My cat isn’t eating

[Superfly400]

My cat has not been acting playful and active as usual. She is not eating. Drinking water yes. I took her to the vet. She was dehydrated and had a fever. I was sent home with an antibiotic and pill for appetite stimulation. She has shown more interest in eating. Last night she nibbles at soft food 3-4 times. Today still not really eating. I took her back to the vet. They did blood work and found she has pancreatitis. So they sent me home with Cerenia. They gave her a shot already and 150ml of fluids. 5 hours later and she still won’t eat. How long should it take?! She comes running when I shake her food bag but just won’t eat it. The next step would be to have her get ivs all day at the vet. I hope overnight she will eat something. Should I feed her with a syringe? What advice can you give?

 

[MissClouseau]

It takes time for antibiotics to work enough for the cat to eat on her own at normal amounts. How long depends on how severe the case is. But it's very important she eats enough to prevent fatty liver. If I were you I would try bland food like boiled turkey breast (only little pieces at a time). If she eats that, and tomorrow eats more, great. If she doesn't, and you can do syringe feeding, try that. If things still don't get better, then hospitalization would be my next step ideally at a clinic that isn't a very stressful environment for the cat.

Do you have Fortiflora at home? I would get it. It's given only once a day but you can split one to two meals and offer with wet food.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Most antibiotics are hard on a cat's stomach and will make them feel ill. If she is not eating food with the antibiotic, that could explain part of her reluctance to eat. Is she taking regular doses of the appetite stimulant? If not, she may need to do so. And, she might need more than one session with IV fluids - as you have alluded to.

Try baby food meats (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut). Most cats will eat these when they are not wanting to eat otherwise.

Just curious, did the vet run a fPLI or SPEC-FPL to confirm the pancreatic diagnosis?

 

[neely]

Just curious, did the vet run a fPLI or SPEC-FPL to confirm the pancreatic diagnosis?

You took the words right out of my mouth! The fPLI test is important in the digagnosis of Pancreatitis.

Did the vet put your cat on Prednisolone? What was the pill to stimulate her appetite, was it Mirtazapine? This Article about how to get your cat to start eating again may have some helpful tips and advice for you:
How To Get Your Cat To Start Eating Again – TheCatSite Articles

Fingers crossed she will respond better soon. Please keep us posted on her progress.