Cat Tries To Drink Water But After Sip, Stops

[Pixie Perfect]

That's how our antibiotics are suppose to be administered so I hope it'll be possible. She is a very, very volatile cat and she's big on top of that.

 

[Pixie Perfect]

Have you tried turning the faucet on so there is small stream of water coming out? My cat Sonny likes moving water.

I had a fountain water bowl and she rarely drank out of it. She'd rather drink out of my cup or a bowl. It's not that she doesn't want to drink, it's that she goes down to drink and then changes her mind or if she drinks it she throws up. But then again, she hasn't really drank any since she got the anti-emetic. She was loaded up with fluids today, so apparently she's good for a few days now. However, I may try the faucet later. When she was young she used to like to jump up on the counter and drink. She's a bit too big for the bathroom sink now though, and the kitchen sink may be too big for her to comfortably get a drink from for her. Worth a try when she snaps out of the sedation though.

 

[Neo_23]

That's how our antibiotics are suppose to be administered so I hope it'll be possible. She is a very, very volatile cat and she's big on top of that.

Have you done the burrito towel method before? It's really handy once you get a hang of it. But I know some cats are just too smart and nimble sometimes. Having a second person will really help.

 

[Pixie Perfect]

Have you done the burrito towel method before? It's really handy once you get a hang of it. But I know some cats are just too smart and nimble sometimes. Having a second person will really help.

If our cat was that compliant we wouldn't be paying a vet $40-$60 for sedation every time she needed some labs

I so wish that would work for her. She's just too big, too insistent, and too smart to ever let that happen. Our vet told us to quickly throw a towel over her while she's laying down and control her legs while the other lifts her head shoots the medicine in her mouth while she hisses.

She's bad. I mean like possessed bad. She's a total sweetheart to me most of the time, but I've gotta admit that she's a demon.

 

[Pixie Perfect]

I may be just getting my hopes up, but she's gaining some color on her nose and belly. She's still laid out (2 days worth of sedatives will do that), but for the first time since about Wednesday she was also laying on her side for a bit. Plus, I'm getting bit by fleas, which tells me that maybe they're trying to find a different source of blood than hers because they don't like the flea medication they gave her. She still hasn't eaten or drank anything, but hopefully she's on the road to recovery.

 

[1 bruce 1]

If she's anemic, fleas are a huge disaster waiting to happen, so it's a good thing she's got flea meds to keep them little bloodsucking b*****s at bay.
It's obvious that this little girl is having problems unrelated to her mouth, but when she was sedated did the vet take a peek into her mouth to make sure she doesn't have a bad tooth, or abscess forming? I've had abscesses and infected teeth. They hurt like hell and no food or drink is bearable, even despite having great thirst.
We've had cats receive transfusions at pet hospitals, and in our case the estimates were very high, and the bill was actually a bit less. I am so sorry you have a girl that isn't feeling well.
If you decide to syringe feed/water her (which, if she's doing a bit better, may be necessary) take advantage of the two days of sedatives, wrap her burrito-style and be calm, keep your voice quiet, and do a few drops at a time as to not overload her stomach (ever come off the flu, decide you're STARVING and DYING of thirst and gorge only to have it come up? Me too, LOL, which is why they say to sip liquids and nibble solid foods vs. gorging despite your appetite!)
Cats are energy hogs, God love 'em, and if we tense up or are nervous or are paranoid that our cat will flip out and bite, they will pick up on this. It sounds like hokey hippie stuff, but I've been nailed by cats from ages 4 weeks to 14 years that reacted to my momentary loss of calm. Just be quiet with her, speak to her in a very quiet, soothing comforting voice and see what you get. Blink at her, and make sure your blinks are heavy lidded. (Again, this probably sounds like weird cat hippie stuff but blinking is a very good/connecting type sign in cats that they understand, and they seem to recognize it from humans as a sign of "honest, I'm not trying to piss you off...")
Fingers crossed. We're pulling for you and your girl.

 

[1 bruce 1]

If our cat was that compliant we wouldn't be paying a vet $40-$60 for sedation every time she needed some labs

I so wish that would work for her. She's just too big, too insistent, and too smart to ever let that happen. Our vet told us to quickly throw a towel over her while she's laying down and control her legs while the other lifts her head shoots the medicine in her mouth while she hisses.

