Hi everyone, I found this forum some weeks ago while dealing with my cat's health issues, and thought I'd ask you lovely people for advice. This is gonna be a really long post of what me and my cat have been dealing with since July, and I apologize for the length!
My baby boy is 12 years old. I was out of town for a couple of months this summer, so my mom watched my cats, and my boy's appetite steadily declined over the course several weeks. My mom took him to the vet on 7/30 and 8/30, where he got steroid and antibiotic shots both times (and simple bloodwork at the first appointment). She said the vet said it may just be allergies or asthma and stress. I came home and got him some Freshpet food that he ate well for a day, but the next day he kept regurgitating it and then wouldn't touch it anymore. I couldn't get him to eat any wet foods, and when I would give him treats I noticed he seemed to have trouble keeping food in his mouth. He vomited multiple times a day, food or water or just dry heaving. I would wake up every morning to him vomiting on an empty stomach. I called the vet on the weekend and he recommended I syringe feed him some wet food mixed with pedialyte until his appointment Monday.
At this 3rd appointment (9/11), I mentioned his issues dropping food and that he has some tartar/gingivitis, which the vet (a different vet) confirmed. He gave me an oral antibiotic and an endosorb suspension for his tummy troubles, but didn't do any more testing and sent us home. He weighed 6.6 lbs. I gave my cat these meds and kept syringe feeding what little I could without him vomiting. After 2 days I called the vet office again and they told me to come in and buy some Hills A/D food. After 3 more days of syringe feedings, vomiting, and no appetite, I walked in to the vet clinic with him (9/16). He weighed 6.25 lbs. The vet (a 3rd vet) did a very short exam, said my cat's intestines felt ropey/irritated, maybe it's IBD, and sent us home with 3 more oral meds: a long course of prednisolone, cisapride for digestion, and an appetite stimulant called elura. He got another dexamethasone shot as well.
For the first couple days after this, there was no vomiting, but there was a lot of stress from being given 4 oral meds twice a day plus an appetite stimulant that never worked. At this point my cat started having diarrhea, but when I syringe fed him he'd actually lick some from the syringe himself. Every now and then I'd see him eating a few bites of kibble on his own. After a couple days, he went back to vomiting and would often vomit his meds or food. He seemed nauseated often.
He had a follow-up appointment on 9/25, where I became pretty confused. When we went to the exam room, the vet assistant started asking me about my cat's hyperthyroidism. What hyperthyroidism? She said it was in his chart that he was diagnosed on 7/30. I said nobody ever mentioned it to me or my mom, and I don't think they had even tested for it then. Eventually the vet comes and does his exam, they take more blood for testing and it is confirmed that my cat has hyperthyroidism (his TT4 was 14.5µg/dL). This vet, who is the first vet my cat saw at his first 2 appointments, asks me if I've been using the "click pen" on my cat's ears. I had no idea what he was talking about. He explained it's the hyperthyroid medication. I said no, because no one ever mentioned if my cat had hyperthyroidism! The vet gave me a prescription for methimazole in gel form to put on my cat's ear twice a day. This time he had gained one ounce of weight. I'm still feeling the confusion about his chart and his diagnosis, but after talking to the manager of the clinic she was nice enough to reimburse me for the meds I was told to discontinue.
Anyway, now it's been almost 4 weeks since I first syringe fed my cat. He still vomits clear liquid/foam every morning. Until this morning, he hadn't vomited food in over a week and he doesn't seem to be very nauseated anymore after feedings, and his diarrhea is gone. He seems to feel better since coming off the other meds and starting the gel. He acts more like himself, though he's not back to being as active. I feed him a can of the Hills A/D each day with him sometimes licking some from the syringe himself, but he won't touch it if it's in a dish. Some days he'll nibble at dry food but some days he won't. Any cat foods I try to give him he'll sniff and move away from. But the other day I did give him some chicken and he happily ate it, so I don't know what to do! Maybe he would have an appetite for something else? It's worth mentioning that all this time he has still been drinking well.
The 3 vets we've seen at this clinic never seemed to take my concern about his eating seriously enough, even though since June my cat has lost 5.5 lbs, since he is still alert and active. But he's only even alive because I have been hand feeding him for a month. I unfortunately don't have many vet options living in a small town; the vet we've been seeing is actually a bit of a drive to another city, because the small clinic where I live isn't great either.
I'm going to the store today to maybe buy him some chicken to boil or some new cat foods to try, but does anyone have any advice for me? Has anyone gone through something similar where their cat eventually got their appetite back? I would gladly syringe feed my cat for as long as it takes, even though it breaks my heart. But as good as he is with the syringe, I know it's still stressful for him. I just feel anxious and stressed that there is a problem I can't solve. I suppose that's why I'm posting here, even though he has a follow-up appointment on the 11th for new bloodwork. Really sorry for the long read, and thank you to anyone who reads through it.
