Things still aren't right with Trinket

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Traci and Boomer

Traci and Boomer

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I really need your thoughts on what could be going on with her. She STILL isn't eating without coaxing and assitance.

This is the situation....

On February 26th she wouldn't eat and had a temp of 105. This after a month of very weird "sometimes" eating. She always ate wet before this. I'd put the food down and she'd eat it all.

Then one day she started sniffing and pawing at her food and eat a couple bites and come back and do it all over. It took her hours to eat a whole bowl.

Then Feb. 26th she wouldn't eat and seemed lethargic-not herself. Went to the vet the next day. We gave her two days of fluids for the temp and she's ending 10 days on amoxicillan.

She's now "sometimes eating" or not eating unless I help her. She'll eat sometimes if I hold the food bowl up to her face, syringe her or use a spoon to encourage her to eat.

I've had her for about 7 months. In that time she's had the following medical tests:

-chest x-ray: normal (suspected asthma)
-heart ultrasound: normal
-blood cbc: normal
-poop sample: normal
-broke her leg - healed normally
-stomach and oragans feels fine - no thickening or supsected issues
-had temperature and fluids, it went away
-mouth is perfect, no sores or bad teeth noted
-was acting lethargic, it went away.
-she's pooping, peeing, playing, purring and preening normally.
-fpli test - normal

She is having a urine test on Sunday. I'll have them take her temp.

Foods: she used to love Fancy Feast. I tried raw/semi cooked for a few days, neither cat liked it much. I tried Friskies, the cats ate it but their poop smelled. I went back to FF. She's eat dry sometimes and not others. She'll eat A/D on her own, not reliably.

Should I try more foods? Wait until the urine test comes back?
One of the fill-in vets suggested 1/4 pepcid. How would I even know if she'd need that?
Any thoughts on why this cat wouldn't be eating? I feel a little crazy!!!! nailbite_smile
 
Traci

She was fine until she had that accident and broke her leg. Somehow I think that has something to do with it but I am not sure what. Does she have metal pins and screws in her leg? It just seems odd to me that she was fine until accident. I will think about this, also others may come up with some good ideas as well. That poor little baby has been through so much.

Terri
 
The antibiotic could be causing stomach upset. I would just keep doing what you are doing and await the results from the urinalysis. If that comes back clear after the a/b's are out of the system THEN it would be good to think about what your next steps may need to be.

Could she be experiencing pain in the leg?

Sounds like you are doing a great job getting enough food in her, even if it is challenging.

Some people do give fortiflora while on a round of a/b's. http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/Product/FortiFloraCatNutritionalSupplements.aspx Maybe you could get some from your vet in the next day or two? Some folks might have suggestions on where else to get a comparable probiotic (whole foods?). Plain greek yogurt may also be an option.

I hope she is feeling better soon!
 
No advice from me, but I sure do hope she starts eating right again .. I know how much you are worried about her .. Eat up trinket, you need to grow big and strong :-D
 
Itty bitty Trinket - could you please start to eat on your own and also eat lots of food?


Or are you turning into a Queen lady cat, finicky and who wants everything served to you?
 
Hi Traci,

I'm so sorry Trinket is still giving you a hard time with food and not feeling well. Have you tried offering her some homemade food? You know all the trouble I've been having with Racci and her diet. Well, I decided that if I could get the supplements, I could cook her meat and add the fat, juice from the meat & water it was baked in & supplements to see how it worked. I Had some Avoderm supplement in the house that looks like wheat germ that has all the goodies in it including taurine, so I added that to it along with some mild spices as if I was cooking for us but much less, yesterday with tillapia and today with a dark meat chicken leg and she loved them!!!! This is after refusing everything canned! If she still goes for it in a few days, I will buy everything else needed and just cook a lot at once of a couple of meals for her and home cook.

Maybe Trinket is just plain tired of canned food and might eat some homecooked food. Why don't you try it even without the supplements for now to see if that's the problem. I just used a little basil, sage & paprika and the juices & fat the chicken skin made.

Melanie & Racci
 
I too am wondering if she is in pain. Was she on pain meds when she broke her leg? If so, was she eating fine while on the pain meds?

One other thing - is it possibly hairball problems? Carma just developed hairball problems out of nowhere - all her other tests are normal. Cat grass has worked better than any of the fibers and jellys. I'm only throwing that out there, but my biggest concern is that she is in pain or that she is nauseous. Unfortunately those things don't show up on tests. Maybe pain meds or cerenia would work.
 
terri1962 said:
Traci

She was fine until she had that accident and broke her leg. Somehow I think that has something to do with it but I am not sure what. Does she have metal pins and screws in her leg? It just seems odd to me that she was fine until accident. I will think about this, also others may come up with some good ideas as well. That poor little baby has been through so much.

