Cat Stopped Eating And Drinking

[SkittlesTheCat]

I have a cat that goes outside during the day, but stays inside with us after dark. He's quite the hunter and catches mostly birds and mice. I have seen him bring home 3 birds in one day. He will eat the animals whole although I interrupt the process if I catch him. Anyhow, he normally chows down half a can of moist food every night and we leave out dry food and water for him during the day. Two nights ago was the last time that I saw him eat. Yesterday morning, he would not even eat a single kitty treat which he loves. He wanted to stay inside and not go outside which is also very unusual for him. He's usually wanting to go out as soon as the sun comes up. We took him to the vet today and after spending over 5 hours waiting in 2 waiting rooms at 2 vets and over $1000 total on x-rays, ultrasound, and medications (opiate pain-killer, appetite stimulant, anti-nausea, and some type of antibiotic), they still could not give me a definite answer on what is wrong with my cat. After ordering an x-ray, the first vet thought that there might be a blockage in his small intestine. Unfortunately, they could not do an ultrasound so they referred us to a vet hospital where we waited a very long time for not much. Although the ultrasound showed no blockage, they thought he might have irritation or infection in part of his digestion tract. They were hoping that the anti-nausea, appetite stimulant, and pain killers would encourage the cat to start eating and drinking again. They also hydrated him by injecting something (think it was kinda like saline / something to hydrate him) under his skin on his back. We opted to hold off on the blood work / urine until Monday hoping that he would regain his appetite and we kinda did not want to subject the cat to more trauma. Our half-shaven drugged-up cat has had a bad day. Since coming home from the vet, we bought him a small can of Gerber chicken baby food (read the ingredients, only chicken, food starch, and water), but still no appetite, not drinking water. What should we do? I plan to start syringe feeding him at least water. He was 12 pounds a year ago, 11 pounds today. More worried about keeping him hydrated than food intake, but will work on both.

 

[lavishsqualor]

I can't believe that the vet would run all the tests you describe without running blood work first. Anyway, your cat must eat. I would concentrate on getting wet food into him which will also serve to hydrate him. Cats that don't eat are subject to fatty liver disease which can kill them. Even if you have to syringe feed him, he has to eat. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I have a cat that goes outside during the day, but stays inside with us after dark. He's quite the hunter and catches mostly birds and mice. I have seen him bring home 3 birds in one day. He will eat the animals whole although I interrupt the process if I catch him. Anyhow, he normally chows down half a can of moist food every night and we leave out dry food and water for him during the day. Two nights ago was the last time that I saw him eat. Yesterday morning, he would not even eat a single kitty treat which he loves. He wanted to stay inside and not go outside which is also very unusual for him. He's usually wanting to go out as soon as the sun comes up. We took him to the vet today and after spending over 5 hours waiting in 2 waiting rooms at 2 vets and over $1000 total on x-rays, ultrasound, and medications (opiate pain-killer, appetite stimulant, anti-nausea, and some type of antibiotic), they still could not give me a definite answer on what is wrong with my cat. After ordering an x-ray, the first vet thought that there might be a blockage in his small intestine. Unfortunately, they could not do an ultrasound so they referred us to a vet hospital where we waited a very long time for not much. Although the ultrasound showed no blockage, they thought he might have irritation or infection in part of his digestion tract. They were hoping that the anti-nausea, appetite stimulant, and pain killers would encourage the cat to start eating and drinking again. They also hydrated him by injecting something (think it was kinda like saline / something to hydrate him) under his skin on his back. We opted to hold off on the blood work / urine until Monday hoping that he would regain his appetite and we kinda did not want to subject the cat to more trauma. Our half-shaven drugged-up cat has had a bad day. Since coming home from the vet, we bought him a small can of Gerber chicken baby food (read the ingredients, only chicken, food starch, and water), but still no appetite, not drinking water. What should we do? I plan to start syringe feeding him at least water. He was 12 pounds a year ago, 11 pounds today. More worried about keeping him hydrated than food intake, but will work on both.

You can make a slurry of baby food and water and syringe-feed your cat. You can also do this with cat food and water; mix in a blender or food processor. There are tinned and tubed nutrients specifically to boost calorie count for cats who are having trouble eating -- any vet should be able to direct you toward or give you some, but they are also widely available online and at "pet" stores. Nutri-Cal is one; there are others.
The vet hydrated him with Ringers solution, which is also widely available and a vet can teach you how to administer this subcutaneously as well, if he is going to need it, which you don't know at this point.
You might consider consulting another vet.

