Cat Won't Eat/Drink, vet has no answers??

[kellysue301]

Hello everyone,

My cat Leo had been starting to seem somewhat disinterested in eating a few days ago, and this has now morphed into a complete refusal to eat for nearly 48 hours. We brought him to the vet this morning as an emergency, and $500 later the vet says she is not sure what the issue is other than a possible strange stomach virus. She took x-rays, ran blood work, everything was pretty much normal she said other than a bit of an increase in his liver values (whatever that means??) but nothing that she would deem as serious. Provided a shot for anti vomiting, and said to put the appetite stimulant we had for our other cat on his ear that they had prescribed about 2 weeks ago when our other cat experienced a urinary blockage (it just never ends!!). Leo has thrown up twice early this morning at 1:30am and 3:30am, as well as at around 9:30am yesterday morning. That was a large hairball, otherwise the vomit has been pure bile. He has urinated twice today and passed stool, all was normal, nothing runny or bloody. He walks around swishing his tail down towards the ground and just seems to be in pain. He keeps trying to hide in the closet after he slept all day today on the bed - his trip to the vet stressed him out immensely. He still has not eaten or drank. They gave him fluids at the vet today. In the closet, he just will sit hunched staring towards the wall. Before this he had been trying to hide in the basement. I am at a loss and absolutely terrified. The vet said there was no sign of blockage in his intestines and nothing caught up in his mouth. He keeps doing these lip licking noises over and over when he is up and walking around. He's cleaned himself a few times throughout the day, cries slightly if you try and touch him too much. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this?? The vet said to call in the morning if he still hasn't eaten, at this point I'm terrified to know if he will even be alive at that point with the way he is acting...

Thank you for any and all help.

 

[Furballsmom]

After reading your post, what occurred to me was, did he ingest something that is acting like poison or something?

 

[kellysue301]

Not that we are aware of, we haven't seen him get into anything abnormal nor integrated anything new into the house over the last several weeks, I would hope his bloodwork would show if that was the case?

 

[Furballsmom]

I would hope his bloodwork would show if that was the case?

I don't know. If there's a poison hotline (the ASPCA has a fee, I think) maybe call them to try and reverse diagnose this if the vet can't pin things down.

 

[stephanietx]

Did the vet mention any kind of gas in the colon? Sounds like what happened to my guy when he had gastroenteritis.

 

[Margot Lane]

The only time my guy did any lip licking was for a tooth that needed pulling, but this sounds more gastro related….any weird new cleaning supplies in the house or lavender oil?

Agree w/ Furball’s mom

 

[kellysue301]

Hmm nope no mention of gas, she said she felt all within his abdomen and it felt fine to her. I was thinking gastroenteritis as well - is there really any treatment for that? Or just have to let it run its course?

Nope no new weird cleaning supplies. This began somewhat soon after I gave him a small bit of salami, and his appetite slowly declined after that, but everything says that salami is fine to give a cat and it was such a tiny amount. That was his first time eating it, though. That same day we also put up new blinds, had to drill some holes in the wall leading to some wall bits/dust hitting the floor but I never even saw him come out during that time. Could the salami truly be upsetting his stomach this much??

 

[louisstools]

Could the salami truly be upsetting his stomach this much??

It's possible the salami is causing problems. Salami has a lot of spices in it. Maybe it's an allergic reaction? How much exactly did you give the cat? For example, when I give my cat(s) deli meat -- which is maybe once a year -- it's a piece about the diameter of a standard #2 pencil's eraser. Just enough for a taste, nothing more.

edit: In the 10 years I've had cats, the only time I saw a problem when eating or a radical change in behavior was when the cat was sick or injured. A vet visit always found the root cause and in a couple of days the cat was back to normal after a some sort of treatment.

 

[kellysue301]

I had given him a total of about the length/width of my pointer finger and middle finger put together. He licked it then gobbled it down. This was Monday night. I mentioned this to the vet today, and she said it could be upsetting his stomach but it could also just be coincidence. She said bloodwork showed no signs of poisoning or allergic reaction to anything.

My other cat, Gray, came home from the vet that Friday June 24th after an emergency recheck following his urinary blockage issue and right about this past Tuesday the 28th was Leo's first sign of a tiny bit of lethargy and loss of appetite. It's just gone downhill since then. Maybe Gray brought something home? After his surgery, he was extremely lethargic and did not want to eat at all, which was why we got the appetite stimulant in the first place. He had come home I think June 16th from the surgery itself, and we brought him back a week later (the 24th) due to his extreme lethargy and loss of appetite. We figured it was all due to the surgery, vet did as well, but maybe he had actually picked up something?? Gray's bloodwork and urine all were fine during his recheck, showing that his appetite issues were not related to his blockage per say. For him, he just woke up one day after a very rough night and was back to his normal self.

We brought Leo in again today. This morning around 9am he had a single bite of dry food. When at the vet, she rechecked him and again said she didn't feel any spots that seemed painful and ran a urinalysis as well as a test for his heart and both came back normal. She gave him a shot of an antacid to help protect his stomach, said he still seemed hydrated from the fluids she gave yesterday, and sent us on our way. Still no solid answer on his illness, just that it is most likely some sort of virus.

He did seem to be more himself this morning, slightly more active with looking out the window..then he went to the vet and got stressed beyond belief as always, and has been sleeping since then. Gave him the appetite stimulant that goes on his ear tip, he hates it of course lol but she said to keep giving it. It doesn't seem to really be doing much, unless his one bite of food over 12 hours after administering it is indicative of it doing its job.

One thing to note is that our dog randomly threw up his breakfast today which he has never done, but is otherwise acting himself. Our other 2 cats are fine (knock on 1000 pieces of wood). I myself am not feeling great, chalking it up to the stress, but at this point who knows!

 

[Furballsmom]

Could you maybe start using a calming spray or wipe, --on his carrier too, and cover his carrier with a lightweight towel and ask the vet about something, possibly gabapentin to help calm him?

 

[Fourcats4me]

I am going through th eVERY same thing with my cat Ginnie. It ended up being pancreatitis. Posters here have advised me of a blood test that can be completed by the vet if it occurs again in the future..

 

[sil]

Hi.. After reading about the symptoms of your pet that left the vet with a huge question mark it would be a good idea at this point to seek a 2nd opinion with another vet to confirm original findings. Without knowing much about your financial situation its assumed that you're at your wits end both emotionally and financially.

Asking for a 2nd opinion can possibly make a difference with a different diagnosis that can possibly solve this mystery finally, otherwise you will be stuck frantically running in a hamster wheel, continuously spending more money needlessly.

My 2 cats recently died due to kidney failure which showed similarities to what your dog is experiencing.

Keep us updated please!