This is going to be long and likely rambling, but I am at my wit's end and I don't know what to do. Internet research of course is everything from bad digestion to the worst of all scenarios...
So my baby is a 15yo male named Jethro. Here is a quick summary of his medical:
He and my other cat who passed were on the same food for YEARS (Royal Canin Satiety). Dry food only for the most part, and he was always eating at the max daily allowance and still hungry, up until end of August. My fiancé and separated and sold our house in the end of August, and I have moved into an apartment, so now it's just me and Jethro. Shortly after moving in, he stopped eating the dry food completely and would only eat wet food. I was giving him Fancy Feast gravy and pate etc. Some flavors were making him throw up and others were fine (the pate beef & turkey made him vomit, but the solo versions were fine, same for gravy). I bought a brand new bag of the dry food and he ate it for like a week, and then stopped.
I figured it was partially stress from the changes and also he was due for a dental cleaning/gum trim in October, so I thought maybe his teeth hurt. When we went to the dentist, they said they couldn't really see any clinical reason that he wouldn't eat. AKA, his teeth were not that bad and he should be able to eat. A few weeks goes by after the procedure and he still only wants wet food.
Maybe my container was no longer as air tight, so I bought a new container and ANOTHER brand new bag of the same food. Again, he ate for about 1-2 weeks and then stopped.
I now bought a $120 simple human food container that is large enough for the entire bag, so I can keep the food IN the bag closed and inside the container. And bought ANOTHER bag of the same food. He ate for 1-2 weeks and stopped. (So now I have THREE full bags of rx food and three containers).
In early November, I brought him to the vet and they did an exam, nothing is wrong that they can find. His poops are VERY smelly so they gave me a probiotic. A paste a few days and then capsules sprinkled over his food for two weeks. I did that and it seemed to help the smells and his pooping. Because also he wasn't pooping regularly for a while after the procedure and I had to give him Miralax a few times. She thinks he may have a gut issue that was flared up by the anesthesia possibly?
He continued to eat the Fancy Feast but not the dry food. After a couple weeks, he stopped eating the Fancy Feast too.
So now I have Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach Lamb & Rice, as well as Hill's SD perfect digestion (I think chicken). He gobbled up the PP Lamb & rice for a few days and now is barely touching it. He ate some of the other but not as much.
I have even bought a food scale to weigh is food in grams and the last few days am starting to track how much he is eating. I am weighing his food but leaving both out all day (free-feeding) so he has the option to eat as much and whenever he wants, but he's not eating much.
The vet suggested some other brands of wet food and said he may need novel proteins. I went to Petsmart yesterday and bought various foods in sensitive stomach formulas, tried to find brands that had Lamb, Duck, etc formulas. Unfortunately they all still have some sort of other protein or fish product in them, so I don't know how much difference that makes.
Last night he ate less than 1/2 of a 5.5oz can of Hill's Science Diet Adult 7+ wet food around 8pm. Today I got home from work and there was orange-ish diarrhea in the litter box (scoop able, but very very soft), and also I found what looks like a bit of bile on the carpet in one spot. I looked everywhere and can't find anything else he may have gotten sick. It smelled TERRIBLE when I got home.
Also since 8pm yesterday, he has eaten about 50 grams of dry food (recommended amount is 62-93grams). So a little under the minimum for a day in about 21 hours.
The orange diarrhea can apparently be a sign of a liver issue OR because of a change in food. So I have no idea what to pin that on.
Today after work I got him to eat less than 1/2 tsp of Instinct brand Rabbit. I had to cut the pieces up very small and he still didn't finish it.
He drinks LOTS of water and urinates a lot also.
I have noticed that he is like... snorting as he eats his wet food. I don't know if he's just inhaling too much air, or if that's maybe a sign of something? Also his stomach has been gurgly and he is mumbly-grumbly a lot. Like when he's relaxing he will move and have this grumble/sigh/whatever that he used to make infrequently and now it's VERY frequent.
When I take him for his next Solensia shot in two weeks, I plan to ask for another round of bloodwork because I am paranoid that maybe his kidney failure is suddenly advancing.
This is a lot of random information very haphazard. ... Basically I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions? Since he has diarrhea, should I keep trying to feed him different foods? How will I know if they are making him sick or if it's just because of the food changes.
