Poor appetite, weight loss

[elssa]

Well, she refused her favorite food again today - salmon - so maybe it's just as well?  Maybe she knows it's not too good for her? (When I adopted her from the pound 9 years ago, they told me she's half Abyssinian and they're supposed to be bright). LOL  Anyway, sure hoping the Pepcid does the trick.  I talked to an on-line vet last night, and he said he thinks the Pepcid is a great idea and can't understand why in the world my vet here does not approve!

I had bought the Pet Flora brand of probiotic (soil based).. You think this other brand you listed would go down better and be more helpful, though?   I will definitely give it a try then.  Thanks again! 
 

 

[elssa]

This is what the on-line vet said about the Pepcid: 

"I'm puzzled that her vet would say that famotidine wouldn't help. Both her CRF and hepatic disease will cause gastroesophageal relfux (GERD) which is nicely addressed by such an antacid. It's certainly not harmful and worth trying at a dose of 0.1mg/lb daily."
 

 

[finnlacey]

well I'm glad she said that, now you know the other vet is full of it. I don't know what Pet Flora is though, the Holistic transitions is the thing I mentioned and trust me it makes them eat. I am concerned if she doesn't start eating by tonight though you'd better syringe her some baby food, no onions or garlic (can't remember if I mentioned that already). She cannot go longer than 24 hours without eating or she is at risk to develop fatty liver syndrome. You can also get some Fancy Feast or Friskies grain free ones (no gluten) and puree it in a blender with water. Get a medicine syringe at the drug store or grocery pharmacy and use that to slowly syringe it. Also Nutrical which is a paste they lick off your fingers and it's got calories and vitamins they need when they are sick. She needs to eat today!

 

[elssa]

My on-line vet recommended this amount of the Pepcid: 

It's certainly not harmful and worth trying at a dose of 0.1mg/lb daily."

Gwen is only 7 pounds, so that amounts to 0.7 mg daily! 

 

[finnlacey]

I would still just take a 10 mg tab and quarter it, better if you have a pill splitter.

 

[elssa]

I just asked the on-line vet about the large discrepancy between recommended doses and am awaiting the reply.

Gwen did eat half a 3 ounce can of the Paul Newman Beef & Liver at noon today.  I didn't know Fancy Feast and Friskies had grain-free types...  Do you remember which ones? 

I'll order that probiotic - sounds great.

Thanks again.
 

 

[finnlacey]

Fancy Feast and Friskies are certainly not the best foods out there but they are something that cats seem to like and in a pinch you do what you have to. There are too many to list here but the pates mostly. Just look on the back of the cans and if they don't say wheat gluten, they're grain free. simple.

 

[elssa]

Well, I've been trying all the grain-free foods out there, including some Paul Newman and By Nature.. all pate form.  She just ate a little By Nature Beef & Liver.  I add water so it's very soft.  I was just thinking again about her tooth/gum abscess the vet here showed me when I brought her in, and I remember above here people mentioning pain killers, so I posed the question to my on-line vet just now, and here is his reply:

As you can imagine a tooth abscess might cause any pet to stop eating. If the tooth can't be extracted safely, Gwen should be given a low dose narcotic such as buprenorphine. Pain relief (without profound sedation) should enhance her desire to eat. Consider trying Hill's Prescription Diet A/D available from her vet. It's an incredibly rich (44% fat) and tasty food that most cats will "inhale".

Should I push my vet here to give her this pain medication?  He only recommended the Ursodiol for the gallstones, but he probably forgot about her abscess. I don't think he really cares, so I have to make all the suggestions.

 

[finnlacey]

I agree with getting Buprenex, that's a much better pain killer than Metacam. They will have to do something about that tooth though, she can't just go on painkillers and stay on them. btw, Paul Newman food has oats I believe which is a grain. Albeit it's one of the lesser problem grains but still a grain. That tooth definitely needs to be taken care of soon.

 

[elssa]

Yes, will try to get that pain killer from my local vet here Monday (assume you can't get any form of it  over-the-counter).  If he doesn't want to give it, will have to try another vet.  Will also ask this vet what can be done for the abscess without risk.   

The only Paul Newman cat food type I could find with no grains was the Beef & Liver, so that's all I got of that brand.  The other brand she eats sometimes is By Nature, chicken, beef, also grain free and pate.  Some does have carageenen but you can't get away from that except Tiki brand, which she won't eat (not pate - probably can't chew it).  Thanks so much.

