14 Yr Old Female Cat Unable To Eat/drink

[jd0963]

Hi, hopefully someone can advise me on this..

A bit of background, I have a 14 year old cat who has suffered from stomatitis in the past. Last year, we had half her right side teeth removed and all of her left side. This improved her quality of life massively and she began playing again, eating hard foods etc etc.

Last week we noticed a change in her behaviour. She hadn't really been eating or drinking and was acting depressed. I took her to the emergency vets who injected her with water (under her skin to keep her hydrated) and told me to make an appointment the following day with my current vets for diagnostic tests.

My vets took her blood and said everything looked pretty much remarkable other than her white blood cell count was low. She was also drooling a lot and would not let the vet anywhere near her mouth. He advised she had quite a nasty infection in her mouth and gave her an injection of Convenia and an anti inflammatory .

Since then she has been hungry and thirsty but everytime she attempts to eat or drink she meows loudly and runs away (it's like she thinks someone has hurt her)

I am just concerned about her lack of eating/drinking - she clearly wants to but can't because of the pain. We have tried metacam but it's hard to get it into her mouth.

Is there anything else I could be doing to support her? I am so worried we will lose her due to not eating or drinking much!

I appreciate any help
Thanks

 

[babiesmom5]

Yes, this lack of eating due to mouth pain can lead to fatty liver and other problems.

I would ask your vet about Buprenex. It is a pain medication which comes in small pre-measured syringes you just drizzle on their gums. It is effective and fast acting.

I would call your vet without delay.

 

[Sandy Beach]

I second Buprenex! We are also battling a nasty mouth infection. Convenia helped quite a bit, but our next move is a vet who specializes in pet dentistry. What type of food do you feed? Moon can’t eat anything solid, it was causing pain and she was starving. We actually make a soup from pâté wet food and warm water which is much easier for her to consume and keeps her hydrated. I’ve tried the chunky wet food, but she has difficulty chewing it as im sure that’s even painful. Hope your kitty feels better soon!

 

[jd0963]

I second Buprenex! We are also battling a nasty mouth infection. Convenia helped quite a bit, but our next move is a vet who specializes in pet dentistry. What type of food do you feed? Moon can’t eat anything solid, it was causing pain and she was starving. We actually make a soup from pâté wet food and warm water which is much easier for her to consume and keeps her hydrated. I’ve tried the chunky wet food, but she has difficulty chewing it as im sure that’s even painful. Hope your kitty feels better soon!

We pureed her food into a very watery mixture but she couldn't even touch that. Think she is struggling to even open her mouth.

I have just got back from the vets with her, they gave her a steroid injection and multivitamin. Hoping she perks up!

 

[Sandy Beach]

Poor baby!

 

[jd0963]

It's awful because everytime her mouth hurts she runs away like it was me who hurt her. She just doesn't understand. I really hope she is back to normal soon, she's so loving and needy - seeing her in pain is heartbreaking.

 

[Kflowers]

have you asked the vet about injectable - by them - pain meds? Given your kitty's problem I can't imagine why your vet didn't suggest it, if it exists. It's possible I missed that.

The thing is to ask. Perhaps metacam no longer comes as an injectable. I think one of my cats got it as an injectable.

When she turned out to be allergic to the metacam which created a seeping sore on the injection site, he gave her a shot of cortisone.

A previous cat got cortisone injected once a month for her teeth problems. It made it where she could eat and was fairly comfortable. It's not a good long term (it eventually killed her after two years) solution but for the short term perhaps. (note, after another of my cats got one cortisone injection and developed diabetes, the vet told me that cortisone can give some cats diabetes. It's all a matter of what risks you can -- or really -- must take.

Wishing you and your kitty recovery and comfort.

 

[jd0963]

Just an update - as she was struggling to eat I found a product called M&C nurish paste for cats that was high calorie. Instead of putting it on her food (which she wouldn't have eaten due to the pain association) the instructions advised me to put it on the back of her paws and she would lick it off - worked a charm! She stopped losing weight although was still pretty miserable due to the pain.

Took her to the vets once she had her strength back and he removed 2 badly infected teeth so she now only has her front teeth. She is back to normal again, eating and playing!

Thanks for all your advice

 

[FeebysOwner]

So glad you gave us an update! Thanks!