Cat Refusing To Eat Or Drink

[Lynx Rufus]

Has he been tested for pancreatitis? My 15 year old girl, Samba, has been battling it for about three years now. It can definitely affect their appetite. She gets very picky with her food when she is having a bout of it and sometimes refuses to eat. I hate force feeding her, but I've had to do it a few times. I often have up to 6 open cans of food in my refrigerator trying to figure out what she is in the mood for. I hate giving her tuna, but as another poster mentioned on here, let them eat anything they are willing to eat during these times. Samba is a seafood freak, and I know it's not great for her, but sometimes it's the only thing she will settle for. It sounds like you are trying everything possible and taking him to the vet regularly, and that is the absolute best thing to do. Just stick with him and make sure he is getting the best care possible. We've had a rough year as far as cat health goes in our household, but things have been on the up and up lately. I really hope you see a full recovery soon in your little buddy and are able to get to the bottom of what is bugging him.

 

[cat1967]

Yes his test for pancreatitis came out negative. I hope your cats are all well and better every day.

 

[Furballsmom]

Baby Benji - I'm so sorry for both of you!!
Did you have a chance to try any kitten glop recipes? Some of those ingredients tend to be the same as what were mentioned a little bit up-thread...

 

[cat1967]

I will try those too. I will try everything in two days. I wouldn’t want to upset his stomach more. Since he is taking his can food I will keep it for two days and then see again. He vomited the liver and then he vomited the medicine Which is for upset stomach. I wouldn’t want to dehydrate him. He now took the medicine again since he vomited it only seconds after taking it. I will wait for two hours and feed him again so as to give him his insulin injection.

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[Tabbytastic]

I will try those too. I will try everything in two days. I wouldn’t want to upset his stomach more. Since he is taking his can food I will keep it for two days and then see again. He vomited the liver and then he vomited the medicine Which is for upset stomach. I wouldn’t want to dehydrate him. He now took the medicine again since he vomited it only seconds after taking it. I will wait for two hours and feed him again so as to give him his insulin injection.

It sounds like you are doing everything you can. I am so sorry you are both going through this. Let’s hope that he picks up a bit in the next day or so. You are both in my thoughts and prayers x

 

[cat1967]

Thank you Tabbytastic.

 

[Pumpkin88]

Hi cat1967. My 13 1/2 cat also went off food & water for several days and had me very worried. Lucky I found a cat food product Delectables Stew Senior 10 yrs+it is a Lickable Treat in a pouch and turned her interest in food around instantly.
Hope you can find it or similar in Greece. This one was Chicken & Tuna in rich sauce. Pumpkin wishes Benji to get purring happy fast.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Hi again!!!
If I may ask what the low dose of insulin is?
My experience with diabetic cats is slim to nil so don't consider me expert, and someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong but 20 or 25 years ago I was schooled that a diabetic cat that is NOT eating well doesn't require the original amount of insulin that was automatically given/prescribed and it can be based on their intake.
If it's to keep his blood sugar steady, that's great! But if there's other things going on make absolutely SURE your vet understands his eating/drinking is very slight and they NEED to consider adjusting the dosage for his intake.
I'm sorry he threw up the liver shake =( Maybe too rich?
P Pumpkin88 makes a very good point about a "lickable" food, as cats that aren't feeling well will sometimes lick food but not really "eat" it.
I am not normally a fan of any kind prescription diet for most cats but when we had a serious sickie he was happy with Hill's A/D. Super smelly, super gross, super hi calorie for cats recovering that needed all the help they could get. Is this available in Greece?
Poor Benji! And poor you =(

 

[ArchyCat]

Since you are giving Benji insulin injections, are you also testing for his blood glucose level? That is very important for humans who are insulin dependent.

