HELP !! Cat refusing to eat and drink after gastroenteritis

[Gammie]

My cat Winston, 3 yes and 15 lbs perfectly healthy , developed diarrhoea and one episode of vomiting last Sunday. He is refusing to eat, OR DRINK previously a great eater. Two urgent care visits and now admitted into ER. But the critical care vet is reluctant to place an NG tube because his labs and imaging are normal. He is not responding to Mirtazapine or Elura.

I am nervous bringing him home; I think he needs 2-3 days of tube feeding. but the vets reluctance to place a nasogastric tube is making me question my own sanity!

 

[heatherwillard0614]

How long has Winston gone without eating and drinking?

Have you tried baby food meat
Gerber Stage 2
Beechnut

Robot or human?

Robot or human?

You could get different flavors including chicken, turkey, ham, beef
If you get something like these check the ingredients to make sure they don't have any onion or garlic.

How To Get Your Cat To Start Eating Again - TheCatSite

When cats stop eating, for whatever reason, we must help them get food into their system or they will develop a serious liver condition called hepatic lipidosis. Read here about the reasons why cats stop eating and about hepatic lipidosis in cats Lack of appetite can be a temporary thing caused...

thecatsite.com

 

[Gammie]

He is eating a little, but very little since last Sunday, (today is Saturday morning). He ate a 3 Oz can of wet food yesterday afternoon and a little this morning- Critical Care Vet seems to think he is going to be fine and wants me to bring him home. His blood work and ultrasound yesterday were normal. No more vomiting or diarrhea. ( I am leaning to bringing him home - I can’t imagine how stressed out he must be in hospital)

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I am really happy he ate a little bit yesterday and a little bit today so far. He may not need any of the things I previously mentioned if he continues to eat. If it were me I would offer him food often for the next couple days until his appetite is back to normal. You can also add a little water in with his wet food. If he still isn't drinking much.

 

[Gammie]

What is making it hard is that his regular vet is away on an extended vacation w no coverage.

the vet profession has become worse than doctors

So far 1 X-ray, two ultrasounds, and 2 sets of blood work this past week have shown nothing. Vet keeps saying he isn’t at risk for hepatic lipidosis since he is eating a little and no major disease has revealed itself

She also saw a little bit of food in his stomach on the ultrasound so he might be sneaking in little bits of food.

 

[lisahe]

I am really happy he ate a little bit yesterday and a little bit today so far. He may not need any of the things I previously mentioned if he continues to eat. If it were me I would offer him food often for the next couple days until his appetite is back to normal. You can also add a little water in with his wet food. If he still isn't drinking much.

Agreeing with what heatherwillard0614 says here, particularly since getting home should reduce his stress so he'll eat more.

Do you have any sense/idea of what caused Winston's gastroenteritis in the first place? That's often difficult, even impossible, to know but the lack of symptoms on the ultrasound is a good sign that it's not, say, chronic and serious inflammation or something of that ilk. I went through the worry about hepatic lipidosis after one of our cats had stomach surgery last year and ate very, very little for some days. (Beechnut chicken and turkey baby foods plus Sheba pates, by the way, got her back to eating. It's best to start with something relatively light.) They sent her home the day after her surgery because she was nervous and not eating... They thought she'd do better at home, which she did, though it took time for her to recover. I'm sure Winston will, too, once he can rest at home, where he's most comfortable and can get the rest he needs.

Fingers crossed that all goes well and he starts eating well again soon!

 

[daftcat75]

Can you try a recovery food like Hills A/D or Royal Canin Recovery? They are formulated specifically for this purpose, e.g. getting sick or inappetent cats (and dogs) eating again. If he likes it, and most do, I would mix it with regular food playing around with the ratio until he doesn’t need the recovery food anymore. It’s a rich food so he may not eat as much as he normally would. That’s why I recommend mixing it. It’s not meant to be a forever food. But it makes a great bridge food. It can also be helpful for disguising medicine. I pack all my Betty’s pills into capsules, dip them in A/D, and drop them on the carpet for her (one at a time.) The carpet keeps her from licking the A/D off and leaving the capsule behind. (Most of the time!) She eagerly scoops and swallows them, purrs, and meows for more. Meds time couldn’t be any easier with her thanks to her “cake frosting“ (what I call her Hills A/D because she’ll eat just about anything if there’s enough frosting on it.)

 

[Gammie]

I brought Winston home at 10:00. I cried and cried with relief when he ate a 3 Oz can of wet food and almost a bowl of his dry food. He prefers his Purnia pro plan seafood stew, and is not a fan of the Hills a/d or i/d. He is resting now.

He was sent home on Omeprazole which so far is a challenge to get down. I will hold off on the Cerenia and Mirtazepam if he continues to eat…(I firmly believe that all drugs have side effects so usually less is more)

thank you all so much for the reassurance and good suggestions.

