Not Eating/drinking

[Animal Freak]

Hey, everyone. My seven year old, neutered Napoleon male named Ash came down sick this week. Not eating, lethargic... He threw up a couple of times, had some diarrhea. We took him to the vet Monday. He got fluids, a shot for nausea, and some oral medication for us to give him every 12 hours. The medication is a pain. He starts salivating so badly I'm not sure how much he's actually ingesting. He seems slightly better, but he's still not wanting to eat. He's never been good about drinking. He gets a UTI annually. Sometimes more. So most of his fluids come from his food. He got fluids because he was a bit dehydrated when he went to the vet, but I don't know how long that's supposed to keep him hydrated. The only thing we've gotten him to eat is PureBites chicken treats. I've tried Fancy Feast wet, American Journey wet, and Purina One dry. We also offered him some beef liver treats. He'd only eat the chicken and he usually loves the beef liver. We're not sure what's causing him to turn his nose up to certain foods though. The smell? The chicken treats have a weaker scent, but they do smell and I didn't think their dry food would have much of a smell either. However, the beef liver treats stink terribly.

We had a vet appointment for today since he hadn't improved much, but I got him to eat some chicken treats and it was like an instant recovery. He was more responsive, more alert, purred when I petted him which he hasn't done since getting sick... So we decided to cancel the appointment and go tomorrow if we still couldn't get him to eat. We were wondering if maybe he blamed the food for getting sick, but that doesn't explain why he'd refuse the beef liver treats.

However, now we have to get him eating and get some water in him. I think we're going to try some plain chicken or turkey tonight and we're getting more chicken treats. Any other ideas would be appreciated, especially if anyone knows how to get some water in him. I've used to a syringe before, but it's hard enough with the medication and I don't want to keep stressing him out.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Glad to hear about the positive turn-around!! It sounds like the combo of treatments he was given by the vet are having a good reaction. Can't imagine that he actually blamed the food for getting sick, but cats are weird so anything is possible. At least you have some options about what he might eat going forward.

Can you mix any of Napoleon's food with water - that would at least add some hydration? Some times they will even lick off the water, especially if there is gravy involved, before they go for the food. Then, you can add some more water... or a low sodium broth?

I know others (as I am sure you are aware) will come along soon with better suggestions than mine.

 

[Animal Freak]

Hi. Glad to hear about the positive turn-around!! It sounds like the combo of treatments he was given by the vet are having a good reaction. Can't imagine that he actually blamed the food for getting sick, but cats are weird so anything is possible. At least you have some options about what he might eat going forward.

Can you mix any of Napoleon's food with water - that would at least add some hydration? Some times they will even lick off the water, especially if there is gravy involved, before they go for the food. Then, you can add some more water... or a low sodium broth?

I know others (as I am sure you are aware) will come along soon with better suggestions than mine.

Thanks for the reply.

He's not eating well, so I'm not sure if I can get water in him that way. It'll depend on if and what he'll eat. A broth might be a good idea to try though.

 

[Margret]

cats are weird so anything is possible.

Ain't that the truth!

I know others (as I am sure you are aware) will come along soon with better suggestions than mine.

No, that's not how it works. Everybody piles on with all the suggestions we can think of and eventually we collectively come up with something that works.

So, three suggestions from me:

• See if he'll lick up a bit of tuna water (unless he's weird like my Jasmine and doesn't like tuna).
• Try some KMR. I know, I say this a lot, but it really is the quintessential comfort food for cats, with lots of liquid and enough calories to make up a bit for the solid food the cat isn't getting when sick.
• Try mixing a little bit of a paté style of food with a lot of water or broth, to make a sort of gravy. He may be willing to lick that up even if he doesn't feel like solid food, and it will hydrate him as well as providing some calories.

As for why he doesn't want the beef treats, well, as FeebysOwner mentioned, cats are weird. I don't think it really matters why. Once the current crisis is over you can try to get him back on a more varied diet, but for now you should just concentrate on what works.

Also, if he continues to be dehydrated you can always ask your vet to teach you to give him subcutaneous liquids. It looks horribly painful, because it would be for a human, but for a cat it's practically boring, so just stay calm and you and he should both be okay. Remember that it's much less stressful for the cat if it's his human doing it, lovingly and gently, at home, without having to go to a scary doctor's office.

Margret

 

[Animal Freak]

Ain't that the truth!


No, that's not how it works. Everybody piles on with all the suggestions we can think of and eventually we collectively come up with something that works.

So, three suggestions from me:

• See if he'll lick up a bit of tuna water (unless he's weird like my Jasmine and doesn't like tuna).
• Try some KMR. I know, I say this a lot, but it really is the quintessential comfort food for cats, with lots of liquid and enough calories to make up a bit for the solid food the cat isn't getting when sick.
• Try mixing a little bit of a paté style of food with a lot of water or broth, to make a sort of gravy. He may be willing to lick that up even if he doesn't feel like solid food, and it will hydrate him as well as providing some calories.

