Cat Won’t Eat Pre And Post Surgery

[iheartlife]

my almost 8 year old cat had emergency surgery on Thursday afternoon. She came home yesterday and hasn’t eaten hardly anything. She wasn’t eating at all 2 days prior to surgery. So she totally stopped eating sometime on Monday, had surgery Thursday, and came home Friday (so almost four days total with no food). Between when she came home Friday, she has taken a few bites of dry kibble, licked some wet food around a plate (but didn’t really eat any; just licked the juice off it), and has eaten maybe 15 treats (at 1.5 calories each). I can’t get her to eat any real food, and she’s not eating a ton of treats. So she’s definitely not eating enough calories regardless and I don’t feel like the treats she’s eating are nutritionally adequate. Her pre- surgery weight was 11.8 lbs (this was taken at the vet’s office) and now she weighs 9.2 lbs (from my home scale, not sure if it’s entirely accurate). She looks very gaunt though. Her hips go inward a lot and there are slight depressions in her thighs; her legs feel very thin and frail.

What can I do to provide her with adequate nutrition when she doesn’t want to eat? I’m worried about her organs shutting down since she’s been so long without food. Can I water down canned food and syringe feed her that? Or can I give her kitten milk replacer? Would kitten milk replacer meet all her nutritional needs (calories, fat, protein, vitamins) or would a watered down quality canned food (mixed into like a slurry and fed with a syringe) better meet her nutritional needs? If the milk replacer is the better option, how much would an adult cat if her weight need to meet her daily calorie needs?

Since it’s the first weekend, our vet is closed until Monday. The nearest 24-hour emergency vet is over 50 miles away. If she gets very bad/starts crashing, obviously I will rush her there, but I would really prefer to see my regular vet on Monday if she’s not eating on her own by then. I do not feel comfortable with the emergency vet; they initially advised me to put her down when I brought her in and it was my regular vet who said surgery was an option and who did the surgery. So I would really prefer to wait and take my cat back to my regular vet rather than to the people who advised me to put her down. At this point, she is still drinking plenty of water on her own and urinating on her own (no poops because she hasn’t been eating).

 

[Furballsmom]

Can I water down canned food and syringe feed her that? Or can I give her kitten milk replacer? Would kitten milk relaxer meet all her nutritional needs (calories, fat, protein, vitamins) or would a watered down quality canned food (mixed into like a slurry and fed with a syringe) better meet her nutritional needs?

Hi!
Try everything and anything at this point. Here are some more ideas;
Sit with your cat and scoop some food on your finger or a spoon and hopefully your kitty will lick it. Or gently tuck some food inside the cheek.

(You might want to double-check with your vet just to be sure these things below are ok for your kitty).

Try some raw egg yolk. Egg white must always be cooked, and some people cook the white and make a slurry of sorts by adding in the raw yolk.

Also you could try some Nutri-cal or similar product.

Try making the Pedialyte here;
tent test for dehydration and home-made pedialyte recipe - The Daily Kitten

Also, try making one of these, or the KMR and kitten glop recipes that were posted above;
Kitten Glop Recipes - Supplementing Cats and Kittens with nutritious formula you make at home: presented by Bengal Cat breeder Foothill Felines. --This website has a number of kitten glop recipes, with ingredients that you may very well have in your house.

These can be used on their own or combined with food. Also, as mentioned if you heat the food a little - stir it so there aren't any hot spots from the microwave.

Or you could heat some water, about a tablespoon, and add that to canned food. A small glass works to stir it all up.

• Chicken, beef or ham flavored (pureed) baby food such as Gerber Stage 2 - make sure there is no garlic or onions in the ingredients

• Tuna and/or the juice, a low mercury/low/no sodium brand is called SafeCatch

• Salmon, mackerel

• Sardines (make sure there are no bones)

• boiled cut up chicken or turkey with no seasonings

• canned kitten food any brand

• Try mixing in Kitten Milk Replacer - there are recipes on the internet or store bought

• Fish, tuna or BBQ flavored canned wet food (I personally have never seen BBQ flavors, but...)

• Lickable cat treats or pouch treat 'gravy' poured over the food

• kitten glop (recipes in website link above)
• Bonito flakes
• fortiflora
• fish oil
• green beans, asparagus mushed up

• goat milk, or no lactose cow milk
• whipped dessert topping such as reddi whip
• whole cooked eggs (the white must always be cooked) or raw egg yolk now and then
• broth with no salt and no garlic or onion or seasonings of any kind
• There are also commercial toppers, Applaws is a brand that can work well as a topper
  
• Some good treats would be freeze dried Purebites, Orijen, Meowtinis, Meowables, Only Natural Pet, Primal

• There are also Lickimats that you could spread types of soft food onto, even plain unflavored yogurt, and even freeze it. Licking something can help a cat to feel better emotionally The LickiMat - Food Puzzles for Cats
• shredded cheddar cheese

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. As you know, you have to get to eat - and soon!! In addition to all of the above suggestions from Furballsmom , give her ANYTHING she will eat at this point. That means any human foods she likes - turkey, chicken?? You can also puree it and add some water if your concerned about taking it too fast with little chunks of meat. Glad to hear that she is drinking, that is a good sign!

