Food Anxiety?

[1 bruce 1]

Yesterday was a rough day for Tigger. He threw up all day long, about every 3 hours. We couldn't get him to eat anything (probably since he was nauseated)... but he was still pretty active and lively, so we didn't panic too much (of COURSE we panicked a little!). By morning, it started to look a little pink and had red flecks as well.

Took him to the emergency room this morning because it just wasn't stopping. They did a basic blood test (to check electrolytes/etc)... and they were decent. He had a higher lactase, which was expected due to minor dehydration (as expected) but the rest looked ok... even after all the puking. Unfortunately, no specific diagnosis could be obtained as there was nothing terribly wrong. They also suggested an xray, to make sure there was nothing improperly ingested... there wasn't. Of course, the next recommendation is for the ultrasound, as originally suggested after last week's visit... so we will schedule that when the regular clinic opens tomorrow.

They also gave him some sub-Q fluids (to help with the dehydration) and an anti-nausea shot. Instructions were to NOT feed him immediately, which seems weird. We tried to give him a tiny bit (they suggested rice and cooked chicken to keep it all mild)... he is not interested. I cheated and gave him a tiny bit of the gravy from the can, to see if he'd prefer that... he licked that up, but left the solids for the most part. At least he hasn't thrown up yet... but I fear it's probably going to come later.

The vet also gave us 5mg omeprazole to help settle his stomach, but I don't see how we're going to get him to take it - the pills are huge (larger than the 20mg we have for ourselves!?). It's going to be even harder since he's not eating anything anyway.

So, we're waiting it out... not sure this is going to solve anything, but we'll do as recommended. Again, he's still active and lively otherwise, so we probably shouldn't worry... but that's one thing my wife and I are good at!

Yikes, that's a heck of a day for you all.
We've had dogs and cats alike receive anti-nausea shots and the instructions were always to wait an hour or two before feeding. The shot works almost immediately but sometimes it's best to let that tummy (even if it's very empty) rest.
We had a guy here with a similar thing going on and the best thing (for them) was feeding a VERY small amount (talking a teaspoon or tablespoon at a time) every 2 hours, and making sure the food was warmed. With work schedules this might not be an option. But I do think the food warmed or room temp (not hot, not fridge cold) helps.
He couldn't deal with anything commercial except for a canned option that was to be used as a topper, so for a week or two this is all they had. After that, they got home cooked food for awhile.
Stomachs are like muscles. When they aren't being used right, they atrophy, and I do feel that a stomach that has a random assault from who knows what tends to atrophy and is not nearly as strong as it was, and needs re building. It takes time but it can be done! =)

Also, just as a "coming from my experiences" place, any pet recovering from digestive problems does best (again IME) on a diet that's low in fat for the time being. It's so tempting to give them any food with higher fat content to bulk them up. For our guy, the leanest meats we could find (we used turkey breast and salmon) was the best thing we ever did...boiled...rinsed to remove residual fat. Just temporarily.
Think about yourself or your wife coming off the stomach flu. You've been throwing up like crazy and haven't felt your best, but you've managed to keep a bit of food and water down. What sounds best to your stomach (not your mind!); lite toast and tea, or a big platter of pancakes dripping with butter and syrup? Nibbling crackers probably sounds best to your stomach right now compared to that delicious rib eye (I'm a rib eye freak and even *I* will say that rib eye post stomach illness is no!)

Wishing you our best!!

 

[apurohit8]

Omeprazole is a capsule. We thought about opening it and putting it into some food, but the challenge now is that he's not eating at all. Even his favorite treat which he would run across the room for and swallow whole... he's not eating that either. It's so sad. We'll see what we can do, once he starts eating something. I don't want to force it on him now, as he's just not happy.

As for the food... he loves chasing us down for chicken when we are cooking. And he still comes to the kitchen when we are... but then even when we give him some, he won't eat it. We started with the boiled ground chicken, to stick to the "simple" foods concept, but he won't even sniff at it. We gave this with and without rice... no go. That's when I added a little gravy from the can, which usually gets him interested... he sniffed at that more closely, but still didn't eat.

The fecal parasite test came back... it's negative. So now I don't know what to think. He'll be going in for an ultrasound tomorrow, as this is the only next step that we can look at for now... not sure what else to look for. In the end, all the tests look relatively normal (except for the lack of eating at all... which are showing up in the results, of course... but they aren't critical yet). And, he's still up and about for the most part... he's not scampering around like he sometimes does, but he's not just lying around either, so that's good I guess.

What's more, our other cat (Zowey) started throwing up white foam last night and through to a few hours ago. She's generally lazy, so it's hard to see if she's active "as normal"... but she seems ok otherwise, just like Tigger. She's also not eating since yesterday. I did catch her drinking water, so that's good. And I got her to eat a little bit of canned food, but we're talking like half a teaspoon or so...

We're losing our minds with these two...

 

[Mamanyt1953]

If it comes down to it, you can open the capsule into a small amount of water, draw that into a syringe and give it to him like that. He won't like it a bit, but it will get the meds into him. Just be sure to tuck the tip between his cheek and gum, and GO SLOW.

 

[LTS3]

If it comes down to it, you can open the capsule into a small amount of water, draw that into a syringe and give it to him like that. He won't like it a bit, but it will get the meds into him. Just be sure to tuck the tip between his cheek and gum, and GO SLOW.

Or have the omeprazole compounded into a flavored liquid. It might not be worth compounding if your cat is only taking it for a couple of days.

