What Could be Wrong With my Meezer? :(

Pumpkin helps some cats with diarrhea, as does rice. It seems to slow the digestive system down a bit.

ETA: Kaopectate has bismuth subsalicylate in it, same as Pepto Bismol.

Peaches is right. I just looked it up online. They've changed the formulation, so now it's just like pepto-bismol. Scratch that suggestion. Thanks peaches for the info. Otherwise I might have given it to my cats in the future if they had diarrhea. It's been a while since I gave it to them. Guess I need to start checking on any changes to medicine. My vet book is a few years old. Time for an updated version! It won't be long before you can get Meezer to the vet. Write down anything you want to ask the vet and all his symptoms. By the time I catch the cat and get it in the carrier, drive to the vet with the cat howling all the way, I forget all the questions I need to ask!

He is a handsome fellow! So glad to hear there's at least some improvement.  

I've heard claims that Slippery Elm Bark can help with both constipation and diarrhea, but I have never used it for either of those two things. I've used in my cats for upset stomach and acid indigestion.

Continued vibes! 

 Re canned pumpkin,  that can help with both constipation and diarrhea,  to make them " regular" .  

Another idea is a probiotic.    And I really found that feeding him  raw as part of his diet helped with diarrhea.  Personally,  I fed Nature's Variety Instinct venison raw frozen.   but the venison was because the vet wanted him on a novel protein ( this was related to the IBD diagnosis which was 2 years later.).  

When Louis had bad diarrhea keep going on,  the vet gave him metronidazole,  which  helped.  

The way you describe the diarrhea,  I do see the possibility of a partial blockage   but I hope that is not the case.   If a cat gets VERY blocked that also causes vomiting.  

It is good to hear he is showing some interest in the food at least.   Is he now keeping down what you feed him without vomiting?    that would be a good sign.

I do hope it turns out he doesn't have a blockage and you can get the diarrhea under control,    get something for nausea,   then you might consider an appetitie stimulant.

I'm glad you will find out some more tomorrow.

 Siamese are my favorite too. And I have to say, what a  handsome Meezer boy ,  he looks like a sweetheart  and WOW look at that pattern contrast in a  blue point who may be several years old(?  I may have missed it if you said a specific age.)     but that pale body is really something!   If he is over 2 yrs, it makes me wonder if he could actually be a lilac point but with unusually cool colored points.  That does sometimes happen and a breeder could confuse the 2 in a kitten.   His coat on the body sure looks like a lilac point body,  with virtually no shading.    But do you know if that's even possible? (  chocolate or lilac relatives would at least give a clue )     
 

I wish I could do a raw diet but he won't eat it!  I tried to go raw when my Pinky got ill before he died last year and neither one of them would even sniff it.  How do you get a cat to start liking it? lol.  Fievel has been a picky eater since he was a kitten... when he had giardia, I couldn't even get him to eat rice and chicken that I had cooked.

I couldn't get the new vet to let me in today... but I was able to get an appointment at 3PM tomorrow for my second opinion.

He seems better again today... he is going nuts on his scratching post and all seems more willing to sleep on his own rather than in my lap.  He also took 2 bites of food on his own last night and then about 2 licks of some gravy today.  The wierd salavation after going to the bathroom has also appeared to stop and he isn't trying to sit in his litterbox anymore.

He does still have nasty diarreah and of course not wanting to eat or drink.  I have some canned pumpkin in the fridge, I'm thinking maybe I'll put some of that in the syringe and give it to him.  He was always keeping down food .... he never actually vomitted he was just having really nasty saliva spewing out of his mouth with no heaving or anything.  But yes, he's been keeping down the food I'm syringing just fine.  He just apparently won't eat on his own and has the diarreah.

Fievel is 10.   He is definately a blue point but yes he does have beautiful coloring.  He is a super sweety... I got him from a breeder in PA 10 years ago and I lived in VA (still do) and had to drive about 4 hours home with him.  He was crying and crying in his cat carrier so I took him out of it and he just curled up in my lap and went to sleep the whole way home.  I've probably babied him too much because he's a total momma's boy and is completely dependant on me.  He must be on me being held like 24/7.  He sleeps on my pillow with me and follows me around like a dog.  I had a red point Siamese that was about 5 years old when I got Fievel and they became the bestest of friends.  My red point died last year and Fievel was devastated... he was totally depressed for months and wouldn't eat or drink.  Now he's more needy and clingy than ever.

He was a chronic barfer up until we had his teeth cleaned last year... so I dunno why he suddenly stopped barfing.  I'm suspecting maybe he's had some intestinal issues for a long time but maybe it was just not obvious?  Everytime I had him checked out for the barfing they kept telling me nothing was wrong with him and he was just "a barfer" and that siamese have sensitive stomaches.

Be careful with "kaopectate" because the new human formulas have salicylates in them, i.e. ASPIRIN, and are POISON to cats.  The original Kaopectate was just Pectin and Kaolin, and you can still get that compositon for animals.

