8 Month Old Kitten Appetite Loss

[GenCat]

Our 8 month old kitten, KoKo, has always been a fairly light eater, before we adopted her all her vet appointments said she was underweight but once we brought her home in February she’s steadily put on weight And my vet was happy with her progress. Still she’s a rather petite 5.5-6 pounds. I use EZ complete with raw ground beef or chicken chunks, occasionally bison or some other meat.

Recently she got her second vaccination (i think FVRCP? but would have to look at records). She acted a bit under the weather, slept a lot and ate lighter than normal. Then I heard her eating the other day and heard a strange noise, I think the last of her baby teeth came out so figured that was why she wasn’t wanting to chew much. I tried to give her more moist foods and a bit of canned pate to see if it was easier for her to eat. She nibbles on stuff a bit then starts scratching around it signaling “put it up please” like she usually does when finished eating. She’s still a freeze dried chicken heart addict.

Any advice? she still acts totally normal, just not eating as much. It’s been about 4 days do I need to take her to the vet tomorrow? I’m not optimistic about my vet figuring it out though since previous stomach issues were mostly blamed on food choices/changes.

 

[StefanZ]

Its no answer to your real question. But an advice; try with goats milk. Even raw goats milk if you can get it for a good price; but almost any goats milk is OK. Cant hurt, may help, and is always a good supplement. Cats manage goats milk much better than cow milk.

Of course, hopefully she likes the taste. Mine residents dont.

 

[GenCat]

Its no answer to your real question. But an advice; try with goats milk. Even raw goats milk if you can get it for a good price; but almost any goats milk is OK. Cant hurt, may help, and is always a good supplement. Cats manage goats milk much better than cow milk.

Of course, hopefully she likes the taste. Mine residents dont.

Will try this, maybe some new flavors in general will give her some appetite

 

[GenCat]

Well seems to be intermittent nausea and stress. I noticed she was avoiding the other two cats and when they tried to play with her she was not up for it, probably because they’re big bullies. I started monitoring them more and letting the big cats know that if they give little cat anxiety, I will give them anxiety will be taking her to the vet my next day off to see where this nausea is coming from since it hasn’t improved any.

She appreciated all the snacks to supplement her diet though I also remembered I had LiLi’s Nutrical so started putting a little on her paw inbetween meals. She did not appreciate it but anything to keep her calorie intake up.

 

[Sarthur2]

She’s not pregnant, is she? Are your other cats spayed and/or neutered?

 

[GenCat]

She’s not pregnant, is she? Are your other cats spayed and/or neutered?

Whole house is spayed and neutered she has perked back up now. I think the vet was right that some of it was due to stress, since I’ve been monitoring their interactions more I’ve noticed she’s a lot more on the defensive rather than being playful and even our older girl shows random aggression towards her sometimes.

I was holding KoKo the wee one and YanYan climbed on my lap, noticed KoKo was in my arms then snapped at her butt startling her. After that anytime YanYan came near KoKo she stopped purring to stare. So I made sure to keep enough distance if YanYan acted up I could interfere and let her know she isn’t allowed to bully the wee one, while reassuring KoKo that she’s safe with pats. Now they both lay on me during my dinner breaks purring the whole time.

The boy, XiaoXiao, loves rough housing with YanYan who weighs nearly the same as him. I think he didn’t realize KoKo is tiny and needs him to hold back a bit. When I see him pin her too bad I’ll go up and gently poke him while telling him stop/be gentle. He’s not used to his mama interfering in play so he realizes very quickly that he’s in trouble LOL

 

[GenCat]

She suddenly started declining again on the 4th. Managed to get her stable and at the vet today but they suspect a blockage so xrays are being done. I’m really upset right now because it reminds me so much of LiLi…

 

[Sarthur2]

I’m so sorry. Please keep us posted!

 

[GenCat]

They still couldn’t determine what was going on and were concerned to wait any longer to find out so she’s in surgery now.

 

[GenCat]

Not an obstruction, but her lymph nodes are apparently very swollen. They have concerns it may be lymphoma or FIP…

I told them to go ahead with a biopsy so we can confirm what is going on more easily. Isn’t she really young to have lymphoma? That’s just…

 

[fionasmom]

Yes, she is very young if this were to be lymphoma. You are doing the right thing to proceed with the biopsy.

 

[GenCat]

Yes, she is very young if this were to be lymphoma. You are doing the right thing to proceed with the biopsy.

Yeah at least the biopsy will get us closer to confirming what’s going on which will at least take away the anxiety of not knowing. Honestly it would be insane to me to do exploratory surgery and not do a biopsy, you’re already in there after all. She said everything else looked absolutely pristine. Liver, intestines, etc all perfectly healthy.

Honestly my gut feeling as a cat mama is a flare of IBD and potential chicken sensitivity. She declined very severely when I switched to chicken for the week around the 4th of July and perked back up when I offered beef (not fantastic, but at least not having to hover over her with the threat of nutrical on her paw multiple times daily).

Poor sweetie is in a lot of pain and still in rough shape even after her pain medication. Since the incision pulls when she moves she just randomly starts growling out of nowhere. She managed a tiny ”waking up from nap” cat stretch earlier which was adorable and heartwarming to see I got her purring by patting her head and gently massaging her shoulder blades. Half the time she’s just standing half crouched contemplating life’s meaning though

XiaoXiao has taken up residence in her attic just like he did when LiLi was sick. He would always be close by watching over the wee ones. Where as YanYan just walks by while hissing until I act like a wild monster going to eat her for disrespecting my smol child

 

[GenCat]

She’s perking up a bit today, still not eating much just a few nibbles (having your belly poked and prodded all around the inside can do that). She’s peeing in her litter box but no poop yet (I don’t blame her, I’ve had abdominal surgery too). Incision looks good and doesn’t feel warm not that I can get the best look at it.