As for why he doesn't want the beef treats, well, as FeebysOwner mentioned, cats are weird. I don't think it really matters why. Once the current crisis is over you can try to get him back on a more varied diet, but for now you should just concentrate on what works.

Also, if he continues to be dehydrated you can always ask your vet to teach you to give him subcutaneous liquids. It looks horribly painful, because it would be for a human, but for a cat it's practically boring, so just stay calm and you and he should both be okay. Remember that it's much less stressful for the cat if it's his human doing it, lovingly and gently, at home, without having to go to a scary doctor's office.

Margret

Thanks for your reply. It really does help getting different advice.

I've had a cat that didn't like tuna either, but I don't know if I've given it to any of them. We usually avoid fish because he's prone to UTIs, but I don't think a little will hurt him.

KMR might be a good idea since that covers at least some calories as well as liquids. I'm not sure if we'll get it immediately since this was all actually quite last minute. We just canceled the vet appointment and decided to try some different things before I posted here and my mom was stopping at the store before coming home, so I don't even know if she's still at the store. But if nothing else works, I'll definitely look for it.

I can try the pate too. He hasn't been interested in any wet food, but it's worth a shot.

The subcutaneous fluids is what the vet did. I forgot what it was called. I think I'd rather avoid that if at all possible. I'd be terrified of doing it wrong and I don't even like watching needles go under the skin. Of course, I do what I must, but let's hope it doesn't come to that.

 

[Kflowers]

Can you put his medicine in food? I'm thinking the tuna Margaret suggested, it's my favorite way to offer medicine. Or in a bit of scrambled egg maybe with butter? Or raw egg yoke, I keep forgetting most being like that?

Our cat won't eat beef, or chicken though she likes the breading on fried chicken (that's a thought, right?).

 

[LTS3]

You can also ask the vet about this product: Oxbow Carnivore Care For Inappetent Cats It'll get some nutrition into your cat.

 

[Animal Freak]

Can you put his medicine in food? I'm thinking the tuna Margaret suggested, it's my favorite way to offer medicine. Or in a bit of scrambled egg maybe with butter? Or raw egg yoke, I keep forgetting most being like that?

Our cat won't eat beef, or chicken though she likes the breading on fried chicken (that's a thought, right?).

Maybe if we find something he'll eat. This stuff apparently tastes really bad though. I've never seen him do anything like that before. I'm not sure if anything he'll eat can cover the taste and he probably thinks of it as something bad now.

 

[Animal Freak]

You can also ask the vet about this product: Oxbow Carnivore Care For Inappetent Cats It'll get some nutrition into your cat.

Alright, thanks. I'll keep it in mind.

 

[Animal Freak]

Ugh. He's so difficult. He seems to be going through phases of eating and not eating though even when he is eating he's picky and doesn't often eat much. We tried plain chicken, chicken treats, another type of treats, and chicken broth. Then I had to do his medicine which I finally kept him from drooling it all out though there was still a lot of drool. After that he wasn't very happy.

Later it was time to feed the cats. I offered him some food on a spoon and he wasn't interested so I just fed the other two. When I went back to the kitchen to clean up he went in there and was acting like he wanted to be fed. So I tried the pate in the water. He was interested in it, but never did anything other than sniff. I thought maybe he was looking for the food since it was all mostly water and offered him a spoonful of wet again. He actually took a few bites. But just a few. Like, three. Then walked away. I tried the chicken. He took a couple of pieces, but refused the third. Then I noticed the couple pieces he took were on the floor. So I broke them into smaller pieces. That time he actually did eat them, but not much.

However, he's been up and around a bit more than he has been lately. I even heard him yowl a couple of times. But not purring anymore.

I don't know what to do. There's all sorts of mixed signals. There's definitely been some improvement, but nowhere near enough and he can't keep going without food or water. Should we take him to the vet tomorrow? Give him a little more time? I hate to stress him and they're going to have to run tests which isn't going to be cheap, but I don't want this to keep going any longer than it has to.

 

[Margret]

There are internet sites that have recipes for homemade KMR; I'll see if I can find some and post them for you. Is the medicine liquid or a pill? If it's a pill, tomorrow when the stores open try to get some small gel caps. You can break the pill up (unless it's time release) or crush it and put it in a gel cap so he never tastes it. Try coating the gel cap with butter (not margarine) before giving it to him.

I'll go search for those recipes and then post again.

Margret

 

[Margret]

Okay, here we go:

• https://www.cuteness.com/article/easy-homemade-formula-recipe-kittens
  
• https://maddiesfund.org/Documents/Institute/Orphaned Kittens Emergency Milk Replacer Recipe.pdf
  
• Kitten Formula Recipe - Homemade Kitten Formulas
  
• Emergency Kitten Formula, How to Make Kitten Formula, Kitten Glop, Kitten Milk Substitute, Replacer
  
• PROVET HEALTHCARE INFORMATION - Homemade Milk Replacer for Kittens
  
• Recipes For Homemade Kitten Formula • Kitten Rescue

I hope one of these works for you.