Yes, its the BISMUTH SUBSALICYLATE that is related to Aspirin and is poisonous for cats!!!!!!!!!  Do not use either human Kaopectate or Pepto Bismol on cats.  Thanks, Peaches08, for mentioning that. 

Why would I be carefly with Kaopectate?  I never mentioned anything about it.

 My cats are mostly not very picky and took to raw pretty easily. 

 With Phai-lin,  my seal point queen who is pictured as a youngster in my avatar pic ,  I coaxed her a bit by first giving a small piece or two with some canned paté food she liked,  or pouring the small amount of liquid from a can over a bite of raw,  or sprinkling some Fortiflora ( a probiotic but it's in a powder that cats find very tasty. so it can be used as a food attractant). 

 
There are some people on here who had a much longer process of getting their cats to eat raw.

Here is a thread with some handy tips and links .   Raw Transition Resource Thread

 I am glad you are able to get an appointment tomorrow. 

Yes,  that is truly a  light color body on a 10 year old blue point who doesn't live in the tropics!    The color really does look like my lilac point meezer boy but with blue points.   Did it run in his line?    There have been some lines of Siamese that were bred for very very pale body.   I know of this more in the show style / modern Siamese.   for example the Singa cats were known for that.

Poor Fievel, I am sorry he and you lost his old friend.  They definitely grieve.   and get very attached to their animal friends.  When Louis died last year  ,  my blue point Sammy missed his buddy terribly. ( So did I .)  Sammy spent days lying in the carrier where Louis often used to lie,  and wouldn't eat  .   


Here is a pic of Louis and Sammy holding paws about a year before Louis's death  .Louis is the big seal point Siamese mix  ( you can see the coat is fluffier).Sam is the blue point Siamese.

Awe look at them!  So cute!  Your blue looks like he could be my boy's brother.    The breeder we got him from did have a mix of lilacs/blues in the litter... I honestly can't remember what the Sire and Dam looked like.  I think maybe the lighting in the picture made Fievel look not as dark as he is... but he does have a lot of beige coloring on his body.  Its mostly down his back and of course his tail looks like yours.  I have also kept my home on the cool side for most of his life.   We have a fireplace now and he loves to cop a squat right in front of it (its gas behind glass) and get nice and toasty.

Just got done force feeding him again... ugh, I hope I don't have to do this much longer... its pretty easy to do, I've always been pretty good at holding my cat's heads and getting their mouths open but I know he hates it and it takes a long time since you can't get much in the darned syringe at a time.  I also just gave him 7cc's of pumpkin puree... he was like UGH *** IS THAT?!? but he ate it hehe... guess we'll see if that helps.  As soon as I fed him he had to go have diarreah some more.

Hmmmm Well,  they might be  related  Sammy comes  from lines from Pennsylvania.   

 My lilac point Chatri has an honorary "brother" on this site too.  named Gideon ( poster name is HarleyDiva) . They look a LOT alike!   Chatri  is basically "magnolia white" in the body with just very slight shading on the hip bones

 yes,  syringe feeding is not easy .    I use 30 ml syringes ;  I find those to be a good size for this.    I take out the plunger and stuff the food in the top.   It's no fun though and I hope I don't need to do it again any time soon. 

 I'm sure  part of the reason they were wanting to hospitalize Fievel is  concern about him not getting enough nutrition.  and in the hospital they can just give nutrition via IV.      With the syringe feeding, for an average size cat,  you basically want to get a 5.5 ounce can of a/d or Wellness Chicken or Turkey ( similar to a/d)  into him per day.   Or at least 3/4 can.   but you can divide that into as many feedings as you need.    I mix some water with it too. 

 I sure hope this handsome meeze will  feel all better soon and you will be so happy to see him eating.   I was fortunate that Louis was extremely food motivated and a voracious eater when he was not feeling awful.  So usually I did not have to continue the assisted feeding very long, if we attacked the symptoms with other meds , fluids etc.

LOL maybe, he came from Madee Catery.

And some good progress this evening!  He actually ate some food on his own!  He won't eat it out of the bowl which is strange but if I picked it up and put it on the floor in front of him he ate it off the floor.  It wasn't a lot of food but it was something.

And..... he played with me!  He rolled over on his back and played with his favorite cat nip stuffed mouse.

I'm hoping the vet tomorrow will help me figure out if I need any sort of long term treatment with him or maybe just an appetite stimulant.  I'm wondering if all his years of being a picky eater was just his tummy bothering him?  I mean he was barfing all the time for no apparent reason.

Hmm, I didn't think to take the plunger out and stuff it in there.. lol.  The syringe they gave me only holds 10cc's and it has a tiny hole in the front end...so, if the food isn't really smooth it doesn't go in or come out well.  I did have some a/d but I only had 2 cans of it.  I'm giving him some CORE kitten food right now.    And I'm also giving him that nutiritional gel substitute stuff a few times a day.

