missy sudden behavior change: no longer eating breakfast, just hides

[louisstools]

Based on last night with the pain meds and tonight with the nausea meds, I am concluding neither are remotely helpful enough.
Last night she only ate because I doped her way up with mirataz and kept doping her up. Today has been the same, I have to keep giving her mirataz to get her to eat. She's still doing the snake licking too.

Edit: It's like these drugs just wear off super quickly, after an hour or two. Or they're not dosed remotely high enough to counter act whatever is going on with the cat.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I thought the vet told you to stop overdosing her with the Mirataz??

So, what do you suppose is the reason for her eating a bit better after each vet visit? If it is not the pain meds or the Cerenia, then what do you think that was about?

 

[louisstools]

I thought the vet told you to stop overdosing her with the Mirataz??

So, what do you suppose is the reason for her eating a bit better after each vet visit? If it is not the pain meds or the Cerenia, then what do you think that was about?

I'm not overdosing her...I'm taking her to the maximum limits. We start out with .75 inches and when she's a bad cat she gets another .75 inches.

I have no idea what made the cat eat. It might have been the meds when they first kicked in but I don't think they last long enough. I really don't know.

 

[louisstools]

Part of the problem is even when the cat is being absolutely perfect and eating well, she eats so little at each meal that she needs to eat every 1.5 to 2 hours, max, just to get her calories. There can't be any skipping of meals or additional time between meals (she won't eat more/make the meal up).

 

[FeebysOwner]

I have no idea what made the cat eat. It might have been the meds when they first kicked in but I don't think they last long enough. I really don't know... Part of the problem is even when the cat is being absolutely perfect and eating well, she eats so little at each meal that she needs to eat every 1.5 to 2 hours, max, just to get her calories. There can't be any skipping of meals or additional time between meals (she won't eat more/make the meal up).

The vet said the pain med should have still been in her system, so if you think it wasn't you need to let them know. Ditto with the Cerenia, although that doesn't typically last any longer than about 24 hours.

I personally wonder if it has something to do with her being exposed to outside stimuli. An exhilaration, if you will, from something different than the constant fight at home.

You have to remember one thing, if any of this works, it isn't going to happen overnight. Missy doesn't have the capacity right now to eat a full meal. Her stomach has shrunk, and there is no way she could tolerate it. It would take time to get her to that point.

 

[Robyn5678]

How much does Missy weigh? Does all this make her lose weight?

 

[louisstools]

How much does Missy weigh? Does all this make her lose weight?

I forget the exact number yeah she’s been losing weight. It’s pretty much just a slow weight loss for the past 6 to 8 weeks that things have gone from bad to worse.

it’s also really hard to keep her hydrated. The vet said that she was dehydrated a bit. Not enough for iv. she probably didn’t do anything because she assumed the cat would eat with the nausea medicine which the cat is not eating again. because when the cat doesn’t eat, she is not drinking. She only drinks alongside eating she never drinks outside of eating.

The only thing I can think of is it rain today and maybe the cat doesn’t wanna eat when it rains. I think it rained yesterday too.

 

[louisstools]

As I get ready for bed -- several hours past my bedtime -- I just wanted to say I couldn't get Missy to eat or drink since mid-morning. Whatever is wrong with her is far different than anything we've dealt with. I could always get her to eat but not anymore.

I gave her extra Mirataz -- up to the limit -- and a nausea pill fragment the vet prepared for us (it's a larger dose pill but broken into quadrants). She did two small medicine treats with hills a/d but won't touch her kibble or water. I don't have enough of that to give it to her as food, it's just for the miralax and nausea pill to hide the flavors. I'm also not sure she would eat more than 1/4 teaspoon if I offered it.

Prayer, thoughts, and good vibes requested. It's very likely we go to the ER tomorrow if she won't eat.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Sorry to hear of her lack of eating yesterday. I hope it was a fluke, but suppose that is wishful thinking. Stock up on some extra A/D for days like this. Her eating a few bites of it is absolutely better than nothing, for both nutrition and hydration.

Sending wishes and good vibes Missy's way.

 

[louisstools]

Thank you FeebysOwner -- and everyone else. I hope it was a fluke too but you're probably right. I got a feeling this is the new normal for her.

Missy was pretty good this morning. She almost ate 0.1oz at first meal but then went hiding. She came out 30 minutes later and hung out the rest of the morning and wanted attention. The rest of the morning was pretty normal, eating then play/snuggles, then another meal, repeat. She just ate a bit less than she should but all in all did ok. Here's hoping this keeps up all day.

