Eddie not eating - don't know what to do

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bhaver

bhaver

Member Since 2019
Eddie had a great day yesterday, finished his morning, and lunch bowls completely. Right after we gave him his Clavaseptin for his UTI and before his insulin injection he just laid back down, completely zoned out. This has persisted through the night and all day. He's had a very small amount of food that I've hand fed him. Maybe a couple of table spoons and we're approaching 24 hours. This morning the vet advised not to give him insulin since he hasn't eaten and to keep an eye on him if he does. This may not actually have anything to do with his diabetes and more to do with the antibiotic or the infection.

The vet gave us an alternate antibiotic which we'll try tonight and some Cerenia for the nausea (he threw up 4 times last night). Since the diagnosis (last week) Ed seems to go into these waves of complete lethargy or depression where he even stops purring and then 24-36 hours later perks up, only to fall into it again.

Has anyone experienced this? Any ideas of what we might try? He hasn't been to the litter today so I haven't tested for keytones (yesterday he was negative twice). I don't smell anything off his breath and as I mentioned he will lick a few nibbles off my hand periodically.
 
After the vomiting yesterday was he given any IV fluids at vet? You want to make sure he is not dehydrated from the vomiting. That will make a kitty feel unwell also.

Have you tried baby food? Vets often recommend chicken, turkey or beef flavored baby food ( no ham, too salty) short term for sick kitties. I know in some parts of Canada it is hard to find with just meat and nothing else added.

If you can’t find baby food, can you cook up a plain chicken breast without seasoning and chop in tiny pieces and add a tiny bit of water and mix it up?

If you go to the pet store they may have freeze dried cat treats such as fish or chicken, also something called bonito flakes, these can be crumbled on top of food to entice them.

Anything you can get him to eat is better than nothing at this point and needs water to prevent dehydration.
 
Also saw another members cat is not eating and her vet prescribed something for appetite.

“vet prescribed Cerenia as an anti-nausea, and mirtazapine to increase appetite”
 
It's common for kitty's appetite to go off when taking an antibiotic. Hopefully the new one will agree with Eddie!
Some find feeding kitty with a spoon helps. Others make small 'meatballs' with the food and stick the meatball on the roof of kitty's mouth. Sometimes all it takes is getting a little food down them and they'll begin to eat on their own again. If he's not getting fluids, you might want to syringe 5 - 10 ml water often (every hour or two). Keeping him well hydrated will help.

Test for ketones as soon as soon as you can. The basic recipe for developing DKA = an insufficient supply of insulin + inappetance + infection OR other systemic stresses.

Stay in touch with your vet. If Eddie gets worse don't hesitate to take him in.


Take care and good luck. We're pulling for both of you!
 
Super helpful, we got him to eat a slice of deli chicken and along with that got him to take the nausea medication. He doesn't want much more right now but will keep trying the suggestions above. I may run out to the pet store and see if we can get the Halo snacks or perhaps just some dry food to sprinkle/eat. He has been getting up periodically to drink some water, probably not enough but at least it's something. Last night when he vomited he was drinking a lot, that combined with the antibiotic could be what caused the vomiting.

My wife and I are struggling a lot, we don't know how much of this is torture and how much he can recover from. What we can't tell is how much his quality of life will improve above what it is now. I remain optimistic that he can get back to where he was just 2 weeks ago but when we see him just laying there staring off into the distance it's just really hard to see him like that.
 
The kids were playing outside and so I carried him out for some fresh air then brought him back in. I was sitting on the porch and he came back out on his own to join me. That was really nice but he didn't stay too long, had a nice rest in the sun then meowed to get me to carry him back in.
 
