13.5 Year Old Male Cat Has Eaten Very Little In 4 Days, Drinking Water

[dulcemir]

I have a 13.5 year old cat who has, until this past week, otherwise been quite healthy. I've had him since he was 3, and he has been just a complete delight. Never overweight, always had his teeth cleaned every year, eating great food.

Starting Wednesday, he refused both his breakfast (half a can of wet food) and dinner (about 1/4 cup of Nature's Instinct dry food). Since then, he's only had a few bites here and there of food, and it's Saturday night now. I'm really worried about him.

I took him to the vet today, and they said he could be nauseated. They gave him a shot for the nausea and gave him some intravenous fluids because the vet could tell by his scruff that he was a bit dehydrated. We ran a full blood and urine panel and are waiting until tomorrow for the results.

I'm just super terrified and worried about my first and oldest cat. I know I don't have any results yet, but I'm just crying thinking about it.

He's been drinking water, and I've seen him eliminate #2. I'm not sure if he's eliminated #1, as I haven't tracked him at the litter box as closely. He isn't hiding and still sleeps on his favorite open spot on the sofa in the living room.

I would appreciate any tips or experience you can share.

 

[MissClouseau]

It could be something as simple as a new food intolerance, hairball,..

I have anxiety disorder so I totally understand panicking but until you get the test results remind yourself there are more treatable things than untreatable.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Sorry to hear about your little guy! It sounds like he might be eating some now with the anti-nausea shot - based on the fact that he is producing some stool? If so, that is one piece of good news already!!

If not, you could try to give him whatever he likes best to see if you can entice him to eat some - even human boiled chicken or low-sodium deli turkey, or baby food meats (no onions, garlic, etc.), as some cats will tend to eat these type foods when they are not eating their usual foods.

Start monitoring his urine output as well, so you can report that to the vet when you hear back from them about the test results.

I hope his tests come back with a clear and easily treatable conclusion!!

Please keep us posted!

 

[Kflowers]

If you are offering the same flavor he refused you might want to try a different flavor. Some times if they feel nausea when looking at a food, they connect the food to the feeling and don't want that food again. As FeebysOwner said, give him anything he likes. As well as the Gerber baby food, you could try egg yoke, uncooked or cooked. If you give him the whites, go on and cook them.

 

[dulcemir]

Thank you all for keeping me calm. I was in quite a state last night thinking anticipating the worst. This kitty has never had any health issues, and isn’t neurotic like his brother from another mother, so anything even a little out of the ordinary, especially at his age, concerns me.

After he came back from the vet, he did eat a bit of some dry food. He is pooping and peeing normal amounts, and I went to the pet store and spent like $50 on wet food tinned with a lot of gravy and stews—all made from human-grade ingredients!—to entice him.

This morning, he ate about half a 2.5 oz can of Lotus Just Juicy salmon and pollock canned food. He spent most of the day in bed, but came down occasionally to ask for more bites of the food he didn’t finish.

By the end of the day, he finished the entire 2.5 oz can of food plus about 80% of a regular serving of his dinner. This made me JUMP for joy!

The lab results came back, and he has elevated white blood cells (21.6 out of a healthy range of 3.9–19 K/uL), neutrophils (19.505 out of a healthy range of 2.62–15.17 K/uL), and monocytes (0.562 out of a healthy range of 0.04–0.53 K/uL). The vet seemed to think that he had some bacterial infection, so he prescribed my kitty Clavamox. Since I’m a really bad worrywart, I asked the vet about the possibility of kidney disease or cancer. The vet ruled out kidney disease because all the other numbers, namely the “IDEXX SDMA” number, were normal (kitty didn’t produce urine to test), and cancer because the white blood cells weren’t astronomical and wasn’t accompanied by anemia.

I am going to continue giving kitty his antibiotics while closely monitoring his food intake. I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet, but we’re definitely in a better place than yesterday, $700 later and a handful of hours of lost sleep later.

If anyone has any insight into the numbers I shared, I'd appreciate it!

 

[Leomc123]

Antibiotics will take a few days to kick in and should be used up until the medication is finished, if the vet ruled out kidney disease that is great. I would keep feeding your cat what ever you are giving him, if he is eating and peeing in a good moderation than it sounds like kitty is 70% on his way to getting strong and healthy again. All the best to your kitty, i hope he gets healthy again.