Sick Cat Not Wanting To Eat

Merlot, my 10 year old cat, was having breathing problems starting Wednesday night & had not been eating or playing very much. I took him to the vet & got chest xrays. His bronchioles were inflamed & his hear was "slightly big." The vet prescribed 1 1/2 tablets of prednisolone & 1/2 a tablet of Lasix. He started breathing easier by Thursday but I took him back to the vet to be checked again. His paw was bothering him as well. She checked him & confirmed that he was breathing better & his heart still sounded normal. She checked out his paw & said he probably sprained it but it looked & felt normal. We took blood for a proBNP test to check his heart but she doesn't think it that was the problem. She was leaning towards feline asthma. His appetite went from 1/2 a cup on Thursday to 3/4 cup on Friday. Saturday his food intake declined to 1/4 cup (he normally eats a cup). & today he hadn't eaten at all. He's drinking water & his breathing seems normal. But now he's hiding & refusing food. I'm giving him a meal replacement to get nutrients in him. There is no vomiting. & he just sleeps & occasionally walks around. I'm wondering if maybe because he hasn't felt well in a while I'd the reason why he isn't eating? Has anyone experienced anything like this? It's really worrying me.

Have you tried offering some canned food or plain meat baby food?  If he doesn't eat tonight, I'd get him back to the vet in the morning.

I plan on taking him. I haven't tried baby food yet. When I fed him the replacement, he ate some treats that he refused earlier. He's actually had a prior experience 2 years agI where he constantly threw up & stopped eating & drinking water for over a week & I had to syringe feed him for a while & he finally regained his appetite & went back to normal. He went on a special gastrointestinal food & has been good since then. This time, the vet said he wasn't eating because he was focusing so much on breathing. But now he's breathing better so I'm not sure why he isn't eating...

Poor guy.  I know you're worried sick about him.   Let us know what you find out at the vet.

Merlot's test shows heart problems. The vet wasn't really specific an on which heart problem it is. She gave new medication.

MerlotandAsti said:

Merlot's test shows heart problems. The vet wasn't really specific an on which heart problem it is. She gave new medication.

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Can you measure his breath rate per minute when at rest (best when asleep)?  Count the breaths over 15 seconds and multiply by 4, or for 10 seconds and multiply by 6.

After a few days of medication, it was down to about 23-25 range. He started breathing a bit harder today though. It'd probably about 27-30 now.. I just gave him the new meds so I'll check again later

Poor baby.... and poor you... ((hugs)) to both of you....

MerlotandAsti said:

After a few days of medication, it was down to about 23-25 range. He started breathing a bit harder today though. It'd probably about 27-30 now.. I just gave him the new meds so I'll check again later

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Under 30 is in the normal range but how hard he is breathing is relevant too.  Cats with congestive heart failure get fluids in the lungs making it hard to breathe, the Lasix is a diuretic to get the fluids out.

Thank you, Artiemom. It's really hard. I don't know how to deal with this.

StephenQ, he was breathing really hard when it first started. He's gotten better since then. She didn't mention fluid in the lungs, just the inflammation. He's taking more lasix now & enalapril.