Cat won't eat by herself. Gotten skinny

[kevinl]

My eleven year old cat won't eat by herself. She hangs over her food bowl like she wants to. She begs for food when we syringe feed her. Lost a lot of wait. Still playful. Her tongue also hangs out her mouth. Drools a lot licks her butt and its hairless now and smells stinky. She eats a lot of high calorie food but still loses weight. We took her to the vet they said it was URI but she can smell her food so that's not why she won't eat.

 

[Kat0121]

If your cat is not eating and is losing weight, I would suggest a vet visit AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

 

[Kat0121]

My eleven year old cat won't eat by herself. She hangs over her food bowl like she wants to. She begs for food when we syringe feed her. Lost a lot of wait. Still playful. Her tongue also hangs out her mouth. Drools a lot licks her butt and its hairless now and smells stinky. She eats a lot of high calorie food but still loses weight. We took her to the vet they said it was URI but she can smell her food so that's not why she won't eat.

Did the vet take a blood sample to do a series of tests? When did she last see the vet?

Drooling could be linked to problems with her teeth or the inside of her mouth. She might be in pain. Did the vet check that?

If she is eating a lot of high calorie food but is still losing weight, something is wrong. She could have worms. 

If she has been to the vet recently and there's been no improvement, I'd take her to another vet for a second opinion. If you have access to a vet that specializes in cats, that would be a good choice. 

The fact that she is playful is a good thing though. I'm sorry that she's going through a rough spot. Poor little thing. 

 

[mollyblue]

what did the vet say about her teeth?  Having an infection in her back teeth can cause jaw pain and might make it harder for her to "pick up" food and also to chew it, but if you syringe feed her then all she has to do is swallow?

What did the vet say about the hairless, stinky butt?

 

[hexiesfriend]

did the vet check her teeth? Drooling can be a very very bad sign but it can also be a sign of just bad teeth. I'd get her back the vet ASAP looks like she hasn't gotten better.

 

[kevinl]

Did the vet take a blood sample to do a series of tests? When did she last see the vet?



Drooling could be linked to problems with her teeth or the inside of her mouth. She might be in pain. Did the vet check that?

If she is eating a lot of high calorie food but is still losing weight, something is wrong. She could have worms. 

If she has been to the vet recently and there's been no improvement, I'd take her to another vet for a second opinion. If you have access to a vet that specializes in cats, that would be a good choice. 

The fact that she is playful is a good thing though. I'm sorry that she's going through a rough spot. Poor little thing. 

She had tests done for kidney failure however the tests were fine. One was a little high but nothing deadly.

They said it could be cancer and they want to put her down Friday. I just want to be sure before my baby goes away. ;(

 

[Kat0121]

She had tests done for kidney failure however the tests were fine. One was a little high but nothing deadly.

They said it could be cancer and they want to put her down Friday. I just want to be sure before my baby goes away. ;(

Oh I'm so sorry. If this was my cat, I'd definitely get a second opinion. You need to know for sure if she has it or not and if so what her prognosis is. What her treatment options are, what her quality of life will be like and if she will be in pain. You want the diagnosis to be 100% certain before you consider letting her go. 

This is a tough place for you to be in and we are here for you. 

Please give that little sweetheart a big hug for me. 

 

[byelymphoma]

So sorry to learn of your pet's illness. After seeing a Vet first week of July 2015 and 2 weeks later being informed our 11 and 1/2-yr-old "Mama Smokey Kitty" was going to die from Lymphoma soon - needless to say - it was heartbreaking "news". So, prior to taking her in - Smokey - for several months had rapidly started losing weight despite the fact she was eating her normal canned and dry diet. She had always been tiny and we didn't think too much about this until one morning she appeared to struggle with near nonstop sneezing and swallowing to point she was choking over her breakfast.Took her in that same morning for blood work and x-rays and while in Vet's office blood began to flow out her left nostril. Inside of her ears also suddenly appeared inflamed and very red as well as her eyes were extremely bloodshot. Fast forward to when the vet called with "bad news" and she then basically referred us to specialist.

However, considering Smokey's age, her tiny size (around 5 1/2 pounds)  and small appetite as well as already possibly compromised immune system due to fact she was a year-old pregnant and abandoned kitty in our neighborhood with not much longer prior to giving birth when we first took her in, we knew she needed nutritional assistance and big time immune health treatment if she and her kittens were going to make it. We were very fortunate in that manager of local Petco at that time donated tons of canned and dry food plus prenatal vitamins to help Smokey along.

