Newly diagnosed cat - any tips on getting to eat?

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Tim McMullin

Member Since 2016
We have a newly diagnosed 11-year-old Siamese who spent the better part of the week at the vet getting fluids, antibiotics and some steroids to help his pancreatitis (which was caused by him not eating). He was always a voracious eater, and now we can't get him to eat. We've tried his normal kibble, fancy feast, and tuna & water. That seems to be the best bet, but we can't get enough in him to get him out of the woods.

I'm thinking we're doing everything we can, but figure it can't hurt to reach out to others and make sure we're not missing any tricks on getting a sick kitty to eat. Oh, and to make matters worse, he has four cats vying for attention in the house as well... they are all fine thank God.

Thanks, and sorry for the fng / noob spam.

Tim
 
Have you tried gerber baby food? Just the recipes with like meat and water. Some people have luck getting their cat to eat that when all else fails.
 
Saw on your intro post that you can checking out feeding syringes. I don't know where you live, but if you are in North America, and if your local drugstore does not have the right type of syringe, try TCS (Tractor Supply Store) or any store that sells farm animal stuff.
 
Thanks everyone. Got syringes from my vet, haven't tried baby food yet. We're going through every combo right now. One vet doesn't like syringes, says they can cause issues with fear, so we're keeping that in reserve.
 
Is he on anti nausea meds or pain meds. Pancreatitis can be a long recovery. Smokey is still getting meds 5 months after his pancreatitis. Much lower doses but he still needs them.
 
He's not on pain or anti nausea meds. He's on steroids to lessen the swelling, vet thinks the pancreatitis will work its way out with the diabetes treatments.
 
I would strongly suggest pain and anti-nausea meds, probably B12 injection as well. Pancreatitis is very painful and if he is nauseous, that will have a pretty big impact on his desire to eat. Both of my cats were diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis following acute flares in the last year and they both required pain medication (buprenorphrine), anti-nausea (cerenia), and B12 - the one (Jason) with the worst flare also required fluids. The ER vet who diagnosed Jason with pancreatitis actually didn't give him any pain medication either and I could barely get him to eat anything for 2 days. I talked with a vet I work with at that point (it happened over Christmas) and the first thing he suggested was bupe because of how painful pancreatitis is. I gave Jason a dose and it was the turning point for us - within an hour, his appetite had picked up dramatically. It was like a new cat. I had the extended release version of bupe (lasts 72 hours) and I could tell to the hour when it wore off and he needed another dose. From the time of his diagnosis of the acute flare, to the last time I gave him pain meds for it was about 8 days.

Check out the primer on pancreatitis.

For eating, you could also try to get some science diet A/D from your vet (very rich, high calorie, very tasty food - also easy to syringe feed if that's required). I use the probiotic FortiFlora as an appetitie stimulant - I sprinkle some on top of the cat's food; most cats go crazy for it and it smells a lot so it's generally more interesting to sick kitties. If you haven't done it yet, you can try heating up the canned food some so it smells more.
 
Wulfwin said:
I would strongly suggest pain and anti-nausea meds, probably B12 injection as well. Pancreatitis is very painful and if he is nauseous, that will have a pretty big impact on his desire to eat. Both of my cats were diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis following acute flares in the last year and they both required pain medication (buprenorphrine), anti-nausea (cerenia), and B12 - the one (Jason) with the worst flare also required fluids. The ER vet who diagnosed Jason with pancreatitis actually didn't give him any pain medication either and I could barely get him to eat anything for 2 days. I talked with a vet I work with at that point (it happened over Christmas) and the first thing he suggested was bupe because of how painful pancreatitis is. I gave Jason a dose and it was the turning point for us - within an hour, his appetite had picked up dramatically. It was like a new cat. I had the extended release version of bupe (lasts 72 hours) and I could tell to the hour when it wore off and he needed another dose. From the time of his diagnosis of the acute flare, to the last time I gave him pain meds for it was about 8 days.

Check out the primer on pancreatitis.

For eating, you could also try to get some science diet A/D from your vet (very rich, high calorie, very tasty food - also easy to syringe feed if that's required). I use the probiotic FortiFlora as an appetitie stimulant - I sprinkle some on top of the cat's food; most cats go crazy for it and it smells a lot so it's generally more interesting to sick kitties. If you haven't done it yet, you can try heating up the canned food some so it smells more.
Click to expand...

Thanks, we did grab AD immediately for use in the syringe. He's licking gravy off various foods right now, and drinking water. It's not enough to give him his insulin, but it keeps him moving forward. Where can you find the FortiFlora (before I go do a google search). Being a weekend in rural Texas makes a lot of things hard to find.
 
I've only every gotten FortiFlora from a vet, so I'm not sure if it's available outside of vet clinics or websites like 1-800-PET-MEDS.

That's good that he's at least licking the gravy!
 
I think the pancreatitis is winning. He was doing a little better last night, but threw up after his Prednisolone. This morning he has eaten small amounts, and been drinking water. We wanted to get him to eat something to hopefully counteract the pred, and he drank / lapped up some tuna water with chunks, and promptly threw it up. I'm hoping it was just too much into his system, but clearly his stomach is upset. He's wobbly today, too, which he has been on / off since this started last week. I'm hesitant to syringe feed because it really stresses him out, and our emergency vet said they don't like doing that due to the potential for food aversion. No request here, just an update.

Thanks, everyone.
 
Bless him! Sounds like he's really trying for you! Would he eat plan chicken? That might be a little easier on his tummy. Sending all my best for him and hoping he feels better soon.
 
After struggling all day, we finally did the oral syringe feeding and a half dose of insulin. It's definitely helping him. This thing is such a strange catch 22 / balancing act.
 
Sorry, I've been off for a few days (pet health issues, family visiting, etc) but wanted to pop on and suggest talking to your vet about a shot of Cerenia (anti-nausea, anti-vomiting) or something along those lines since he's had some vomiting. You can also check into Pepcid as that might help calm any stomach acid that might be upsetting him.
 
He's back at the vet now... we just couldn't get him enough food and water into his system. Probably going to have to do a feeding tube until he gets his appetite back. Poor baby, but at least I know he's better on the I.V.
 
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