Does anyone have a suggestion for brands that don't contain multiple proteins or fish products? Some of the niche brands I can find online but I can only buy in cases. And if he isn't going to eat it... I have spent a FORTUNE on cat food alone since September, not to mention vet visits etc. It is totally worth it, but I can't afford to buy $50-$70 cases of food of each flavor and brand if he won't eat them. Or suggestions on dry foods even?
I know this is very long and vague and it would be a miracle if anyone can help. But I posted on here before when my other baby had multiple weird symptoms and this website literally helped save her life more than once because it helped me tell the vets which tests to run or what to look out for and we were able to get her treatment.
I don't want to think it's the end of his kidney disease... but it's hard to tell. He hasn't groomed himself in years. He never was a groomer and I think as he's gotten the arthritis, he doesn't even try now, but that's been a long time, not recent. He drinks lots of water and uses the litter box. He never goes outside the box. He has been sleeping in weird places, but he has always kind of rotated through random places so this may just be normal, or could be him hiding. His eyes look clear, he gets eye crusties but nothing excessive. No discharge from his nose, but just the weird snuffling/snorting thing when he eats and 1-2 sneezes a day maybe that I hear.
People in my building smoke and I can smell it in my apartment, which is why I bought so many containers. I also have two air purifiers because I can't stand the smell, and I thought maybe it was affecting his sense of smell/taste.
He still likes to cuddle with me the same amount. He doesn't like to be handled, but he never has really been one to want to be handled. He sleeps on my pillow at night and wants to be in the window when I open it for the fresh air. So a lot of things seem normal. I have realized that since I moved I don't have my TV even set up or plugged in, so he's in silence most of the day so maybe it's messing with him.
I don't know. Any ideas are welcome... I can't possibly make this concise, so no hard feelings if everyone has stopped reading
So my baby is a 15yo male named Jethro. Here is a quick summary of his medical:
- He has a heart murmur and has had repeated echos over the years and it's still unclear if he has HCM or not. He is a big cat, so they aren't sure if his heart is enlarged or if that's normal for him. Either way, no changes over the years.
- He has been in stage 2 kidney failure for just about two years and has been stable. Last bloodwork was in beginning of October, and no changes
- As a result, he has high blood pressure, which is managed by amlodipine. Unforunately, the amlodipine causes something called Gingival Hyperplasia. Basically this means his gums grow down his teeth and he's had to have them trimmed twice now (last time was mid-October).
- He also has had arthritis for years but seems to manage ok, and gets Solensia shots every month.
- He has a history of intolerance to various treats (Temptations, not sure which ones) and wet foods. I have never ever been able to pin point what the common denominator is/was.
He and my other cat who passed were on the same food for YEARS (Royal Canin Satiety). Dry food only for the most part, and he was always eating at the max daily allowance and still hungry, up until end of August. My fiancé and separated and sold our house in the end of August, and I have moved into an apartment, so now it's just me and Jethro. Shortly after moving in, he stopped eating the dry food completely and would only eat wet food. I was giving him Fancy Feast gravy and pate etc. Some flavors were making him throw up and others were fine (the pate beef & turkey made him vomit, but the solo versions were fine, same for gravy). I bought a brand new bag of the dry food and he ate it for like a week, and then stopped.
I figured it was partially stress from the changes and also he was due for a dental cleaning/gum trim in October, so I thought maybe his teeth hurt. When we went to the dentist, they said they couldn't really see any clinical reason that he wouldn't eat. AKA, his teeth were not that bad and he should be able to eat. A few weeks goes by after the procedure and he still only wants wet food.
Maybe my container was no longer as air tight, so I bought a new container and ANOTHER brand new bag of the same food. Again, he ate for about 1-2 weeks and then stopped.
I now bought a $120 simple human food container that is large enough for the entire bag, so I can keep the food IN the bag closed and inside the container. And bought ANOTHER bag of the same food. He ate for 1-2 weeks and stopped. (So now I have THREE full bags of rx food and three containers).
In early November, I brought him to the vet and they did an exam, nothing is wrong that they can find. His poops are VERY smelly so they gave me a probiotic. A paste a few days and then capsules sprinkled over his food for two weeks. I did that and it seemed to help the smells and his pooping. Because also he wasn't pooping regularly for a while after the procedure and I had to give him Miralax a few times. She thinks he may have a gut issue that was flared up by the anesthesia possibly?
