Hi, everyone.
First of all, I want to say that this site has been most helpful. I've been searching through it since last year and finding out many tips/tricks. However, today, I am posting for the first time because I think I need to ask more questions about my specific area of concern.
We took in a stray (maybe even semi-feral?) cat last July. She had been living outside in the back little "barn" area for a year prior to that. At first she was very scared and hissed at us, so we couldn't get close to her. Took an entire year of feeding her outside there for her to finally trust us and warm up. We eventually brought her inside and discovered she was already fixed (her ear was tipped) and she seemed to have an URI problem and/or allergies. The vet claims she was clear of feline AIDS and leukemia as well as heartworm due to a blood test, so I just assume her main problem with the URI's is really seasonal allergies...?
Anyway, I learned from this site to put her on L-lysine powder for her wheezing/breathing issues. It had really helped her out greatly, along with a raw food diet. We feed her Bravo! and sometimes switch to Primal. We also add a tiny bit of salmon oil supplementation and Call of the Wild to the raw food since it is not complete for cats. She occasionally gets cat treats, too.
Well, everything was going okay until about a week or so ago. I noticed that she wasn't eating as much food. Now, the weather down here has become colder over the past week. I'm assuming the air is much drier now for her breathing issues as well. Anyway, as I said, I noticed that she would have only half of her food eaten. Then it turned into she would only eat in the morning but not at night. Then, about two days ago, I started to notice that she stopped eating altogether, or just *barely* was eating. This cat never drinks water either; all of the water she gets is from her raw food and from the water (about 2TB per meal) I tend to mix in for her.
Yesterday I was just a total mess because I realized that this has been going on for awhile. I've also noticed that she tends to crouch down to the floor a lot. I don't know if this means she is having stomach pain or what. She acts like she WANTS to eat. But everything I try to give her she walks away from. She even seems to have a fear of her food bowls now which really concerns me. If she does eat a tiny bit of food, she will eat it only if I first give her a cat treat she likes (she's been eating the Blue Buffalo chicken Kitty Yums) and then take some food out of the bowl and put it on the ground in front of her immediately afterwards. But even then she may sniff it and act like she is hungry yet doesn't want it. Also, I had to switch from her regular raw food to Fancy Feast, because that's the only wet (water dense) food she will eat now, when she does decide to eat.
Also, I've been trying desperately to get her to take her lysine still by grinding up a few of her cat treats with water and about 1/8-1/4 teaspoon of the pure lysine powder I always give her. I noticed that yesterday her wheezing/breathing cleared up a lot; but we also went out and bought her a warm mist humidifier so I'm assuming that could be helping, too.
One other thing that may or may not be of importance is that she had fleas when she came in to live with us. I'm wondering if this all could possibly be related to tapeworms as well? Or maybe she has a UTI as well as a URI? I checked her litterbox and I don't see any signs of blood. I also checked the size of her urine "clumps" and they don't seem smaller than usual. Maybe this is just allergies? Maybe she has a tumor in her nose? She definitely is having trouble smelling the food, because she tries to sniff it and then walks away from it. (Raw food doesn't really have a scent, so I think that's why she outright refuses to eat that any longer-- I even tried putting clam juice in it.) I've also tried tuna fish with some of her Call of the Wild supplementation powder in it, but now she kinda turns her nose up at that, too. I even tried warming up her Fancy Feast in the microwave but that didn't entice her either. The only thing she wants to eat are those Blue Buffalo semi-moist chicken Kitty Yum treats.
I feel like I'm at my wit's end. I don't know what to do for the poor cat aside from taking her to the vet. But I just fear taking her to the vet right now might make her more stressed, and then I'm worried they are just going to poke her with needles and put her through a battery of tests, etc. I guess what I'm trying to say is, is there anything else I'm missing? Is there anything else I can try before I have to subject her to the stress of going to the vet? I'm very worried that she's anorexic now and it could lead to hepatic lipidosis. Or maybe it's already at that stage because she keeps crouching to the ground so much? Maybe her stomach/liver is in pain? Or maybe it's cancer? Or maybe it's just seasonal allergies? Ahhhh! I'm going nuts here. I don't know what else to do. Please help/advise!