UTI’s and antibiotics can make you feel bad, give it time and he’ll feel better. Ask the vet about giving subQ fluids at home. It’s easy to do and it will help hydrate him and flush out the bladder/kidneys.
 
bhaver said:
My wife and I are struggling a lot, we don't know how much of this is torture and how much he can recover from. What we can't tell is how much his quality of life will improve above what it is now. I remain optimistic that he can get back to where he was just 2 weeks ago but when we see him just laying there staring off into the distance it's just really hard to see him like that.
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Obviously I don't know what's wrong with Eddie, but one thing I do know is cats are pretty resilient creatures when treated. My own cat was tottering on death's door step more than once. Everyone including the vet counted her out. It wasn't easy, but syringe feeding both food and water, administering sub-q fluids at home, getting insulin in her, and the appropriate meds for treatment of severe liver disease and an acute renal crisis saved her. It's all documented on her 2010 spreadsheet. She recuperated and lived another 4+ years. Oral cancer took her in the end.

Just sharing...
 
Jill & Alex (GA) said:
Obviously I don't know what's wrong with Eddie, but one thing I do know is cats are pretty resilient creatures when treated. My own cat was tottering on death's door step more than once. Everyone including the vet counted her out. It wasn't easy, but syringe feeding both food and water, administering sub-q fluids at home, getting insulin in her, and the appropriate meds for treatment of severe liver disease and an acute renal crisis saved her. It's all documented on her 2010 spreadsheet. She recuperated and lived another 4+ years. Oral cancer took her in the end.

Just sharing...
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Thank you for this, it's helpful. I feel like if we can get the infection under control we would make progress. He ate a slice of deli meat and I got the nausea meds in but he's refusing everything else. I'm going to give it a few hours and then try syringe feeding. He just hasn't had enough in the last 24 hours.
 
Sharon14 said:
UTI’s and antibiotics can make you feel bad, give it time and he’ll feel better. Ask the vet about giving subQ fluids at home. It’s easy to do and it will help hydrate him and flush out the bladder/kidneys.
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Vet is closed on sundays, is this something I should look up and try to do on my own?
 
Another anti nausea medication is ondansetron which works in other ways to cerenia and can be given in conjunction with cerenia. It can help when cerenia doesn’t. Ask your vet for some of it.
Have you tried some BBQ chicken, cats usually love it?
 
We were able to get him to eat some fancy feast, I didn't pay particular attention to which ones because I just needed him to eat. He ate about 1/3 of two different 3oz cans so not too bad. Along with some deli meat we were able to get him to take the antibiotic as well. He's exhausted after all this. My wife had to hold him upright to eat. We decided to measure his BG and it was a very high 25.6 so we gave him his injection. A little bit late but he didn't get the AM dose. He's resting now and we're very hopeful for a better night where he gets some rest. He did get up and drink some water on his own a few times through the night so I feel ok about hydration right now. Fingers crossed. Thanks everyone for the information, very helpful. I don't think we're out of the woods but much better place than a few hours ago.
 
I think you need to make sure it is ok to give subQ fluids from the vet first. Some cats have conditions that make giving subQ fluids a problem and you would need to proceed with caution. The vet will be able to tell you if it is OK
 
Julie and Honey said:
Also saw another members cat is not eating and her vet prescribed something for appetite.

“vet prescribed Cerenia as an anti-nausea, and mirtazapine to increase appetite”
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That was me. But then my Alice went into DKA and is in the hospital now.

@bhaver , how is he doing now? Have you been able to check ketones? I was startled how quickly my girl went into crisis mode. It sounds like he has several things going on so I just hope you rule potential DKA out. It scared me so much.
And as far as mirtazapine for appetite goes, it works by increasing gut motility (how fast things pass through the stomach). I've taken it for other reasons and it made me ravenous. But it might not be the right thing depending on other conditions.

I hope he is getting to feeling better!
 
My cat stopped eating completely when he was on antibiotics. I had to syringe-feed him for about 2 weeks before he was back to eating on his own. He's fine now, although he has bouts of pancreatitis with vomiting and inappetance. It sounds like you're doing the right thing getting food into him... he'll perk up eventually!
 
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