Loss of appetite after deworming

kittenpetals

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I was wondering if it’s normal for cats to lose their appetite after worming? I gave her drontal almost 3 days ago and she’s been noticeably off her food. She’s had it in the past before though and she’s been fine.

I’m just worried because she has a bone marrow disorder and loss of appetite was one of her first symptoms before she was diagnosed. She’s on medication for it and she’s been stable. Her appetite has also been completely normal up until now. So this is making me concerned she’s relapsed and that we may need to do bloods sooner.
 

Maurey

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I was wondering if it’s normal for cats to lose their appetite after worming? I gave her drontal almost 3 days ago and she’s been noticeably off her food. She’s had it in the past before though and she’s been fine.

I’m just worried because she has a bone marrow disorder and loss of appetite was one of her first symptoms before she was diagnosed. She’s on medication for it and she’s been stable. Her appetite has also been completely normal up until now. So this is making me concerned she’s relapsed and that we may need to do bloods sooner.
Have you been checking her poop since worming her? 3 days is a bit excessive ime, but dying intestinal parasites can secrete all sorts of things that can trigger diarrhoea, vomiting, and inappetence. Has she been eating at all? If she’s completely off her food, you should go to the vet regardless, as that’s a long time for a cat to go without a meal.
 
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kittenpetals

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Have you been checking her poop since worming her? 3 days is a bit excessive ime, but dying intestinal parasites can secrete all sorts of things that can trigger diarrhoea, vomiting, and inappetence. Has she been eating at all? If she’s completely off her food, you should go to the vet regardless, as that’s a long time for a cat to go without a meal.
I’ve only seen her poop once since I wormed her, but it’s hard to know for sure since we have another cat. It seemed a bit hard so I’m wondering if she’s constipated. She’s still eating, some meals she eats most of it but others she just walks away.
 

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Has she been licking her lips? Any dry heaving or attempts to bring up a hair ball? Are her gums a normal colour?
 
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kittenpetals

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I haven’t noticed her licking her lips much. No dry heaving or any hair balls either. Her gums are a normal color too.
 

Maurey

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Do you feed the same kind of food every meal? She could just be getting picky. If she’s constipated she could be a bit queasy. Try giving her some malt paste or mixing some pumpkin purée (not pie filling) into her wet food.
 

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If she has a bone marrow disorder, it may be time to discontinue treatments such as worming and flea medications, especially since she is an inside cat now and not really exposed. I have DC'd all unnecessary treatments for my cats with leukemia, even their vaccinations since they are strictly indoors now. Get some Hartz Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors and see if she will lap that up, that is what I give mine when they are off food. At Target, Walmart, Amazon, and sometimes Dollar General.
 
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kittenpetals

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If she has a bone marrow disorder, it may be time to discontinue treatments such as worming and flea medications, especially since she is an inside cat now and not really exposed. I have DC'd all unnecessary treatments for my cats with leukemia, even their vaccinations since they are strictly indoors now. Get some Hartz Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors and see if she will lap that up, that is what I give mine when they are off food. At Target, Walmart, Amazon, and sometimes Dollar General.
That's what we've mostly been doing up until now, the main reason why I wormed her was because she getting really hungry shortly after eating. Her vets have advised against vaccinating since her condition can be unpredictable and she's also on prednisolone to keep her white blood cell count up. Thank you, I'll look into those. Luckily though she's eaten her last two meals, so I'm hoping her appetite is coming back properly!
 
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kittenpetals

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Do you feed the same kind of food every meal? She could just be getting picky. If she’s constipated she could be a bit queasy. Try giving her some malt paste or mixing some pumpkin purée (not pie filling) into her wet food.
She does, I try not to switch around her food since her stomach can be really sensitive. She mostly gets wet food (prefers dry though) but she wasn't as enthusiastic with the dry like she normally is. Thankfully she's eating more now! She finally pooped too, although it seemed like a struggle. I got some pumpkin and I'll be giving her some today.
 

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I haven't tried Drontal but my cat gives such a bad reaction to Profender. The last time the more severe side effects including not eating started after 2 days and in fact I checked online and it says Profender does deworming for tapeworms within 24 hours but for other worms it takes 2 days. Maybe mine's reaction was also partially/mainly because she had worms, I don't know (she goes to poop in the yard. I can't exam her stools.) I used Fortiflora to get her eat some wet food, and tiny pieces of boiled turkey breast several times a day.

I don't know the prices over there but where I live getting the stool tested for parasites is not much more expensive than the dewormer treatment. If possible maybe you can get it tested once every few months and give a dewormer only if they find anything.
 
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