Cat not eating or drinking and lethargic

[Rshep]

Hello

My 4 year old male indoor cat hasn't eaten or had anything to drink since yesterday morning. He is also very lethargic, just wants to sleep and lay down all day, he is not acting like himself at all. We took him to our vet this morning and got some xrays done, which showed alot of stool backed up and gas as well, nothing else. My vet also gave him some subq fluids, and anti-nausea, as well as an antibiotic incase of infection. The vet said to us he would be a completely different patient and able to eat in a few hours but it's been all day and he still just wants to sleep and lay down, still doesn't wanna eat anything even the vet prescribed soft food or any of his fave treats. Our vet has him booked for another appointment tomorrow morning and mentioned an ultrasound. Does anyone have any recommendations? I am stuck and I hate seeing him like this, he's usually so active and never down like this, I'm especially worried because he won't eat anything at all, for almost 2 days now.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I would think blood work is in order, probably before an ultrasound. They should have done that when you took him to the vet to begin with. What did they prescribe for the stool in his intestines? That could be the whole source of his issues.

I hesitate to suggest giving him food because of the backed-up stool, but you could try to see if he would eat a bit of baby food meat (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut), just to get something in him. Water could be added for extra moisture. A lot of sick cats will respond to eating some baby food meat.

I'd call the vet back now and tell him nothing has helped, and if they didn't suggest anything for his stool issue ask about that as well.

Does he have a history of any health issues?

 

[Rshep]

Hi. I would think blood work is in order, probably before an ultrasound. They should have done that when you took him to the vet to begin with. What did they prescribe for the stool in his intestines? That could be the whole source of his issues.

I hesitate to suggest giving him food because of the backed-up stool, but you could try to see if he would eat a bit of baby food meat (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut), just to get something in him. Water could be added for extra moisture. A lot of sick cats will respond to eating some baby food meat.

I'd call the vet back now and tell him nothing has helped, and if they didn't suggest anything for his stool issue ask about that as well.

Does he have a history of any health issues?

Thank you for the reply! He did do bloodwork, I forgot to mention that in the post actually! Just waiting on the results, within the next hour. They didn't prescribe anything for the stool yet, and he has no history of health issues at all. I will definitely ask the vet when they call back.

 

[Rshep]

Hello

My 4 year old male indoor cat hasn't eaten or had anything to drink since yesterday morning. He is also very lethargic, just wants to sleep and lay down all day, he is not acting like himself at all. We took him to our vet this morning and got some xrays done, which showed alot of stool backed up and gas as well, nothing else. My vet also gave him some subq fluids, and anti-nausea, as well as an antibiotic incase of infection. The vet said to us he would be a completely different patient and able to eat in a few hours but it's been all day and he still just wants to sleep and lay down, still doesn't wanna eat anything even the vet prescribed soft food or any of his fave treats. Our vet has him booked for another appointment tomorrow morning and mentioned an ultrasound. Does anyone have any recommendations? I am stuck and I hate seeing him like this, he's usually so active and never down like this, I'm especially worried because he won't eat anything at all, for almost 2 days now.

Edit: He did do bloodwork as well, just waiting on results and he has used the litter to urinate, just not poop yet

 

[silent meowlook]

I would let your vet know there is no improvement.

 

[Rshep]

I would let your vet know there is no improvement.

I did that & they told me to wait until the bloodwork is in, which should be in about an hour from now so I will definitely see what they say

 

[FeebysOwner]

Keep us posted please!

 

[Rshep]

Hello

My 4 year old male indoor cat hasn't eaten or had anything to drink since yesterday morning. He is also very lethargic, just wants to sleep and lay down all day, he is not acting like himself at all. We took him to our vet this morning and got some xrays done, which showed alot of stool backed up and gas as well, nothing else. My vet also gave him some subq fluids, and anti-nausea, as well as an antibiotic incase of infection. The vet said to us he would be a completely different patient and able to eat in a few hours but it's been all day and he still just wants to sleep and lay down, still doesn't wanna eat anything even the vet prescribed soft food or any of his fave treats. Our vet has him booked for another appointment tomorrow morning and mentioned an ultrasound. Does anyone have any recommendations? I am stuck and I hate seeing him like this, he's usually so active and never down like this, I'm especially worried because he won't eat anything at all, for almost 2 days now.