I just realized through reading up that the mesenteric lymph nodes being swollen could also be something like e-coli or potentially a serious reaction to her last vaccination (she did start acting weird after that but it’s been nearly a month). Or the vaccination could have triggered her immune system and an IBD flare, I guess.

I still keep going back to how her condition has improved a lot since we adopted her (regular weight increases, whereas when she was with the shelter the vets always wrote underweight and seemed concerned with it). Makes me wonder if this has been an issue since the beginning but the improved diet helped keep it in check until now.

If so it feels really bad that she had to go through this whole surgery just to get diagnosed with IBD but we’ll see 🫠

Sorry I ramble when stressed lol my therapist could tell you that

 

[Kwik]

She’s perking up a bit today, still not eating much just a few nibbles (having your belly poked and prodded all around the inside can do that). She’s peeing in her litter box but no poop yet (I don’t blame her, I’ve had abdominal surgery too). Incision looks good and doesn’t feel warm not that I can get the best look at it.

I just realized through reading up that the mesenteric lymph nodes being swollen could also be something like e-coli or potentially a serious reaction to her last vaccination (she did start acting weird after that but it’s been nearly a month). Or the vaccination could have triggered her immune system and an IBD flare, I guess.

I still keep going back to how her condition has improved a lot since we adopted her (regular weight increases, whereas when she was with the shelter the vets always wrote underweight and seemed concerned with it). Makes me wonder if this has been an issue since the beginning but the improved diet helped keep it in check until now.

If so it feels really bad that she had to go through this whole surgery just to get diagnosed with IBD but we’ll see 🫠

Sorry I ramble when stressed lol my therapist could tell you that

I said more in our conversation but wanted to see what you posted

I love you,I'm know you're a wreck after wee one LiLi but this is very different, KoKo is home with you & not in critical care....I'm praying better than best outcome ,hang in there my Friend

 

[GenCat]

She’s very perky today, as my husband would say “she’s healthy, TOO healthy” She ate a bit more than the past couple days and pooped. She is now screaming and demanding her freedom.

I said more in our conversation but wanted to see what you posted

I love you,I'm know you're a wreck after wee one LiLi but this is very different, KoKo is home with you & not in critical care....I'm praying better than best outcome ,hang in there my Friend View attachment 480132

Bless you as always friend. The instant they asked if I wanted to pick her up I was headed out the door.

 

[Kwik]

She’s very perky today, as my husband would say “she’s healthy, TOO healthy” She ate a bit more than the past couple days and pooped. She is now screaming and demanding her freedom.


Bless you as always friend. The instant they asked if I wanted to pick her up I was headed out the door.

No doubt - you probably didn't want to leave when you brought her in- was hubby the voice of reason,lol? He's such a good guy

I'm so happy KoKo is doing well and so perky already - thank God!

 

[GenCat]

I couldn’t get much of her cerenia dose in her last night so she’s back to refusing food. We attempted again today, crushed it and put it in some tasty liquid treats then tried to syringe it in her mouth. She was not happy but got most of it down.

Still not wanting to eat her regular food nor any other “junk food” I offered. Supplementing nutrical again. I had been nervous about offering her raw foods so soon after surgery but offered a bit of beef, she turned it down. After a couple hours of seeing if she would eat cooked beef I decided anything is better than nothing so gave her the freeze dried chicken hearts she loves. She devoured quite a few small pieces then started strutting around like her old self.

We decided to pursue FIP treatment now instead of waiting for the test results. She’s up and down way too much to wait any longer.

No doubt - you probably didn't want to leave when you brought her in- was hubby the voice of reason,lol? He's such a good guy

I'm so happy KoKo is doing well and so perky already - thank God!

Hubby is always the voice of reason I had a minor mental breakdown feeling like it was on me to decide where to go from here and told him I can’t do it…so he took over research and deciding what to do next. Along with, of course, providing hourly scritches so she’s not lonely.

 

[Kwik]

I couldn’t get much of her cerenia dose in her last night so she’s back to refusing food. We attempted again today, crushed it and put it in some tasty liquid treats then tried to syringe it in her mouth. She was not happy but got most of it down.

Still not wanting to eat her regular food nor any other “junk food” I offered. Supplementing nutrical again. I had been nervous about offering her raw foods so soon after surgery but offered a bit of beef, she turned it down. After a couple hours of seeing if she would eat cooked beef I decided anything is better than nothing so gave her the freeze dried chicken hearts she loves. She devoured quite a few small pieces then started strutting around like her old self.

We decided to pursue FIP treatment now instead of waiting for the test results. She’s up and down way too much to wait any longer.


Hubby is always the voice of reason I had a minor mental breakdown feeling like it was on me to decide where to go from here and told him I can’t do it…so he took over research and deciding what to do next. Along with, of course, providing hourly scritches so she’s not lonely.

He's the BEST!I'm so happy you have such a wonderful husband....but he also has a wonderful wife and KoKo has the best 2parents on the planet!

 

[GenCat]

She was extremely lethargic this morning and I was terrified we were going to lose her. Drove an hour each way to pick up the FIP medication. Got the dose for her weight in her after a struggle. Took her temp, it’s very bad but in line with FIP. Syringe fed her water and offered a bit of churu which she actually ate. Was so upset I had to go to work but can‘t care for sick kitties without money…

Just came back for lunch and she is much more alert, acting a lot more like herself. She drank some water on her own. Temp is still extremely high but within the expected range. I was told her fever should break in 24 hours and most likely that will be the sign that this is definitely FIP.

 

[Kris107]

So glad that a treatment is legal/available now. I've been watching your thread and had been concerned it was FIP. I hope the meds work well and she bounces back!