Cat not eating

[Whattado]

My cat Snowball, (Domestic Long Hair, age 5/female/spayed) seemed ok last night for the most part besides the fact that she didn't come running to the kitchen when it was time to eat dinner. She pooped last night before bed and it was a lot but nothing really out of the ordinary. This morning, she would not touch any food at all. I tried the stinkiest of all wet food and she wouldn't touch it. However, she drank quite a bit of water. She threw up once early this morning. She spent the day just laying around and hiding in the kitchen away from everyone. I had a cat that stopped eating before and it didn't end well so I decided to take her on to the vet. The vet did a thorough physical exam by pressing on her body. She did not have a fever, her teeth and gums were fine, they could not get a fecal sample from her, looked at her skin and said that everything looked normal about her. They did not get a urine sample.
The vet gave her a Cerenia injection for nausea and prescribed some anti-diarrheal medicine to take tonight along with some Cerenia tablets tomorrow. They will be closed tomorrow but she said that if she is not better on Thursday to bring her back and they would have to do x-rays and blood work. She had complete blood work done around January for her well visit where they checked everything and all was well then. (Of course that doesn't mean she is fine now). Ever since we got home, she has been laying in the kitchen chair away from everyone and won't come out. The vet said to withhold food and water for 12 hours. She is awake and looking around but she doesn't want to be bothered. I'm worried sick about her. Is it ok to wait until Thursday to take her back to the vet if she is not eating? I read all this stuff online that stated that a cat can develop fatty liver disease and die if they don't eat in 3 days. I'm also not really sure about giving her any anti diarrheal medicine tonight because she hasn't been to the bathroom to pee or poop since last night. Basically at this point, it could be anything. I'm just very worried about having to wait until Thursday to get an appointment if she isn't any better. Do you think I should give her the medicine even though she is not having any diarrhea now?
Thank you for your time.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Did they say to give it to her even if she doesn't have diarrhea? Usually they give you that type of medicine "just in case". Same with the Cerenia.

Not eating at all for 3 days is not good, but since she's already been to the Vet and they said it's ok to wait, then I'm sure it will be ok. If she were to develop Fatty liver, which can happen when a cat suddenly stops eating for too long, it would be in the very early stages. I've never actually heard of it coming on that quickly and I've had a cat get it . Try everything you can think of to get her to eat. Treats particularly. Meat only baby food sometimes does the trick. Try seeing if she'll eat out of your hand. Sometimes my guy who is the pickiest cat in the world will eat out of my hand. I guess they didn't advise you to try to force feed her in case she has a blockage? We know she pooped ok since she went last night, so that's a good sign. Do you monitor her output? Could she be really constipated? What did the Vet say about that when he examined her? One of my guys stopped eating almost completely and turned out he was really backed up even though he would still occasionally poop.

Hoping this is something like a 24 hour bug and she's back to normal soon

 

[Mamanyt1953]

If they can get her in on Thursday, she will almost certainly not be in serious trouble from not eating by then. IF they cannot see her for a few days after that, you will need to syringe feed her until the vet appointment and blood work. If you are unfamiliar with doing this, let us know, and we'll be happy to advise.

 

[Whattado]

Yes, the vet said (and it is in the written instructions) to start giving her the anti-diarrheal medicine tonight and start giving her the nausea medication tomorrow.

She finally got up and went over to where her food bowl typically sits. I got her to go into the living room with me and she went back into the kitchen again. I researched it to see if there was any reason to make her wait 12 hours before eating or drinking and I really couldn't find much. Some people said that their vet told them to wait a day while others didn't instruct them at all and some said to just wait a few hours. The vet didn't even actually tell me--she just had it on the paperwork that they gave me when I checked out. So......I decided to give her a tiny bit of wet food. I opened one of the Sheba perfect portions that she likes so much and put some of it out. She ate a few bites of it--not much at all, but some. I would say she maybe ate a teaspoon, if that. She would not drink any water but I didn't push it as she has drank a lot earlier today before the visit to the vet. After she ate, I did see her licking her lips some like she does when she is nauseated. I'm just worried about her not going to pee since last night. That has me really worried that she has some type of blockage or kidney issue.

She poops just about every night before bed so I don't think she is constipated and her bowel movement was loose last night. The vet really didn't say anything about her potentially being constipated although they did try to get a fecal sample and couldn't get anything.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

OK, the not peeing can be VERY serious, fairly quickly. If she does not pee by tomorrow, you may have to find SOMEONE who can see you. If she were mine, and the budget allowed, I'd take her somewhere tonight, but that can be horribly expensive. Tomorrow for sure if no pee tonight.

 

[Whattado]

She did pee this morning so I'm very relieved about that. I didn't notice any blood or anything like that in it. She has not pooped but I'm not going to worry about that now. She went straight to the kitchen this morning when I got up and her dry food was sitting there from where I put out a little bit last night before bed. She went right up and started eating it. She didn't eat all of it and didn't eat that much but she ate some willingly so I'm happy about that. She wanted to go outside on the screened in porch after eating so I let her. I have to go to work today and I was worried to death about going. My teenager will be here today while I am at work doing his online classes so I will task him with watching over her.

 

[di and bob]

If she ate any amount at all on her own that is a very good sign. As for the not peeing. or pooping, it is because she hasn't ate much or drank much. For urinary blockages, which are very serious, if it comes up again, my vet instructed me on a very good way to find out if it is a blockage or urinary tract infection. Reach under the cat and press your fingers deep into the lower abdomen, (not extremely deep to cause pain, but deep enough to feel) feeling for a hard, enlarged mass, often the size of a baseball or softball. If you find that, that is a blockage and take the cat in immediately. if you feel nothing, and the lower abdomen is soft, it is a UTI. You might want to practice this a few times to see what is normal now. As for the not eating, get a variety box of Hartz Delectable Lickables in the stew, NOT the bisque, and keep it around just in case. I give all my cat meds in it and it is wonderful for cats that refuse to eat. There is just something in it that cats love, no matter how sick. It is often the ONLY thing that keeps my cats alive when they get really sick from their Leukemia. even a few licks a couple times a day is progress. Good luck, I hope she continues to improve!