He continued to eat the Fancy Feast but not the dry food. After a couple weeks, he stopped eating the Fancy Feast too.
So now I have Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach Lamb & Rice, as well as Hill's SD perfect digestion (I think chicken). He gobbled up the PP Lamb & rice for a few days and now is barely touching it. He ate some of the other but not as much.
I have even bought a food scale to weigh is food in grams and the last few days am starting to track how much he is eating. I am weighing his food but leaving both out all day (free-feeding) so he has the option to eat as much and whenever he wants, but he's not eating much.
The vet suggested some other brands of wet food and said he may need novel proteins. I went to Petsmart yesterday and bought various foods in sensitive stomach formulas, tried to find brands that had Lamb, Duck, etc formulas. Unfortunately they all still have some sort of other protein or fish product in them, so I don't know how much difference that makes.
Last night he ate less than 1/2 of a 5.5oz can of Hill's Science Diet Adult 7+ wet food around 8pm. Today I got home from work and there was orange-ish diarrhea in the litter box (scoop able, but very very soft), and also I found what looks like a bit of bile on the carpet in one spot. I looked everywhere and can't find anything else he may have gotten sick. It smelled TERRIBLE when I got home.
Also since 8pm yesterday, he has eaten about 50 grams of dry food (recommended amount is 62-93grams). So a little under the minimum for a day in about 21 hours.
The orange diarrhea can apparently be a sign of a liver issue OR because of a change in food. So I have no idea what to pin that on.
Today after work I got him to eat less than 1/2 tsp of Instinct brand Rabbit. I had to cut the pieces up very small and he still didn't finish it.
He drinks LOTS of water and urinates a lot also.
I have noticed that he is like... snorting as he eats his wet food. I don't know if he's just inhaling too much air, or if that's maybe a sign of something? Also his stomach has been gurgly and he is mumbly-grumbly a lot. Like when he's relaxing he will move and have this grumble/sigh/whatever that he used to make infrequently and now it's VERY frequent.
When I take him for his next Solensia shot in two weeks, I plan to ask for another round of bloodwork because I am paranoid that maybe his kidney failure is suddenly advancing.
This is a lot of random information very haphazard. ... Basically I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions? Since he has diarrhea, should I keep trying to feed him different foods? How will I know if they are making him sick or if it's just because of the food changes.
Does anyone have a suggestion for brands that don't contain multiple proteins or fish products? Some of the niche brands I can find online but I can only buy in cases. And if he isn't going to eat it... I have spent a FORTUNE on cat food alone since September, not to mention vet visits etc. It is totally worth it, but I can't afford to buy $50-$70 cases of food of each flavor and brand if he won't eat them. Or suggestions on dry foods even?
I know this is very long and vague and it would be a miracle if anyone can help. But I posted on here before when my other baby had multiple weird symptoms and this website literally helped save her life more than once because it helped me tell the vets which tests to run or what to look out for and we were able to get her treatment.
I don't want to think it's the end of his kidney disease... but it's hard to tell. He hasn't groomed himself in years. He never was a groomer and I think as he's gotten the arthritis, he doesn't even try now, but that's been a long time, not recent. He drinks lots of water and uses the litter box. He never goes outside the box. He has been sleeping in weird places, but he has always kind of rotated through random places so this may just be normal, or could be him hiding. His eyes look clear, he gets eye crusties but nothing excessive. No discharge from his nose, but just the weird snuffling/snorting thing when he eats and 1-2 sneezes a day maybe that I hear.
People in my building smoke and I can smell it in my apartment, which is why I bought so many containers. I also have two air purifiers because I can't stand the smell, and I thought maybe it was affecting his sense of smell/taste.
He still likes to cuddle with me the same amount. He doesn't like to be handled, but he never has really been one to want to be handled. He sleeps on my pillow at night and wants to be in the window when I open it for the fresh air. So a lot of things seem normal. I have realized that since I moved I don't have my TV even set up or plugged in, so he's in silence most of the day so maybe it's messing with him.
I don't know. Any ideas are welcome... I can't possibly make this concise, so no hard feelings if everyone has stopped reading