 

[cat1967]

Yes the vet knows he doesn’t eat or drink. We have Hill’s ad and it is the same as Recovery from Royal Canin only a little thicker. I have tried that one too. With no luck. He just licked two or three times and that was it. With the insulin if his organism doesn’t produce insulin then anything he eats is not absorbed and the organism uses the existing fat to survive. Maybe that is why he lost all his fat and is so skinny. This happens with diabetic cats even if they eat a lot that he did and drink a lot of water no nutrients go into their system. The only odd thing is he lost weight so so fast. And think that when I took him to the vet a month ago he was 3.400 kg and now he is 2. He is like melting away. And I feel helpless I can do nothing. I only feed him and clean him and hug him.

 

[cat1967]

The vet told me to bring him back for another blood test on Wednesday but I don’t think he will make it till then.

 

[cat1967]

I really wonder if he’ll make it tonight.

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[1 bruce 1]

Yes the vet knows he doesn’t eat or drink. We have Hill’s ad and it is the same as Recovery from Royal Canin only a little thicker. I have tried that one too. With no luck. He just licked two or three times and that was it. With the insulin if his organism doesn’t produce insulin then anything he eats is not absorbed and the organism uses the existing fat to survive. Maybe that is why he lost all his fat and is so skinny. This happens with diabetic cats even if they eat a lot that he did and drink a lot of water no nutrients go into their system. The only odd thing is he lost weight so so fast. And think that when I took him to the vet a month ago he was 3.400 kg and now he is 2. He is like melting away. And I feel helpless I can do nothing. I only feed him and clean him and hug him.

(((HUG)))
I wish I was there in person to offer moral support. Your dedication and research for this guy shows. You "know" stuff.
It sounds like your vet is on the ball with this and that's very reassuring. There are a handful of folks here who have had less than good experiences with vets and it sounds like your vet is a good one.
I know you feel helpless and I know you feel like you can do nothing. But feeding, cleaning, and hugging IS something. Don't you think they know that? I have been there, we have done hospice type care for ailing elderly pets vs. invasive treatments, treatments chosen based on many factors including their health and age and status... and I know what a horrible stress it can be on us. But I do think they know how much we do. If the roles were reversed and you read what you've posted here from the perspective of a stranger that was obviously saddened and stressed from their cats situation, what would your reply be? Probably a lot of support, offering any ideas you have and hoping things are well, as well as wishing the best for the caring human.
Don't deny yourself this. You deserve a lot of credit for what you're doing right now. =)
If we keep their environment quiet, comfortable, familiar, clean and routine they appreciate this so much.
The first time I saw this video I did cry a bit because the love is there, obvious, and the gratitude in this little guys face is so obvious. We opted out of the soap-bar idea (our cat was still somewhat self grooming; this is discussed in the video comments!) but did use a very dilute mixture of apple cider vinegar and water (makes the coat shine with no odor once the cat is dry!) with really good results.

People feel your pain. You're not alone in this!!

 

[ArchyCat]

Sad to read your last post.

 

[cat1967]

I can’t thank you enough. Never in my life have I felt such support. My mom doesn’t get it she says it’s just cats. For me they are like my children (I have two children 25 and 21) and my seven furry babies. I cannot stop crying. Last night I sllept on the couch cause I felt it was his last night and I wanted to be with. He came to me and I thought tha’s it he is getting there but no. In the morning I took him to my bed then fed him gave him his injection and now he is on his pillow. I hope I am not hurting him by caressing his bones. Cause that is all that’s left.

 

[posiepurrs]

Has the vet tried an appetite stimulant for him? I have a girl who periodically stops eating. We syringe feed for a week or so and then she starts again. Vet has never pin pointed the reason. If it goes on for more than 5-6 days I give her a stimulant. There is another liquid diet that you can make that breeders sometimes use. Put cubed beef (no water in the jar) in a heat safe jar and put a lid on (not too tight), put in a pan of water and bring to a simmer. Continue simmering until all the juices cook out of the beef and it looks like leather. Discard the beef and cool the liquid. You can remove the fat if you like from the cooled liquid. Syringe feed this liquid.

