Quick recap; brought our 15 year old cat with CKD to the ER vet last Monday night due to a tail injury; was only seen the next afternoon but no fractures on x-rays, some inflammation consistent with some type of injury so we were sent home with gabapentin. Had an odd experience with the gabapentin where by Thursday evening he could barely walk and was very lethargic so the last dose we gave him (30 mg) was on Thursday morning - he was thankfully better by Friday morning. BUT he didn't eat very much on Wednesday, and pretty much nothing at all on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (if he tried a few bites, he threw up immediately after) - so we brought him back to the ER vet on Saturday; thoughts were perhaps pancreatitis due to elevated ALT/GGT values (blood tests link here; ) or perhaps something gastro-intestinal (vet could feel a lot of poop, but thought it was soft; he is usually on Miralax to help with that).
So he was given a shot of Cerenia and some mirtazapine before leaving and we were sent with Cerenia to give every 24 hours (8 mg) and mirtazapine every 3 days (2 mg); also suggested to give the gabapentin twice a day at a low dose of 10 mg. He seems relatively alert although he seems to prefer quiet spots away from us, which would seem to indicate he is not feeling 100% - BUT he is not eating. Every now and then I will present him with food (especially after he wakes up) and he will eat a few bites, stop and look confused, walk away, lick his lips excessively and gag a bit (no vomit) and then he has no interest in food at all. We don't know what to make of this! He's peeing still, but not pooping (he's not getting the Miralax in since he's not eating!). We're also concerned that it will start to affect his liver - this is why we took him in on Saturday since it was pretty much 3.5 days by then with almost no food - he's a bigger cat that's already on a low-protein diet due to the CKD. We don't know what to do at this point; anyone had a similar experience? Does it take a while for the Cerenia/mirtazapine to kick in for certain cats? The internet says 2-3 hours, so we are very confused.
So he was given a shot of Cerenia and some mirtazapine before leaving and we were sent with Cerenia to give every 24 hours (8 mg) and mirtazapine every 3 days (2 mg); also suggested to give the gabapentin twice a day at a low dose of 10 mg. He seems relatively alert although he seems to prefer quiet spots away from us, which would seem to indicate he is not feeling 100% - BUT he is not eating. Every now and then I will present him with food (especially after he wakes up) and he will eat a few bites, stop and look confused, walk away, lick his lips excessively and gag a bit (no vomit) and then he has no interest in food at all. We don't know what to make of this! He's peeing still, but not pooping (he's not getting the Miralax in since he's not eating!). We're also concerned that it will start to affect his liver - this is why we took him in on Saturday since it was pretty much 3.5 days by then with almost no food - he's a bigger cat that's already on a low-protein diet due to the CKD. We don't know what to do at this point; anyone had a similar experience? Does it take a while for the Cerenia/mirtazapine to kick in for certain cats? The internet says 2-3 hours, so we are very confused.