So another update: just got off the phone with my vet, he prescribed him something for his stool to make him go and also an appetite stimulant.

 

[FeebysOwner]

How did the blood work turn out? What did they prescribe for his stool? And did they give you more anti-nausea meds to go along with the appetite stimulant? There is nothing worse than a nauseous cat that is hungry at the same time.

 

[Rshep]

How did the blood work turn out? What did they prescribe for his stool? And did they give you more anti-nausea meds to go along with the appetite stimulant? There is nothing worse than a nauseous cat that is hungry at the same time.

The bloodwork didn't come in yet, they prescribed Mirtazapine for his hunger & gas and an enema as a last resort

 

[FeebysOwner]

So, nothing really for the backed-up stool issue before resorting to an enema?

 

[Rshep]

So, nothing really for the backed-up stool issue before resorting to an enema?

Vet just said to give him this pill and it should help move things around, hopefully he's right

 

[Rshep]

So, nothing really for the backed-up stool issue before resorting to an enema?

I am going back to the vet tomorrow morning so if nothing helps, I will ask for something else to help him go that isn't an enema possibly, as of right now though, he's a bit more alert & walking around a bit than he was

 

[FeebysOwner]

Never heard of mirtazapine helping with stool issues. It is actually a form of anti-depressant that has shown to increase appetite in cats. I guess the vet is hoping that if you can get him to eat, more food in his system will somehow 'push' out the backed-up stool????
Anyway, it is good that he seems a bit better.

 

[Rshep]

Hello

My 4 year old male indoor cat hasn't eaten or had anything to drink since yesterday morning. He is also very lethargic, just wants to sleep and lay down all day, he is not acting like himself at all. We took him to our vet this morning and got some xrays done, which showed alot of stool backed up and gas as well, nothing else. My vet also gave him some subq fluids, and anti-nausea, as well as an antibiotic incase of infection. The vet said to us he would be a completely different patient and able to eat in a few hours but it's been all day and he still just wants to sleep and lay down, still doesn't wanna eat anything even the vet prescribed soft food or any of his fave treats. Our vet has him booked for another appointment tomorrow morning and mentioned an ultrasound. Does anyone have any recommendations? I am stuck and I hate seeing him like this, he's usually so active and never down like this, I'm especially worried because he won't eat anything at all, for almost 2 days now.

So update on my kitty, his bloodwork was normal, but his pancreas showed some inflammation so he will be taking some medication for that. He still hasn't had a bowel movement, he keeps eating food now and he is drinking water now as well. He has another appt tomorrow to discuss options if he doesn't poop today.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Good about the eating and drinking! Did the vet explain why they aren't trying to treat the constipation? I mean it could be something as simple as giving him some Miralax. As I said before, Mirtazapine is not intended to help with constipation, just increasing a cat's appetite level.

 

[Rshep]

Good about the eating and drinking! Did the vet explain why they aren't trying to treat the constipation? I mean it could be something as simple as giving him some Miralax. As I said before, Mirtazapine is not intended to help with constipation, just increasing a cat's appetite level.

He kept saying for him to eat, he gave him another appetite stimulant today, and he kept mentioning the enema (microlax).

 

[FeebysOwner]

OK. Well, you have to follow your vet's guidelines, and I hope it works. But the longer the stool sits in the colon, the harder it becomes. Thinking that if he eats food it is going to produce enough stool to force out the backed-up stool seems a bit weird. I can only presume that is what your vet is thinking. If it works, fine. But I bet you end up with your cat getting an enema. Hope I am wrong.

 

[fionasmom]

My cat vet did try this once with a cat who was constipated. She felt that the constipation was not that bad and that the cat could pass stool "if she wanted" and gave the cat an injection of dexamethasone in order to increase appetite. I still find this to have been odd, but it worked. The cat ate more and had a bowel movement and returned to normal.

Stay on top of this though and get back to the vet if you don't have any success.

 

[louisstools]

If the vet does think an enema is in order be sure to have them do it.