So now 11 + years later and receiving news of cancer we agreed instead of battling this challenge by compromising Smokey's immune system and placing her at greater risk for infection should we treat with radiation/chemo, we had to become way more proactive concerning her optional "treatment/s". That said, we brought Smokey home and  2 weeks later after receiving that horrible phone call with Lymphoma diagnosis I began researching holistic home remedies immediately. 

I am not going to go into all that was covered online as I quickly arrived at the decision to purchase twin pack of Walmart's whole herbTurmeric Curcumin 500 mg capsules, plus Milk Thistle 175 mg capsules, and through another website I purchased a large container of L-lysine I wound up filling into small gelcaps. At first I emptied a small amount of Turmeric Curcumin out of 500 mg gelcap and then filled it back up to "full" with online recommended amount of milk thistle. Between the 2 gelcaps (the one filled with mostly Turmeric Curcumin and a bit of Milk Thistle, and the other being a small gelcap I purchased in bulk off eBay and filled with L-lysine) the immediate routine of same time daily giving those gelcaps has now 2 months later only thing left to do is return to Smokey's Vet so she can reexamine her and acknowledge her now well condition.

Couple/few more remarks prior to signing off and #1 is that the 2 weeks after Smokey's office visit during the first week of July and then hearing bad news of Lymphoma Smokey had actually become significantly worse with near nonstop sneezing, bleeding from both nostrils and eyes, hardly any interest in her wet food and no interest in the dry which was way to hard to swallow at the time anyway, ANOTHER major issue developed and that was a large marble sized lump formed between her eyes and on the bridge of her nose. All these issues are currently resolved and Smokey is eating without sneezing and choking both wet and dry food, is no longer bleeding from her nose and eyes, the tumor between her eyes is GONE and now she is longing to socialize with our other 6 cats...something she had not cared about for quite some time prior to her going to vet.

The #2 last mention is that I read in several places it is hard to overdose the Turmeric Curmin and for about 4 weeks now I have been giving the full 500 mg Turmeric Curcumin capsule or gelcap which makes it very simple to get down her with the L-lysine gelcap and then every couple to few days I will give revert to giving the combination of former mentioned Turmeric Curcumin with Milk Thistle all in 1 gelcap and as usual the L-lysine gelcap. That way she is only having to currently be pilled once a day and she is not miserable and "hiding" for fear the big bad witch is coming to pill "me" again. 

Okay and #3 must mention I NEVER pill Smokey while she is resting in her "happy place" but rather I bring her into routine spot on bathroom counter where she anticipates what comes next with her treatment which has included removing the once gluey/bloody drainage from her nose and eyes  with clean, damp cloth and now that is clear drainage if any to tend to plus pilling her ONCE a day. Not saying pilling more than once a day would be bad for all but once a day for Smokey is working well. 

Lymphoma is supposedly common among cats but toxic chemo/radiation in my opinion is NOT the way or leastwise ONLY way to treat cancer. Smokey is content today and she is not manifesting any signs of illness whatsoever.

P.S. Just be certain if you self-treat to do ALL research on any and ALL dosage/s prior to getting started, and best to you and yours'.

 

[kevinl]

So sorry to learn of your pet's illness. After seeing a Vet first week of July 2015 and 2 weeks later being informed our 11 and 1/2-yr-old "Mama Smokey Kitty" was going to die from Lymphoma soon - needless to say - it was heartbreaking "news". So, prior to taking her in - Smokey - for several months had rapidly started losing weight despite the fact she was eating her normal canned and dry diet. She had always been tiny and we didn't think too much about this until one morning she appeared to struggle with near nonstop sneezing and swallowing to point she was choking over her breakfast.Took her in that same morning for blood work and x-rays and while in Vet's office blood began to flow out her left nostril. Inside of her ears also suddenly appeared inflamed and very red as well as her eyes were extremely bloodshot. Fast forward to when the vet called with "bad news" and she then basically referred us to specialist.

However, considering Smokey's age, her tiny size (around 5 1/2 pounds)  and small appetite as well as already possibly compromised immune system due to fact she was a year-old pregnant and abandoned kitty in our neighborhood with not much longer prior to giving birth when we first took her in, we knew she needed nutritional assistance and big time immune health treatment if she and her kittens were going to make it. We were very fortunate in that manager of local Petco at that time donated tons of canned and dry food plus prenatal vitamins to help Smokey along.

