Hello all. My cat has been having some ongoing issues lately, and I thought I would reach out and see if anyone might have any insights. I apologize for the length.
She is almost 12 and has been an indoor-only cat since I rescued her as a kitten. I had noticed that she had slowed down a bit in the last several months, sleeping a bit more and more deeply, not getting up and greeting me when I got home like she usually did, etc. But her behavior otherwise seemed normal, so I thought it was just the result of aging.
One evening in late April, she threw up a lot of food. She threw up occasionally anyway (maybe once every few weeks), so I didn’t think too much about it until I noticed that she had also peed just outside her (covered) litter box. I cleaned that up and removed the lid to give her easier access. She immediately got in the box and pooped. The next day I noticed that she had actually peed on my bed as well. I thought this might be related to some stiffness I had observed, thinking again that it might just be some age-related arthritis. The next day saw her pee on the bed a second time, when she had been trying to figure out how to get down but didn’t seem to want to jump and finally just squatted and peed (I tried to lift her down, but she has never been much for being picked up and growled). Again, arthritis I thought.
After the vomiting/peeing episode, I observed over a few days that she had not been eating or drinking as much or pooping as usual. Since she seemed to be constipated and not drinking, I started offering her some wet food along with her usual dry. She had always had a good appetite and no previous health issues. I’d fed her the same indoor dry food for nearly 10 years, and she always ate it happily and would consistently drink a good amount from her water bowl, too.
She didn’t seem at all interested in her dry food anymore and would eat some wet food, maybe 3-4 ounces a day, and she continued to be constipated, only pooping every 3-5 days. I had a home vet come and give her a full checkup. The vet couldn’t come for several days and told me to start giving her a small dose of Miralax at every meal. The night before the vet came, she had a large and relatively normal looking BM after about four days. She had to be sedated for the exam, as she has never been good with being picked up or restrained. The exam and blood tests did not reveal any obvious problems. The vet said her colon felt empty. The vet also said her teeth looked great, which is one thing I was concerned about. She also got a bag of sub-q fluids just in case, though the vet said she wasn’t particularly dehydrated.
Flash forward a week, and she had not pooped again yet. She still wasn’t eating more than maybe 3-4 ounces of wet food a day, so I called the home vet, who said to try a small dose of Dulcolax. Pilling my cat is a big challenge, but I did get one dose into her, and whether it was that or just time, she did have a rather large BM that was a little soft, followed by some very loose BMs over the next couple of days. When she didn’t go again for about 5 days and still wasn’t eating much, I called the home vet, who referred me to an internal medicine vet.
I should add that, during this period, kitty seemed a bit distant and lethargic, squinting a lot, looking uncomfortable when she started to lay down, keeping mostly to the couch except to get up and eat a little and pee 2-3 times a day. And I had to encourage her to eat that 3-4 ounces, usually by sitting next to her, coaxing her, petting her, etc. I also added a few Tbs of water to her food, since I had not seen her drink form the many bowls I had put out in a long time.
She had her appointment with the internist this week, and they ended up keeping her overnight so that they could do xrays, ultrasound, and upper and lower endoscopy in addition to the physical exam and full blood workup. I was particularly worried that her liver might be compromised by this point, given the relatively small amount she had been eating, but all of her tests – kidneys, liver, etc - were normal, aside from slightly high blood sugar and slightly low potassium. They had been concerned about an ulcer or some upper GI bleeding, as the stool she expressed after a couple of enemas was black, but the endoscopies did not reveal any bleeding. The only thing the vet mentioned was some “cobblestoning” in her colon, but she didn’t seem too concerned with that. They also took several biopsies, and those results should come back Monday.
They gave me a prescription for mirtazapine, given every other day, to get her eating and told me to give her a small dose of Prilosec OTC every day to help with likely stomach acid issues (which seemed to be suggested by the awkward sitting and squinting). The mirtazapine seems to be working, and the day after her first dose, she ate at least two cans of Fancy Feast (the only thing she had been tolerating) and even a little dry food. I’m not sure if I got the second dose in her last night (again, pilling her is a battle, and she won’t take it ground up in food), but she’s still eating ok today if not as heartily as the previous couple of days. I’ve also been giving her the Prilosec, which I found that I could grind up and mix with a little water and pour over her food without her objecting. Her next dose of mirtazapine is tomorrow night. We’ll see how that goes.
