.  If he's got to be sick, I at least want to be the one to comfort him, he's changed his sitting spot to upstairs instead of my chair in the living room.  Does anybody have any ideas?

I am so sorry for you and your kitty.  Did the blood work include tests for hypothyroidism,  diabetes?

Can you isolate him for a day and see if he is peeing and pooping?  Were his teeth checked?  Was a urine sample taken?

But if it were me, I would be getting a second opinion since he has not perked up and continues to be lethargic.  He definately sounds ill as cats have no way to tell us other than their body language.  I'd go back and have vet take another look or get a second opinion elsewhere.

Please keep us posted.  Many vibes for your kitty.

Thanks and I just put him in my bedroom with his own food and litter box before I read your post.....lol.  The vet didn't do a urine sample, she said if he had a UTI then the antibiotic would take care of it.  And no she didn't check his teeth and I'm not sure what all they tested him for.  She had mentioned Lyme's disease, but I don't know if she actually included that in the bloodwork or not because I told her I've never seen any ticks on him, but he does go outside on a harness occasionally.

I really feel for you, and empathise too as I'm going through the same process with my 20 year old.  She seemed to rally at the start of the week but today she's not interested in the special food the vet gave (gave? sold) me, not even drinking any water.  I wasn't offered antibiotics and I really don't hold out much hope.

At 8 years your kitty isn't really 'old' for a pet cat, just a bit senior, so I can understand your concern.  How about a telephone call to the vets?  They can get the lady who saw you to give you a ring back if she's not available and she might put something up for you, even a stronger antibiotic, which you could collect to save putting him through the trauma of another visit.  Its heartbreaking when your efforts to help result in alienating the cat too, as if you're not feeling bad enough already. 

I take it he is drinking?

I'm not sure if he is drinking now or not, I know that Wednesday night he was in the bathroom meowing for me to give him bathroom tub water and he drank then.  Otherwise it's still the same story, I have 4 cats and a dog so I don't know who is drinking or eating what most of the time.  On another note I went in my bedroom to check on him and found that Brownie had somehow snuck in there and was snuggled up with him by the window Ever since we got the kittens they've palled together.  I'll leave her in there for a little while, even though it kind of messes with the idea of keeping him isolated to figure out if he's pooping and peeing, she seems to comfort him.  Here's the pic I just took.  Fritos is the one in front, white and tabby.

I'm sorry Fritos isn't feeling well
I just found out a couple of weeks ago that my 14 yr old, Krash, has lymphoma. Luckily (?!) it's the small cell kind that's treatable for awhile. I just wanted to chime in on your post because it reminds me a lot of what I went through with Krash. Back in February, he just stopped eating. I couldn't find any kind of food he wanted. Normally, he woke me up at 430am wanting food. In the afternoon when I'd get home from work, I could hear him yelling at me to feed him before I even got to my door. He was 23lbs.- He ate ALL the time. And then he just quit. I took him to the vet & they did some tests. Diagnoses- nothing's wrong. They found nothing. And after getting a 2nd and then a 3rd opinion, they said might be a UTI, but they still found nothing, despite me being adamant that SOMETHING was wrong with my cat.
I finally got him to start eating a little bit, but not enough. He was losing weight quickly. Everyone told me he's just getting old. He had no other real symptoms besides the not eating thing and being lethargic. Then in august, his eyes started to get goopy and he started having diarrhea a lot. After a week, it was pretty bad so I took him in again and said "there IS something wrong with my cat, I don't care if I have to sit here for a month, we aren't leaving until you help me figure it out." So, more tests, x-rays...they sId it was IBD, but get an ultrasound just in case. Got the ultrasound, found a mass in his tummy. They did an aspirate (where they take cells from the mass with a needle). The results came back that it was lymphoma.
So my cat has had cancer for this whole year at least, he's now down to a tiny 8lbs, and I just now found out because (what it felt like anyway) no one took me seriously & they wanted to do an easy diagnoses. PLEASE go get another opinion for Fritos. The earlier they can catch it, WHATEVER it is, the better chance he has.
Tons of hugs to Fritos and you. Hope he feels better and that it's nothing serious.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that Krash also had the stiffness thing when picked up, and his eyes were dilated when they started getting goopy. That all started back at the beginning of August. Please let us know what you find out about Fritos.

If he's not better by Monday, I am definately calling the vet again.  Hubby was groaning about the bill and mentioning it might hurt Christmas, but I told him that my Christmas would be ruined if something happened to him and I didn't do everything possible to help him.  It's so wierd because it's been kind of off and on, having good days and bad days until Thursday.  I just checked on him in my room and he looks better than this morning, but still has not eaten or used the litter box.

juliek1975 said:

If he's not better by Monday, I am definately calling the vet again.  Hubby was groaning about the bill and mentioning it might hurt Christmas, but I told him that my Christmas would be ruined if something happened to him and I didn't do everything possible to help him.  It's so wierd because it's been kind of off and on, having good days and bad days until Thursday.  I just checked on him in my room and he looks better than this morning, but still has not eaten or used the litter box.