Margret

 

[Animal Freak]

Okay, here we go:

• https://www.cuteness.com/article/easy-homemade-formula-recipe-kittens
  
• https://maddiesfund.org/Documents/Institute/Orphaned Kittens Emergency Milk Replacer Recipe.pdf
  
• Kitten Formula Recipe - Homemade Kitten Formulas
  
• Emergency Kitten Formula, How to Make Kitten Formula, Kitten Glop, Kitten Milk Substitute, Replacer
  
• PROVET HEALTHCARE INFORMATION - Homemade Milk Replacer for Kittens
  
• Recipes For Homemade Kitten Formula • Kitten Rescue

I hope one of these works for you.

Margret

Thank you. I'll have to look at them later. I think he's going to have to go back to the vet though. He had thrown up during the night and threw up right after I gave him his medicine. He didn't eat either.

His medicine is a liquid.

 

[Kflowers]

Ask your vet if you can use a syringe to shoot the medicine to the very back of his throat. And ask him to show you how and give you a needless syringe. If you miss most of the tongue, he shouldn't drool as much.

 

[Jem]

Furballsmom - We need your wonderful list for Animal Freak !!!

 

[Animal Freak]

Ask your vet if you can use a syringe to shoot the medicine to the very back of his throat. And ask him to show you how and give you a needless syringe. If you miss most of the tongue, he shouldn't drool as much.

That's what I'm doing and I've done it before with no issues. It's getting harder too because he's fighting more. He used to do decently with it and it wasn't as difficult.

 

[Jem]

How many mls of medication do you have to give? If it's only 0.1-0.2 out of a 1ml syringe, could you fill the rest (or halfway) up with tuna juice, broth or even kmr or goats milk to help lessen the taste of the meds? It's the bitterness of the medication that causes the foaming/drooling. If your kitty tastes the tuna (or whatever) flavor, he may not fight you as much.

 

[Animal Freak]

How many mls of medication do you have to give? If it's only 0.1-0.2 out of a 1ml syringe, could you fill the rest (or halfway) up with tuna juice, broth or even kmr or goats milk to help lessen the taste of the meds? It's the bitterness of the medication that causes the foaming/drooling. If your kitty tastes the tuna (or whatever) flavor, he may not fight you as much.

It's 1ml of a 3ml syringe. That could be something to try. I'll have to remember for his next dose.

 

[Animal Freak]

Looks like someone else is sick now too. Food has been thrown up twice, but Ash hasn't eaten any cat food to throw up. Frost has had poop sick in his fur twice in two days and I just saw him poop a tiny bit.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
You said you're going to the vet, correct, and you'll be taking your second sick kitty in as well.

You've received some terrific advice already .

Just in case this comes in helpful;
Sit with your cat and scoop some food on your finger or a spoon and hopefully your kitty will lick it. Or gently tuck some food inside the cheek. His response of eating when you broke the pieces of chicken into smaller pieces is making me think that finger/spoon feeding may work.

(You might want to double-check with your vet just to be sure these things below are ok for your kitty).

Try some raw egg yolk. Egg white must always be cooked, and some people cook the white and make a slurry of sorts by adding in the raw yolk.

Also you could try some Nutri-cal or similar product.

Try making the Pedialyte here;
tent test for dehydration and home-made pedialyte recipe - The Daily Kitten

Also, try making one of these, or the KMR and kitten glop recipes that were posted above;
Kitten Glop Recipes - Supplementing Cats and Kittens with nutritious formula you make at home: presented by Bengal Cat breeder Foothill Felines. --This website has a number of kitten glop recipes, with ingredients that you may very well have in your house.

These can be used on their own or combined with food. Also, as mentioned if you heat the food a little - stir it so there aren't any hot spots from the microwave.

Or you could heat some water, about a tablespoon, and add that to canned food. A small glass works to stir it all up.

• Chicken, beef or ham flavored (pureed) baby food such as Gerber Stage 2 - make sure there is no garlic or onions in the ingredients

• Tuna and/or the juice, a low mercury/low/no sodium brand is called SafeCatch

• Salmon, mackerel

• Sardines (make sure there are no bones)

• boiled cut up chicken or turkey with no seasonings

• canned kitten food any brand

• Try mixing in Kitten Milk Replacer - there are recipes on the internet or store bought

• Fish, tuna or BBQ flavored canned wet food (I personally have never seen BBQ flavors, but...)

• Lickable cat treats or pouch treat 'gravy' poured over the food

• kitten glop (recipes in website link above)
• Bonito flakes
• fortiflora
• fish oil
• green beans, asparagus mushed up

• goat milk, or no lactose cow milk
• whole cooked eggs (the white must always be cooked) or raw egg yolk now and then
• broth with no salt and no garlic or onion or seasonings of any kind
• There are also commercial toppers, Applaws is a brand that can work well as a topper
  
• Some good treats would be freeze dried Purebites, Orijen, Meowtinis, Meowables, Only Natural Pet, Primal

• There are also Lickimats that you could spread types of soft food onto, even plain unflavored yogurt, and even freeze it. Licking something can help a cat to feel better emotionally The LickiMat - Food Puzzles for Cats
• shredded cheddar cheese