However, since she got home, she has been having small BMs that are a mix of very loose and barely formed stools (but normal in color). She’s also passed audible gas a few times while having those movements, which has never happened before, and once went into the litter box as if to poop and only passed gas. I saw that this could be a side effect of the Prilosec. I have noticed that she has been more active and seemed less "creaky" getting on and off the sofa, for example, since she got home.
Apologies again for the extremely long post, but I wasn’t sure if a detail might jump out at someone who had dealt with something like this before. I’ve been absolutely worried sick for the month this has been going on and have barely slept some nights, especially the night before I had to take her to the internist (she hadn’t left the house in years, and I had to use a pillowcase to get her into the carrier. It made me so sick to have to do that). I called the internist’s office again on Friday just to see if there was anything I needed to be concerned about regarding her eating, hydration, etc., and they very patiently answered all of my questions. They told me about the neck skin test for dehydration, and she doesn’t seem to be dehydrated going by that (nor was she when they saw her, they said, which seems amazing given her eating/drinking, but…).
Thanks for any insights. The last few days I’ve started wondering if I jumped the gun and caused all this by forcing all of these changes and stressful events on her and have created some sort of negative loop. Sigh. The biopsy results could reveal all sorts of things I was told, so I’m anxiously awaiting those.
She is almost 12 and has been an indoor-only cat since I rescued her as a kitten. I had noticed that she had slowed down a bit in the last several months, sleeping a bit more and more deeply, not getting up and greeting me when I got home like she usually did, etc. But her behavior otherwise seemed normal, so I thought it was just the result of aging.
One evening in late April, she threw up a lot of food. She threw up occasionally anyway (maybe once every few weeks), so I didn’t think too much about it until I noticed that she had also peed just outside her (covered) litter box. I cleaned that up and removed the lid to give her easier access. She immediately got in the box and pooped. The next day I noticed that she had actually peed on my bed as well. I thought this might be related to some stiffness I had observed, thinking again that it might just be some age-related arthritis. The next day saw her pee on the bed a second time, when she had been trying to figure out how to get down but didn’t seem to want to jump and finally just squatted and peed (I tried to lift her down, but she has never been much for being picked up and growled). Again, arthritis I thought.
After the vomiting/peeing episode, I observed over a few days that she had not been eating or drinking as much or pooping as usual. Since she seemed to be constipated and not drinking, I started offering her some wet food along with her usual dry. She had always had a good appetite and no previous health issues. I’d fed her the same indoor dry food for nearly 10 years, and she always ate it happily and would consistently drink a good amount from her water bowl, too.
She didn’t seem at all interested in her dry food anymore and would eat some wet food, maybe 3-4 ounces a day, and she continued to be constipated, only pooping every 3-5 days. I had a home vet come and give her a full checkup. The vet couldn’t come for several days and told me to start giving her a small dose of Miralax at every meal. The night before the vet came, she had a large and relatively normal looking BM after about four days. She had to be sedated for the exam, as she has never been good with being picked up or restrained. The exam and blood tests did not reveal any obvious problems. The vet said her colon felt empty. The vet also said her teeth looked great, which is one thing I was concerned about. She also got a bag of sub-q fluids just in case, though the vet said she wasn’t particularly dehydrated.
Flash forward a week, and she had not pooped again yet. She still wasn’t eating more than maybe 3-4 ounces of wet food a day, so I called the home vet, who said to try a small dose of Dulcolax. Pilling my cat is a big challenge, but I did get one dose into her, and whether it was that or just time, she did have a rather large BM that was a little soft, followed by some very loose BMs over the next couple of days. When she didn’t go again for about 5 days and still wasn’t eating much, I called the home vet, who referred me to an internal medicine vet.
I should add that, during this period, kitty seemed a bit distant and lethargic, squinting a lot, looking uncomfortable when she started to lay down, keeping mostly to the couch except to get up and eat a little and pee 2-3 times a day. And I had to encourage her to eat that 3-4 ounces, usually by sitting next to her, coaxing her, petting her, etc. I also added a few Tbs of water to her food, since I had not seen her drink form the many bowls I had put out in a long time.