Thank you.
First of all, I want to say that this site has been most helpful. I've been searching through it since last year and finding out many tips/tricks. However, today, I am posting for the first time because I think I need to ask more questions about my specific area of concern.
We took in a stray (maybe even semi-feral?) cat last July. She had been living outside in the back little "barn" area for a year prior to that. At first she was very scared and hissed at us, so we couldn't get close to her. Took an entire year of feeding her outside there for her to finally trust us and warm up. We eventually brought her inside and discovered she was already fixed (her ear was tipped) and she seemed to have an URI problem and/or allergies. The vet claims she was clear of feline AIDS and leukemia as well as heartworm due to a blood test, so I just assume her main problem with the URI's is really seasonal allergies...?
Anyway, I learned from this site to put her on L-lysine powder for her wheezing/breathing issues. It had really helped her out greatly, along with a raw food diet. We feed her Bravo! and sometimes switch to Primal. We also add a tiny bit of salmon oil supplementation and Call of the Wild to the raw food since it is not complete for cats. She occasionally gets cat treats, too.
Well, everything was going okay until about a week or so ago. I noticed that she wasn't eating as much food. Now, the weather down here has become colder over the past week. I'm assuming the air is much drier now for her breathing issues as well. Anyway, as I said, I noticed that she would have only half of her food eaten. Then it turned into she would only eat in the morning but not at night. Then, about two days ago, I started to notice that she stopped eating altogether, or just *barely* was eating. This cat never drinks water either; all of the water she gets is from her raw food and from the water (about 2TB per meal) I tend to mix in for her.
Yesterday I was just a total mess because I realized that this has been going on for awhile. I've also noticed that she tends to crouch down to the floor a lot. I don't know if this means she is having stomach pain or what. She acts like she WANTS to eat. But everything I try to give her she walks away from. She even seems to have a fear of her food bowls now which really concerns me. If she does eat a tiny bit of food, she will eat it only if I first give her a cat treat she likes (she's been eating the Blue Buffalo chicken Kitty Yums) and then take some food out of the bowl and put it on the ground in front of her immediately afterwards. But even then she may sniff it and act like she is hungry yet doesn't want it. Also, I had to switch from her regular raw food to Fancy Feast, because that's the only wet (water dense) food she will eat now, when she does decide to eat.
Also, I've been trying desperately to get her to take her lysine still by grinding up a few of her cat treats with water and about 1/8-1/4 teaspoon of the pure lysine powder I always give her. I noticed that yesterday her wheezing/breathing cleared up a lot; but we also went out and bought her a warm mist humidifier so I'm assuming that could be helping, too.
One other thing that may or may not be of importance is that she had fleas when she came in to live with us. I'm wondering if this all could possibly be related to tapeworms as well? Or maybe she has a UTI as well as a URI? I checked her litterbox and I don't see any signs of blood. I also checked the size of her urine "clumps" and they don't seem smaller than usual. Maybe this is just allergies? Maybe she has a tumor in her nose? She definitely is having trouble smelling the food, because she tries to sniff it and then walks away from it. (Raw food doesn't really have a scent, so I think that's why she outright refuses to eat that any longer-- I even tried putting clam juice in it.) I've also tried tuna fish with some of her Call of the Wild supplementation powder in it, but now she kinda turns her nose up at that, too. I even tried warming up her Fancy Feast in the microwave but that didn't entice her either. The only thing she wants to eat are those Blue Buffalo semi-moist chicken Kitty Yum treats.
I feel like I'm at my wit's end. I don't know what to do for the poor cat aside from taking her to the vet. But I just fear taking her to the vet right now might make her more stressed, and then I'm worried they are just going to poke her with needles and put her through a battery of tests, etc. I guess what I'm trying to say is, is there anything else I'm missing? Is there anything else I can try before I have to subject her to the stress of going to the vet? I'm very worried that she's anorexic now and it could lead to hepatic lipidosis. Or maybe it's already at that stage because she keeps crouching to the ground so much? Maybe her stomach/liver is in pain? Or maybe it's cancer? Or maybe it's just seasonal allergies? Ahhhh! I'm going nuts here. I don't know what else to do. Please help/advise!
Thank you.