My 12 year old stopped eating!

[rldunehew]

Help! I am looking for advice on how to make my Steven eat! He stopped eating Tuesday. Even his most favorites of food. The vet was booked till today and I had to drop him off. The bloodwork all came back great accept for his glucose. It was low high. No pancreatitis like I suspected.
He got fluids with some b vitamin additives. And we will also be giving sub q's at home. I forgot to ask for a appetite stimulant but called later and haven't heard back yet. I leave out of town tomorrow for a few days and my hubby will have be taking care of Steven. But he will not be able to give sub q by himself. I sure would feel much better about leaving them if I could just get Steven to eat. He had a Cerenia injection just incase but there has been no vomiting during this bout of whatever is going on. The vet said he may be diabetic but because it wasn't that high and he hasn't been eating it could just be that. Our goal is to get him to feeling better then retest glucose. But the ding dong has to eat to get better! I am almost thinking of syringe feeding but don't want to turn him off completely and stress him out. Any ideas would be appreciated. tia <3

 

[maggie101]

Have you tried freeze dried treats or tiki and churu tubes for added flavor. Your vet may have single packets of fortiflora.

 

[rldunehew]

There is also a lot not pictured because it was opened and or used but not consumed. This is a legit anorexic gato.
I did just force feed him some pate with some fortiflora. Don't know what else to do.

 

[rldunehew]

I dunno who moved my message to the appropriate forum thread but I appreciate you!! When I was writing it I paused for a bit at the list of forum and wasn't sure.. Thank You!! <3

 

[LTS3]

I wouldn't worry about that one blood glucose number. Stressed out and sick cats often have high blood glucose levels when tested by the vet.

A little bit of the FortiFlora sprinkled on top of any food should get any inappetant cat to eat. But if it doesn't, the vet needs to do more investigating into why your cat won't eat. An appetite stimulant such as mirtazapine is helpful.

Did the vet check the teeth? Dental issues, which many cats have, are painful and results in a cat to not eat. You may need to seek out a veterinary dentist if your vet isn't experienced in dental issues.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I guess I am curious about the sudden need for continual sub-Q fluids. Was he dehydrated? I can see a one-time treatment while at the vet, but it seems odds that they want it to continue at home with no specific reason for doing so. Is he not drinking at all?

Hopefully, the vet will prescribe mirtazapine - or perhaps the ear gel version, Mirataz, which wouldn't require you to force it on him orally. If that turns out to be the case, don't start out with a full dose - maybe a half dose to see what happens. You can always increase the dosage if the half dose doesn't seem effective. I only suggest this because the chance for side effects increases with the dosage amount (restlessness, and excess vocalization are two common ones).

Aside from the possible dental issues, if Stephen goes outside, it could be something he got into that is making him feel ill - it could also be something he ate that could be caught in his throat. I hope the vet looked for things along these lines. Did they also do a urinalysis?