6 year old cat not eating

I have a 6 year old cat who is currently at the vet after the 5th day of no solid foods. We've had him in the vet since Monday morning.

    They have done an x-ray it is negative, ran a CBC and all of that came back normal except for dehydration and calcium levels were low. They are feeding him by syringe (as of last night/earlier today).

  At home he wouldn't eat nor drink water. He did void in the box and it was normal. He tried acting like himself but it would only last for awhile. He has not thrown up or anything out the ordinary just not eating.

      At home when he wouldn't eat I tried giving him wet food but he has never had wet food in his life. He just licked the gravy and walked away. He IS hungry. He wants to eat. He meows, sniffs the food looks up at us and just meows. It's heart breaking.

          The doctor said he has one "bad" tooth. We discussed removal and he said it wasn't that bad, not enough to cause these symptoms. We are confused. We saw him yesterday at the vet, he looked better after fluids and drank water with us but would not eat his food I brought from home (vet suggested). We feed him Purina Urinary Health dry food. The vet tried feeding him Science Diet. I did water his food down the night before he went to the vet (Sunday) and he ate 3 bites of his dry---wetted food. I'm just confused and want my cat home! I'm glad he's mending but kind of aggravated at the same time. This is the first time this has ever happened and it was out of the blue. No home changes, everything has been normal.

Any suggestions/advice?

kalli said:

 
Any suggestions/advice?

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Hi

regardless of the original cause of loss of appetite after 2 days of not eating a cat can get hepatic lipidosis, a liver condition that causes further loss of appetite and often requires serious int3ervention lkike syrinbge feeding or tube feeding until the cat recovers.  Your vet should do liver tests (and maybe has) to see if this condition is present.

Maybe an utrasound to look for masses.

DId anything happend or change just before he lost his appetite?

I wonder about the "one bad tooth". Think about how uncomfortable you can be if you have a toothache from just one tooth. My Oliver would come to his dish and ask for food but eat very little when he had dental issues. I guess one way to see if it's bothering him a lot is to try a painkiller like buprenorphine. The vet gave us some codeine (Oliver can't handle buprenorphine) in the days before his dental surgery to keep him comfortable.

Thank you all for your prompt replies. The vet has been syringe feeding him (last night) and said he is tolerating it well and has been eating that way. My husband finally had to get frank with them after I had told the vet on the first visit when I learned of the bad tooth to pull it. So hopefully tomorrow the tooth will be out. Not everything is ruled out but the majority is.

Nothing lead up to this, our routines were normal, we just noticed he wasn't eating because he is usually a very good eater. The vet and staff are pleased at his recovery thus far so I hope we can bring him home before the weekend!

Thanks again! Love my furboy~a.k.a Maxwell House

Hi Kalli.

I'm sorry your baby is struggling & can relate.Whatever your vet is syringing which is a first I have heard of it BTW as they always want to install a feeding tube.Whatever the food is which will be canned.Make sure you find out & it is probably A/D which is kitty crack to some kitties.

This may be your way to get your baby off dry for the future.Not using this full term as it is a critical care food but could be gradually added to more appropriate meat gradually weaning the A/D or Max Cal or whatever he is syringing.

I agree with teeth with just looking at the tooth it needs to be out anyways.I agree with all poster's and yes HL can kick in quickly.So good you are at  a vet.But ask to have the tooth removed and if so insist.Because it will fester overtime anyways only taking kitty back to more stress.

Also cat's hide their pain so well .They have to to survive in the wild or they will perish.My late tabby began pawing at her face once and she had two teeth that had to be pulled.With cat's dog's etc they are always alright until they are not.

How are the bowel movements? Many of us humans pay way more attention to a bowl that is not emptied than the plumbing of a cat.Pees being so crucial but also a constipated cat will go off food.I deal with it all over the world.

If HL has kicked in the only reversal is food & lots of it.

We as humans do have to pay more attention.I have had kitties go off food from pain,cancer, etc.There is no way that vet will be able to tell if that tooth is the cause or not.

Things creep up on our babies so pls make sure his bowels are working well too.Soft logs not balls.

Hope your baby is feeling better soon.Do not be afraid to be the advocate for your cat.Vet's are not above any of us.I'm presuming he has done temp etc.Urine etc.Palpated all lymph nodes etc.

Some do really thorough exams while I have watched others take a mere 10 minutes.

Hugs to the babe.C

I don't have anything useful to say but I wanted to wish your kitty well and to tell you I'll keep you guys in my thoughts. I hope it can get sorted soon and he can come home happy and healthy.

Thank you all for the support. Called the vet again today and they weren't able to do a scraping of the tooth due to him having a fever of 102. When we brought him in he had a fever of 103 and told my mom and I that was a little high. He just NOW received anti-antibiotics. Going to try tomorrow for tooth problem/extraction if necessary. They say he's eating fine (syringe still).

   I forget to ask about voiding but I would HOPE they would tell me if he wasn't. He did at the house when he was sick. We are going to see him tomorrow whether he comes home or not.  After this ordeal we are considering switching vets. 