She had her appointment with the internist this week, and they ended up keeping her overnight so that they could do xrays, ultrasound, and upper and lower endoscopy in addition to the physical exam and full blood workup. I was particularly worried that her liver might be compromised by this point, given the relatively small amount she had been eating, but all of her tests – kidneys, liver, etc - were normal, aside from slightly high blood sugar and slightly low potassium. They had been concerned about an ulcer or some upper GI bleeding, as the stool she expressed after a couple of enemas was black, but the endoscopies did not reveal any bleeding. The only thing the vet mentioned was some “cobblestoning” in her colon, but she didn’t seem too concerned with that. They also took several biopsies, and those results should come back Monday.
They gave me a prescription for mirtazapine, given every other day, to get her eating and told me to give her a small dose of Prilosec OTC every day to help with likely stomach acid issues (which seemed to be suggested by the awkward sitting and squinting). The mirtazapine seems to be working, and the day after her first dose, she ate at least two cans of Fancy Feast (the only thing she had been tolerating) and even a little dry food. I’m not sure if I got the second dose in her last night (again, pilling her is a battle, and she won’t take it ground up in food), but she’s still eating ok today if not as heartily as the previous couple of days. I’ve also been giving her the Prilosec, which I found that I could grind up and mix with a little water and pour over her food without her objecting. Her next dose of mirtazapine is tomorrow night. We’ll see how that goes.
However, since she got home, she has been having small BMs that are a mix of very loose and barely formed stools (but normal in color). She’s also passed audible gas a few times while having those movements, which has never happened before, and once went into the litter box as if to poop and only passed gas. I saw that this could be a side effect of the Prilosec. I have noticed that she has been more active and seemed less "creaky" getting on and off the sofa, for example, since she got home.
Apologies again for the extremely long post, but I wasn’t sure if a detail might jump out at someone who had dealt with something like this before. I’ve been absolutely worried sick for the month this has been going on and have barely slept some nights, especially the night before I had to take her to the internist (she hadn’t left the house in years, and I had to use a pillowcase to get her into the carrier. It made me so sick to have to do that). I called the internist’s office again on Friday just to see if there was anything I needed to be concerned about regarding her eating, hydration, etc., and they very patiently answered all of my questions. They told me about the neck skin test for dehydration, and she doesn’t seem to be dehydrated going by that (nor was she when they saw her, they said, which seems amazing given her eating/drinking, but…).
Thanks for any insights. The last few days I’ve started wondering if I jumped the gun and caused all this by forcing all of these changes and stressful events on her and have created some sort of negative loop. Sigh. The biopsy results could reveal all sorts of things I was told, so I’m anxiously awaiting those.
My technique probably wasn't very good, and it must taste awful from her reaction. I'm rather freaked out by all the talk of inhalation pneumonia when you search for how to give liquid meds to cats. I tried mixing it into a little food first, and she took one lick and walked away. I'll try again tonight, either the liquid or back to the pill. She ate relatively well at breakfast even without it, so that's positive I suppose. She must still have some nausea/stomach acid, because last night after eating (I have her a can of FF about two hours after the vomiting episode, and she ate almost the whole thing) she would sit for awhile in the "meatloaf" pose with her eyes closed or squinting before awkwardly curling up, and this morning, I had to follow her around with the food to get her to eat. 
I'm beginning to wonder if part of it is behavioral. She mostly hangs out on the sofa in the den now and pees in her box in there, and the last two times she pooped, she went upstairs to the box in my bedroom, where she used to hang out before all this started and where her only box was for 10 years. I was in the room with her when she went. That first 4-5 days after the internist when she had loose stools, she would go in any/all of her boxes, whether I was there or not. I tried coaxing her up the stairs last night a couple of times to see if she might be inspired to go if she got up there, but she only made it to the landing before sitting down and staring at me. I tried moving that box to the den once last week to see if she just wanted a separate box to poop in down there...and she almost immediately started heading up the stairs, so I followed her back up with the box. 
