Barely Eating -- Tests Normal -- Gingivitis

[summermh]

Have any of you seen a big boost in food consumption once being treated for severe gingivitis and/or having teeth extracted? Our 16-year old (confirmed severe gingivitis) comes to the food bowls and eats a few pieces, then just walks away. However, bring him tuna juice and he will lick up every drop... but only lick the meat... it's as if he's afraid to use his teeth. He's drinking lots of water, and I now suspect he's trying to fill his tummy. Full blood panel results are normal. Also started him on tummy nausea meds, and the vet says nausea can be common in older kitties, although they don't know exactly why. He has lost weight (hence the blood panel), and would like to get him eating normally again :-)  TIA!

 

[peaches08]

Is he on pate style canned food? Putting it in a blender and/or adding water may help him lap it up instead of chewing.

 

[summermh]

He will absolutely not eat canned of any kind, so I haven't tried the softening his dry food. When we switched from C/D to S/O (Royal Canin), he ate more for a handful of days, but guess the excitement of the new food has worn off  ;-)

 

[mservant]

Has your cat had some teeth removed already, and if so when was this? Also, is the severe gingivitis still present and gums red and sore, or was treatment provided and gums now healed / normal?

 

[peaches08]

He has urinary or crystal issues too?

 

[peaches08]

Another thought: the kitty is hungry, so now may be the perfect time to try canned again.

 

[summermh]

 
Has your cat had some teeth removed already, and if so when was this? Also, is the severe gingivitis still present and gums red and sore, or was treatment provided and gums now healed / normal?

He is missing a fang, but no teeth have ever been extracted. He was just diagnosed with severe gingivitis a couple weeks ago, but as we were dealing with an infection (abscess) we weren't able to treat the gingivitis.

 

[summermh]

He has urinary or crystal issues too?

Yes, for years... it's rarely a problem since he stays on the Rx food. A urinalysis was performed along with bloodwork, and all came back fine. 

 

[summermh]

Another thought: the kitty is hungry, so now may be the perfect time to try canned again.

We tried the canned food first when the eating issues became a problem, but he wouldn't eat it... would only lick the top a few times then walk away. That's when the vet decided to dry the dry S/O and it seemed to work, but only for a little while. Now he's back to barely eating and drinking a lot. 

 

[goholistic]

My Boo was eating significantly less before his extractions. After the extractions, he was like a different cat...wanting his face rubbed and eating anything I put in front of him. FORLs (feline odontoclastic resportive lesions) are often missed through a physical exam, but can be found through x-rays. FORLs are very painful and the only way to treat them is to extract the affected teeth.

 

[summermh]

My Boo was eating significantly less before his extractions. After the extractions, he was like a different cat...wanting his face rubbed and eating anything I put in front of him. FORLs (feline odontoclastic resportive lesions) are often missed through a physical exam, but can be found through x-rays. FORLs are very painful and the only way to treat them is to extract the affected teeth.

I hope this is the case for us! At this point I don't know what else could be causing this. Our new vet preferred to wait a month or two to put him under for dental work, but now that he's back to barely eating, we may have to do it anyway :-/  I really appreciate all the input! I'll be calling him tomorrow to see if there's any other test he would want to run first.

 

[mservant]

If his mouth  or throat is very sore then it's likely he will not want to eat due to the pain.  Was the abscess in his mouth? Also, if he's on antibiotics for an abscess still, is there possibly some relationship with feeling loss of appetite due to the medication?  If his mouth isn't looking sore any more, and no redness or abscesses in his mouth now could it possibly be an association with eating and pain that he has recently had?  I suspect it is most likely that his mouth is very sore due to the gingivitis and any mouth lesions and he won;t want to eat until his pain is better.  

My cat has a history of severe gingivitis, stomatitis and tonsillitis and when his gums and mouth infections/lesions were at their most acute he would be very reluctant to eat.  Licking high tasting gravy from his favourite cat-junk (Purina) foods was pretty much all he would take when he was like that. If his mouth gets a bit sore I can now tell as he will mouth at his favourite freeze dried 100% fish snacks - and he'd do anything for one of them!  My vets would give both antibiotic and something for his pain when he was really sick but I know there are a lot of concerns about the types of pain relief that are sometimes used for cats. 

