Not eating

Jilly20

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My approximately 11yr old tortie, Mae, suddenly came down with a very gunky discharge from one side of her nose about 4wks ago. The vet was concerned about a dental cause or possibly tumor but we tried 10 days of antibiotics first to see if it would help. About 6 days into the antibiotics she stopped eating and drinking. I brought her back the vet after day 8 when there was no change.
She was admitted because she was dehydrated and they wanted to do further tests. She stayed for 4 nights. Receiving IV fluids, respiratory therapy for the fact she was breathing harder due to the discharge and bloodwork was done. She was switched to IV antibiotics and schedule for a nasal flush and xrays of head and chest.
Results? Nothing, nothing, nothing. Not dental at all, teeth are great, no discernable masses or growths and nothing abnormal in her bloodwork. The nasal flush seemed to help, but produced no noticeable foreign bodies.
Brought her home, since I was worried she was beginning to feel stressed and abandoned. She was not eating or drinking on her own at the vet and it continued when brought home. I took her off all drugs with the vets agreement to rule out those as a cause for no appetite.
I started giving her cbd oil only, syringe feeding water and pureed wet food. Day 3 home, she finally started drinking on her own. But she's still got a long way to go to be fully rehydrate. However she STILL is not eating on her own. I'm at a loss, I've tried everything I think.
Whats killing me is that she seems hungry! I adopted her and her daughter who is 10 and they get treats every night. When I toss the treats to them she runs to them like she normally did but then just sniffs and walks away. She meows at her dish in the morning and evening when I would normally feed them. She watches me and comes to the dish when I put food down but sniffs and walks away and looks at me expectantly.
I've tried her normal favorites as well as a bunch of different flavors and styles of wet food, tried adding tuna water, Bonita flakes, real fresh fish, baby food chicken flavor. I keep dry food and frsh water available all day. I've tried putting a dab on her nose and paw, she just doesn't care. I've tried kitten food, kitten milk and broth. I mix in some of the nutrigel stuff to what I syringe feed her for some extra calories, but I'm only able to syringe feed about 25ml twice a day of wet food.
Despite all this, she is in great spirits. She plays, she cuddles, she purrs, she brings me toys. It all LOOKS normal....except for the not eating.
I don't understand what is happening or what else to try. Im afraid she is just going to starve to death.
 

MissClouseau

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You need to find the root of the cause. A specialist might help. Maybe they will suggest MRI screening.

For something quick to try, have you tried Fortiflora? I would try Fortiflora on wet food. Hand feeding and/or a raised food bowl might help too.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. You've tried many of the suggested items in this TCS article (see link below), but maybe there are some additional tips/ideas that you could consider.

One of the more recent suggestions on this site has been Kentucky Fried Chicken or any similar product, so that might be another option for you. Canned chicken in water is another thing to try. And, there is a puree type food called Tiki Cat Mousse which might be something else to entice her to eat.

How To Get Your Cat To Start Eating Again – TheCatSite Articles
 

mrsgreenjeens

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I guess you have called your Vet back and told them she is still not eating? And you mentioned she is still dehydrated. Have you tried giving her sub-q fluids? Sometimes that really helps cats feel better and increases their appetites. Same with Vitamin B12 shots. What about an appetite stimulant? One of my guys (11 years old and never food driven) is on an appetite stimulant because he doesn't really like to eat and every day it's a real chore to get food into him. I have to hand feed him most of the time, and even then he only typically two out of his three meals. BUT, like your girl, he gets excited at meal time and dances around, but as soon as I put his bowl down it looks at me like "where's the good stuff?" He doesn't even bother to really check out what's on the menu for that particular meal either.

Last ditch effort,since they've checked her out and haven't found anything wrong, you might need to get an E-tube installed so you can syringe more food into her before she ends up with more health issues. Are you familiar with Fatty Liver? Cats who go too long without eating, or with a drastic lowering of calories, can get that and it is a very serious issue.

:vibes: :vibes: :vibes:
 
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