Cat won't eat or drink, lethargic

cmorrow132

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I am new to this site so I hope I'm posting this in the right place.

Mojo is about a year old. Last week he stopped eating. After 2 days of this, we took him to the vet. The vet said he had a fever and gave him an antibiotic shot, and said he should be better by that night. This was Friday. Saturday he still wasn't any better, so we took him back. They did blood work and gave him IV fluids. The blood work came back normal. He had thrown up some at the sight or smell of food so they gave us some anti-nausea pills and prescription food.

Today is Monday and he still won't eat or drink. We have been trying to force feed him but he fights back and it's a difficult process - he still has plenty of strength to do that, and we've managed to get a syringe down him at a time. I called the vet back, and they didn't really give me any more info to go on other than everything checked out normal.

So, my question is, what am I supposed to do? I recently lost my job so I don't have tons of funds to keep throwing at tests that don't produce any results but I don't want him to die.

PS - I asked about possible distemper and they told me that it was very rare in cats, it would have shown up on the blood work and he would be having seizures.
 

Willowy

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Ask the vet about steroids (prednisolone). He can be given a shot or (if you don't want to take him in again) they can give you liquid or pills. While long-term steroid use isn't healthy, steroids do increase appetite, and with cats that's not something you want to mess around with.
 
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cmorrow132

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Ask the vet about steroids (prednisolone). He can be given a shot or (if you don't want to take him in again) they can give you liquid or pills. While long-term steroid use isn't healthy, steroids do increase appetite, and with cats that's not something you want to mess around with.
Thanks for the info. I do have some prednisone still in date, that I never took so maybe he can have that if I dose it out properly, but I'll check with the vet.
 

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Ok that's good. If he has an intestinal bacteria it'll take a couple days for him to be back to normal. It won't be right away. He's young so you have that on your side. I'd be pushing water on him to keep him hydrated. He must be consuming some liquid otherwise he'd not be peeing.
 
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cmorrow132

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Ok that's good. If he has an intestinal bacteria it'll take a couple days for him to be back to normal. It won't be right away. He's young so you have that on your side. I'd be pushing water on him to keep him hydrated. He must be consuming some liquid otherwise he'd not be peeing.
It all started last Wednesday, Friday was two days when we took him to the vet. So by now it has been 5 days since it all started, and 3 days since he first went to the vet and got the antibiotic shot, and he isn't showing any signs of improvement. Did you mean a couple of days literally or just as in a short time?

Update: he started drooling earlier, I noticed some on his mouth and at first thought it might be water, but later when I checked him again, he hadn't touched any water and he had more.
 
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cmorrow132

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Update. Last night we started noticing a noise when we feed him that sounds like bone rubbing. It is a wierd sort of "crunching" sound, so I looked in his mouth to see if he might have a broken tooth, and worked his jaw to see if maybe teeth were rubbing together, and everything looked ok. Today, he keeps doing that like he's chewing on something that isn't there.

The upside is, he seems to be a little more active, and meowing but it sounds hoarse.
 

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I'm so sorry your kitty is ill! Is he eating anything now? Did his fever go away? Is he vomiting? Can you find a low cost clinic near you? I hope everything works out ok. I'm in the vets office right now since my princess has been sick for 2 wks now. :(

I know how worried you must feel!!
 
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cmorrow132

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I'm so sorry your kitty is ill! Is he eating anything now? Did his fever go away? Is he vomiting? Can you find a low cost clinic near you? I hope everything works out ok. I'm in the vets office right now since my princess has been sick for 2 wks now.


I know how worried you must feel!!
He isn't vomiting any more and his fever is gone, but he still doesn't wanna eat or drink, we're having to force him. He does seem to have a little more energy though than yesterday, which is a positive thing. I can't get to a vet right now, will be a couple of days but based on the fact that he's meowing now and walking around more, I don't think he's close to a critical state.

Hope your kitty is ok and everything gets better.
 

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He isn't vomiting any more and his fever is gone, but he still doesn't wanna eat or drink, we're having to force him. He does seem to have a little more energy though than yesterday, which is a positive thing. I can't get to a vet right now, will be a couple of days but based on the fact that he's meowing now and walking around more, I don't think he's close to a critical state.

Hope your kitty is ok and everything gets better.
I am guessing you have tried the normal foods that tend to be recommended when a cat isn't eating, but will a few I've heard (and tried in the past) here just in case:
  • Hill's a/d (Critical Care) cans
  • Lightly broiled chicken chunks
  • Sprinkling FortiFlora on a food he previously liked (personally this never worked for me but apparently some cats with a low appetite go crazy for it)
  • Sprinkling some tuna juice over his normal food or any of the above
Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery! 
 

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One of mine just got a URI. . .4 days of antibiotics later he was still drooling and his mouth was sore. I wonder if it's a thing going around. Anyway, hope this vet can figure it out!
 
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cmorrow132

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He had x-rays today and they saw something round in the colon and did an enema. He passed a lot of stool, and so we're hoping he passes out whatever else is in there within a couple of days. The good news is, his intestines look good, and all his other body functions are normal.
 
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cmorrow132

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Here's hoping he won't have to have surgery!
Well he's definitely in a bit of a better mood today. He's not eating on his own, but he is drinking, and looking at food, smelling it. That's a huge improvement from just a couple of days ago, or even yesterday, when he didn't wanna be anywhere near food. He is also talking to us today, and walking around a bit more. At one point he got onto the kitchen table, which is a huge stretch from just a couple of days ago when he just wanted to lay around constantly.
 

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Well he's definitely in a bit of a better mood today. He's not eating on his own, but he is drinking, and looking at food, smelling it. That's a huge improvement from just a couple of days ago, or even yesterday, when he didn't wanna be anywhere near food. He is also talking to us today, and walking around a bit more. At one point he got onto the kitchen table, which is a huge stretch from just a couple of days ago when he just wanted to lay around constantly.
Such great progress!! Glad he's feeling better.
 
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cmorrow132

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So it's been a few days and I wanted to update everyone. Our cat acted ok for a day or so and then quit eating again. We have been syringe feeding him, but he is losing a tremendous amount of weight. I found local charity who paid for a visit to another vet, and this vet found evidence under his tongue that he had chewed on, and possibly embedded, string in his tissue. They gave me pain meds to help with that when he eats, so we are hoping for the best. At this point, if he doesn't improve within a couple of days we may be looking at euthanizing since surgery would be extremely expensive and still may not solve the issue, depending on possible liver damage.
 
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