She's bad. I mean like possessed bad. She's a total sweetheart to me most of the time, but I've gotta admit that she's a demon.

Our demon is possessed cat is bad when she's sick (rare, but it happens) but NOT when she's weak. An anemic cat in many cases (not all, of course, but many cases) is weak and doesn't care to fight, or if they do, can't put up the fuss they usually do (that's graded against their normal behavior and nothing else, of course, as all cats are different.)
When they're strong, demonic (in a loving way!) and SMART we are outsmarted. I don't envy your situation, but hopefully something can be done to help.
I love it when my cats and dogs are well behaved at the vets. I'm really proud. But it doesn't always go that way, our hyperthesthesia cat was so good until his last flare up then turned into Church from Pet Semetery at a vet visit once I swore we'd have to call in a priest to excorcise him before we could do any work =(
My dogs listen to and respect a quietly spoken "KNOCK it off" from me, my cats laugh at that, because they're cats. =)

Fingers crossed for a good report tomorrow.

 

[Pixie Perfect]

Yes, the vet yesterday did look in her mouth and told me all looks well.

I've been sedated and I know the last thing I want is food or water lol. The hospital today told me she's good on fluids til Monday, they pumped her up full of electrolytes. I need to take her back to get another lab by Monday anyways to make sure the anemia hasn't gotten worse.

I definitely try to keep my baby comfortable. The blinking thing does help for sure. She's semi curled into a ball right now, which is something I haven't seen since about Thursday. I'm very guardedly hopeful that she's on a recovery path.

She is normally so energetic. But she's mean, very mean. A vet with 30 years of experience wouldn't even touch her yesterday because she's just so aggressive. He didn't have the means to sedate her safely. She's almost clawed my eyeball while clipping her nails. I've never clipped them since.

Hmm, she just moved to another part of the bed. She did the extended tongue out of her mouth thing like she's licking air or something. She's been drooling a lot, probably from the sedative (they gave her ketamine and some other thing I can't pronounce, starts with a D). Hoping she's doing the lick thing only because she has so much spit in and around her mouth and she's trying to clean it up. Really hoping that she's not nauseated even after the anti-emetic.

I'd be nothing short of the most relieved I've ever been in my life if she'd eat something and keep it down.

 

[Pixie Perfect]

Our demon is possessed cat is bad when she's sick (rare, but it happens) but NOT when she's weak. An anemic cat in many cases (not all, of course, but many cases) is weak and doesn't care to fight, or if they do, can't put up the fuss they usually do (that's graded against their normal behavior and nothing else, of course, as all cats are different.)
When they're strong, demonic (in a loving way!) and SMART we are outsmarted. I don't envy your situation, but hopefully something can be done to help.
I love it when my cats and dogs are well behaved at the vets. I'm really proud. But it doesn't always go that way, our hyperthesthesia cat was so good until his last flare up then turned into Church from Pet Semetery at a vet visit once I swore we'd have to call in a priest to excorcise him before we could do any work =(
My dogs listen to and respect a quietly spoken "KNOCK it off" from me, my cats laugh at that, because they're cats. =)

Fingers crossed for a good report tomorrow.

LOL!

Report won't be in til Wednesday probably. Monday if we're really lucky. Freaking weekends.

Right now she's considered mildly anemic. We're really hoping she doesn't go much further, or she will need that transfusion. That may be more than we can afford

 

[1 bruce 1]

LOL!

Report won't be in til Wednesday probably. Monday if we're really lucky. Freaking weekends.

Right now she's considered mildly anemic. We're really hoping she doesn't go much further, or she will need that transfusion. That may be more than we can afford

If the anemia is mild and not immune mediated in nature, it might be a one time deal. If they find that her problems with anemia are immune mediated, there's a chance repeated transfusions over the course of her life may be needed. I get that feeling of financial worry, but here's hoping it's nothing more than a fluke and she won't need a transfusion at all! Keeping the fleas off her is CRITICAL and I'm very glad she has flea treatments done...I don't usually use flea treatments unless things are bad, but when we had an anemic guy everyone was treated to keep the damn fleas at bay as they can create hell on a mildly anemic individual.
Don't ask me why or how, but those damn fleas have always known which pets were at their worst (health) and latched onto them like a love-sick boa constrictor.
Like I said earlier, we had a transfusion done on one of our pets once, and I was terrified of the cost. The actual cost was a bit lower than the low part of the estimate. If you're not sure on being able to afford, talk with the vets before hand and tell them that you're scared and that you're unsure of being able to pay for something like that and they may be willing to offer payment plans or whatever.
The possibility is scary, but it's still only a possibility.

