My Cat Wants To Eat But Is Struggling

[cailabaker]

About 2 months ago, my cat Jade stated to get sick and slowly stopped eating. In May she was diagnosed with early stages of kidney disease.
Long story short, her levels are normal again, but now her liver levels are bad because she has stopped eating

She has been struggling to eat ever since she got sick. She flicks her tongue around and shakes her head a lot. She will pick up kibble or treats, swish them around in her mouth and spit them out. She seems interested in food and gets excited over treats, but can't chew them it seems same goes for wet food, baby food and even water. She flicks her tongue around and stops eating or drinking right after she starts.

I've had multiple technicians and vets check her teeth and they can't see anything off. Could this just be nausea? Or something more? I'm seriously lost... She's lost so much weight and I've been having to syringe feed her.

I'm giving her 1/4 pepcid daily, 1/4 cerenia every 2 days, slippery elm bark daily, and denamarin daily.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Welcome to TCS, even if your circumstances are really difficult.

I apologize if I'm missing something, but has your vet prescribed an appetite stimulant?

Do you have a University veterinary medical department that you can contact? I'm not a vet but the shaking of the head and the resistance to swallowing seems almost like a reaction to something...

Can you mash the treats and see if she'll go for that, either dry or wet? Wetted with broth?

What about goat's milk? What about a nutrient paste such as Nutrical?

Can you try something like kitten glop? There are recipes on the internet, or even deconstruct one of the recipes and see if she is able to swallow an ingredient?

 

[cailabaker]

Hi! Welcome to TCS, even if your circumstances are really difficult.

I apologize if I'm missing something, but has your vet prescribed an appetite stimulant?

Do you have a University veterinary medical department that you can contact? I'm not a vet but the shaking of the head and the resistance to swallowing seems almost like a reaction to something...

Can you mash the treats and see if she'll go for that, either dry or wet? Wetted with broth?

What about goat's milk? What about a nutrient paste such as Nutrical?

Can you try something like kitten glop? There are recipes on the internet, or even deconstruct one of the recipes and see if she is able to swallow an ingredient?

Thank you for the advice. She was prescribed Mirtazapine but it didn't help. Also of it helps, the head shaking and licking started before her kidney disease diagnosis and all these meds.

I've tried crumbling the treats kibble and she definitely eats more that way, but starts licking her lips pretty quickly and walks away. She won't eat any wet food, I've tried a wide variety and even baby food. Just wants kibble and treats

I haven't heard of Nutrical, I'll look it up. I would have to force it in her mouth though, she won't eat from my fingers and will ignore any paste/wet food I put down.

I don't think it's a swallowing difficulty, moreso her teeth maybe? The only thing she doesn't struggling eating is cat nip lol.

 

[maggiedemi]

Did they check for fleas and worms?

 

[Furballsmom]

the head shaking and licking started before her kidney disease diagnosis and all these meds.

If you haven't already, I would try contacting a specialist through the Association of Feline Practitioners AAFP | American Association of Feline Practitioners , or a University vet department.

It just seems like there's something else going on, either a dental issue that isn't readily detectable, since her teeth have been checked multiple times --but not under anesthesia?--, or even something beyond that, like a bad reaction to a flea med, or to fleas themselves as M maggiedemi may be referring to, or something....

 

[weebeasties]

I know they checked her teeth, but did they closely examine her tounge? My Shady developed cancer on his tounge. He was having problems eating and stopped eating wet food completely. He ate kibble by sort of tossing it to the back of his mouth.
I kept taking him to vets who couldnt diagnose the problem. I finally saw that his tounge was swollen on one side and found a vet who would listen and he did a biopsy.
If she seems like she is hungry but not eating due to pain, I would recommend they look at her whole mouth and not just her teeth.

 

[silkenpaw]

My lymphoma kitty is on 4mg of Cerenia daily. Maybe your cat needs more. Or maybe she would do better with another antiemetic, such as Zofran.

 

[mikameek]

What got my kitty back into eating was finding mousse, wet food. TikiCat specifically. The texture and consistency of the food was easy enough for my cat who only eats by licking (exactly like your girl, with no teeth problems). I can't give mine any other type of food (not even regular pate) because she literally won't be able to eat it.

And if she still has a hard time with that, it's super easy to syringe feed.

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh, along with mikameek 's really good suggestion, what about Caru - it's a canned food that's almost like a soup.
Also if you take about 1/2 a small can of a pate, add a tablespoon of warm-to-hot water and stir it well, she might be able to handle that?

 

[Daisy6]

Lip licking and walking away from food are signs of nausea, but swishing kibbles is a new one for me. She might have something in her throat the vet did not check.

 

[mikameek]

Oh, along with mikameek 's really good suggestion, what about Caru - it's a canned food that's almost like a soup.
Also if you take about 1/2 a small can of a pate, add a tablespoon of warm-to-hot water and stir it well, she might be able to handle that?

I still haven’t died Caru yet.

 

[cat1967]

It is a very difficult situation, I have been through that as my cat wouldn't eat or drink. He wanted to, he was hungry but he couldn't. All day long he was above a bowl of water with his head hanging in there but he wouldn't drink. I had to force feed him with a syringe for more than a month but he was constantly losing weight and after blood tests, where everything was wrong and then everything was fixed ok, and ultra sounds they didn't find anything. It is a very difficult situation but if your cat doesn't eat or drink on her own you have to do it for her. My prayers are with you and your baby. Do update us if anything changes, I hope for the better.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I know they checked her teeth, but did they closely examine her tounge? My Shady developed cancer on his tounge. He was having problems eating and stopped eating wet food completely. He ate kibble by sort of tossing it to the back of his mouth.
I kept taking him to vets who couldnt diagnose the problem. I finally saw that his tounge was swollen on one side and found a vet who would listen and he did a biopsy.
If she seems like she is hungry but not eating due to pain, I would recommend they look at her whole mouth and not just her teeth.

I agree, but would go a step further... has any vet checked out her esophagus/ upper GI for inflammation/ ulcers? Using endoscopy? Ulcers/inflammation can cause a lot of pain. The vet would know how to aid any inflammation and ulcers if your kitty has them, using a particular med (or meds).

 

[cailabaker]

Thank you so much everyone. I'm going to call around next week and find a vet who will do a more in-depth examination of her. In the meantime I've been syringe feeding her, and I picked up some Nutrical to mix into her food. I'm hoping if it's an ulcer the slippery elm bark syrup I made will help. It's so weird this all started right before she was diagnosed with kidney disease.

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[cailabaker]

Update! The new vet was great and she did a really good examination. She couldn't find anything off with her teeth or mouth.
Her liver is enlarged and her values are increased still. They think it's fatty liver. So I'm syeinge feeding her a/d food with some Nutrical added in, 30ml every couple hours.

 

[Furballsmom]

Thanks so much for the update!! So glad to hear you like the new vet - that's a huge thing, good for you!