Thanks,

Kalli

Maxwell House-6 year old Tuexdo cat

Sometimes it takes an emergency with your pet (or a few) to realize maybe they're not doing the greatest. I loved our vet but whenever we needed updates we never seemed to get any, test results were never called in, we always had to call and call. We tried a new vet and they were wonderful. Called twice with updates in one afternoon as well as calling to tell us when our baby was ready to be collected and giving us all information they thought we needed about our babies condition.

I'm sorry he's still running a fever. I'll keep you guys in my thoughts and hope that tooth can get sorted tomorrow.

If you don't feel he's getting the care he needs though don't hesitate to take him out and take him to another vet right away.

He's been home since about 4 last night.  He had a dental procedure done (anethesiaized) and an antibiotic shot day before yesterday.

He still hasn't ate or used the bathroom since he's been to the vet. He's urinated but not BM. Vet said it was sometimes normal being nervous, said his colon was full

. I'm just confused and aggravated. He is moving around more but still not himself. Advice?

Give him time, surgery is a major event. Is he on painkillers? Those can really throw them off. Try offering him something really stinky an appetizing.

No. He just had a dental cleaning. He does eat syringe food fine. Lethargic but when we try to syringe feed him he will back away from us. He has short bursts of energy (walk around, etc). At time he looks like he's suffering but not crying out or wincing in pain, other times he looks just ticked off. My husband says i'm just overly concerned and he's right. Going to see how he does over the weekend. Thanks everyone for continued thoughts and support. 

Hopefully he's doing better today. Anesthetic can make them nauseas as can being a bit constipated if he's a little backed up. I agree, offer him his favourites or something stinky and fishy to see if you can get his appetite going again. Keep us updated!

Today: He still won't eat out of food bowl have changed bowls too to see if that's the problem. He will drink water out of bowl but look at food and sniff at it and walk off. We are still feeding him via syringe. He likes the food but hates the syringe (we are giving him time to swallow) I also give him some water via syringe too about twice a day. He did use the litter box and everything looked normal, bm output was low but he didn't strain, it took him awhile but he's still very groggy. He moves a little more but still very lethargic and very very out of it. We are doing the best we can. He doesn't meow in pain or anything. He did let me love on him earlier (lay on the couch with me, after he got done drinking his water bowl he walked up to me and loved on my leg and rubbed on the fridge, that's what he does sometimes) and so I picked him up and let him lay asleep on me for awhile. He's laying in the floor. 

Have to call vet tomorrow to update.

Could this be hypothyroidsm or leukemia? 

He gets an annual vaccine and doesn't go outside. We have no other animals in the house. 

Just worried why he seems to be repulsed by food. He swallows well and the mouth looks free and clear...

Max has been fed successfully 4 times today via syringe getting 7 1/2 cc of a/d food (wet food in a paste form). 

He is still lethargic but at times moving around better other times looking like he's going to expire at any moment.

He has had successful bowel movement and urinated once very heavily in the floor by his litter box, it was dark dark yellow. 

At this point, I am worried as my husband and I have to work tomorrow (8 hours) and will not be here with him. 

I've researched a lot of stuff and so far I see something that fits; diabetes. 

Because he doesn't want to eat or seem to have the desire.

He is drinking water and urinating.

The lethargy and weakness and he seems almost depressed.

Sorry, just still worried about Max. I try not to worry but at times he looks like he's suffering and it just hurts so bad.

Would a CBC (which he had) show diabetes? 

Update on Maxwell. Took him back to the vet today, he is very critical. His body is attacking itself. The doctor think it may be mycoplasma or  bone marrow leukemia. He is very very sick. The doctor says its about 50/50. The vet seemed to think if it was a virus it could be reversed with steriods and another strong medication. If it doesn't work we'll have to make the decision. But he is very very sick. We've accepted the fact he could pass and I told the vet if he thought he was suffering to please let him go in peace. I was blubbering and still blubber and cry but I'm at peace now he's at the vet getting care rather than watching him suffer at home. I will update either way soon. The vet is at loss HOW this happened. 

Thank you all for your support and prayers.

I am so, so sorry you're going through this. Nothing anyone can say will make it easier. I really hope he pulls through. You're giving him wonderful care. You'll both be in my thoughts

praying for your kitty

thank you all. he's our first cat together (my husband and I) we've both had animals growing up so it's always hard.

We talked to the vet today and they gave him fluids over a 20 hour period, like 80 or 800 cc's can't remember and his kidney's aren't functioning. The treatment did not work and he agrees that we will let him go on and end his suffering. We could've done a specialist but he hadn't ate in 10 days and his body was attacking itself. He put up a good fight and we were blessed to have him 6 wonderful years. We appreciate all the love and support you guys gave us. Still not sure what caused it or what it is (possibly bone marrow leukemia was one suggestion). God bless you all and hug your fur babies a little tighter tonight. ~Kalli

Im so sorry. I just posted an update about our oldest cat. oreo is about the same age. She the past few weeks she has been very picky about what she wants to eat. We bought her a big bag of the food she was liking(had sample bags) at it for a few days now doesnt want to eat it.  Did he stopped eating all together?