It's good you're managing to get fluids in to him by giving him tuna juice: is it tuna in spring water and not brine?  I'm sure you know you need to be careful about too much salt. Try to give him other very liquid / gravy foods - both to increase his calorie in take as much as you can and so he doesn't start to reject other cat foods, poultry and meats. Tuna isn't good for him as in addition to being yummy but not nutritionally balanced for cats it contains high levels of toxins (tuna being at the top of the food chain).

Good luck getting him better and starting to be able to manage the gingivitis.  My cat is on twice daily tooth brushing and prescription TD food as the tooth brushing alone didn't control the gum inflammation and plaque build up (which is noticeable even after 1 day of not maintaining the strict routine).  SO far we've managed to avoid any tooth extractions though.  :-)

 

[mservant]

Just seen your most recent post.  I'd definitely have another chat with your vet.  If they are not managing to control the pain and infection in his mouth and he doesn't eat enough then they would just end up being even more concerned about that.  Good luck with your conversation with the vet.  There are a lot of posts from people who have cats with stomatitis on the site which would be worth you reading and they have loads of information about tooth extractions and after care / post operative results. 

 

[summermh]

 
If his mouth  or throat is very sore then it's likely he will not want to eat due to the pain.  Was the abscess in his mouth? Also, if he's on antibiotics for an abscess still, is there possibly some relationship with feeling loss of appetite due to the medication?  If his mouth isn't looking sore any more, and no redness or abscesses in his mouth now could it possibly be an association with eating and pain that he has recently had?  I suspect it is most likely that his mouth is very sore due to the gingivitis and any mouth lesions and he won;t want to eat until his pain is better.  

My cat has a history of severe gingivitis, stomatitis and tonsillitis and when his gums and mouth infections/lesions were at their most acute he would be very reluctant to eat.  Licking high tasting gravy from his favourite cat-junk (Purina) foods was pretty much all he would take when he was like that. If his mouth gets a bit sore I can now tell as he will mouth at his favourite freeze dried 100% fish snacks - and he'd do anything for one of them!  My vets would give both antibiotic and something for his pain when he was really sick but I know there are a lot of concerns about the types of pain relief that are sometimes used for cats. 

It's good you're managing to get fluids in to him by giving him tuna juice: is it tuna in spring water and not brine?  I'm sure you know you need to be careful about too much salt. Try to give him other very liquid / gravy foods - both to increase his calorie in take as much as you can and so he doesn't start to reject other cat foods, poultry and meats. Tuna isn't good for him as in addition to being yummy but not nutritionally balanced for cats it contains high levels of toxins (tuna being at the top of the food chain).

Good luck getting him better and starting to be able to manage the gingivitis.  My cat is on twice daily tooth brushing and prescription TD food as the tooth brushing alone didn't control the gum inflammation and plaque build up (which is noticeable even after 1 day of not maintaining the strict routine).  SO far we've managed to avoid any tooth extractions though.  :-)

No, the abscess was on the side of his neck.  I asked if the antibiotic could be causing the lack of appetite, but as it was an injectable, he says it's extremely unlikely. Plus, we're now beyond the 14 days it was to be effective. It seems he has an appetite, as the idea of food seems to excite him, but then he just sniffs and walks away. The tuna is in spring water. I know it's not ideal, but it's all I have that he loves and will devour (the juice, not the tuna). I'll be calling the vet tomorrow and seeing if he feels we should move forward, even being on the tail end of his recovery from the infection, which was a pretty bad one. 

I appreciate the insight! :-)

 

[mservant]

Hope you've managed to speak with the vet as worrying how long he's been off his food, and still sounds like he feels nauseous. Am interested to hear how you get on and if the vet has a good idea what's happening and how to start getting your boy back on the path to recovery. 