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Hi Juliek,

We had a similar situation with a couple of our kitties that wouldn't eat or drink. I was so worried about the one getting dehydrated because she wouldn't drink on her own. We have multiple cats too, so I wasn't sure she was using the litter box either. What I did to make sure she did get some fluid was use a large syringe filled with water and without using the plunger part, I placed my finger over the top until I placed it in the side of her mouth and simply took my finger off to allow the water to flow naturally down her throat while she swallowed. Using a plunger to squirt the water in is dangerous because it can go into her lungs if you're not careful. The best way is to just place your finger over the top and let it flow into her mouth naturally, then he will swallow it. Also, don't give them too much water all at once. Just one syringe full as often as they would drink on their own as usual...no more.

We did give her some Clavamox antibiotic just in case she did have a UTI too. All of this seemed to help, but it took a few days before she really started eating and drinking like normal again.

Also another tip might be the food. Maybe give him something like a little tuna with the tuna water or a cat treat that he can't resist, just to get him started eating again.

I hope he gets well soon and some of these tips help.

I also wanted to add another important note here. Years ago I found out some of the plants I had in the house were toxic to the cats who were nibbling on them. Make sure you don't have any plants where cats can nibble on them, like on tables or elsewhere. This is a big problem that some don't realize when their kitties get sick. I don't keep my plants where the cats can get to them any more. Again...I hope all of this helps.

Sorry to post again, but I just remembered something else. The reason he might feel stiff is because he's dehydrated, not sure in your case, but really make sure he gets fluid because they can't live without water for very long. Try the syringe, but don't give him too much...just a little at a time and as often as he would drink on his own in the side of his mouth...just worried about your little baby here too.

Trust me, I understand the pain of the vet bills. We've spent nearly $1900 on Krash's visits, tests and treatments since 8/12/13. That's a hard hit in the pocket book. But nothing is more important than trying to help my baby. I'm sure you feel the same way.
One thing that made Krash start eating a bit more was FortiFlora. It's a probiotic that you sprinkle on the food. He loved it at first, now he acts like I'm poisoning him because he doesn't trust that I'm not trying to trick him into taking a pill. I noticed though at first, he wouldn't eat the parts of the food that it wasn't on. That's how I know for sure it was the FortiFlora that was helping him eat. It's kind of pricey, but not too bad. Maybe ask Fritos' doctor about getting a few packets. And at this point, even if he eats people food or stuff that you wouldn't normally let him have, let him eat it. It's better than nothing.

Fortiflora is excellent for getting a cat to eat or transitioning to another food.  It isn't much of a probiotic, there are many that are better, but it is great for enticing a cat to eat.  It has animal digest in it which is the same stuff that a lot of companies spray on kibble that makes it so darned addictive for kitties.

Well grrr, my husband ruined my isolation trick and now I don't know if he ate or not.  He came home from work and apparently didn't pay attention when I told him not to let the cat out and not to let the dog in our bedroom.  Soon I see the door hanging wide open and the food dish is empty.  I asked him if the dish was empty when he went in or if the dog ate it and he said when he saw the dog he was just sniffing the empty bowl........so I'm assuming the hog dog ate the food, as it would only take him a second to swallow that little scoop of wet food and my husband is not very observant.  But I don't know for sure.  On the other hand we had a roasted chicken for supper and when I offered it to Fritos he just sniffed and backed away and didn't eat his supper, but he was actually in the kitchen when I fed the others which is a step up from before.  I think I'm going to give him some nutri-cal I have from when Nestle had his stroke and a little water in a syringe as suggested just so I feel better.

You need to get him to the vet.  There are so many conditions that can cause a cat to stop eating.  I have a few cats and not eating is definitely a sign of trouble that needs to be looked into.

imho: if they won't eat meat flavored Gerber's baby food off your finger - they are really sick.  Not eating, they go downhill rapidly.

I just went through an exasperatingly long time of diagnosis with four different doctors: two vets and two animal hospitals.  It seemed they tried bloodwork and antibiotics first, move onto xrays next, lastly ultrasounds looking for internal issues.  Meanwhile, if they are not eating - they are going downhill all along.  After a number of days of not eating, a full-service animal hospital may be needed.

I am very excited to report that Fritos ate his breakfast this morning and actually ran out to the kitchen with the other cats!!!!  Last night I gave him some Nutri-cal which he hated, but a few hours later my daughter excitedly reported that he ate a couple treats.  A few hours before that I had even offered him tuna and he turned away from that and I was sooo scared that he was just going to waste away.  He's lost quite a bit of weight these past few days not eating.  Anyhow when I saw him eating and puting his tail up when I pet him instead of shying away I nearly cried.  Also when I picked him up afterwards for a celebration cuddle he didn't feel as stiff, so hopefully he's on the mend.  I don't know what it is about Nutri-cal, the same thing happened with Nestle, my kitten that had the stroke, once I fed him that couple times he started eating on his own. Thank you, Thank you guys soo much for all your support and suggestions.  Now just hoping he keeps improving and doesn't backslide.

What a great update!  Praying he continues to improve!

Good news! Hopefully he keeps eating, and feels better soon

Yeah, hope he is feeling better.