 

[lisahe]

I'm glad to hear Winston's home, resting, and feeling better, G Gammie ! It's such a relief when they start eating.

I hope he'll do well enough that you don't have to use the additional drugs. Please let us know how things go!

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I brought Winston home at 10:00. I cried and cried with relief when he ate a 3 Oz can of wet food and almost a bowl of his dry food. He prefers his Purnia pro plan seafood stew, and is not a fan of the Hills a/d or i/d. He is resting now.

He was sent home on Omeprazole which so far is a challenge to get down. I will hold off on the Cerenia and Mirtazepam if he continues to eat…(I firmly believe that all drugs have side effects so usually less is more)

thank you all so much for the reassurance and good suggestions.

This is great news. I'm so glad he is eating. That is a substantial amount if you think about him not eating much for so long. So that's great!!! I bet Winston is so happy to be home.

 

[di and bob]

I always keep a lickable cat treat called Delectable Lickables around for times like these. My cat survived taking just a few licks of this a couple of times a day for two weeks. (he has leukemia) i give all their medicines in it too. if your little one is eating a little, he should be on the road to recovery! Bless you for helping him.......

 

[BellaBlue82]

How is Winston doing? I hope he's ok. I honestly think him eating food on his own is a great sign. Sadie had horrible gastroenteritis last year, and we couldn't figure out what had caused it. It was very scary, she has anemia and threw up every hour for 6 hours straight. Of course, then she associated eating as something bad and would not eat anything. That went on for almost three days. We ended up having to assist feed her for about three days because the ER vet did not want to place a temp feeding tube. It took about two weeks for her to get back to her normal eating habits. Ps, it ended up being a tiny piece of a plastic bag that caused this whole chain reaction. They saw it on the ultrasound , and we found it three days later in the litter box. No more plastic bags in this house now!!

 

[Gammie]

How is Winston doing? I hope he's ok. I honestly think him eating food on his own is a great sign. Sadie had horrible gastroenteritis last year, and we couldn't figure out what had caused it. It was very scary, she has anemia and threw up every hour for 6 hours straight. Of course, then she associated eating as something bad and would not eat anything. That went on for almost three days. We ended up having to assist feed her for about three days because the ER vet did not want to place a temp feeding tube. It took about two weeks for her to get back to her normal eating habits. Ps, it ended up being a tiny piece of a plastic bag that caused this whole chain reaction. They saw it on the ultrasound , and we found it three days later in the litter box. No more plastic bags in this house now!!

Winston had one episode of vomiting , then
Diarrhea 2-3 times a day; but went completely off food!! He is now eating a little bit of dry food 3-4 times / day. Prior to this he loved his wet food. How did you “assist feed”?

 

[BellaBlue82]

Winston had one episode of vomiting , then
Diarrhea 2-3 times a day; but went completely off food!! He is now eating a little bit of dry food 3-4 times / day. Prior to this he loved his wet food. How did you “assist feed”?

Assisted feeding might be a little scary at first, but a lot of times it can help them to recognize food is not the culprit/bad.
Even thought this site is mostly for IBD cats, it's a great resource.
Syringe Feeding – IBDKitties
It walks you through how to make a super slurry food and proper amount to feed/how to feed. Tbh I did this in the bathroom, with Sadie in a towel, and very little at a time. It can get a bit messy.
You can find the larger food syringes in most pet stores. The most important thing is you don't want to feed too much at once
I usually took a 3 oz can of wet food, parted it into three or fours, blended it up with some water and a tsp of baby food (beechnut is a great one as mentioned above), and fed half a syringe at a time. I'd do two feedings in the morning, two in the afternoon, and two in the evening about half an hour to an hour apart. I used baby food at first just so she wouldn't get food aversion, then after about a day and a half started mixing in her wet food.

IM keeping you both I'm my thoughts, I hope he starts to feel better soon!

 

[stephanietx]

This is like my life. I've been through 2 bouts of this with my old man kitty. Did the vet give you an anti-nausea med and an appetite stimulant? Unfortunately, time is really the only thing that gets the gas moving out of their systems. We got Science Diet a/d from the vet to get our boy eating, but it did give him diarrhea, which we knew would happen, but I'd rather have him eating. We could treat the diarrhea. Is it possible that he has pancreatitis? That also looks very similar to gastroenteritis. Pancreatitis is tested with a special blood test.

 

[lisahe]

Seconding what BellaBlue82 says about syringe feeding, particularly not giving too much at a time. (Winston might spit it out!) I did a bit of syringe feeding for Edwina after she had surgery last year and even small amounts of food were helpful for her, getting her back into, well, eating and the taste of food. I think I used mostly Sheba chicken or turkey pates, though I may have used some Beechnut chicken or turkey baby food, too. Light, low-calorie food that's as simple as possible is probably best.

I hope Winston's doing better today!