  

 

[summermh]

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond! Yes, called the vet earlier this week. She agreed that his severe gingivitis could certainly be why it seems he has an appetite but isn't eating as much as he should. So, she prescribed a small bottle of liquid morphine, just one drop on his gums per day to see if we see a change. I have seen a change, but not nearly what I would like to see. We have not done x-rays, and she says that would be our next step. Definitely concerned of what we could find there... I'd much rather our issue be gingivitis than the other possibilities she named. I do remember them saying there was a number on his blood results which would be out of whack if ANYTHING was going wrong in his body, and that number was normal. He is also drinking LOTS of water, and I personally feel it's due to hunger with the other blood results being normal. Almost as if he's trying to fill up his tummy that way instead? He practically ran to the bowl I filled with tuna juice yesterday and licked up every drop. Haha, as I type this he has walked up to the food bowl and started eating, first time I've noticed him eating today :-)  To give you an idea... in his "heyday" he weighed closed to 12 pounds, and he is now at 9 pounds. This has been a very gradual change over the last few years (which I simply attributed to him getting older), but since the cat bite and infection he's dropped at least another 1/2 pound. Will keep you all posted. Thanks so much for checking in on us and all the advice & suggestions! And just like that... after only a few nibbles, he's walked away from the food bowl and headed back outside. Ugh!

 

[mservant]

I know it sounds drastic but if he's still off his food and loosing weight it might be worth trying some syringe feeding with him?  If you can introduce a syringe as something nice rather than nasty to start, like licking tuna juice from it, he might not hate one being in his mouth too much.  You could then give him some watered down pate food at the back and side of his mouth so he swallows it? There are quite a few threads on this site advising on how to do it. It worries me that if he doesn't eat for too long he will end up being more sick due to that than he is with the gingivitis.  Hope he picks up soon. 

 

[summermh]

 
I know it sounds drastic but if he's still off his food and loosing weight it might be worth trying some syringe feeding with him?  If you can introduce a syringe as something nice rather than nasty to start, like licking tuna juice from it, he might not hate one being in his mouth too much.  You could then give him some watered down pate food at the back and side of his mouth so he swallows it? There are quite a few threads on this site advising on how to do it. It worries me that if he doesn't eat for too long he will end up being more sick due to that than he is with the gingivitis.  Hope he picks up soon. 

Doesn't sounds drastic at all! Funny thing is, a few minutes ago I was giving him a good neck scratch and noticed what felt like YET ANOTHER pocket of infection nearby the original bite site. Began wiping down with a warm wet paper towel, and sure enough, here comes more pus draining out. Needless to say, he wasn't happy with me, but I got quite a bit out. He was rewarded with another can of tuna juice ;-)  Will continue wiping and draining tomorrow and back to the vet on Monday. I took him about a week ago thinking his neck still felt swollen, but they said it seemed like scar tissue and not more infection. Possible they missed it, or possible it was just so small then they couldn't have felt it. I may let him stay there a couple of days and let them start the syringe feeding. Unless the syringe feeding can take much longer until they begin eating again normally? Of course, could be this new pocket of infection is the entire issue, and if we can get it cleared up once and for all then his appetite may bounce right back. This has been quite the ordeal, whew! Thanks again!

 

[mservant]

Oh, your poor little guy, he must have been feeling really grotty with his body still fighting all that infection. Good for you spotting it.  He must be so trusting and a real sweetie to allow you to drain it, and relieving the pressure hopefully makes it less painful for him until you can get him back to the vet.  I hope they manage to get on top of things this time.  Do try to get some calories in to him with gravy or something so his body / liver has something other than liquids to process, it really will help him.  Will he lick pate or mashed up smelly fish off his paw or your finger if you don't feel you could try the syringe yet?  

Let us know how it goes.  

 and  

 for you and your boy.

 

[summermh]

He has been eating some solid food every day... I mix some treats in with his food which encourages him to eat. He licked canned food this morning, but didn't eat any. Drained a bit more infection out this morning. Back to the vet tomorrow!