Non-diabetic cat has not eaten by herself for 5 days

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kimouette

kimouette

Member Since 2012
My mom's cat is not doing well. She is 12 years old, is a little overweighted, non-diabetic, and has not eaten by herself (nor pooped) since last Sunday.

Saturday my mom's other cat passed away, then on Sunday this one stopped eating. She brought her to the vet on Tuesday, they checked her teeth, they look just fine. They also did a basic blood test that showed slightly elevated red blood cells+ hct+hgb. I checked on the net and found out that if these 3 values were elevated it probably meant that the cat is dehydrated, which makes sens of course. The vet hydrated her with intravenous fluids, and sent my mom back home with some vitalax (something that helps the cat pooping if he has a hair ball or something else blocked in his intestin).

The next day we were happy to find out the cat had pooped and peed during the night. But she still won't eat by herself. My mom has been force-feeding her with some canned food mixed with water. Yesterday she even gave her sardines (which she normally can't resist), but she took a smell and left the room.

At first we thought she had a hair ball stuck, but since she pooped, I guess we have to eliminate that possibility. then I thought maybe she was depressed because her sister passed away... Maybe that's the case, but how long is this going to last? Or could it be something else?

If anyone has a clue, feel free to share your idea.
 
Just keep assist feeding. The cat should get about a 5.5/6 oz can a day. I can take a while for the cat to start eating again. I adopted my Joey from a shelter since he was not eating. After two months of assist feeding he finally started eating on his own.
 
The very same thing happened to me last November. I had lost my diabetic cat. My other cat who had always layed with her and been around her since she was 8 weeks old stopped eating 5 days later, I could not get him to eat anything and he was a 22lb cat and loved to eat.
I took him to the ER vet who did numerous tests but DID not try to feed him which I know now they should have done, they just let him lay in the cage. He went into liver failure and I had to have him put to sleep.
Most of all you need to get food into her. If need be get an appetite stimulant maybe, but she must eat.

Terri
 
Does she appear nauseous at all? It could be a pancreatitis attack. Did the vet check for this? Give anti nausea meds, appetite stimulant?

Of course it also could be that the cat is grieving the loss of the other one. Has your mom talked to her to explain what happened. Yes, I know it sounds silly, but I do believe that my cats understand me when I speak to them and this one will understand your mom.

If she's not nauseous, try appetite stimulants, this may help to perk her up.
 
Thanks for akl the replies!
My mom won't stop force feeding her that's for sure. We know how important it is to keep our cats well hydrated and fed at least a minimum.

Hillary you just reminded me, I forgot to mention that the vet also gave her an injection of something that will prevent the cat from throwing up. Cuz she did throw up the tiny bits of food my mom gave her the day before she went to the vet. And the vet also gave my mother some anti nausea pills for 3 days.

I don't know what a pancreatic attack is, I'll try to search on the net later tonight. Otherwise does it sound to you guys like it could be an hyperthyroid issue?

Since tomorrow my mom will be out of these anti nausea pills she was going to bring the cat back to the vet again. But I don't know what the vet is gonna be looking for and I'm afraid my mother is gonna waste a lot of money on something that could "simply" be a psychological issue.

Would you guys ask the vet to do a t4 test?
 
I would ask them to do a test for pancreatitis and to test the liver enzymes to see if they are high. Those two may tell you the cause of why she does not want to eat. If it is not that she could mourning. Intially when my Andy first stopped eating they found nothing wrong with his bloodwork. They told he might be just mourning the loss of my other kitty.

Terri
 
Has she been licking her lips? Approaching her food with the act of wanting to eat, but then turns away?

Think about when you feel nauseous, it's the same for cats. I'm betting there is a physical problem here and certainly could be even a mild form of pancreatitis. I know we typically think of only our FD's getting it, but my civvie came down with it and wouldn't eat for days. Not even dreaded kibbles. It took about a week to get her feeling better, with meds - anti nausea and app stimulants.

If mom is going to vet tomorrow, be sure to have her ask about this and get things to treat it.
 
Oh my god i'm so happy and so is my mom! Yesterday after souper, my mom's cat ate a little by herself! Then she offered her tiny portions of different fancy feast flavors (mixed with water) and the cat ate couple of tiny portions during the evening and during the night too!. She definately didn't eat as much as she normally would, but atleast she is doing it by herself again!

Should my mom force-feed her the amount of food missing from her regular meals? Or should we just let her eat whatever she wants and just keep patient?
 
I'm not sure.

I'd be inclined to continue assist feeding, maybe reduce the amount of water so its more of a paste, or possibly use a kitten food for the higher calorie content. A/D from the vet might also be helpful (note: has a higher carb level than desirable for diabtics; this cat isn't).
 
Well we finally didn't need to force feed the cat! She ate 220g of famcy feast by herself yesterday and we'll keep monitoring closely her appetite to make sure it doesnt decrease. She did poop some kind of a hair ball yesterday so now we keep our fingers crossed that the whole thing was caused by that hair ball! Thanks everyone for your precious advise.. Quick and usefull as usually!
:)
 
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