 

[Pixie Perfect]

The hospital pointed me at a medical credit card or something of that nature. I have unpaid student loans and I'm disabled. I can't see myself being approved for it. If this hospital was my normal vet, they'd be more flexible with the price, but it's a corporate hospital.

 

[Furballsmom]

No Money For Vet Care? How To Find Help And Save Your Cat's Life
In case there's something in this that might help you.

 

[Neo_23]

The hospital pointed me at a medical credit card or something of that nature. I have unpaid student loans and I'm disabled. I can't see myself being approved for it. If this hospital was my normal vet, they'd be more flexible with the price, but it's a corporate hospital.

Maybe call your normal vet as soon as they are open on Monday and tell them the situation.

 

[Pixie Perfect]

Unless something happens tomorrow and I see a need to get the test at the hospital, I'm going back to my normal vet Monday anyways. I'll talk to them about it.

 

[mojomom]

Oh Pixie I am going through nearly the exact same thing right now with our 7-year-old Mojo, so I am reading your thread with great interest. He, too, went from normal to unable to eat/drink, lethargic, vomiting foam.

After a $3,500 ER visit, he bounced back for a week, but now he is right back where he started. I am syringe-feeding him water, and he is getting down about a container of baby food a day. We are also giving him 250cc of subcu fluids every other day. Vets haven't been able to tell anything from bloodwork, xrays, urine culture, or ultrasound. We are taking him to the ER again on Monday to see what other tests they might be able to perform. I'm interested in your mention of autoimmune issues. What have they told you about that? We have a friend who is a vet tech who's been coming over to administer his fluids, and she said she'd never seen anything like this, but wondered if it could be autoimmune in nature.

 

[Pixie Perfect]

Oh Pixie I am going through nearly the exact same thing right now with our 7-year-old Mojo, so I am reading your thread with great interest. He, too, went from normal to unable to eat/drink, lethargic, vomiting foam.

After a $3,500 ER visit, he bounced back for a week, but now he is right back where he started. I am syringe-feeding him water, and he is getting down about a container of baby food a day. We are also giving him 250cc of subcu fluids every other day. Vets haven't been able to tell anything from bloodwork, xrays, urine culture, or ultrasound. We are taking him to the ER again on Monday to see what other tests they might be able to perform. I'm interested in your mention of autoimmune issues. What have they told you about that? We have a friend who is a vet tech who's been coming over to administer his fluids, and she said she'd never seen anything like this, but wondered if it could be autoimmune in nature.

Goodness, I'm so sorry. This is hell. I don't envy you at all. I really hope they find out what's going on.

They mentioned that they're afraid it could be an immune mediated anemia. I believe the technical term is immune mediated hemolytic anemia, but I may be wrong. What I do know, is that if that's the case, it's when the immune system kills the red blood cells that the cat produces. It's also rare in cats. They were saying if she has they'd need to get her started on steroids.

 

[Pixie Perfect]

The specific test they sent off for was "Feline Anemia / Real PCR Panel"

 

[Pixie Perfect]

She rolled back over on her side. Her belly is definitely gaining more color. Picked a couple fleas off of her belly as well. Persistent little *bleeps*

 

[Pixie Perfect]

She's still drooling a whole lot. I had to pick her up and move her from a room that has a lot of dirt and dangerous nails in it (it's being renovated... slowly). She didn't vomit, but she is dripping everywhere. How long after sedation until I should be worried about this?

 

[Pixie Perfect]

Just woke up, no change. No sign of her eating or drinking. Sleeping in the bathroom (where she never sleeps). She go to the litter box and urinated twice overnight. I'd give almost anything to see her eat right now