My baby boy is 12 years old. I was out of town for a couple of months this summer, so my mom watched my cats, and my boy's appetite steadily declined over the course several weeks. My mom took him to the vet on 7/30 and 8/30, where he got steroid and antibiotic shots both times (and simple bloodwork at the first appointment). She said the vet said it may just be allergies or asthma and stress. I came home and got him some Freshpet food that he ate well for a day, but the next day he kept regurgitating it and then wouldn't touch it anymore. I couldn't get him to eat any wet foods, and when I would give him treats I noticed he seemed to have trouble keeping food in his mouth. He vomited multiple times a day, food or water or just dry heaving. I would wake up every morning to him vomiting on an empty stomach. I called the vet on the weekend and he recommended I syringe feed him some wet food mixed with pedialyte until his appointment Monday.
At this 3rd appointment (9/11), I mentioned his issues dropping food and that he has some tartar/gingivitis, which the vet (a different vet) confirmed. He gave me an oral antibiotic and an endosorb suspension for his tummy troubles, but didn't do any more testing and sent us home. He weighed 6.6 lbs. I gave my cat these meds and kept syringe feeding what little I could without him vomiting. After 2 days I called the vet office again and they told me to come in and buy some Hills A/D food. After 3 more days of syringe feedings, vomiting, and no appetite, I walked in to the vet clinic with him (9/16). He weighed 6.25 lbs. The vet (a 3rd vet) did a very short exam, said my cat's intestines felt ropey/irritated, maybe it's IBD, and sent us home with 3 more oral meds: a long course of prednisolone, cisapride for digestion, and an appetite stimulant called elura. He got another dexamethasone shot as well.
For the first couple days after this, there was no vomiting, but there was a lot of stress from being given 4 oral meds twice a day plus an appetite stimulant that never worked. At this point my cat started having diarrhea, but when I syringe fed him he'd actually lick some from the syringe himself. Every now and then I'd see him eating a few bites of kibble on his own. After a couple days, he went back to vomiting and would often vomit his meds or food. He seemed nauseated often.
He had a follow-up appointment on 9/25, where I became pretty confused. When we went to the exam room, the vet assistant started asking me about my cat's hyperthyroidism. What hyperthyroidism? She said it was in his chart that he was diagnosed on 7/30. I said nobody ever mentioned it to me or my mom, and I don't think they had even tested for it then. Eventually the vet comes and does his exam, they take more blood for testing and it is confirmed that my cat has hyperthyroidism (his TT4 was 14.5µg/dL). This vet, who is the first vet my cat saw at his first 2 appointments, asks me if I've been using the "click pen" on my cat's ears. I had no idea what he was talking about. He explained it's the hyperthyroid medication. I said no, because no one ever mentioned if my cat had hyperthyroidism! The vet gave me a prescription for methimazole in gel form to put on my cat's ear twice a day. This time he had gained one ounce of weight. I'm still feeling the confusion about his chart and his diagnosis, but after talking to the manager of the clinic she was nice enough to reimburse me for the meds I was told to discontinue.
Anyway, now it's been almost 4 weeks since I first syringe fed my cat. He still vomits clear liquid/foam every morning. Until this morning, he hadn't vomited food in over a week and he doesn't seem to be very nauseated anymore after feedings, and his diarrhea is gone. He seems to feel better since coming off the other meds and starting the gel. He acts more like himself, though he's not back to being as active. I feed him a can of the Hills A/D each day with him sometimes licking some from the syringe himself, but he won't touch it if it's in a dish. Some days he'll nibble at dry food but some days he won't. Any cat foods I try to give him he'll sniff and move away from. But the other day I did give him some chicken and he happily ate it, so I don't know what to do! Maybe he would have an appetite for something else? It's worth mentioning that all this time he has still been drinking well.
The 3 vets we've seen at this clinic never seemed to take my concern about his eating seriously enough, even though since June my cat has lost 5.5 lbs, since he is still alert and active. But he's only even alive because I have been hand feeding him for a month. I unfortunately don't have many vet options living in a small town; the vet we've been seeing is actually a bit of a drive to another city, because the small clinic where I live isn't great either.
I'm going to the store today to maybe buy him some chicken to boil or some new cat foods to try, but does anyone have any advice for me? Has anyone gone through something similar where their cat eventually got their appetite back? I would gladly syringe feed my cat for as long as it takes, even though it breaks my heart. But as good as he is with the syringe, I know it's still stressful for him. I just feel anxious and stressed that there is a problem I can't solve. I suppose that's why I'm posting here, even though he has a follow-up appointment on the 11th for new bloodwork. Really sorry for the long read, and thank you to anyone who reads through it.
