Punkin Is Not Eating

[rexinminn]

Punkin is a Turkish Van cat who will be 14 in December and, aside from an occasional scrape with a neighborhood cat, she's always had great health; she has been an indoor cat since 2011. About a week ago she began "spot puking," where she would throw up only small amounts of digestive fluids. She would throw up her food about once a day. She's been throwing up semi-regularly since the summer, but we realize that's just something older cats do. We tried to minimize her vomiting by giving her a probiotic in the raw food we feed her (have been feeding her raw for several months) which seemed to help for awhile, but did not completely curb the vomiting. Because the incidence of spot puking increased over the weekend, I took her to the vet Monday; she had been in last July and was fine, blood work was fine, not perfect, thyroid level perfect. Our vet on Monday gave us an anti-nausea medicine in pill form called Cerenia. I gave Punkin a tiny portion of one pill (much less than a quarter of it; I had broken the tablet while opening it) Tuesday morning and she apparently did not get the pill down when I put it in her mouth. She hyper-salivated for 20 minutes and was very unhappy most of the rest of the morning. Now she won't eat.

Since then she has nibbled on very minuscule amounts of canned food (Ziwi) and then an hour and a half later throws that up, what there is of it. She usually loves butter but will not lick the butter we tried to give her by finger. She won't go near fresh catnip or freeze-dried treats. I'm at a loss, esp. having just seen the vet Monday. I wonder if she may have a blockage of some kind, or some kind of stomach cancer. She did get into some chicken bones about three weeks ago. Otherwise she is acting normally socially speaking, but isn't much interested in being playful. Her stool had been normal, apparently. If anyone has any ideas about what might be going on here, I hope you'll give me your two cents worth before we take her to another vet. I'm hesitant to return to the original vet because I feel as though they had their chance, and the medicine they gave us seems to now have caused a new issue. I wonder if she may need an x-ray to see if there might be a blockage. Any thoughts?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! She's so gorgeous!!

I'm with you to a certain degree in that I'm also wondering about an xray, but I'm also wondering about the timing of the summertime throwing up as related to you beginning to feed raw. However, that might all have nothing to do with this?

Can you get an appetite stimulant, and see another vet?

Gosh, I'm sorry to hear this - it's so frustrating and frankly scary when they won't eat. I did want to mention, my boy is 13 and rarely throws up unless he's got a hairball which is eased through with a little hairball paw gel.

Just in case, let me post some different things you could try, (although if she won't go for the butter I'm not sure...)

Try some classical harp music for your baby. It's known to help them relax, there's also an app called Relax My Cat, and MusicForCats.com and she's picking up on your emotions.

Try one or two of these items below - (just a note, I've seen that some people are using nutritional yeast but I'm wary of this one-too much can cause the uric acid to become too high and the cat could end up with kidney issues.)

Finger feeding could possibly help, for instance with some tuna, as well.

You could double-check with your vet just to be sure these things are ok.

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.

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

Also, try making one of these;
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, 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 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

• 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

 

[rexinminn]

Wow, Furballsmom, thank you so much for this! I will print it out and use it for reference! Yes, Punkin is a gorgeous animal, not only in appearance but in heart. She is one of those rare beings on this planet that, well, what can I say, is simply amazing. I appreciate your kind words.

This morning she did eat the catnip, and then she seemed to like some high-quality dried catnip I put down for her. Right now I'm going to warm up some chicken broth for her to try.

Again, thanks so much. Right now anything is better than nothing.

To add to your list is a treat called Primal. It has the full complement of nutritional elements including taurine, I believe. This was recommended to me by the vet the other day when we were there.

So many great ideas to try. I'm very grateful.

 

[di and bob]

Yes, I would definitely try the Gerber baby food in meat, cats seem to really enjoy the turkey. Right now just try whatever she will eat, now is not the time to concentrate on nutrition. My Burt loved bacon and Arby's roast beef at the end of his life, and I gave him what he would eat and what made him happy. Once the appetite picks back up, then you can go back to nutritious.
Just give her all the love and attention you can right now, she needs you and your help. Bless you for giving it!

 

[Furballsmom]

To add to your list is a treat called Primal. It has the full complement of nutritional elements including taurine, I believe. This was recommended to me by the vet the other day when we were there.

Will do, thank you - another one I need to add is Only Natural Pet (retailer and brand) as they have good freeze dried treats as well.

 

[Kflowers]

My glasses are leaving a bit to be desired this morning so if this has been addressed, sorry. If you didn't make it yourself, you might want to be certain the chicken broth you offer is low sodium. Most cats love salt, but need very little. I personally have found that a bit of salt helps settle a disturbed stomach. Good thoughts to you two.

 

[rexinminn]

Hi! She's so gorgeous!!

I'm with you to a certain degree in that I'm also wondering about an xray, but I'm also wondering about the timing of the summertime throwing up as related to you beginning to feed raw. However, that might all have nothing to do with this?

Can you get an appetite stimulant, and see another vet?

Gosh, I'm sorry to hear this - it's so frustrating and frankly scary when they won't eat. I did want to mention, my boy is 13 and rarely throws up unless he's got a hairball which is eased through with a little hairball paw gel.

Just in case, let me post some different things you could try, (although if she won't go for the butter I'm not sure...)

Try some classical harp music for your baby. It's known to help them relax, there's also an app called Relax My Cat, and MusicForCats.com and she's picking up on your emotions.

Try one or two of these items below - (just a note, I've seen that some people are using nutritional yeast but I'm wary of this one-too much can cause the uric acid to become too high and the cat could end up with kidney issues.)

Finger feeding could possibly help, for instance with some tuna, as well.

You could double-check with your vet just to be sure these things are ok.

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.

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

Also, try making one of these;
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, 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 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

• 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

 

[rexinminn]

Just a quick update on Punkin. She is sitting here at my computer keyboard comfortable and acting like her old self again. The first week of her not eating was a real trial, as you might imagine, but we just kept trying things, some of which were based on your suggestions, and eventually she started eating tuna out of the can which I held in my hand as we sat together on the bed. Slowly we expanded what she might try, and the most important thing was adding the unsalted chicken broth to just about everything. Here is what we concluded was the cause of her condition: constipation. This suggestion was made by the vet, so why wouldn't the vet have said, "let's start with this and progress from here," but she did not do that. Instead she gave us the expensive medicine I mentioned above and that made Punkin very sick after which she would not eat. The next day the vet's office called as a follow up and I told them she was not eating. Wouldn't you think the vet would call us back? She did not. This was a breach of medical ethics. We will not be going back to them despite the convenience of driving less than two miles to get there. Aside from all that I'm just glad my girl is happy again, playing a lot, and eating well. We had shifted their diet (along with her sister Peanut) to raw food last spring and Punkin just does not tolerate it. She was throwing up again and when my wife said a week ago let's try going back to the regular wet food (e.g., Ziwi, Solstice, etc.) she immediately stopped throwing up. So there you have it. It sometimes takes a little extra research, but if I had come here to this site first instead of going to the vet we'd have been so much better off! Thank you furballsmom and to the others who chimed in here with their two cents worth. Those two cents were invaluable to me!

 

[Furballsmom]

I am so very glad that she's feeling better!!
Thank you so much for letting us know!

 

[Kflowers]

I'm so glad your baby survived the vet's wallet.