I don't know what her surgery was for, but that is a consideration when choosing what to try to get her to eat.

 

[iheartlife]

Hi!
Try everything and anything at this point. Here are some more ideas;
Sit with your cat and scoop some food on your finger or a spoon and hopefully your kitty will lick it. Or gently tuck some food inside the cheek.

(You might want to double-check with your vet just to be sure these things below are ok for your kitty).

Try some raw egg yolk. Egg white must always be cooked, and some people cook the white and make a slurry of sorts by adding in the raw yolk.

Also you could try some Nutri-cal or similar product.

Try making the Pedialyte here;
tent test for dehydration and home-made pedialyte recipe - The Daily Kitten

Also, try making one of these, or the KMR and kitten glop recipes that were posted above;
Kitten Glop Recipes - Supplementing Cats and Kittens with nutritious formula you make at home: presented by Bengal Cat breeder Foothill Felines. --This website has a number of kitten glop recipes, with ingredients that you may very well have in your house.

These can be used on their own or combined with food. Also, as mentioned if you heat the food a little - stir it so there aren't any hot spots from the microwave.

Or you could heat some water, about a tablespoon, and add that to canned food. A small glass works to stir it all up.

• Chicken, beef or ham flavored (pureed) baby food such as Gerber Stage 2 - make sure there is no garlic or onions in the ingredients

• Tuna and/or the juice, a low mercury/low/no sodium brand is called SafeCatch

• Salmon, mackerel

• Sardines (make sure there are no bones)

• boiled cut up chicken or turkey with no seasonings

• canned kitten food any brand

• Try mixing in Kitten Milk Replacer - there are recipes on the internet or store bought

• Fish, tuna or BBQ flavored canned wet food (I personally have never seen BBQ flavors, but...)

• Lickable cat treats or pouch treat 'gravy' poured over the food

• kitten glop (recipes in website link above)
• Bonito flakes
• fortiflora
• fish oil
• green beans, asparagus mushed up

• goat milk, or no lactose cow milk
• whipped dessert topping such as reddi whip
• whole cooked eggs (the white must always be cooked) or raw egg yolk now and then
• broth with no salt and no garlic or onion or seasonings of any kind
• There are also commercial toppers, Applaws is a brand that can work well as a topper
  
• Some good treats would be freeze dried Purebites, Orijen, Meowtinis, Meowables, Only Natural Pet, Primal

• There are also Lickimats that you could spread types of soft food onto, even plain unflavored yogurt, and even freeze it. Licking something can help a cat to feel better emotionally The LickiMat - Food Puzzles for Cats
• shredded cheddar cheese

She is drinking plenty of water on her own. She just will not eat. I have dried her regular kibble, eatered down heated up kibble so it’s easier to chew, 5 different flavors of canned food (including both pate and chunky textures), canned food mixed with water into a slurry mush fed via a syringe (which she just spit out), kitten milk replacer fed via a syringe (which she also spit out), shredded cheese, tuna (and juice), several different kinds of her favroite treats, I even tried mixing butter into her canned food. She wouldn’t take more than a bite or two of anything on her own and anything I tried to syringe feed she just spit it back out. Im going to go get some whipped cream from the store and see if that will work. Any other people food suggestions?

 

[iheartlife]

Hi. As you know, you have to get to eat - and soon!! In addition to all of the above suggestions from Furballsmom , give her ANYTHING she will eat at this point. That means any human foods she likes - turkey, chicken?? You can also puree it and add some water if your concerned about taking it too fast with little chunks of meat. Glad to hear that she is drinking, that is a good sign!

I don't know what her surgery was for, but that is a consideration when choosing what to try to get her to eat.

She is drinking plenty of water on her own. She just will not eat. I have dried her regular kibble, eatered down heated up kibble so it’s easier to chew, 5 different flavors of canned food (including both pate and chunky textures), canned food mixed with water into a slurry mush fed via a syringe (which she just spit out), kitten milk replacer fed via a syringe (which she also spit out), shredded cheese, tuna (and juice), several different kinds of her favroite treats, I even tried mixing butter into her canned food. She wouldn’t take more than a bite or two of anything on her own and anything I tried to syringe feed she just spit it back out. Im going to go get some whipped cream from the store and see if that will work. Any other people food suggestions?

 

[LTS3]

Try this: "liver Shake" Recipe For Inappetant Cats

 

[Furballsmom]

Try these, Ham flavored baby food ( with no onion or garlic), canned asparagus or green beans or green peas that can be mushed up and be sure to try the liquid from these cans too, eggs, mackerel, tuna...

 

[Willowy]

Baby food (Gerber) is my go-to for sick cats. One jar of the chicken flavor is enough to keep cats from going into liver failure (the other flavors have fewer calories, so if she prefers other flavors you have to give her more than one jar). She may be more willing to lick it off your finger than to eat it from a dish. It's a good sign that she shows some interest in treats. Buy a lot of treats too! Anything to keep her going for now.

Cooked chicken seems to be a favorite too. The baby food is better at first because she may not feel like chewing.

What was the surgery for?