So now 11 + years later and receiving news of cancer we agreed instead of battling this challenge by compromising Smokey's immune system and placing her at greater risk for infection should we treat with radiation/chemo, we had to become way more proactive concerning her optional "treatment/s". That said, we brought Smokey home and  2 weeks later after receiving that horrible phone call with Lymphoma diagnosis I began researching holistic home remedies immediately. 

I am not going to go into all that was covered online as I quickly arrived at the decision to purchase twin pack of Walmart's whole herbTurmeric Curcumin 500 mg capsules, plus Milk Thistle 175 mg capsules, and through another website I purchased a large container of L-lysine I wound up filling into small gelcaps. At first I emptied a small amount of Turmeric Curcumin out of 500 mg gelcap and then filled it back up to "full" with online recommended amount of milk thistle. Between the 2 gelcaps (the one filled with mostly Turmeric Curcumin and a bit of Milk Thistle, and the other being a small gelcap I purchased in bulk off eBay and filled with L-lysine) the immediate routine of same time daily giving those gelcaps has now 2 months later only thing left to do is return to Smokey's Vet so she can reexamine her and acknowledge her now well condition.

Couple/few more remarks prior to signing off and #1 is that the 2 weeks after Smokey's office visit during the first week of July and then hearing bad news of Lymphoma Smokey had actually become significantly worse with near nonstop sneezing, bleeding from both nostrils and eyes, hardly any interest in her wet food and no interest in the dry which was way to hard to swallow at the time anyway, ANOTHER major issue developed and that was a large marble sized lump formed between her eyes and on the bridge of her nose. All these issues are currently resolved and Smokey is eating without sneezing and choking both wet and dry food, is no longer bleeding from her nose and eyes, the tumor between her eyes is GONE and now she is longing to socialize with our other 6 cats...something she had not cared about for quite some time prior to her going to vet.

The #2 last mention is that I read in several places it is hard to overdose the Turmeric Curmin and for about 4 weeks now I have been giving the full 500 mg Turmeric Curcumin capsule or gelcap which makes it very simple to get down her with the L-lysine gelcap and then every couple to few days I will give revert to giving the combination of former mentioned Turmeric Curcumin with Milk Thistle all in 1 gelcap and as usual the L-lysine gelcap. That way she is only having to currently be pilled once a day and she is not miserable and "hiding" for fear the big bad witch is coming to pill "me" again. 

Okay and #3 must mention I NEVER pill Smokey while she is resting in her "happy place" but rather I bring her into routine spot on bathroom counter where she anticipates what comes next with her treatment which has included removing the once gluey/bloody drainage from her nose and eyes  with clean, damp cloth and now that is clear drainage if any to tend to plus pilling her ONCE a day. Not saying pilling more than once a day would be bad for all but once a day for Smokey is working well. 

Lymphoma is supposedly common among cats but toxic chemo/radiation in my opinion is NOT the way or leastwise ONLY way to treat cancer. Smokey is content today and she is not manifesting any signs of illness whatsoever.

P.S. Just be certain if you self-treat to do ALL research on any and ALL dosage/s prior to getting started, and best to you and yours'.

Are you suggesting that I try to treat her at home with all the things you recommended

 

[hexiesfriend]

I think your cat just needs a return visit to the vet. She is not getting better and something is not right. If she was put on antibiotics for the URI it's not working and you need to tell the vet. If her teeth were not checked they need to be because bad teeth can cause nasal discharge and breathing issues from the nose. High calorie food can cause diarrhea on its own because it is so high in fat. She is not eating on her own for a reason and you need to get to the bottom of it with professional attention. It's not normal for a cat with a URI to go a long time without eating because they can't smell assuming this is the reason. Please get your kitty back to the vet or call ASAP.

 

[momofmaxwell]

