Stomatitis, not eating even after tooth extraction and pain meds

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catsinnc

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Hi all - never posted here before, but I am lost and need feedback or just moral support! I have a 3 year old cat, Grover. About 2 months ago I noticed he was throwing up brown and yellow liquid and losing weight - he has always been a voracious eater. After 4 days of vomiting (he open fed along with another cat so I couldn't tell how much he was eating) I took him into the vet. They did bloodwork (including a FIV test) and a fecal test and did a physical exam - everything came back normal. He kept throwing up and I began noticing he was losing weight. I took him back in and the best guess at that time was that he had swallowed something and had a blockage, so they did an x-ray - it came back completely normal. The vomiting became less frequent but now that I was monitoring his eating, he was eating less and less. He also was doing a thing where he was frequently sort of burping and smacking his lips.
I tried a new vet for a second opinion, who quickly realized that Grover had ulcers and very painful gums - stomatitis. They took out the worst offending teeth and Grover felt much better and started putting on weight. Then he started going downhill again and losing weight. We tried Metacam for a while then that stopped helping after maybe 4 days. Then we tried a pill steroid - there was slight improvement for maybe a day, but then he stopped eating completely again (only a bite and only when I opened a new can of food). Shot steroid - no help. Removed all offending teeth - no help.
I am now force feeding him A/D food. We are on one income as I stay home with a baby (and another on the way) and we cannot afford expensive GI specialist/tests to see if there is a secondary issue. His litter box habits have been normal exept there is of course less of it. I have tried every type of cat food and treat I can think of, in all different consistencies and heat levels, tuna, human food, you name it. He comes running to his food dish, takes one look and walks away. We tried another pain med (buprenorphine) but no change except he was sleepy.

I'm just not sure how long to let this go on. He is not his normal self but is still very loving. He hates being force fed of course and it is getting harder to find him at feeding time!. It has only gotten worse. I cannot force feed him indefinitely I know...but when do I know it's time to let him cross the rainbow bridge? Or is there something I am overlooking??

I'm sorry for a long post, but I am just not sure what to do and the vet doesnt have any more ideas except to refer me to the GI specialist which is not a financial option for us. Just looking for feedback and support here, he is our sweet baby!! :( We lost another cat at 3 years old to FIP a couple years ago so this is hard to go through again :(
 
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catsinnc

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I'll add that the vomiting has stopped completely, so it seems that the steroids must be helping something in his bowel system...just no eating
 
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catsinnc

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Have you tried cat glop?
recipes here: http://www.hdw-inc.com/glop.htm

My cat just had most of her teeth pulled due to stomatitis.  She's been sucking down a commercial version of glop, those Inaba Churu tubes.
Might work.
I haven't heard of this! I'll try anything - I'll head to the store in the morning and get the ingredients. He fought me so hard today I didn't get much, if any, food in him today.
 

mservant

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Wondering how Grover is too.   Were you able to try the gloop?   I'm worrying that he's not great as not seen you on line recently.   Loads of postive vibes as I know how awful it is seeing your cat sick from mouth infections (Mouse had terrible problems for about a year when he was younger and wasn't himself at all).   
 
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catsinnc

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Thank you guys so much for checking in. I'm so sad to report that we had to put Grover down last week. :( He was not improving with force feeding, and started throwing up the food we were giving him. He was just miserable and barely able to walk, and I had to make the heartbreaking decision to let him go. It's been a sad week here, and made worse because we never did find out exactly what was wrong - so in the back of my head I feel like maybe there is something different I could have done. It's so hard to watch them decline so quickly. Thanks again for sending the support, it means a lot!
 

marrin713

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Thank you guys so much for checking in. I'm so sad to report that we had to put Grover down last week. :( He was not improving with force feeding, and started throwing up the food we were giving him. He was just miserable and barely able to walk, and I had to make the heartbreaking decision to let him go. It's been a sad week here, and made worse because we never did find out exactly what was wrong - so in the back of my head I feel like maybe there is something different I could have done. It's so hard to watch them decline so quickly. Thanks again for sending the support, it means a lot!
I'm sorry to hear that. We had similar experience with our Wills except it was his heart. In one week downhill. Like you I keep thinking there was something we were missing....an underlying condition that made this so much worse. I guess I'll just have to keep wondering.
 

mservant

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I am so sorry to read your update @catsinnc  .  No matter what, it is always a decision we never want to have to make, and the pain is always there when we loose family.  Especially when they are so young.  You are in understanding company here at least, and hopefully you have people around you with whom you can share your grief and your memories with too.  

Not knowing exactly what was happening for Grover must be hard, but to me it sounds like you did everything you could have by taking him to the vet as soon as you could when he started being sick, and then pursuing things with the vet when you felt Grover was still not his usual self.  It is really sad that the health issues that were found did not manage to bring him back to good health, but that does not mean that you missed something or could have done more.  What you have done is  given him a safe  home where you have shown him your love and kindness.   

I hope that at some point you are able to remember more of the happy memories of Grover as a young cat, and feel less of the pain that you do now.   Until then, please do stay with everyone here at TCS, and hopefully find some support from others who have gone through similar experiences with their own cat families.

The TCS team would like you to know that we are so very sorry for your loss. Threads are locked after someone has suffered such a loss, as a sign of respect.  We invite you to place a tribute at http://www.thecatsite.com/f/19/crossing-the-bridge  as an enduring testimony to Grover.
 
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