18 year-old cat (male) not eating

handsomes_human · Mar 30, 2006

Our 18-year old male cat has taken to not eating much at all.. We feed him baby food exclusively these days, as his stomach doesn't take dry food, and he's quite finicky about what flavors he'll eat (for now it's chicken). He throws up occassionally (maybe once a week), but a lot less than before we started giving him an acid reducer pill in the morning..

He's obviously hungry (and painfully thin looking), and he *will* eat after a while, it's just that we have to prod him to do it, which is rather exhausting. We are just about to have him put down

.. I'd like, as a "last-ditch" effort to try a low dose of lorazepam or some antidepressant (probably Elevil or other TCA, or bupropion, although getting a small enough amount would be a challenge), since depression and eating are linked (sometimes) in humans, and if he's associating eating with the pain caused by heartburn in the past, a benzodiazepine might calm him a bit. I have no idea what a safe Lorazepam dose for a 6 pount (estimate) cat would be - 1/4 mg? - and haven't asked the vet yet.

Right now, I'm wondering if it could possibly work - has anyone else had a old cat that stopped eating unless cajoled?

Thanks,

charmed654321 · Mar 30, 2006

There could be a lot of reasons he is not eating, and may not be related to simply stress, or anything a anti-stress pill could solve. In fact, I've heard that they can be a stress on a cat's system at times and at his age, why chance it?

Have you considered taking him to a vet to see exactly what's wrong before putting him down or medicating him with something that might not help the actual problem?

You never know, it could be something as simple as a cold so he can't smell his food, or pain in another part of his body that is makng him feel crappy, but easily treated. It could be more complicated, and then other decisions have to be made. But I would strongly suggest you take him to a vet to see exactly what is wrong before making any serious decisions or trying to diagnose him yourself.

For what it's worth, every time I've diagnosed my cats before getting them to the vet, I was wrong. Every time. Once had a 22 year old that was almost on his last breath, so I thought, I was ready to put her to sleep. A simple shot from the vet not only brought her around, gave her another 6 months of healthy, quality, pain-free life, and she simply died peacefully at home in her sleep after that from old age. So you never know.

pat · Mar 31, 2006

Going just on what you've said, and not said, this cat needs an evaluation and blood work - I wouldn't be giving an acid reducer without knowing what is causing the inappetance and the thinness.

It's a fair bet at this age that it could be decreasing kidney function - crf (chronic kidney failure) kitties do have stomach acid issues, finicky appetite among other issues, all of which can be treated (and there is more than one acid reducer that can be used, and with either, you want to use the smallest effective dose, and there are potential concerns with the use of at least one of the two usually prescribed).

If it is decreasing kidney function, then merely getting your fellow hydrated again will help with appetite, so would dealing with any constipation issues - another common problem for crf kitties.

In combo with the potential kidney issue, would be hyperthroidism which can also be easily addressed with medication.

Please take your cat in, get a senior panel done and specifically ask for thyroid tests to be done including a T4.

Feeding baby food alone long term is going to cause it's own problems due to the lack of taurine and other needs not met by baby food.

Please go to www.felinecrf.org and read the entire site - it has symptoms, tests, treatments, including holistic, addresses stomach acid, constipation, inappetance, appetite stimulants etc.

zissou'smom · Mar 31, 2006

Was the acid reducer prescribed by a vet? Or is it just something OTC for people?
Zissou had to get an anti-vomiting pill and a prescription diet once, and that worked wonders.
I don't think there IS any safe way to determine the cat dosage of a human medicine. For one thing, if your kitty has CRF or something similar, the dosage would be totally different as the metabolism of the drug would be totally different. Plus, cats aren't humans, and psych meds are used in cats usually for behavioral problems, not to get them to eat.

I say, to the vet with the cat!

sharky · Mar 31, 2006

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

Going just on what you've said, and not said, this cat needs an evaluation and blood work - I wouldn't be giving an acid reducer without knowing what is causing the inappetance and the thinness.

It's a fair bet at this age that it could be decreasing kidney function - crf (chronic kidney failure) kitties do have stomach acid issues, finicky appetite among other issues, all of which can be treated (and there is more than one acid reducer that can be used, and with either, you want to use the smallest effective dose, and there are potential concerns with the use of at least one of the two usually prescribed).

If it is decreasing kidney function, then merely getting your fellow hydrated again will help with appetite, so would dealing with any constipation issues - another common problem for crf kitties.

In combo with the potential kidney issue, would be hyperthroidism which can also be easily addressed with medication.

Please take your cat in, get a senior panel done and specifically ask for thyroid tests to be done including a T4.

Feeding baby food alone long term is going to cause it's own problems due to the lack of taurine and other needs not met by baby food.

Please go to www.felinecrf.org and read the entire site - it has symptoms, tests, treatments, including holistic, addresses stomach acid, constipation, inappetance, appetite stimulants etc.

What Pat said and GET TO THE VET ASAP

18 year-old cat (male) not eating

handsomes_human

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charmed654321

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pat

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zissou'smom

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sharky

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