Kitten Refusing To Eat After Getting Spayed!!!

gravekandi · Dec 21, 2013

As some of you know I recently took my 5month kitten Ziggy to get fixed on Sunday Morning. Well the vet told me too feed her half the amount she normally eats since the chances of her vomiting after getting this procedure the first week were quite high. She normally eats 2-3 oz at each meal and she eats 3times a day, so a total of 6-9 oz of food a day. Well now I'm lucky if she eats a full 1oz a day! I haven't changed anything about her diet since she got spayed so I really don't understand whats wrong. I've tried her dry, she sniffed it and walked away. I tried a couple of different wets same thing. I gave her wellness and soulistic along with a couple others she loves and she eats some and then leaves it. I even tried her favorite weekly snack of a sardine and she couldn't even finish it when before she would scarf that bad boy up withing 5-10 mins. Shes still drinking water so that's a good thing.She just doesn't seem interested in what I'm giving her. She has even turned up her nose to her favorite store treats. I don't know whats wrong &I'm worried.

denice · Dec 21, 2013

I would definitely get her to a vet ASAP. The reason the vet gave you the guideline about eating half of what she normally eats is to avoid hepatic lipidosis. That is considered a rule of thumb safe amount. She needs to be seen today. She also needs to eat however and whatever you can get her to eat. Try heating her food a bit that sometimes will get her to eat. Try some different foods. Fancy Feast is one that some cats will eat when they are off their food, I have heard it called kitty crack. When I was having this problem with one of my cats the last food he would quit eating was the Meow Mix market selects in the yellow cups with the foil pull tops.

You can also try the meat baby foods preferably Beechnut it's the most pure. One of the brands has onion in it you definitely want to avoid that one.

If all else fails you will need to syringe feed her. There are videos on youtube and one here on this site that shows how to do it. The main thing is to use the side of her mouth and aim more for the roof of her mouth or the pouch in her cheek rather than her throat. You will need to go very slow it takes a lot of patience.

cprcheetah · Dec 21, 2013

Was she sent home with pain medications? Are you able to give them? I would definitely talk with the vet and possibly take her in asap. Not eating can indicate pain among other things.

gravekandi · Dec 21, 2013

cprcheetah said:
Was she sent home with pain medications? Are you able to give them? I would definitely talk with the vet and possibly take her in asap. Not eating can indicate pain among other things.

No she wasnt given any. I'm awaiting a call from the vet tomorrow, I was at work today and I left the vet a voicemail and she texted telling me she will get back to me tomorrow.

Denice said:
I would definitely get her to a vet ASAP. The reason the vet gave you the guideline about eating half of what she normally eats is to avoid hepatic lipidosis. That is considered a rule of thumb safe amount. She needs to be seen today. She also needs to eat however and whatever you can get her to eat. Try heating her food a bit that sometimes will get her to eat. Try some different foods. Fancy Feast is one that some cats will eat when they are off their food, I have heard it called kitty crack. When I was having this problem with one of my cats the last food he would quit eating was the Meow Mix market selects in the yellow cups with the foil pull tops.

You can also try the meat baby foods preferably Beechnut it's the most pure. One of the brands has onion in it you definitely want to avoid that one.

If all else fails you will need to syringe feed her. There are videos on youtube and one here on this site that shows how to do it. The main thing is to use the side of her mouth and aim more for the roof of her mouth or the pouch in her cheek rather than her throat. You will need to go very slow it takes a lot of patience.

I had to work today so I left a voicemail they told me they will get back to me on Sunday :/ I tired fancy feast &I still had to spoon feed her and I only got 1 oz of that in today and about another oz of friskies in not too long ago. She keeps doing the "digging" motion people speak of when their cats dont like the food. But she does it after eating some of the food (with other food she sniffs it and does that). I'm going to go out on a late night run to King soopers and pick up some beechnut. Shes currently snoozing in her kitty bed with the heating pad in. Hopefully I can find a baby syringe to feed her with while I'm their.

lilin · Dec 22, 2013

As someone who's had pelvic surgery, I can tell you it's very hard to eat afterwards. Your abdominal wall is very tense as it tries to heal itself, which makes you feel like you're about to explode with much smaller amounts of food. Your stomach doesn't have room to expand.

But given that it's been a week, and the concerns about fatty liver as pertains to cats, Ziggy definitely needs to go to the vet. It might be as simple as her now associating food with abdominal pain, and a simple pain killer or appetite stimultant might do the trick. But it could be something more serious as well, and cats really just have to eat consistently.

I think, until you can get to the vet, syringe feeding is definitely in order at this point. Might not be happy about it, but she's got to eat.

cprcheetah · Dec 22, 2013

Yes please get her to a vet, maybe even an emergency vet, not eating for a week is pretty serious in cats.

gravekandi · Dec 22, 2013

cprcheetah said:
Yes please get her to a vet, maybe even an emergency vet, not eating for a week is pretty serious in cats.

Lilin said:
As someone who's had pelvic surgery, I can tell you it's very hard to eat after wards. Your abdominal wall is very tense as it tries to heal itself, which makes you feel like you're about to explode with much smaller amounts of food. Your stomach doesn't have room to expand.

But given that it's been a week, and the concerns about fatty liver as pertains to cats, Ziggy definitely needs to go to the vet. It might be as simple as her now associating food with abdominal pain, and a simple pain killer or appetite stimulant might do the trick. But it could be something more serious as well, and cats really just have to eat consistently.

I think, until you can get to the vet, syringe feeding is definitely in order at this point. Might not be happy about it, but she's got to eat.

I just got back from taking her to the vet, they said she looks healthy anf everything is checking out so they gave her a fluids shot (?IV?) and an apatite stimulant and told me to call them back if the problem persists after 3 days. They explained that after such an invasive procedure they don't want to eat much just like when we get sick we don't want to eat much.

denice · Dec 22, 2013

I am glad you were able to get her to the vet. She will feel better from the fluids and hopefully the appetite stimulant will get her started eating again.

gravekandi · Dec 22, 2013

Denice said:
I am glad you were able to get her to the vet. She will feel better from the fluids and hopefully the appetite stimulant will get her started eating again.

I hope so too, right now she is napping in her strawberry home with a heating pad in it. I hope when she wake up she eats

Kitten Refusing To Eat After Getting Spayed!!!

gravekandi

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denice

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cprcheetah

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gravekandi

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lilin

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cprcheetah

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gravekandi

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denice

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gravekandi

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