 

[southbound]

Has the vet advised you to have the tooth pulled? With all the money you are going through now it might be worth it to eliminate the tooth as the reason for at least some of the problems. They absolutely do not need all of their teeth.

 

[louisstools]

Just an update - she's been on the nausea medicine for 3 days and there's noticable change. I don't think nausea is the problem. She still does the snake licks. Saturday she was a nightmare (even on the full injectable dose), Sunday she was ok, Monday she was a nightmare, and so far today she refuses to eat. I suppose it could be nausea but we'd need something 10x stronger than what we have.

Regarding the tooth...it's a potential but they can't get her in until mid December for that. I can't wait that long. I need some relief from this cat. I'm beyond running on empty staying up super super late to try and get another meal into her not to mention the energy invested in trying to get calories into her.

 

[southbound]

4-5 weeks is too long to have to wait for a dental procedure. You live in a very secluded area with no vet options?

 

[FeebysOwner]

ust an update - she's been on the nausea medicine for 3 days and there's noticable change. I don't think nausea is the problem. She still does the snake licks. Saturday she was a nightmare (even on the full injectable dose), Sunday she was ok, Monday she was a nightmare, and so far today she refuses to eat. I suppose it could be nausea but we'd need something 10x stronger than what we have.

Don't know what you mean by 'nightmare' and how that differs from refusing to eat like she is today. So, not much I can comment on. I can say the odds are you may have expected too much too soon. If you thought that the anti-meds were going to make a significant difference right off the bat, then I imagine the anxiety level - on both of you - was upped by you being disappointed that you didn't get the result you'd hoped for. Tell the vet and see what they say.

 

[louisstools]

Don't know what you mean by 'nightmare' and how that differs from refusing to eat like she is today. So, not much I can comment on. I can say the odds are you may have expected too much too soon. If you thought that the anti-meds were going to make a significant difference right off the bat, then I imagine the anxiety level - on both of you - was upped by you being disappointed that you didn't get the result you'd hoped for. Tell the vet and see what they say.

The vet said the meds should’ve worked right away. There should’ve been a noticeable difference. I can keep giving her the medicine until it runs out because there’s no harm. Missy has officially been diagnosis with anorexia because she has all the classic signs. vet is trying to get a specialist group in the area to look at her again because she doesn’t know what else to do. all the blood work that we did on Saturday came back and everything was pretty fine. Nothing alarming.

Nightmare is generally when the cat is just refusing all food and drink. She’s always terrible. It’s just how terrible is she. it’s hard to find the right adjective.

hopefully it doesn’t take us very long to be seen by the specialist. It could be that the cat will end up getting a feeding tube if this continues because she’s eating less and less every day.

 

[Jabzilla]

A feeding tube truly does sound like the right way to go. It will make both of your lives MUCH simpler. Even if you have to slowly syringe the food through the tube, that's still far better than trying to feed Missy every hour all day and night. Fingers crossed you guys will get to see a specialist soon!

 

[louisstools]

A feeding tube truly does sound like the right way to go. It will make both of your lives MUCH simpler. Even if you have to slowly syringe the food through the tube, that's still far better than trying to feed Missy every hour all day and night. Fingers crossed you guys will get to see a specialist soon!

I’m hopeful that we won’t have to resort to that but our regular vet said she’s done thousands of them and they’re pretty simple and cats tend to do pretty well with them. we have a little ways to go before the not eating becomes that critical and hopefully by then we have some cause for all of this.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hopefully, the vet is looking for that last 'reason' to give Missy a feeding tube by having her looked at by a specialty group. Apparently, she feels something may have been missed by her, so a second set of eyes from at least an internal med vet, is warranted in her mind. I hope all the tests that you have already had done will be accepted by the specialty group as a starting point.

 

[louisstools]

Hopefully, the vet is looking for that last 'reason' to give Missy a feeding tube by having her looked at by a specialty group. Apparently, she feels something may have been missed by her, so a second set of eyes from at least an internal med vet, is warranted in her mind. I hope all the tests that you have already had done will be accepted by the specialty group as a starting point.

Me too...if only to help keep the costs down. Between food, needles, insulin, and mirataz this cat is pretty expensive and when you factor in all the vet visits...it's on the level of a car payment per month.

 

[louisstools]

Ugh, i’m pretty sure the constipation is back too. Because she’s eating about half to 2/3 of what she used to eat, she’s drinking about a third to a half of what she used to be drinking. She’s still getting the MiraLAX twice a day, but she’s not drinking like she used to. fun times.