Hi,
My 4 year old spade kitty started turning away from the food she had been eating regularly for 2 years (royal canin fiber response dry) during early November 2022. It was within a week of the climate change and the heat starting to run regularly. We tried coaxing her with numerous other foods, knowing that this could lead to constipation issues that the fiber response food had managed well for 2 years. For the next 2 weeks we hobbled along, getting her to show some interest in Purina sensitive skin/stomach dry and eventually purina healthy kitten dry when she turned nose up at other purina food. We always augment with wet food too, but eventually she was eating so little, we took her to the vet. For most part, no other symptoms other than mild reduction in her sassiness level. The vet wasn't too worried, but I asked for bloodwork, which came back with elevated liver enzymes (ALT and Albumin) and WBC. Her calcium also high (which had happened once in October 2020 but resolved 2 wks later after stopping lactulose and starting her on the fiber response food). So she got a Convenia shot, her appetite returned, she started eating purina again -- until about 10 days later, she started slowly not eating as much again. We had her blood re-checked and her liver values were normal. Her Ca levels still slightly high (had Michigan State run ionized calcium). Did another Convenia shot and again her appetite returned, and again, 10 days later her interest in food began declining. Meanwhile, I knew the threat of her constipation while not eating the fiber response would grow. So I tried to get her fiber through syringes of pure pumpkin, also added fortiflora. I didn't want to do yet another Convenia shot so I started giving her mitazapine to stimulate appetite, which did help, but then the constipation began and she landed in emergency situation at end of December when she had to get enema under anesthesia, followed by a Convenia shot. That day I tried a new bag of fiber response and she started eating it. She started having regular daily bowel movements, was eating well, until yet again at the 10 day mark, appetite reduction. I don't want to keep band-aiding this. I'm concerned about doing Convenia again (how hard is it on the kidneys?), plus that's not a sustainable plan. I also had a panel run with markers that would indicate cancer and that marker came back at zero, which is not a 100% guarantee but my vet says it almost rules out cancer.
Does anyone have any ideas ? Could this all have started with the climate change, drier air, irritation of airways causing susceptibility to infection in sinuses (she has had chronic snuffling and we have gotten used to it). Does she have an infection that is only slightly susceptible to Convenia but keeps coming back? It seemed to resolve the liver issue, but I wonder if that liver enzyme elevation situation was a result of the decline in eating or the going off the fiber food. She has had a run of doxycycline, but she has taken it for over a year due to chylamdia that is difficult to cure.
I'm desperate. Going back to vet today.
My 4 year old spade kitty started turning away from the food she had been eating regularly for 2 years (royal canin fiber response dry) during early November 2022. It was within a week of the climate change and the heat starting to run regularly. We tried coaxing her with numerous other foods, knowing that this could lead to constipation issues that the fiber response food had managed well for 2 years. For the next 2 weeks we hobbled along, getting her to show some interest in Purina sensitive skin/stomach dry and eventually purina healthy kitten dry when she turned nose up at other purina food. We always augment with wet food too, but eventually she was eating so little, we took her to the vet. For most part, no other symptoms other than mild reduction in her sassiness level. The vet wasn't too worried, but I asked for bloodwork, which came back with elevated liver enzymes (ALT and Albumin) and WBC. Her calcium also high (which had happened once in October 2020 but resolved 2 wks later after stopping lactulose and starting her on the fiber response food). So she got a Convenia shot, her appetite returned, she started eating purina again -- until about 10 days later, she started slowly not eating as much again. We had her blood re-checked and her liver values were normal. Her Ca levels still slightly high (had Michigan State run ionized calcium). Did another Convenia shot and again her appetite returned, and again, 10 days later her interest in food began declining. Meanwhile, I knew the threat of her constipation while not eating the fiber response would grow. So I tried to get her fiber through syringes of pure pumpkin, also added fortiflora. I didn't want to do yet another Convenia shot so I started giving her mitazapine to stimulate appetite, which did help, but then the constipation began and she landed in emergency situation at end of December when she had to get enema under anesthesia, followed by a Convenia shot. That day I tried a new bag of fiber response and she started eating it. She started having regular daily bowel movements, was eating well, until yet again at the 10 day mark, appetite reduction. I don't want to keep band-aiding this. I'm concerned about doing Convenia again (how hard is it on the kidneys?), plus that's not a sustainable plan. I also had a panel run with markers that would indicate cancer and that marker came back at zero, which is not a 100% guarantee but my vet says it almost rules out cancer.
Does anyone have any ideas ? Could this all have started with the climate change, drier air, irritation of airways causing susceptibility to infection in sinuses (she has had chronic snuffling and we have gotten used to it). Does she have an infection that is only slightly susceptible to Convenia but keeps coming back? It seemed to resolve the liver issue, but I wonder if that liver enzyme elevation situation was a result of the decline in eating or the going off the fiber food. She has had a run of doxycycline, but she has taken it for over a year due to chylamdia that is difficult to cure.
I'm desperate. Going back to vet today.
I am going to ask about doing a mucus sample from her nose today. She had this done once before (1.5 years ago), swabbing of eyes/nose/throat and that is how we discovered chlamydia which mostly affects her eyes when she has a flareup. She was on Doxy straight for 9 months and we stopped, then 6 weeks later, eye flare up ... so it's been a pulse therapy. I worry that whatever bacteria could be the culprit here has become resistant to Doxy as it is supposed to be good for URI/sinus infection. She doesn't seem to have a fever or any other symptoms, so sinus infection or URI of some sort seems plausible .... it sure would be good to be able to identify the bacteria and treat with antibiotic that the bacteria has susceptibility to .... erythromycin has been taken in past, but I was told it can be hard on the kidneys.
. Anyhoo, I just add the dissolved Miralax right into his wet food, plus add more water to his food. All my cats get water added to every single meal. The amount depends on what they are eating. Some cans are pretty soupy to begin with, and others are not. I don't want it to be too watery, but do want them plenty hydrated. Usually I add at minimum 1 tablespoon of water, sometimes a lot more.
