Last older cat now not eating (Update)

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terri1962

terri1962

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My oldest cat Arthur is now not eating. I had three older cats, diabetic Lilly which I lost on 11/12, Andy which I lost 11/17 and now Arthur refuses to eat. I am not sure what could be causing this. I even went out and bought a carbon monoxide detector just wondering if that could be causing all this.
I only have two cats left. Lucy who is one and half years and Arthur who could be as old as 16 or 17. I found him when I lived at my old house. I can not bear the thought of losing another cat this soon.
I just gave him some Pepcid I am not sure what else to do. He is going to box normally.

Terri
 
Re: Last older cat now not eating

Since there has been a lot of upset in your home lately, and some of the your kitties are gone, maybe he is upset. It sounds silly, but you might try putting some food on your finger and handfeeding him for a few minutes. Sometimes that gets them to eat again.

It, of course, could be something more complicated. But it is an easy first try?
 
Re: Last older cat now not eating

Sending eating vines
smiley-eatdrink022.gif
to Arthur.
 
Re: Last older cat now not eating

Terri, Slappy started doing this after Gumpy went to the Bridge. It took about 1 wk. for her to stop eating???? I took her in, and yes, her thyroid was a muck, but I think it was just compounded because of being upset w/ Gumpys' passing, mom & Bean upset...
I had to and still have to sometimes stick my finger in her wet food, hold her head still and touch her lips w/ food. While she is licking it off her mouth, I put my finger close to her tongue and she will get some on her tongue by mistake (hehe), but that usually starts her to eat off my finger. Sometimes I have to get a small spoon and dip it out of the bowl and she will eat it from the spoon.
I am not saying not to take him in and make sure something else is not going on, but perhaps you could try some of these 'tricks' to see if it would work. I also had to wrap her buritto style and use a dropper. This actually jump started her into eating again and then the other mentioned tricks work and still do when she decides not to be very hungry.
I did use beef & chicken w/ broth babyfood and mixed some tuna water with it. She seemed to like it for a short while.
Good luck and I hope you are having a good Thanksgiving.....
 
Re: Last older cat now not eating

He is sleeping now. So I will try tuna when he gets up if that does not work I will try putting a bit of food on my finger. I am starting to wonder could this be some kind of bizarre virus? My Siamese mix was hospitalized several times before she got sick and she was the first one to get sick. Could she have picked up something at the vet ? My mind is spinning and I am sick to my stomach.
None of them go outside but I never had them vaccinated because they were so old and I had another cat pass right after having her vaccinated a number of years ago.
I can not imagine what would cause three cats to get sick in a number of weeks.

Terri
 
Re: Last older cat now not eating

Oh hun i agree i think he is just grieving for the loss, give it some time and like you say you will try finger feeding. Also sending kitty vibes to you xxx
 
Re: Last older cat now not eating

Thanks everyone, he licked some tuna water but still not eating. I just gave him a pill of Reglan as well for upset stomach. My god I hope he starts eating.

Terri
 
Re: Last older cat now not eating

Just talked to the emergency vet and they were the ones that put Andy to sleep. I will take Arthur in the morning he is still not eating. I tried to put a bit of food on finger and give it to him and he threw up.
I told them no way I am having three cats with symptoms of pancreatitis that are sick to the point of being put down something else is going on. They said could be food poisoning, enviromnental or viral. If he gets sick to the the point of having to PTS I may want to involve the health dept to find out if toxins are involved as could be dangerous to humans as well.
So I will probably be taking him in the morning. He is not eating.

Terri
 
Re: Last older cat now not eating

Just talked w/ Terri on the phone.

Arthur could be as old as 16 or 17; today, he has peed, poohed, purred, preened. She hasn't seen him playing today.

He's being social, hanging out with her, on the arm of the chair with her; Lucy (1.5 year) is in the other room with a litterbox & food because she was attacking him.

No sneezing, no congestion.

Some occasional coughing, intermittent, in all cats. (Could be fur balls?)

Water is from municipal source (Obetz).

Furnace was last serviced in Spring 2011.
 
Arthur went to the ER vet and they said they thought he needed a dental badly so took him over to get a dental to the regular vet hospital. He had 9 teeth pulled and has 7 left. Had teeth pulled several years ago.
Now we need to pray that he starts eating again, they did pancreatitis test, negative. The vet said he had severe dental disease. This what happens when you have three old cats at one time.
So far they could not find anything else wrong. But who knows dear god I hope he eats.

Terri
 
Re: Last older cat now not eating

Terri,
If his teeth were that bad, that could be the explanation....that it hurt too much to eat. It'll probably take a little while for the mouth pain from the extractions to go away, but praying along with you that he can start eating again very soon.

Did they suggest ways to get food in until his mouth stops hurting?

Carl
 
Carl

He is still at the vet I will not let them send him home until he begins to eat something. I want to know he is eating. I have been through this to many times lately when they have sent me home with a sick cat that won`t eat. He has not ate for about a day and half.
I hope the teeth were the only problem. Have you ever heard of a cat having that many teeth pulled at once?
The vet does not think he is as old as I thought he was, vet says he might only be 10,11 or 12 nor 16 or so.
No they have not told me yet what to feed him. I am wondering that as well.