If water doesn't work, try tuna juice or pureed canned food to mask any of the omeprazole taste.

 

[apurohit8]

Well, the results from the ultrasound are in. He was not cooperative with the process, so he had to be sedated. They let him come home today anyway, as they agreed that the best chance we have to get him to eat is to have him home... he was way too stressed at the vet.

Anyway, result is that he has thickening of the GI walls, which indicates severe IBD. In addition, his lymph nodes are swollen and his WBC was high (as we knew) so it's likely already progressed towards a cancerous state. This is supported by some reading we did recently here: Chronic Vomiting in Cats – A Sign of Serious Disease

The vet's suggestion was to perform an endoscopic biopsy which MAY provide confirmation... and if not, then we'd have to do a surgical biopsy. Aside from the expense, we just don't want to do that to him. In the past, with a previous cat, we went a little too far with our vet interventions, so we're sensitive to that now and don't want to force him to take meds and such. He's already a fighter against meds, so why put him through that on top of it all... especially since we don't know how much longer we would get anyway. It's sad, but he's had a good life for 16 years, and we will miss him, but we're not going there.

Zowey was also recommended for similar work (ultrasound, etc) but, again, we don't see the point. It could be the same thing, or it could just be a stomach virus. As they're both indoors only, we're not sure the virus idea flies, so again, we just want to keep her comfortable and let what happens happen (she is 18, after all). No sense in prolonging who-knows-what.

Neither one has eaten anything today either. They did get fluids at the vet, so they have some help from that. They've had a rough day, so they may just not be interested in anything.

We bought some other "tasty" foods in the hopes that they'd eat something. They love gravy-based food, so we're trying some of the Fancy Feast Broths, and other similar things - these were recommended by the vet tech as one of the ways to get cats to eat. So far, they're not interested in that either. The tech also suggested anchovies... no go on that either.

Until today, Tigger was still active... he's still coming off the sedative, I think, so he's not happy right now. Zowey is still sleeping as usual... in her favorite heated pad. She's as happy as can be, I think... and she still wanders around, so she's not just lying around "until death", so that's good. Hopefully Tigger will come back from the sedation tomorrow and be lively again.

If anyone has any ideas of other foods they might like, we're willing to try whatever. Hopefully they eat a little tomorrow, but if not it might be a shorter stay with us than we'd like... but it is what it is. We're not sure when the time is right, but I've heard that we'll know... so we'll just enjoy them and pamper them in the meantime.

Thank you all for your help and well wishes. Let's hope that we can enjoy them and let them go without too much trouble for them.

Oh yeah, for reference, some pictures of Tigger (black cat) enjoying the front porch in his leash:

and Zowey (Tabby) enjoying some time in the sun:

 

[apurohit8]

Just to be clear, we'll try whatever palliative things we can... and we'll keep trying to get them to eat anything... here's to hoping something clicks!

 

[apurohit8]

OH MY GOD! HE'S FINALLY EATING SOMETHING!

FYI, I have to recommend this video capture setup I have - free software called iSpy on the windows PC that connects wirelessly to an old/leftover cellphone (GalaxyS3 in this case) running a free app called "IP Webcam". A great, free way to use old cellphones and easy to move them around (all they need is power, since the rest is wifi). That's how we're keeping track of who is/isn't eating... and what they are interested in. That's a bowl of the Fancy Feast Broth... finally!

I won't get my hopes up too much, but it's something!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

When they are sick like that, we celebrate the small triumphs, so !

I must look into getting a system like that. I could have so much fun with my ferals with it!

 

[apurohit8]

This will be the last update on this thread. Unfortunately, it is bad news... both Tigger and Zowey didn't make it through the weekend. Zowey was still not eating and wasn't even trying to eat... so we had to do that on Saturday. Tigger kept trying to eat, but wasn't eating much. We had him on oral steroids which seemed to help, but still didn't solve the eating problem. We thought we would try the shot instead, as this was supposed to be more effective. Before we went in for this shot on Sunday, we discovered he was breathing through some congestion (he sounded like he had a runny nose, for example). We went to the vet and they suggested trying the steroids as this should help the congestion as well. After the shot, he started panting a bit... but we left it alone since we were told the steroids would help. My wife was up for some time that night, and felt it got a bit better, so she didn't panic (any more than she already was, at least). The next morning, I saw he seemed worse for the congestion, and was really not himself (probably didn't sleep much because of it). That was basically it... so we took him in on Monday morning. I feel so bad for having him suffer overnight with that, but at least they're both at peace now.

Thank you all for your help, info, and support along the way. I always heard/believed that some cats "just throw up a lot"... but the article I pointed out seems to indicate that this is a common IBD symptom. I wish I had known about that before, maybe we could have done something more. I'll know better next time.

I know, we did the best we could for both of them, and they were very well spoiled otherwise... we already miss them dearly. We now have a empty house, which is even harder to take... but we'll make it through, of course.

Good bye sweet Tigger and Zowey...

 

[KarenKat]

I'm so sorry that you, your wife and dear Tigger and Zowey had to go through that. My deepest condolences to you both.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I am so very, very sorry for this loss. I know you and your wife are beyond heartbroken. You will be in my prayers.

 

[AbbysMom]

Oh no. How sad and what a shock for you and your wife. I'm so sorry for your losses. Please consider starting tribute thread for these wonderful cats in our Crossing the Bridge section.

I'll now close this thread.

Rest in peace Tigger and Zowey.