 

[finnlacey]

Nope, Buprenex is a narcotic so that's definitely not over the counter. Yeah, pretty tough to get away from carrageenan unfortunately.

 

[elssa]

Will insist on the Buprenex... I see from records of the former vet they prescribed  Metacam 2-3 years ago when she had a sore leg.  Why is that bad?  just wondering.   Hoping that the mouth abscess is part of the current problem at least and the Buprenex will help!  Don't know what else they could do about this abscess problem in her condition.

On a good note, she went out for the first time this year with her little harness on and got some fresh air.  She wanted to eat some grass, but I discouraged that.  Assume the grass would not be too good for kitties.

 

[finnlacey]

This is why: http://www.metacamkills.com/

 

[dianev66]

It is not that uncommon for vets to take that approach with people who do their own research.  If I were you I would find a holistic vet and fast.  Everything mentioned here is correct and I have no idea why your vet wouldn't give you PepsX or pepcid for your cat.  It is a fact that cats with CRF are nauseous and do not eat because of it.  I am certain he is recommending some awful prescription diet food that will only make your kitty worse.  I would also stay away from any dry food no matter how high quality because dry food dehydrates them.

 

[elssa]

I would love to find a holistic vet.. How would I go about that - can't even find one for people here in this rural area?  About 15 years ago in my late 30s, I also suddenly could not eat anything without severe diarrhea, etc.  Went to a holistic doctor in New York City and the parasitology lab found I had Giardia.  Went on Flagyl, no help, then grain-free low-carb diet, which was more help..  Year later still losing weight down to 90 lb at 5'5" .  GYN doctor ordered MRI which found an abdominal mass - turned out I had solid/cystic masses of ovaries and also wrapped around my small intestine. . Major surgery to remove them, after which still could not eat , down to 75 lb.  Finally read about and tried colloidal silver, natural antibiotic, which helped a lot, still on very low-carb diet.  So, what I'm saying is know that I'd be dead by now without some holistic help along with everything else.

Well, at least this on-line vet seems supportive especially about the Pepcid.  I bought it today and am trying to get Gwen to get some of it down but very hard to get her to eat anything, so I'm very worried.

 

[elssa]

This is why: http://www.metacamkills.com/

Wow, that sounds like horrible stuff.. I don't think I gave any of it to her three years ago.  It was in syringes, and I just decided to wait and see if she got better, and she did.  Whew.

 

[elssa]

The on-line vet recommended this food:

Consider trying Hill's Prescription Diet A/D available from her vet. It's an incredibly rich (44% fat) and tasty food that most cats will "inhale".

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks so much.
 

 

[finnlacey]

Hill's A/D is definitely a food for sick kitties and I would do it in the interim. Do what you have to do for her to get better. Then you can get her off of Hill's and change to a better grain free food.

 

[dianev66]

Gosh I am so glad you found something that worked for you.

Here is a link to some holistic vets.  What you could do is find someone somewhat in your area and perhaps they know of someone closer to you.  With cats it can be tricky because most hate to travel and you don't want to stress out an already not well cat.

http://www.holisticvetlist.com/

Also, many do phone consults where you could send all your results to them and have them look everything over and discuss some options over the phone.  My vet in Longmont, CO does this for people who can't get to his office.  This way you have someone who could send you supplements and discuss diet, etc that understands traditional meds and rx food can sometimes make things worse.  He has a great website and he uses Thorne supplements, plus he makes his own.  

http://www.wellvet.com/

I really like him and I take BooBoo to him once a month for cold laser therapy and just a routine wellness check.  It is almost a 5 hour round trip but lucky for me she likes car rides

I hope things work out for you and your kitty and I hope this info is helpful for you.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Here is a link to help you find a holistic Vet:

http://ahvma.org/Widgets/FindVet.html

Also, you know you need a prescription to get that Hills A/D, right?  My CRF guy didn't really like it, but hopefully your girl will.

My guy took the Target brand pepcid a/c (1/4 tablet) twice a day, PLUS 1/8 tablet of Ranitidine 3 times per day for nausea.

Are you doing sub-q fluids yet?  We also did that every other day, which really seemed to help him for a long time.  Sadly, we lost him exactly 30 days ago today

, but he lived with it for over 3 years.  We let him eat anything he would eat, BTW.  In the end, he was sometimes eating Raw, which old time Vets would freak out about, but the new thinking is changed.  Low protein kidney foods can cause loss of muscle. 

for your girl