Loss of Appetite

lynn

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It is Sunday night and I will be bringing my cat to the vet in the morning for another emergency appt. He began to seem a bit under the weather last week--I did not think he was sick, I thought he was just a bit depressed because I had to work late all week. But early Thursday morning he woke me up dry-heaving and his left eye was watering excessively. He spit up nothing but foamy saliva. I was concerned that he may have been having difficulty with a hairball, so I cuddled him and he slept by me the rest of the morning. He seemed fine at breakfast time, but he retched again to no avail. But when I came home from work, he was lying under the dining room table looking very tired and sad and his left eye now looked infected. I tried bringing him some bits of kibble which ordinarily he would gobble up, but he just began sticking his tongue out as if trying not to gag. He had the same response to water. The next day I brought him into the vet for an afternoon appt. They pumped him full of fluids and sent me home with a perscription for an antibiotic pill and antibiotic eyedrops. He still would not eat all night and the next day, Saturday, the vet called to check on him. I told her he was not improving and she seemed concerned. She called back late Saturday afternoon to check and I told her there was still no improvement. The vet suggested that I bring him in on Monday if I don't see a big improvement so here I am.

What concerns me is that he is an indoor only cat and the only other cat he is exposed to is my other indoor only cat. I guess I am not convinced that his condition is due to any infection--although I can't say that it is an absolute impossibility. He just does not seem feverish to me. His mind is very alert--he just seems to have lost his appetite and it seems that the thought of eating triggers a gag reflex. His eye seems to be clearing up with the eyed drops, but is certainly taking its time. And while I have been force feeding him small amounts of baby food and water, he is obviously in need of fluids again. He is urinating, but when I went into the vet on Friday she felt his abdomin and said he has some hard stool in him. He still has not passed that.

Poor baby. He hates being forced to eat and being pilled and water used to be like a treat to him but now he appears distrustful of it. Hopefully the vet will figure out what is wrong. Right now he is sleeping peacefully. Tonight he stopped gagging over the attempts to feed and water him, but he still fights.

I am hoping that the vet will cure him. Does anyone out there have any inkling what could be wrong?
 

gayef

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I am not an expert by any scope of the word, but my first thought is that he might be severely constipated, or even blocked.

If he continues to digress, don't wait until morning to get him to your regular vet - take him to the emergency clinic.

I am sorry that I can't offer any more assistance to you - but please know that I am thinking good thoughts for the vet to find the problem quickly and correct it. Please let me know how things go for you both?

Yours,

Gaye
 
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lynn

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Gaye,

Thank you for your reply. I brought him in this morning along with a page of notes that I had taken all day Sunday. I wanted to make a log of all of his actions and my observations so that I would not forget anything when the vet asked me questions. The visit resulted in the vet deciding that her original diagnosis of a virus may have been hasty and that from my notes, it sounds like he may have ingested a foreign object. They want to keep him overnight on an IV drip and run some tests to check out the condition of his internal organs. She said they want to rule out everything before they attempt exploratory surgery.

I am extremely concerned, but hopeful that they will make him better.

Lynn
 

hissy

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I hope they find the foreign object. I had a kitty go downhill in this way, and finally x-rays revealed kitty (he was a barn kitty) had huge amounts of undigested mouse in his stomach. I won't go into the cure, it was not fun, but it was effective. Perhaps your kitty has a bit of string, or a rubber band or something. I do hope they find it and kitty will be on the mend soon.
 

gayef

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Hi Lynn,

I know this is an emotionally charged time for you ... along with your concern for your little guy, there is also the hurry up and wait thing happening too - and plus it's just plain hard to be away from our kitties when they have to stay overnight like this! I share your concern, and will continue to hope things will be all right as rain again soon.

You will want to make certain that they attempt an x-ray before surgery is even proposed as an option, so don't let them cut unless they have absolutely have to and have an x-ray that clearly shows where the blockage is located. Make them show it to you if you have any question in your mind at all! (Sorry, I don't trust people much anymore - I've had some really bad experiences and I just can't afford to be stupid anymore. My income just won't stand mistakes like that any more.)

By the way, I just have to compliment you - you are such a good cat slave! *grin* Taking notes and everything!!! The best way to do the right thing for your kitty is to be as educated as you can be when talking to the vet! While I am certain the number of good vets far exceeds the number of bad ones, there ARE bad ones out there who are only concerned with how much money they can make off unnecessary and oftentimes totally inappropriate procedures and treatments. I've run into more than my fair share of those in the 30-plus years I have been owned by cats.

I will continue to keep you in my positive thoughts, and I hope you'll continue to keep me updated.

Until the next time,

Gaye
 
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lynn

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Hello Gaye and Hissy,

It is 7:00 pm on Monday and the vet just called with news about my cat. She said the tests came back and his health is better than she would have expected. He is now resting in their ICU, hooked up to an IV and "not happy about being there," but otherwise doing pretty good. He even accepted some hand feeding she said.