 

[SkittlesTheCat]

Good news, Skittles started grooming and eating again. After taking him to the vet yesterday for another injection of ringers solution, we tried feeding him a can of moist food at the vet. He did not eat the food (probably because he was stressed out about being at the vet). Once I got home, he went straight to his cat dish and started eating only the cat treats that were left in the dish. Today he still only eats cat treats and a small piece of bread (he loves bread, but we rarely feed it to him...just used a small piece of bread to trick him into eating the antibiotic medication pill hidden inside the bread). He will occasionally eat a little dry food, but will eat lots of cat treats. I cut him off after about 7 or 8 at a time because I don't want to make him sick. He eats these cat treats:

Greenies Feline Catnip Flavor Dental Cat Treats

For food we feed him this:

Nutro Wild Frontier Adult Open Valley Recipe Chicken Flavor High-Protein Grain-Free Dry Cat Food

Along with Friskies poultry based moist food as well as some cans that the vet recommended, but he won't eat moist food yet. He drank a little water tonight, but not much. Since he got partially shaved for the ultrasound, is there anything we can give him other than a high-protein diet in a week or two to make his fur grow faster?

 

[tarasgirl06]

Good news, Skittles started grooming and eating again. After taking him to the vet yesterday for another injection of ringers solution, we tried feeding him a can of moist food at the vet. He did not eat the food (probably because he was stressed out about being at the vet). Once I got home, he went straight to his cat dish and started eating only the cat treats that were left in the dish. Today he still only eats cat treats and a small piece of bread (he loves bread, but we rarely feed it to him...just used a small piece of bread to trick him into eating the antibiotic medication pill hidden inside the bread). He will occasionally eat a little dry food, but will eat lots of cat treats. I cut him off after about 7 or 8 at a time because I don't want to make him sick. He eats these cat treats:

Greenies Feline Catnip Flavor Dental Cat Treats

For food we feed him this:

Nutro Wild Frontier Adult Open Valley Recipe Chicken Flavor High-Protein Grain-Free Dry Cat Food

Along with Friskies poultry based moist food as well as some cans that the vet recommended, but he won't eat moist food yet. He drank a little water tonight, but not much. Since he got partially shaved for the ultrasound, is there anything we can give him other than a high-protein diet in a week or two to make his fur grow faster?

That's excellent news, SkittlesTheCat -- a big relief to hear!
Greenies are nice, given in moderation -- you're right not to let him eat too many at a time, as they are intended for the purpose, not for a regular diet. Nutro is a good brand IMHO, but of course it is recommended by many experts and cat lovers, myself included in the latter CATegory, to feed high quality wet food, with dry as a snack if fed at all. Maybe you could try mixing his dry with a small amount of wet, increasing the wet gradually? A beloved cat I once knew ate a special diet of wet and dry, mixed, for every meal. It was all he ever got, so it was all he ever ate, and he ate it ravenously. There are various supplements available to improve the coat of cats -- you might try looking at these on a site such as DrsFosterSmith.com. Good luck! Skittles!!!

 

[SkittlesTheCat]

Thought I'd give an update. Skittles is mostly back to normal except for the missing fur that was shaved off. It's growing back slowly. However, he really seems to have lost his interest in moist food after the incident. He eats plenty of dry food and still loves his cat treats. But if we feed him the same portion of wet food as we allocated to him before, he'll usually eat maybe 1/4 of it before losing interest. We tried the moist food sample that the vet gave us and he did not eat that at all although perhaps he was not feeling well. He only eats about 1/4 to 1/2 of the Friskies we had been feeding him the previous year. Same with Fancy Feast. He's been spending a lot more time indoors. He'll always want to go out in the morning, but usually comes back around noon or slightly after noon. During the summers, he'd be crying to go out at 6:00 AM and would become fiesty with us if we did not let him out after dinner as long as the sun was still up. So his metabolism is likely lower because he's not as active, but he seems to have lost some interest in eating most food. Of course, he's usually interested in what we're eating.

 

[entlaufene]

If it's the same moist food that he was eating when he started feeling sick, he might be associating the flavor with whatever badness he was feeling. (Ever get food poisoning and then not be able to look at that food without feeling like throwing up?) Have you tried other flavors/brands?

It sounds like he's not totally over whatever problem he was having, though. If he's still acting weird (the loss of interest in playing outside, lower activity stuff) for much longer (maybe a week or two), maybe bloodwork would be a good idea. Does he have a litter box inside or does he normally go outside for that? If it's inside, are you seeing a normal amount of pee/poo?

