SammyM
Member Since 2014
I'm beside myself with concern. Sammy all of a sudden stopped eating and drinking, and of course not peeing and pooping either, going on 6 days now.
I took him to the emergency clinic Sunday night and their preliminary diagnosis was possibly urinary obstruction. His bladder was full and an ultrasound confirmed this, but they couldn't express him. They had to finally sedate him in order to empty his bladder. No temperature, no discernible mouth or teeth issues, or discomfort on palpations. I couldn't afford any more tests to be done then at their incredibly high costs so as long as their was no immediate danger, went home and brought him to my regular vet the next morning. They did give me two meds for Sammy to be taken every 12 hrs., gabapentin and a urethra relaxer, and two viles of Sammy's urine to give to my vet for further testing.
His regular vet was a bit stumped. Knowing my financial situation, he tried to keep costs down for me and just did some basic but thorough exam. There was nothing obvious but still a possibility that there was a urinary issue, even though the urine samples showed no signs of crystals or anything else. He administered a fluid pack on Sammy and hoped that he might urinate on his own to rule out obstructions. As soon as I got back home, he went to the litter box and urinated so we were thankful there were no obstructions, and hopefully he would start eating again, that maybe something just upset his stomach.
The next day (yesterday) I went back to the vet because Sammy still wasn't eating or drinking and he had only urinated once again in the 24 hrs. from his last urination the morning before. I did administer one dose each of the two meds so he pretty much slept all day Monday, but the vet told me yesterday to discontinue both. He ran a complete blood panel and it did show that Sammy did have some kind of virus infection run through him as his white cells were up, but nothing else jumped out. He sent me home with a prescription of Clavamox and said if he doesn't eat again he'll give me an appetite stimulant tomorrow, which is now today.
So other than about 3 or 4 kibbles of a sample of Hill's c/d and about 5 ml of a/d mixed with warm water in a syringe, he's eaten nothing since at least Saturday, maybe as early as late Friday, and no water. His behavior and affect isn't that off now either. Other than Sunday and Monday, especially after the sedation Sunday night and the gabapentin dose Monday, he seems pretty normal except for his playing level, but he's still preening himself, purring when he jumps on top of me, and is still interested in the goings on outside.
I'm hoping someone here can help. His regular diet regimen by the way is Young Again's Mature or Zero, with about a teaspoon of Fancy Feast tuna in a sauce twice a day as a treat which he usually just licks the gravy and leaves the meat. His eating habits have always been robust. He loves to eat, so this is very bizarre behavior for him. I've tried enticing him with anything and everything, but I finally had to resort to feeding him with the syringe last night just to get something in him. So I'll be picking up the stimulant this morning, but welcome any all suggestions from all you cat lovers. I'm spent and have hardly slept in 3 days worrying.
Thank you all!
Update: Sammy on his own did go over to his food bowl this morning for about a minute and did manage to eat a few kibbles of YA, and a few licks of the gravy in his FF, but so far, that's it. Baby steps I guess?
I took him to the emergency clinic Sunday night and their preliminary diagnosis was possibly urinary obstruction. His bladder was full and an ultrasound confirmed this, but they couldn't express him. They had to finally sedate him in order to empty his bladder. No temperature, no discernible mouth or teeth issues, or discomfort on palpations. I couldn't afford any more tests to be done then at their incredibly high costs so as long as their was no immediate danger, went home and brought him to my regular vet the next morning. They did give me two meds for Sammy to be taken every 12 hrs., gabapentin and a urethra relaxer, and two viles of Sammy's urine to give to my vet for further testing.
His regular vet was a bit stumped. Knowing my financial situation, he tried to keep costs down for me and just did some basic but thorough exam. There was nothing obvious but still a possibility that there was a urinary issue, even though the urine samples showed no signs of crystals or anything else. He administered a fluid pack on Sammy and hoped that he might urinate on his own to rule out obstructions. As soon as I got back home, he went to the litter box and urinated so we were thankful there were no obstructions, and hopefully he would start eating again, that maybe something just upset his stomach.
The next day (yesterday) I went back to the vet because Sammy still wasn't eating or drinking and he had only urinated once again in the 24 hrs. from his last urination the morning before. I did administer one dose each of the two meds so he pretty much slept all day Monday, but the vet told me yesterday to discontinue both. He ran a complete blood panel and it did show that Sammy did have some kind of virus infection run through him as his white cells were up, but nothing else jumped out. He sent me home with a prescription of Clavamox and said if he doesn't eat again he'll give me an appetite stimulant tomorrow, which is now today.
So other than about 3 or 4 kibbles of a sample of Hill's c/d and about 5 ml of a/d mixed with warm water in a syringe, he's eaten nothing since at least Saturday, maybe as early as late Friday, and no water. His behavior and affect isn't that off now either. Other than Sunday and Monday, especially after the sedation Sunday night and the gabapentin dose Monday, he seems pretty normal except for his playing level, but he's still preening himself, purring when he jumps on top of me, and is still interested in the goings on outside.
I'm hoping someone here can help. His regular diet regimen by the way is Young Again's Mature or Zero, with about a teaspoon of Fancy Feast tuna in a sauce twice a day as a treat which he usually just licks the gravy and leaves the meat. His eating habits have always been robust. He loves to eat, so this is very bizarre behavior for him. I've tried enticing him with anything and everything, but I finally had to resort to feeding him with the syringe last night just to get something in him. So I'll be picking up the stimulant this morning, but welcome any all suggestions from all you cat lovers. I'm spent and have hardly slept in 3 days worrying.
Thank you all!
Update: Sammy on his own did go over to his food bowl this morning for about a minute and did manage to eat a few kibbles of YA, and a few licks of the gravy in his FF, but so far, that's it. Baby steps I guess?
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Hope whatever caused his lack of appetite is now past. 