- Joined
- Jan 30, 2022
- Messages
- 18
- Purraise
- 18
Hi there!
In the beginning of January I trapped a feral kitten that lived in the barn across the street from my house. I had been feeding him fancy feast canned food at night for many months. He was so terrified I never thought I would be able to get him in the house because he would run from my voice through the door. but one day he showed up with a degloved and dangling tail and I knew I had to help.
i trapped him and brought him to the vet for a tail amputation and exam. His presurgery blood work looked good, however he had 4 types of parasites, including lung worm. He came home with me to recover and he quickly became extremely affectionate! It took him a monthof treatment to become parasite free. In that month he gained weight, tail healed and he started to become part of the family. His appetite has always been perfect, even through all the medications and stress.
I did try to wean him off of the fancy feast although he still gets a little. I feed him all wet food, weruva and tiki cat. No fish flavors. I’ve had several kidney cats and I didn’t want to risk another.
Fast forward to halfway through February. He had a couple days where he seemed progressively less interested in food, but then recovered. I was giving him a few crunchies at night as a snack. Literally maybe 9-10 tiny pieces. He got gassy and diarrhea that lasted a couple days so I took the crunchies away completely. The gassiness persisted so I had another fecal done to recheck parasites and bacteria and it was clear. I chalked it up to the crunchies and gave it another week. I added in a probiotic/digestive enzyme blend called optagest that worked for my other kitties for this issue for many years. The diarrhea went away and the appetite dropped again for another couple days. Now it was starting to become a pattern. He threw up one morning half digested wet food an hour and a half after eating. The weather warmed up and o thought, maybe he’s swallowing too much fur. So I started brushing daily and giving him hairball gel. He has never coughed up a hairball, but I broke apart one of his bowel movements and it was basically a giant hairball coated in poop.
okay. So I figured maybe he has a little gastritisnow from the hair. However, the appetite is now getting worse and worse. He vomited on another morning same story. I tried a novel protein diet but it makes no difference because he is definitely chronically nauseated. I’ve seen it in my other cats, the meowing for food, running up to the bowl and backing away like it’s poison. So I’ve been cracking multiple cans and trying tiny meals, warming, hand feeding, baby food, I’ve tried it all. Some days he’s fine and eats and the next will eat nothing. He keeps the food down, just wants nothing to do with it. He’s sleeping a bit more but in between is still playing hard, and we play for hours a day.
Hehas Been urinating larger puddles too, so I took him back to the vet. He’d lost almost one pound. He started out at 4.5 the day of rescue, got up to 8.6, and went down to 7.6 in about a week and a half. His urine was a bit concentrated and had a couple crystals. And his liver values were elevated by one point, but not enough for the vet to be concerned. He is having regular bowel movements and Shows no signs of kidney issues. He is going in for an ultrasound on Monday to check everything . The vet thinks maybe ibd,possibly relating to a food allergy? They test for those but not under a year old.
mom really at a loss and have been syringe feeding him which I know how to do as I volunteer wildlife rehab and feed babies this way regularly.
He’s getting the calories and hydration and perks up after and wants to play, he just won’t eat on his own. I’m terribly stressed and am unemployed and am a full time non paid caregiver for my grandma with dementia, who still lives in her own home. I’m spending 75 a week on food and throwing most of it away. I don’t know what else to do to help this little guy. Any ideas? Help!!
In the beginning of January I trapped a feral kitten that lived in the barn across the street from my house. I had been feeding him fancy feast canned food at night for many months. He was so terrified I never thought I would be able to get him in the house because he would run from my voice through the door. but one day he showed up with a degloved and dangling tail and I knew I had to help.
i trapped him and brought him to the vet for a tail amputation and exam. His presurgery blood work looked good, however he had 4 types of parasites, including lung worm. He came home with me to recover and he quickly became extremely affectionate! It took him a monthof treatment to become parasite free. In that month he gained weight, tail healed and he started to become part of the family. His appetite has always been perfect, even through all the medications and stress.
I did try to wean him off of the fancy feast although he still gets a little. I feed him all wet food, weruva and tiki cat. No fish flavors. I’ve had several kidney cats and I didn’t want to risk another.
Fast forward to halfway through February. He had a couple days where he seemed progressively less interested in food, but then recovered. I was giving him a few crunchies at night as a snack. Literally maybe 9-10 tiny pieces. He got gassy and diarrhea that lasted a couple days so I took the crunchies away completely. The gassiness persisted so I had another fecal done to recheck parasites and bacteria and it was clear. I chalked it up to the crunchies and gave it another week. I added in a probiotic/digestive enzyme blend called optagest that worked for my other kitties for this issue for many years. The diarrhea went away and the appetite dropped again for another couple days. Now it was starting to become a pattern. He threw up one morning half digested wet food an hour and a half after eating. The weather warmed up and o thought, maybe he’s swallowing too much fur. So I started brushing daily and giving him hairball gel. He has never coughed up a hairball, but I broke apart one of his bowel movements and it was basically a giant hairball coated in poop.
okay. So I figured maybe he has a little gastritisnow from the hair. However, the appetite is now getting worse and worse. He vomited on another morning same story. I tried a novel protein diet but it makes no difference because he is definitely chronically nauseated. I’ve seen it in my other cats, the meowing for food, running up to the bowl and backing away like it’s poison. So I’ve been cracking multiple cans and trying tiny meals, warming, hand feeding, baby food, I’ve tried it all. Some days he’s fine and eats and the next will eat nothing. He keeps the food down, just wants nothing to do with it. He’s sleeping a bit more but in between is still playing hard, and we play for hours a day.
Hehas Been urinating larger puddles too, so I took him back to the vet. He’d lost almost one pound. He started out at 4.5 the day of rescue, got up to 8.6, and went down to 7.6 in about a week and a half. His urine was a bit concentrated and had a couple crystals. And his liver values were elevated by one point, but not enough for the vet to be concerned. He is having regular bowel movements and Shows no signs of kidney issues. He is going in for an ultrasound on Monday to check everything . The vet thinks maybe ibd,possibly relating to a food allergy? They test for those but not under a year old.
mom really at a loss and have been syringe feeding him which I know how to do as I volunteer wildlife rehab and feed babies this way regularly.
He’s getting the calories and hydration and perks up after and wants to play, he just won’t eat on his own. I’m terribly stressed and am unemployed and am a full time non paid caregiver for my grandma with dementia, who still lives in her own home. I’m spending 75 a week on food and throwing most of it away. I don’t know what else to do to help this little guy. Any ideas? Help!!
