Cat isn't eating

Because the stress my cats have given me lately wasn't enough, now Bowie has to be having issues. 

Saturday, everything seemed fine. He ate without a problem and seemed fine. Sunday, he didn't eat breakfast, then didn't eat dinner. Spent all day sleeping on a heat mat I got for them. He ate a couple treats, but otherwise, nothing. I've not seen any signs of vomiting or diarrhea, but if he had vomited before Sunday, there is a chance I would not have found it. Calvin - the kitten - very happily acts as "clean up crew" for any vomit. He goes running over whenever he hears it. 

Anyway, I took Bowie in to the vet yesterday. Bloodwork came back normal and xrays were fine. Bowie has a propensity to eat plastic and other things, so I was definitely interested in the xrays. But there was nothing indicating a possible blockage. Might have had an elevated temperature, but he stresses so easily that it may have been from stress. I'm going to try taking it again at home to see if there is any change. 

In the meantime, I've not been able to get him to eat. They gave him sub-q fluids at the vets, but they didn't have the appetite stimulant the vet wanted to give him. So as of this morning, he has not had more than a couple treats and a few laps at his food since Sunday morning. I'm getting worried and trying to think of anything and everything I can try to get him eating, even a little bit. He's a very nervous, neurotic cat, so he is tough to work with sometimes if he isn't feeling great. 

Any suggestions would be great. I've got him isolated right now so I can watch for any vomiting and check the litter box to make sure he's going okay. Any ideas for trying to get him to eat are very welcome. 

Ok he nees to eat i am surprsed the vet did not give you anything to stimulate his appette. Ok tuna slightly heated cats eat by smell if they can't smell it that could be one reason. Next you could try baby food stage 2 chicken or turkey favred baby food. you may need to syringe feeding him. it is very important that he eat something cats can not go longer than 48hr without eating they can devlope fatty liver disease. If he does not eat back to the vet. I hope some one with more expece with this comes along with more advise comes along to help. I hope he feels better

I've tried chicken baby food heated up. I'll try tuna  today and then if he doesn't eat on his own, try to syringe feed him a bit. If he doesn't eat this afternoon, I'm going to call the vet and get their opinion. The vet I saw yesterday is a fill-in, so she's not the normal vet I see. I'll ask the other ones I've seen before and trust if they have any other suggestions.

The vet didn't have the appetite stimulant they wanted to give him, so they just let him go without rather than writing a prescription you could take to the drug store??? Omg, I'm sorry, but that sounds horrible. They should have just written the script for you.

Ask them to write you a prescription. If the vet won't give you one, or if you are unable to pick it up for some reason, ask them if you can give him Zyrtec (which is sometimes used as an appetite stimulant). DO NOT give it on your own, please make sure it's ok with the vet. They need to give the dosage, I forget what it was now (I didn't give it but it's pretty common in the kidney cat community to have to try various stimulants). He definitely needs help though. Ideally, see if you can get some a/d from the vet also. It's prescription food that is supposed to be like crack for cats and irresistible.

I'm going to call them today and talk to the other vet and see if they have suggestions. 

I did have a thought. A week or two ago, I started him on Composure chews to help keep him from stressing too much. Is there anything that may be a problem with those that could cause this? That is the only thing I can come up with that has changed recently other than Calvin. 

http://www.vetriscience.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=9008103030

If all fails you may have to syringe feed your kitty.  I have attached a good video on how to do it.  Her kitty is a kidney kitty so she is adding a little pumpkin because constipation is a common issue for kidney kitties.  I don't think that is something you need to do.  The main thing is to go slow and be patient.

Denice said:

If all fails you may have to syringe feed your kitty.  I have attached a good video on how to do it.  Her kitty is a kidney kitty so she is adding a little pumpkin because constipation is a common issue for kidney kitties.  I don't think that is something you need to do.  The main thing is to go slow and be patient.

Click to expand...

Omg, I watched that video the Saturday before I lost Lucky (he was a kidney kitty). Or maybe the Sunday, whatever, it was the the last weekend I had him. I remember thinking how I wished I'd seen that video BEFORE I had started syringe feeding him, because I felt like I'd already turned him off to it. It really is a great "real-life" (as opposed to two vet techs in a vet's office) video.

There are several videos on youtube.  I like this one because she also shows how she prepares the food and goes into all the details.  Many of them just assume people know things that they may not know.

Cyproheptadine is one type of appetite stimulant by prescription-this one is a human medicine for antihistamine. for cats it helps appetite and stop allergies if they have allergies that stops them from eating. this med is given every 12 hours but my cat has had good luck on it with it lasting 24 hours. it does make them drowsy a bit.

the other is mirtazapine-often called meowzipine because they can get vocal and restless. this medication is best given half the dose what the vet calls for and it works for 3 days. most people have luck giving 1/8 of a tablet rather than 1/4.

Both of these are prescription only=in the past when one place was out of it=they called another vet office and let me pick it up=call another office and see if they would be willing to dispense meds as long as they talk to your vet-or as someone else said=get it filled at a pharmacy.

 The other one that is used in the ER is-valium-unfortunately I didn't see a good result from this medication-my honeybee has asthma and last winter got a doozer of an upper respiratory infection which resulted in ER visit-=those people decided to try valium on her=she went nuts bouncing off the walls so then they had to give her benedryl to counteract-needless to say we wont be going to that ER ever again-I have to drive an hour away now-

I am beyond frustrated with these quacks of vets

Hopefully this above information can help. I have no luck pilling my cat=the only way I can do it is roll a bit in butter and pop it down-otherwise forget it-she whips her head to the side so fast-takes three to hold her down-she is very sassy.

how's the Bowie doing?

I syringe fed him a little bit tonight. Still no interest in eating on his own. I'm going to call the vet's tomorrow and ask them about an appetite stimulant. He needs something. He doesn't have any obvious symptoms of anything, just doesn't want to eat.

Well, he ate some treats last night pretty happily. I found a small bit of vomit this morning but he ate his breakfast like normal. Fingers crossed that food stays down and he'll get back to eating like normal now. If he doesn't throw up today, I might let him out of the room to mingle some this afternoon. I can tell he doesn't like being by himself and Calvin is driving Sable up the wall because he's the only one to focus on. 

that's great he ate. I am curious.. do you feed them in the same room? I am wondering if Bowie would be happier to eat in his own room where he doesn't have to worry about Calvin pouncing on him?

Bowie and Sable are fed in the kitchen, but Sable eats in a small wire kennel since he will eat quickly and run to push Bowie off his food. Calvin is fed in the guest room. Bowie gets to eat at his own pace and when he is done, Sable is let out and then Calvin. 

Well, very good news. Breakfast and Dinner yesterday were eaten with no vomit, and breakfast this morning as well! So he's doing great now. I let him stay out in the house last night since he was acting very sick and tired of being in the den by himself.  

Calvin is being a mega brat lately. I simply just cannot wear him out enough to keep him from being a pest! Oy. Kittens!