Oh another thing is cats can catch the flu (from humans, birds, dogs....). If he's sick from that and has a stuffy nose, that could also cause lack of appetite, because he can't smell the food as well. Dry food is really concentrated in flavor so maybe that's why it still interests him when wet doesn't.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Thought I'd give an update. Skittles is mostly back to normal except for the missing fur that was shaved off. It's growing back slowly. However, he really seems to have lost his interest in moist food after the incident. He eats plenty of dry food and still loves his cat treats. But if we feed him the same portion of wet food as we allocated to him before, he'll usually eat maybe 1/4 of it before losing interest. We tried the moist food sample that the vet gave us and he did not eat that at all although perhaps he was not feeling well. He only eats about 1/4 to 1/2 of the Friskies we had been feeding him the previous year. Same with Fancy Feast. He's been spending a lot more time indoors. He'll always want to go out in the morning, but usually comes back around noon or slightly after noon. During the summers, he'd be crying to go out at 6:00 AM and would become fiesty with us if we did not let him out after dinner as long as the sun was still up. So his metabolism is likely lower because he's not as active, but he seems to have lost some interest in eating most food. Of course, he's usually interested in what we're eating.

Thank you for updating us! The two things I would suggest are continuing to offer him high quality wet foods daily, because wet food is far superior to dry food and contains the moisture cats need, because not all cats drink enough water. The other thing is that most caring cat experts stress keeping cats indoors only for their own safety and health, and your peace of mind; and I absolutely agree with this. Unless you walk your cat on a cat-specific harness and leash or have a secure, safe catio for him, for his safety, please keep him indoors.

 

[SkittlesTheCat]

If it's the same moist food that he was eating when he started feeling sick, he might be associating the flavor with whatever badness he was feeling. (Ever get food poisoning and then not be able to look at that food without feeling like throwing up?) Have you tried other flavors/brands?

It sounds like he's not totally over whatever problem he was having, though. If he's still acting weird (the loss of interest in playing outside, lower activity stuff) for much longer (maybe a week or two), maybe bloodwork would be a good idea. Does he have a litter box inside or does he normally go outside for that? If it's inside, are you seeing a normal amount of pee/poo?

Oh another thing is cats can catch the flu (from humans, birds, dogs....). If he's sick from that and has a stuffy nose, that could also cause lack of appetite, because he can't smell the food as well. Dry food is really concentrated in flavor so maybe that's why it still interests him when wet doesn't.

He still has an interest in going outdoors everyday, he just comes back earlier than he used to. I think most of the reason that he's less active is because what he hunts is mostly hibernating (although he did catch and almost completely eat a mouse two days ago). It's also colder outside (upper 30s / lower 40s during the day) and since he's still growing back a patch of fur on his abdomen that was shaved off a few weeks ago for the ultrasound, he's probably less comfortable in the colder weather (his cat door into the garage is always open when he's outside and he can come into the garage whenever he wants). But I agree, we'll try other flavors. Perhaps he thinks the wet food made him sick. He's still very interested in whatever we are eating, seems like he spends about a quarter of the day grooming, and we did find out that he loves Purina Broths:

Chicken & Fish Wet Cat Food | Broths | Fancy Feast®

So we've been feeding him that with his dry food. He always eats that stuff up completely. We have been feeding him pate-style moist food because it is easier for him to lick up, but we'll try experimenting with more of the soupy moist foods.

 

[SkittlesTheCat]

Thank you for updating us! The two things I would suggest are continuing to offer him high quality wet foods daily, because wet food is far superior to dry food and contains the moisture cats need, because not all cats drink enough water. The other thing is that most caring cat experts stress keeping cats indoors only for their own safety and health, and your peace of mind; and I absolutely agree with this. Unless you walk your cat on a cat-specific harness and leash or have a secure, safe catio for him, for his safety, please keep him indoors.

He drinks out of a bucket that we refill with fresh water everyday next to a bathtub. When he drinks he drinks for at least a minute, maybe two. So it seems like he's getting plenty of water. Regarding indoor vs. outdoor, my wife and I adopted Skittles after he had been living in a field next to her parent's house for at least two months. At first, we were not sure if he was stray or not, but then eventually realized that he had no home to go to and was living off of field mice and bugs. At that point, we arranged for someone at work to adopt him, but when it did not work out with them, we basically fell in love with him and decided to keep him. But he's still very much an outdoor cat. He does not like using his litter box (tried three different types of kitty litter) and only seems to use it when he absolutely can't hold it long enough before we let him outside. If we don't let him out, he gets feisty and will start attacking our furniture and crying at the door. So for now, we let him out during the day, but keep him locked in before it gets dark out.