I'm with you on this one.Turmeric is and has been known to help with cancer in some cats.L-Lysine or the powdered form all lymphoma kitties on the two groups i belong to are on 500mg twice per day.it is a ritual over there as their immune system has been compromised.Pain has to be addressed.What I can tell you about by late Trixie abdominal tumor the size of a racquetball.Just went of food one day.The day prior she was running around with the catnip mouse.You never would have known anything by looking at her.I have a stethoscope and took her pulse .Her heartrate was at 240bpm.Try counting that on a 15.That was the only symptom.After th tumor was removed her heart rate went down to 160.I have pics a week later that you would never had known she had the racquetball tumor of a beast in her removed.Hug surgery & also died on the table.the vet said to me now there's a kitty in no pain.My stethoscope is a cheapy around 20 bucks but works fine.So because cats hide pain so well i recommend getting a stethoscope placing it under the left sided of the arm pit & counting with a watch or clock with a second hand.Also at the end of her life, the very last day her core temp was 36 degrees celcius.Also an indicator of just how sick she was.I use the digital ,flexible tip thermometer.little vaseline.So yes i ditto about everything you have said.Our kitties pick up on just how stressed,depressed,etc and it goes right through to them.Rather than looking at them as sick kitties try to look at them being healthy.Your feelings go a long way.All the way to your babe.Hugs C.Regular vets will not even mention turmeric nor lysine.They'll think your some kinda oddball.When the stacks are high you must research elsewhere & if there is a group that specifically deals with that form,or forms they will share just what they did like you.Good posting.Hugs C.

 

[betsygee]

MOD NOTE:  Please remember the TCS rules about giving medical advice.  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/181417/about-providing-medical-advice-on-this-board

What don't we allow here?

We cannot allow any form of what might seem like direct veterinary advice on this board. This includes, among other things:

1. Suggesting to posters that they should medicate a cat, be it a prescription or non-prescription drug.

2. Advising people to avoid following qualified veterinary advice provided by their own vet.

3. Suggesting that a cat does not need to be seen by a veterinarian for medical complaints.

 

[LTS3]

Are you suggesting that I try to treat her at home with all the things you recommended

Never try any home treatment that is recommended online. The suggested treatment and pills and stuff may be toxic to cats. If there is something that seems like it might work, ask your vet first. The vet can determine if the treatment is safe, the dosages are correct, etc.

It looks like ByeLymphoma was just posting about a situation he/she was in recently and the treatment that worked for the cat. Not sure what that has to do with your original question. ByeLymphoma's cat had cancer (or so the post says), which doesn't sound at all like what is wrong with your cat.

As others have said, you need to take your cat back to the vet. Make sure blood work is done, if it wasn't done previously. Make sure the vet checks your cat's teeth, although that may not be very helpful since many vets aren't taught much about dental health in school. Seek out a second opinion if you feel that the current vet isn't getting to the bottom of why your cat is sick.

 

[byelymphoma]

Merely sharing a "Success Story" on behalf of my Smokey Kitty, so in answer to your question, no. However, if not before, after - if and when you have "exhausted" vet's care to no avail, are you going to sit helpless as your pet unnecessarily suffers and possibly dies without your intervention ??. My mentioned treatment is one most vets would never share. I stick my neck out in hopes to possibly help save some critter's lives. Note: I did NOT prescribe definitive treatment/dosages and recommend you do your due diligence in researching treatment "options" and "dosages". Smokey's vet charged over a few hundred dollars which was worth the "diagnosis" to me but suggested chemo/radiation I'm certain would have finished older and tiny Smokey off due to side effects as vomiting and diarrhea etc. whereas her selected optional treatment has restored her to current optimum good health. My hope now is Smokey will live healthy until she passes naturally from old age. Lastly, one size does NOT fit all but trying same thing over and expecting different results - well let's just say it's wise to keep an open mind to options.

 

[mollyblue]

I see both sides of the coin here.  My cat enjoyed a full year or more after the vet said it would be in her best interest to end her life - but the vet is also the one who taught us to give her subq fluids.  I wish I would have known about this site for our poor little Alex.  I think veterinary attention should be sought first and foremost, but if you don't have a good vet, or don't have the money to go to a vet, then its nice to have options.  I also see why the site doesn't want people handing out advice contrary to vet care, or holding ourselves as experts as this is a big liability issue. 

Happy Monday everybody. 

 

[momofmaxwell]

Hi kevenl I'm sorry your little one is struggling.cats can be inappetance for so many reasons.Did you get a copy of her BW as you are privy to all this information?What was high?Ckd can definitely make then feel like.Dehydration from not enough food as well.And surely your vet must have really checked her over??I agree seeing somebody else right away.In the meantime get copies of her Bw & food ,food ,food. hopefully she had a urine test as well.Hypert can cause weight loss major even though the calories are given.That is not diagnosed via an exam but bloodwork.many different things.PLS see somebody else right away & have them send your kitties file over to the new vet.To me she sounds major nauseous.But i am not a vet and i do believe you need to see someone else right away.Hugs to you & your babe.