They are going to do some throat x-rays to check for any foreign body in the throat area because after he accepted the hand-feeding, she noticed that he was sticking out is tongue and this was something that I had addressed in the page of notes that I had given her.

She said at this point they do not feel as though they need to make an immediate decision regarding the exploratory surgery. They will call me at noon tommorrow to let me know about any progress or conclusions regarding their diagnosis.

I am a bit grief stricken, I guess I tend to be on the fatalistic side when it comes to illness and medical care since my mother died of cancer some years ago. My significant other is on the opposite end of the spectrum, however, and does not believe that anything will go wrong and keeps saying how happy Fellini will be when he gets home and how spoiled he will be from now on.

Thank you for your good thoughts--the feeling of support makes me stronger--it is like having a big family.

Lynn
 

sue crichley

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Hi - I am new to this site.

How old is your kitty? Did they do any blood work?

I just had a kitty die of FIP. She all of a sudden lost her appetite and started looking so sad and depressed. She also stopped playing with her buddy. I looked in my cat book under depression and to my big surprise, they mentioned FIP. I had no idea what this was or had even heard of it. She had a lot of the symtoms. Anyway, it has been a total nightmare living through this and now we have another kitty who we had tested at the same time and she was testing positive for FIP but showed and still does not show any clinical signs but the fact that we have to live our lives on pins and needles every day is the saddest thing we have ever gone through along with losing a precious kitten so young who hardly had any time with us. Have you ever heard of FIP or know anyone's cats that had it? Thanks for listening.

Sue
 

hissy

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Welcome to the site too....

FIP stands for Feline Infectious Peritonitis and there are two types, wet and dry. In the wet form the belly fills up with fluid and the coat becomes very dull, the cat becomes listless and has trouble breathing. In the dry stage, the cat becomes uncoordinated, runs high temps, loses the appetite, develops nervous disorders and other complications.

Keeping the cat away from all other is a must, and there is a vaccine for it that is about 70% effective depending on what stage the disease has advanced to. It usually hits cats before the age of 2 and some cats can be carriers of it and not become ill. One of the ways it can spread is through food bowls.

For your remaining kitty, you might want to think about talking to a holistic or homopathic and see about adding herbs and vitamins to boost your kitty's immune system. I have a horse that is 5 now, but when he was 2 he got horribly sick and almost died and even though he was in the finest vet hospital for 2 weeks when he left his immune system was so lacking. I started researching and ended up spending about $30.00 a month on additives for him and he began to pick up and thrive. But consult and expert, I am fortunate, I have a good neighbor who is into holistic treatment and he guided me all the way. Good luck!
 

hissy

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I am glad that kitty is doing better and though probably not very pleased to be in that cage at least the surgery was not neccessary. if he doesn't calm down or destress, you can take an old teeshirt and work up quite a sweat and take it in and put it in his cage. Having your *smell* near him will calm him down a lot. I will continue to think good thoughts for you and your kitty.
 
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lynn

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My cat is now almost better. It has been a long road to recovery for him and included 3 visits to the veterinary clinic. They believe that he may have had a bout of Pancreatitis and/or Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He is getting better now and is still on antibiotics and anti-nausea meds.

After having some difficulty with one of his prescriptions, Metronizadole, he is now getting injectionable meds. Apparently some cats react poorly to Metronizadole and he was one of those that reacts. After being on Metro. for 2 days, he began salivating excessively after receiving the pill (he actually looked rabid) and could not keep it down. His appetite decreased so much that we could not keep him hydrated enough on our own and had to rush him in to the clinic again. He ended up being cheched in and put on an IV again. This time, he only had to stay one night and when we picked him up he looked like himself. His depression seemed to have lifted and he definately looked like he was on the mend.

Now, he is napping beside our other cat. His appetite is nearly back to what it was and he is himself again. I am so happy to have him home--it was a tough 2 weeks for me too. Hopefully this condition will not arise again in the future, but if it does, I will be better prepared to deal with it.

The Dr. who fixed him up and prescribed the injectionables and a new antibiotic and also gave us some food to give him--a canned wet food called A/D that has the consistancy of pate and is useful for feeding anorexic cats as it is very soft so that it works well through a syringe if force feeding is necessary and is very palatable so that will hopefully encourage cats to eat on their own. Plus it is loaded with vitamins and is extremely moist so it helps with hydration. We were also given a large syringe useful for force feeding and instruction on exactly how they do this at the clinic. They showed me how to give him his injections and instructed me to do whatever it takes to get him to drink lots of water even after he is 100% improved. One of the tips for getting him to drink enough water was to let him drink from human cups--it works! He really likes drinking from teacups and coffee cups filled with water!
 

hissy

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I have had great results with A/D you can also try nutrical which is a thick paste. Just spread some on his front paws and let him lick it off.
 
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