Newbie in Trouble! Cat not eating, worse each day!

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Christine & Hooska (GA)

Christine & Hooska (GA)

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I cannot get my cat to eat no matter what I try! He has simply lost interest in eating everything, even his favorite little snacks; and over the past couple of days, I've tried every single "trick in the book" as hey say to get him to eat. I am beside myself: can't sleep, and now I’m feeling weak and shaky.

I kept thinking surely after his shock and anger of the vet appt wore off (he’s a very emotional little prima dona) that he’d snap out of it and start behaving regularly again. They put him in a holding cage. He had to hate that. I felt so sorry for him, because once upon a time we rescued him from a cage at the Humane Society and now here he probably wondered if we were giving him up like his prior owners obviously did. Everything about this every step of the way is breaking my heart into a million pieces!

Anyhow, after the doctor appt Wed nite, he had the wet belly issue (possibly urine leakage) which is still happening but not as much (possibly because he’s not even drinking as much water as he had been).

Obviously insulin is out of the question until he resumes eating. I thought his poor appetite might be due to the fact he had quite a bit of gas in his bowels when we took him in as evidenced by the x-rays and perhaps he has a stomachache, so I squirted some anti-nausea liquid in his little mouth. He had a gurgling stomach for a couple of days before we took him in.

I also felt he needed at least some calories and did the maple syrup thing again the doctor had recommended the other night. Still unable (inept) to get the liver pills down him. I’m thinking we’ll have an accident and he’ll choke. I’m scared to silly; I don’t want his death to be at my inexperienced hands!

He just lays around, moving occasionally to another spot to lay; he kind of flattens out on the floor. He lays in places he’s never laid before; that’s freaking me out. I may or may not be imagining it, but his breathing seems a bit labored, which also scares me silly.

I’m wondering how to preserve his life so we can take him to the vet first thing tomorrow morning. I guess we should’ve taken him yesterday, but I still had hope at that time we could work with this and he’d snap out of it. Stupid optimism!

Alternately, of course, I’m thinking a trip to the emergency vet today may be the way to go, yet those are far from here, have had mixed reviews, and are costly -- remember: I’m out of work and we’re struggling to make ends meet, yet we would do almost anything to save our cat and just initially paid out $570 for his original exams and meds this past week. This money part doesn’t bother me so much as it throws my temper-tantrum prone husband into a raging rant.

Any ideas or thoughts at all? I must rescue my cat! If he goes, I know I will feel like it was my fault. Honestly, if he leaves me, I don’t know how I’ll go on!!

Try to save him or take him to an emergency vet?

Thanks!
 
It doesn't sound like hypoglycemia; how long ago was the last time you gave insulin? (Use a relative time, like "16 hours ago", not something like "8 this morning").

Are you currently checking for ketones, and if not, can you? Ketones are a not-common but still possible side effect of unregulated diabetes, and can indicate the beginning of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Small amounts of ketones may be treatable at home; high amounts of ketones may require hospitalisation.

To test for ketones, go to the diabetes section of your local pharmacy and pick up ketostix (I've always found them in the aisle, but some folks report that their pharmacy keeps them behind the counter). Dip the ketostix in fresh urine; if ketones are present, the stick will change colour.
 
if you need to pill a cat, try pill pockets. while not diabetic friendly it is tasty and easy to smoosh around a pill. only give enough to cover the pill.

Have you tried baby food? warming that or his canned food? would about syringe or spoon feeding? Can you try that.

Obviously it's important that he eat.

Is he breathing really labored? Is he panting, wheezing or anything like that? Where are you located? Is it hot in the house? does he need cooling off? are his paws, ears warm?

there could be all kinds of things going on and the best place to figure this may just be the vet.

please keep us posted
 
(((christine)))

a note to responders... hooska has been diagnosed with liver disease in addition to diabetes.

as i mentioned in your earlier thread, food (and lots of it) is like medicine for the liver. it sounds very much like hooska would benefit from a feeding tube. please read through Dr. Lisa's web page on feeding tubes: http://catinfo.org/?link=feedingtubes. a feeding tube will allow you to get the required numbers of calories into hooska which will go a long way in healing his liver as well as allow you to administer insulin without worry. not eating and not receiving insulin can set him up for other complications such as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). please check his urine for ketones. you can pick up ketostix at any pharmacy.

hooska has to eat and at this point, it doesn't matter what he eats. please, talk to your vet about a feeding tube.

Dr. Lisa also has some good tips on pilling cats here: http://catinfo.org/?link=pillingcats

let us know how things are going...
 