Terri
 
Terri,
Yes, I have read here where some cats have had that many pulled at once, but can't remember who that was.... I read recently about a cat or two that have had all their teeth removed, and are still doing okay.
Hopefully the vet will get him eating something, even if it is out of a syringe, so that once he comes home you can know for sure that he will eat what they recommend.
Carl
 
Terri, I am so sorry that you are going through this with Arthur.

they did pancreatitis test, negative.
Click to expand...
Did they run the Spec fPL test? That sample gets sent out and results come back within a day or two.

Klinger had 8 teeth pulled last year. Please make sure they give him and send him home with pain meds. Klinger didn't have a problem eating, but he sure chowed down when he got home that night.

Sending healing vibes to Arthur.

Marcy
 
are they giving him pain meds?

I'd bet his teeth have been bothering him but perhaps stressed tipped the balance. Make sure they give him fluids and pain meds and syring feed him if he's not eating.

I am so sorry you are having to go through all of this!
 
Jen and Marcy

Thank you. I will make sure they do send him home with Buprenex and antibiotics for sure. Yes they are giving him pain meds and antibiotics at the vet.
I just want to make sure he eats something before I bring him home. I still have the kitten left and she is ornery. I had four cats, Andy(GA) Lilly(GA) diabetic, Lucy the kitten and Arthur.
Lucy attacks the Arthur and did the other older cats so I may have to put her in a room with food and box. I do not want to put him in a room by himself after all that.

Terri
 
Sounds like all the pain from the bad teeth caused him not to eat. Hopefully, when pain the meds kick in and his gums heal a bit he will have a better appetite.
After my kitty Jessie (GA) had a few teeth pulled, she didn't want to eat much. I didn't have any luck getting the Burpenx in her, she freak when I touched her face. I just keep putting food near her, and she would eat a little. I think after about a week, she was eating pretty normal.
 
Sandy

It will be tough as I said with the kitten Lucy who is very ornery. But hopefully I can manage. Arthur is a very resilient cat and has always been. He was a feral at one time who lived on my porch for three years. He used to swat at he and I was afraid to touch him until he got sick the first time with his teeth about maybe six years ago, not sure about that, had a bunch pulled then and I took him into the house much to the dismay of the cats I already had in the house.
I noticed he was drooling. I had a house outside on the porch for him with a heating pad in I used to plug into an outlet. He made through several very cold winters in Ohio before he came into the house.
So then took him to the vet then many years ago teeth pulled then and brought him into the house. I love my cats and hope all goes well with him it literally makes me sick when they are sick.

Terri
 
Terri,
hun im so sorry you and Arthur have to go through this, the only positive thing i can say is that cats can survive without their teeth, poor arthur will prob be in some pain for a while though also are they allowing you to go and see him, he might be more willing to try and eat with you around.

My bella who had a nasal tumour had to have most of her teeth out and for about over a week i had to feed her via a syringe and then we had her on pate food but she dealt well with it.

Im sure Arthur will ul through and thank god he does not have kidney or liver problems. Keeping fingers and paws crossed for you and Arthur xx
 
Terri,

I don't know if this will ease your stress, but I have a cat who had "whole mouth" tooth extractions back in May. He had 18 pulled at once. He did great; I brought him home while still partially under anesthesia, and within a few hours, he ate on his own, and ever since...no force feeding. The pain meds usually increase their appetite too. Good luck to you both.

Deb
 
Arthur is still at the ER vet. He is still not eating on his own. After a 900.00 dental they THINK something else may be wrong with him and want to run more tests. I told them no. The most they can do at this point is x-ray him and thats it. I still will have to pay the ER vet plus the other vet who did the dental.
I told them in the beginning I did not think it was his teeth that was causing him to not eat he has had bad teeth for awhile. I am at my wits end. I will probably have to have my third older cat PTS now in as little as two weeks.

Terri
 
Terri,
I have nothing that can make you feel better right now, all I can do is offer a big loooong hug and let you know you're in our prayers.

Another looong hug,
 
Terri,
How aggressive have they been in trying to get him to eat? Has he been tube fed or syringe fed? Are they just putting a bowl down and thinking "Huh, he still won't eat"? This is awful, for Arthur, and even worse, for you.

Carl
 
Carl

They are force feeding him right now. I have had some problems inside the house which I wonder if it may be the cause of all of this. I had the gas company come out last night and check for leaks inside the house. They shut off my hot water heater, They said it was venting CO into the air 5PPM and a gas leak was detected on the pilot tubing.
Ordered me not to turn it back on until I had plumber come and fix these problems. Could this have caused all this? I just called ER vet and told them maybe Arthur could have CO poisoning and asked them to give him oxygen, I don`t care if they think I am crazy or not. Not sure if they will do it or not.

Terri
 
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