 

[cat1967]

The vet has given him IV fluids for more than three weeks every day, along with antibiotics because he had high white blood cells. He has also given him injections for nausea and cortisone but this made his blood sugar go higher that is why he gave me insulin injections and I have been doing that for a week. His previous blood tests showed that the diabetes is lowered and he is going to have another blood test on Wednesday to check that, if he makes it till then. I have been syringe feeding him all this time with Recovery as anything else upsets his stomach and he vomits. In the first blood tests a month ago and his ultrasound showed problem with the liver but the second set of tests showed this normal. There is no tumor that he can find and he cannot spot the problem. Twice during this month he showed signs of recovery. He drank on his own and ate a bit on his own but this lasted only two or three days each time. I have also tried vitamin stimulants for the appetite which didn't work and I stopped because it also upset his stomach.

 

[ineedhelpnow]

Oh my. When it comes to inappetant cats, persistence is key. He's cutting it dangerously close. Keeping him adequately nourished and hydrated is the top priority now along with monitoring his blood glucose.

An average cat's stomach can hold between 40-50mL at a time. You need to factor in how much food and water you give to him together or else he will reject it and vomit. Feed him that amount in intervals ranging from one to every three hours to allow him to evacuate all that food down his digestive system, and account for the amount of water he drinks so he doesn't start vomiting. Also, you don't need to feed him and give water at the same time. For example you can syringe feed him 40mL of food then an hour later give him 30mL of water.

However much he weighed or you think he weighed before he got sick (in kilograms), take that number, and multiply it by 55. That's the amount of calories, or kcal, (what we normally call calories are actually kcal, or kilocalories) he should be consuming every single day to bring his body weight back to normal. If he is strictly indoors, take his weight in kilograms and multiply by 50. If he was strictly outdoors and on the leaner side, multiply by 60.

To stay hydrated, the general rule of thumb is that however much a cats daily caloric needs are in kcal, the same number in mL is necessary. For example a cat who needs 260kcal a day should be getting 260mL of water a day. But keep in mind, this does not mean that you should syringe 260mL of water into his mouth every day. If you are feeding him wet food, approximately 70% of it is water, so your cat is already getting a lot of his water from cat food. You just need to supplement that if your cat does not drink water by themselves.

So a math problem for an example: Cat X eats 1 and 1/2 cans of wet cat food which contain 156 grams each. For simplicity's sake we'll pretend water and wet cat food have the same density because they're close enough.

So that equals 234 grams of cat food in total. Multiply that by .7 and that equals about 164 grams OR 164mL because 1 gram = 1 mL. So take 260, the amount of calories Cat X needs every day, subtract it by 164, the amount of water Cat X gets from his food, and you get 96. In this example you need to syringe 96mL of water into Cat X's mouth every day, IF they do not drink any water by their own. This does not mean hide away his water bowl to be on the safe side and avoid throwing up or hyponatremia. You need to regularly check if he is dehydrated by gently tugging on the flap of skin below his neck and above his neck in between his shoulder blades. Once you let go, the skin should quickly move back into place, ideally in less than half a second. If the skin moves back quickly, stop syringing water and let them him drink on his own, (if he needs it.)

If you need to syringe water, then the easiest way to syringe water without making a mess is to make sure your cat is sitting down, gently pet them and calm them, just as if you were going to syringe feed, and then place the nozzle of the syringe in between the canines and the molars where there is a wide gap, just rest the head of the nozzle on his gums and he can keep his mouth closed, (in fact it's better like that because water won't spill out their mouth.) Very slowly push down on the plunger, letting drops of water come out where water will be absorbed in their mouth and they will swallow some water by themselves. It is very important you syringe water in their oral cavity and not in the back of the throat where they could aspirate and water potentially enter their windpipe go into the lungs. You want them to swallow whatever you put into their mouth by themselves just as you would syringe feed.

You can split up his feedings into four or five times a day to give him the adequate amount of food and water per feeding.

I wish I could write more but unfortunately I don't have the time right now, I have some useful general advice on this thread on posts #7 and #10,

Acute Toxomplasmosis - On Clyndamyacin - Home But Not Eating
Best of luck I am praying that he gets better!!