Christina:

You mentioned in your previous thread that the vet had diagnosed a liver problem. If Hooska is not eating, this can develop into hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease) which is serious. Not eating and no insulin can rapidly develop into other problems such as diabetic ketoacidosis which is why getting Ketostix is important. If you think Hooska has a funny smell -- like nail polish remover (acetone) or alcohol, get to an ER immediately. Even a trace amount of ketones with Hooska not eating could be problematic. Not eating and/or ketones can trump a lot of other health issues. If this were my cat, I'd be heading to the ER.

I've used the emergency clinic, Chicago Veterinary Emergency Services, on Clybourn (near Western) when they had limited hours. They are now open 24/7. My vet is now recommending Animal Emergency Treatment Center on Belmont (one block east of Pulaski).
 
ok, for the gas, 1/4 tablet of pepcid AC (not extra strength or complete). put in a pill pocket if you can. start by giving that once a day.

give him anything he'll eat. lunchmeat, yogurt, cheese, rotisserie chicken, boiled chicken breast (boiled in plain water), gerber's 2nd stage baby food, meow mix dry cat food (terrible no no normally but not when we have liver trouble).

not safe to withhold insulin from a diabetic cat even if he's not eating, even if you can give a partial dose. don't want to compound the liver problem with ketoacidosis.

if he's stable enough and they suggest it, i'd agree to the feeding tube. it's not terribly invasive and can get enough nourishment into them to keep them going.

what antinausea med are you using? have to be careful if it's people meds, as they can be bad for cats.

personally i'd go to the ER. just wouldn't want to risk losing him.
 
Thanks! Insulin was administered as follows: Wed, 7/14, evening at 7 p.m.: 2 units. Then Hooska came home and didn't eat much -- probably because I took his dry food away and replaced it with wet food -- so we were told by our vet to skip the 12 hour insulin shot that would have taken place Thurs morning at 7 a.m. Vet also advised to give him back his dry food for the time being. He ate some dry food Thurs; we gave him 1 unit of insulin Thurs nite at 8 p.m. He ate some more dry food overnight, so we gave him another unit (I THINK we did; it was incredibly awkward that morning trying to measure properly and get it in him) of insulin at 8 a.m. Fri morning. That was his most recent shot.

Fri evening, called vet again who said to skip the insulin until he starts eating. Friday night, he drank some tuna juice. Yet he turns his little head away from foods he usually loves: treats, a little milk, etc.

Just now called two different vets on the phone. One affilliated with our usual animal care facility said to continue to try to get nourishment in him and bring him in first thing tomorrow morning. So I just sent husband off to CVS to get Ketone strips, more canned tuna (recommended by the vet; if he won't eat the tuna, at least I hope he'll drink the juice it's packed in and/or I'll administer orally via feeding syringe) and meat baby food (which I also plan to administer via feeding syringe).

Praying my cat will last through the night -- if he gets worse, we'll run to the emergency vet. Praying praying praying, hoping, crying, praying; I feel so inept and husband has disengaged from me and won't even discuss the cat; he's leaving it all to me; I feel so alone and so inept. I don't think I'll sleep tonight at all!

Thanks again for your replies on this lovely summer weekend day.
 
Update: he tested negative for ketones, so at least that's a relief. He's walking around, laying around in varying places, drinking water and peeing. I feel a sense of relief, and hope it's not a false sense.

Trying now to get him to lap the tuna water into which I mixed a very small amount of milk thistle. If he won't, I'll feed it to him orally by syringe.

It's going to be a loooooooong night.
 
Christine we all are here for you even 3am there is people here you can talk too.
Just what ever you need to know put it in your subject line like ADVICE Help any thing they are great here.
Sounds like Hooska maybe coming around. :mrgreen: Yes get food into him sometime if you just put food on your finger and put it in his mouth it gets them interested in eating again. I use to give 1/2 tsp every 30 minutes when my Mick was sick He had FIP but I would just keep trying he would get fed up and eat a little to please mom Bless his heart. Sending Prayers Angels to your house to help you both As far as hubbies are concern this is the way to do it Let us look after it all. Been there and still am Good luck and keep posting and you will get lots of good help I did LOL Kath
 
Newly diagnosed cats feel like crap. Which makes them inappetant. Not giving insulin just makes it worse as it is the high bgs tht make them feel bad.

as mentioned last week, you need to force feed him and give him insulin. That's what I had to do back in 2002, and Squeak is still with me and has been off of insulin since spring 2003. So it is worth it. Period.

Jen
 
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