10 month kitten suddenly losing weight (boney), fell from couch, and possibly blind?

[-XIV-]

My girlfriend has 4 cats with 2 being siblings that are 10 months old. She had them since they were 2 months old. They were both slim cats but one, Coco, has always been very squeamish and hid everywhere but always seemed normal physically.

These past 2 weeks my GF had noticed Coco now doesn’t hide and comes out and tries to walk but moves very slowly. He was eating very little. He also peed on the bed which he’s never done before.

She took him to the vet 2 days ago and they only gave him antibiotics and electrolytes? They sent him home with “High calorie nutritional gel” to help him with eating. He does eat this paste but other than that barely.

i finally got a chance to see him today and wow he is very thin. I can feel his bones and his spine is so apparent it breaks my heart. Can’t believe the vet sent him home with just some food in a tube and didn’t flag anything else.

I’m going to take him again Monday but I’m scared he may die or something to worsen his condition. Right now he’s only sleeping and I think he may be blind. Just very slow to react.

Apologies for the wall of text

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh, poor sweetie. Can you handfeed him? Do you have canned pate style food, it's easiest to add water to and mush up for handfeeding. A tongue depressor/popsicle stick works pretty well to scoop a little bit of food onto and gently scrape it off on his tongue.

There are some things here that might help entice him;

Any Good Tips To Get Your Cats To Eat? Share Them Here!

 

[-XIV-]

Thank you so much for your response and helpful tips!
I tried the baby food and he did eat it last week but now he’s lost interest. He’s still eating the “gel” the vet gave my girlfriend. But him being so boney is alarming me. Could he have some kind of infection that’s can be passed onto the other cats? How can I tell if he is in fact blind now?

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh, I see the website for kitten glop in the link above isn't working, let me give you a better one;

Kitten Glop Recipes - Supplementing Cats and Kittens with nutritious formula you make at home: presented by Bengal Cat breeder Foothill Felines.

Don't let him decide whether to eat or not, you need to hand feed him .

It sounded to me, reading above as though he could see a little. Mostly if he can track your hand, but it gets challenging if he can hear or smell also, because cats senses are incredible.

 

[CatladyJan]

Thank you so much for your response and helpful tips!
I tried the baby food and he did eat it last week but now he’s lost interest. He’s still eating the “gel” the vet gave my girlfriend. But him being so boney is alarming me. Could he have some kind of infection that’s can be passed onto the other cats? How can I tell if he is in fact blind now?

What is the name of the 'gel' the vet gave? As Furballsmom stated this kitten needs to be force fed:

 

[-XIV-]

What is the name of the 'gel' the vet gave? As Furballsmom stated this kitten needs to be force fed:

Thank you for that video
My GF mixes it a bit with water to make it less viscous and puts it in a syringe.

 

[Furballsmom]

To me, syringing takes too long for not much gain compared to using a tongue depressor (my boy and I did this daily for quite some time), but if he won't sit up, I can see the issue.

Tomlyns is good but it's corn syrup if I remember right. He needs canned pate food too.

 

[CatladyJan]

Thank you for that video
My GF mixes it a bit with water to make it less viscous and puts it in a syringe.

I was thinking it was probably a high calorie gel, which is not really a food. I haven't used anything like that in over 40 years and back then it was Nutri-cal (something like that) I administered it to a cat who was older and dying. I would definitely add the baby food and slosh? Viscous is good.

 

[Furballsmom]

which is not really a food.

I agree with this statement. Any of the glop recipes would be better for him than a steady diet of the Tomlyns. Hang in there!

 

[CatladyJan]

Any of the glop recipes would be better for him than a steady diet of the Tomlyns. Hang in there!

I agree, I was saying the Tomlyns is not really a food. Glop/Slosh/baby food all the way!

 

[-XIV-]

I really appreciate all of the input.
Here is the back of the gel and you all are correct. It’s just a high calorie gel.

i forgot to mention they also gave her a small dropper with some milky liquid that’s supposed to be an electrolyte type thing? It’s unlabeled which makes it frustrating

 

[-XIV-]

Would this be a good choice for pate food?

 

[Margot Lane]

Did the vet give you any kind of diagnosis? I cannot tell from this thread sofar. I think taking him back Monday is wise. Often, cats sleep deeply to heal, and for a long time. It might seem like the worst to you, but, sleeping can help them.

 

[CatladyJan]

Would this be a good choice for pate food?

As long as it has nutrition, liquid and calories - YES
If you can find a kitten formula I would highly recommend that as it has more calories and fat. I've always been strict about feeding kittens until 12 months.

 

[-XIV-]

Did the vet give you any kind of diagnosis? I cannot tell from this thread sofar. I think taking him back Monday is wise. Often, cats sleep deeply to heal, and for a long time. It might seem like the worst to you, but, sleeping can help them.

unfortunately no. Which makes this frustrating. No paperwork or anything. My GF just says all they told her was to monitor him and continue feeding him the gel and this milky liquid every 4 hours.

I barely come to her place and my GF normally visits me at my place weekly. Which is why this is my first time seeing Coco since he’s been sick and it’s devastating to see him this skinny. I Can feel all of his bones….

 

[-XIV-]

Also, I’ve concluded Coco is indeed blind. No reaction to my hands close to his eyes and I can basically poke his eye if I intended to with no reaction to my fingers within proximity.

Also, his pupils are dilated in direct light…

 

[Furballsmom]

See if you can get your GF to feed better food and maybe more frequently, or at least alternate because he needs food with more nutritional value.

I agree, I was saying the Tomlyns is not really a food.

I apologize, I was agreeing with you and wasn't clear about that so I changed my post a bit.

 

[Kflowers]

The vet needs to do a full exam, or as much of one as you can afford. In case you don't know this diabetes can cause weight loss. It can also occur at any age.

 

[-XIV-]

Just wanted to update everyone….it is with great sadness to inform everyone that Coco had to be put in eternal rest at 1am…

He had a minor seizure and once it went through he was no longer lifting his head and suddenly began clenching his body. Out of fear of another seizure we took him to emergency vet where tests were done and Dr determined it was very high chance he was suffering from FCov and FIP. I failed to notice his ears and forehead skin being almost a highlighter yellow

devastated to have spent our Xmas evening like this and after several options and the state he was in, we just couldn’t see him suffer anymore.

Coco is resting now. We will get him back in a beautiful urn in a couple of weeks.

i want to thank everyone who came in here to help. I feel like crap but you all came together and were loving

 

[-XIV-]