Cats Have Stopped Eating.

Achnod

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We have 2 cats, P is a 11 years old female and Z is a 6 years old female.

P has been having seasonal allergies for the last few years. In order to get better, we usually have to go to the vet to receive cortisone pills for cats, they work well.

We went to the vet 2 weeks ago on monday. On friday I noticed that she didn't eat her morning food but didn't really make a big deal out of it since it happens sometimes.

We went away for the weekend, my mom came over 3 times a day to feed them change the water and litter boxes. While we were away, we didn't have network. So couldn't get any news.

When we came back and finally got some network, we got my mom's messages : P didn't touch her food fridat, saturday and sunday... She brought her to her place on Saturday so she could monitor her better and the cat didnt eat all day.

We also noticed that Z hadn't touched her Sunday morning food either. But we thought it was loneliness and pouting since we "abandonned" her for 2 days.

We went to the vet on monday with P, they gave us anti-puking meds, something to calm upset stomach and some appetize increaser pills. The next step would be 200$-300$ tests. We are to give her wet food for a while and reintroduce the dry food slowly. The think that she caught some virus but are unable to know what precisely.

On thursdays we brought in Z, same thing (sidenote, Z is a goddamn monster when she goes to the vet, I was terrified of her while in there). She caught the same thing as P or so they think, she likely got it from her a few days later.

Thing is, with all of those, situation has barely improved, while they eat a little now, its barely 20% of what they should be eating. Z seems to be shunning the wet food and keeps nimbling at her dry food. P seems to love the wet food but barely eat it. We have tried 5 different flavors/brand of wet and nothing seems to make her want to eat.

I know it might take a few days to get back to normal, but right now it doesn't look good.

I feel like shit, like a crappy owner because I can't afford to miss more work and can't afford to pay for the exams (1 cat would be fine, 2 not so much). It's keeping me up at night, I cry all the time and barely work.

I don't know what I expected by writing here, do 't have anyone aside from my wife to talk to, maybe I just need to vent a bit.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. Sorry to hear about P and Z. What test(s) did the vet want to run? Just curious if that would give you a clue about what the vet thinks might be wrong with them.

Were either of them vomiting - you mention anti-puking meds, at least for P - along with something to calm the stomach and an appetite stimulant. How long did the vet say it would take for the meds to kick in? Just seems like a whole lot of meds at once...

Are they drinking and using the litter box normally?

To get them back to eating more, I would try also adding some chicken or turkey (human) food to what they are currently willing to eat to see if that helps.

Hopefully other members on this site will soon see your post and offer additional advice and tips?
 

Richard2121

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Well I am not a vet and can't say that my advice will be guaranteed to work for you, however I have a VERY dramatic Bengal cat. When he gets even so much as a sniffle or upset stomach he makes a HUGE deal about it.

What I do know is that cats need to eat. And cats should not go without food for more than 24 hours. I may be able to give you some short term solutions as well as long term health suggestions.

What has worked for me in the past when my one of my four babies does not eat is use human tuna from the grocery store (make sure it is in water, not oil or anything). Yep! Just canned or pouch tuna. Sometimes you have to force a small bit into their mouth or rub it against their lip so they lick it off and realize it tastes yummy! Another thing you could try with their wet food is putting FortiFlora by Purina on it. That can be an appetite stimulant if a cat is sick or has a tummy bug of some kind. And if all else fails from above I can recommend one more thing to feed them for a temporary period of time. It is technically a cat treat with VERY high calorie content so be careful not to over-do it. It is called Inaba Churu Cat treats. They come is packets that look like "Gogurt" and you can squeeze the paste out of the tube and cats usually go crazy over the flavor. I once had four kittens chasing me around the house and pushing each other out of the way to get some more!

Now for long-term suggestions: I would recommend that you transition them to a wet food. I know, this is more expensive but vet exams and potential problems related to a dry diet and free feeding can be far more costly over time. There is lots of advice on forums on how to transition cats to wet food only. And there is excellent advice on transitioning them to timed feeding sessions (or meals). Timed feeding sessions 2-3 times per day allow you to control their diet better and monitor who is eating and how much. This also prevents obesity as wet food is lower carb and higher protein. Reducing obesity can be a positive health change in itself! I would also recommend getting a kitty water fountain or two and placing them throughout your house/apartment. Cats who drink water more frequently are healthier and get sick less often, which saves you money! I recommend looking on Amazon for one or two to try. Different cats like different types of fountains. My babies prefer the Drinkwell fountains. So if they are eating wet-food only, and drinking more water, then they will be significantly healthier long-term and AGAIN, saving you money!! :)

Once you get a cat to eat consistently again, try weaning them off the tuna by mixing with the wet food and slowly removing more and more tuna. You can do the same thing with the FortiFlora. Whatever works for you. I hope you can find some peace in what I wrote. Cats not eating is so stressful so I feel for you! Hang in there!!
 
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Achnod

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Hi. Sorry to hear about P and Z. What test(s) did the vet want to run? Just curious if that would give you a clue about what the vet thinks might be wrong with them.

Were either of them vomiting - you mention anti-puking meds, at least for P - along with something to calm the stomach and an appetite stimulant. How long did the vet say it would take for the meds to kick in? Just seems like a whole lot of meds at once...

Are they drinking and using the litter box normally?

To get them back to eating more, I would try also adding some chicken or turkey (human) food to what they are currently willing to eat to see if that helps.

Hopefully other members on this site will soon see your post and offer additional advice and tips?
I am very bad with this stuff and everything that we are given is in french so it might be hard to translate properly. The vet wanted to run full blood analysis/work and take scans of their stomaches. The vet suspects that it is a form of gastro.
The anti-puking med is to help them keep the food down, it works for 24 hours and we were only given 3 doses. P is off it and Z is on her 2nd doses. The anti-acid is to help calm the stomach and make sure that they don't feel any pain/disconfort while eating. The stimulant is to get them to eat something because once a cat has decided that he/she wont eat because eating hurts, he/she might not start to eat again afterward.

They are drinking normally and using the litterbox normally
I'll try to get some chicken/turkey/tuna tonight.
 
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