I understand they want him hospitalized to give him an IV... but if its at the regular vet hospital, they don't have anyone there at night and at least for Fievel he would be more stressed out from being in a cage in a strange place that wouldn't help his health.  And I have been giving him 24 hour care whether its just laying with me sleeping, fluids, feeding, monitoring his bowel movements etc... and I work for free.   He gets so stressed out being in a cat carrier that he has never actually been in one except when I flew to Denmark with the kitties.  I carry him everywhere when he needs to go out.  He sits in my lap while I'm driving and then I can just hold him with one arm while he lays like a baby on my shoulder.  If he was really really ill then I of course would have done it... but I just personally think I have given him way better care then he would have gotten at the hospital.

Now I just need to get this diarreah taken care of... looking forward to seeing what this new vet will say.

Hey that is GREAT news that he ate some on his own  AND played with you some.  

I want to make clear that I didn't mean I thought you were doing the wrong thing by treating him at home ( with visits to the vet) instead of hospitalizing him 24/7.    The way you describe the factors here, I would keep him home too.   I just meant the vet's perspective might be partly due to thinking that clients have a hard time getting enough food into a cat by syringe feeding . 

I   found it so much easier to deal with when I got larger syringes with a wider opening at the tip so they don't clog up so easily.   I have used different sizes,  an as I mentioned earlier,  I prefer the 30 or 35cc syringes .

Here are some that may be even better than the ones i have used. http://www.innovetpet.com/ap8_hand_feed_cat.php

 I also didn't mean you needed to feed only a/d.  There's nothing magical about a/d.    You can use any balanced cat food that is high calorie and high in animal protein and is in a smooth enough paté to work with a syringe.   The Wellness CORE kitten should be great. 

Oh ok, I gotchya now.   Meaning is lost in text sometimes... sorry.

He is totally eating on his own now!  He was driving me crazy last night... he would go to the food bowl and cry and acted like he wanted to eat but then when I opened a can and put it down he would sniff it and then look up at me like, "what else you got?"  I have wasted so much cat food in the last 4 days then I even care to mention.  But this carried on for about 10 minutes and then finally I took one of the food bowls and I put it in the microwave for like 12 seconds and then put it back down... he still did his sniff and reject thing but then I took some of it and put it on his tongue.  After that he started eating it!  And now he seems to be ok eating what we put down.  But he's still being his usual picky self.  If I put down one he doesn't want I have to open another can and see which one he'll eat.  He seems to want to be eating gravy stuff instead of pate right now.  His poo also seems better... he still has diarreah but it is much thicker now and a more normal looking stool instead of that mucasy stuff he had...so I don't think he has a blockage.

My husband doesn't want me to take him to the vet today but I think I still should so I can see if I like this vet better and see if she agrees that he is on the mend and if in fact he had pancreatitis ... perhaps he just had a stomach bug or something?  Can cats get that like we do?  He still may need an appetitte stimulant as he is a very dainty eater and won't eat a whole lot in one sitting... and he'll go back and nibble.  So, I have to have food out all the time.  Do you agree that I should still take him in?

This has been so stressful, but I'm glad there is a light at the end.

I'm also gonna get him some probiotics and keep giving him that vitamin and mineral gel stuff... they did tell me his calcium was low... so, hopefully I can get that up.

If I remember right you said he has a history of vomiting which the vet had chalked up to his being a Siamese.  I don't think it's normal for a cat to be vomiting a lot.  I would go ahead and get him checked for pancreatitis.  I would definitely try probiotics, many people have had good luck with them controlling IBD.

Thanks Denice, I do know people that have cats that just barf... and I thought that's what Fievel was as well.  But now with this happening I'm starting to agree with you that maybe all those years of vomitting were actually from an underlying condition... but it doesn't make any sense to me that a cat that vomitted (sometimes 4 times a day) would just magically stop barfing after getting his teeth cleaned.

This is a pic of Fievel and his bestest buddy Pinky who passed away in December of last year.

The teeth cleaning could've been a coincidence.  Patches would sometimes go a long time without being sick, the longest being about 8 months.  I had switched food before he had that long period without any issues and I thought I had it figured out but I didn't.  He would also have some very mild flares that as I started watching him more closely I would see them but before I probably didn't even notice.  Even with the steroids he will have the occasional day where he doesn't eat quite as much and I will see him in the meatloaf position more than usual.  Before I became so sensitized to his being sick I probably wouldn't have even noticed.  If had noticed I probably wouldn't have made the connection.

I dunno, I would have thought a coincidence if it only lasted a few months but for a cat that vomitted daily for 9 years to suddenly stop and be vomit free for over a year... and only because of 1 thing happening... I don't think it could be coincidental.

But, I'm just glad he's doing much better now.

If a cat's teeth are hurting and he eats dry food, often he swallows it whole and does not chew.  Then when he drinks water, the food swells to be too large for his stomach so he vomits.  If the teeth cleaning removed the source of the pain and he began chewing his food, chances are he would no longer overeat and thus would not vomit when he drank water after eating.  A good test (prior to teeth cleaning) is to feed wet food only and see if that gets vomited as often as dry food did.