Terri
Click to expand...

Hey Terri-
She's got pins and screws but she's not in any pain, it's healed pretty well thank goodness. She's a tough cookie!
 
carolynandlatte said:
The antibiotic could be causing stomach upset. I would just keep doing what you are doing and await the results from the urinalysis. If that comes back clear after the a/b's are out of the system THEN it would be good to think about what your next steps may need to be.

Could she be experiencing pain in the leg?

Sounds like you are doing a great job getting enough food in her, even if it is challenging.

Some people do give fortiflora while on a round of a/b's. http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/Product/FortiFloraCatNutritionalSupplements.aspx Maybe you could get some from your vet in the next day or two? Some folks might have suggestions on where else to get a comparable probiotic (whole foods?). Plain greek yogurt may also be an option.

I hope she is feeling better soon!
Click to expand...

No pain; I'm sure of it. She's nuts. She runs and plays really hard. No limping or laying around. I like your idea that it could be the AB's that are keeping her from eating. I REALLY hope that's it. I gave her the last dose tonight. Whew. I do put FortiFlora on her food - Merlin's too. I will keep up the same thing until I get the urinalysis. Thank you very much! You gave me hope.
 
MelanieAndRacci said:
Hi Traci,

I'm so sorry Trinket is still giving you a hard time with food and not feeling well. Have you tried offering her some homemade food? You know all the trouble I've been having with Racci and her diet. Well, I decided that if I could get the supplements, I could cook her meat and add the fat, juice from the meat & water it was baked in & supplements to see how it worked. I Had some Avoderm supplement in the house that looks like wheat germ that has all the goodies in it including taurine, so I added that to it along with some mild spices as if I was cooking for us but much less, yesterday with tillapia and today with a dark meat chicken leg and she loved them!!!! This is after refusing everything canned! If she still goes for it in a few days, I will buy everything else needed and just cook a lot at once of a couple of meals for her and home cook.

Maybe Trinket is just plain tired of canned food and might eat some homecooked food. Why don't you try it even without the supplements for now to see if that's the problem. I just used a little basil, sage & paprika and the juices & fat the chicken skin made.

Melanie & Racci
Click to expand...

I guess I could cook something for her. I've done it before but it's not been loved. Why not, it's another option, right? I'll add that to me list!
 
Rachel & Gus said:
I too am wondering if she is in pain. Was she on pain meds when she broke her leg? If so, was she eating fine while on the pain meds?

One other thing - is it possibly hairball problems? Carma just developed hairball problems out of nowhere - all her other tests are normal. Cat grass has worked better than any of the fibers and jellys. I'm only throwing that out there, but my biggest concern is that she is in pain or that she is nauseous. Unfortunately those things don't show up on tests. Maybe pain meds or cerenia would work.
Click to expand...

No pain, honestly. She wouldn't be playful if she was in pain. She was on bupe. THat happened on Halloween and she's definitely better. I had to keep her calm all the time - she always was trying to do more than she was allowed.

Since I've had her she's puked a few times and it was hairballs. She did it recently and I thought it was poop-it was a big one. She doesn't do it often at all. And I'm assuming it's her - I have one other cat be he never puked so it's probably her. What's cerenia for? If she did have a hairball problem how would I know other than seeing them?
 
mybuddybinks said:
AW...SENDING "PLEASE EAT YOUR FOODS" VINES TO SWEET LIL TRINK...
Click to expand...

Thanks Celi; I was over at LL earlier and saw Binks's "before" pictures! Have him send some of that appetite over here! :lol:
 
So sorry you're still struggling with Trinket not eating! If it's hairballs, kitty grass as mentioned is easy to grow. I've also tried the Temptations hairball treats, they seemed to help but I don't know the carbs of them.

As far as raw, how about trying a fully or mostly cooked and cooled chicken thigh? I wouldn't add any spices to it, it's just too dangerous considering the number of foods that can hurt a cat. Just bake and cool. It's not a complete meal nutritiously, but it might be a way to get food in her stomach. At roughly $1.99/lb, it might be worth another try. Did you try any of the premixes out there? My cats tried to eat through a bag of premix, they liked it that much! Premixes now stay in the freezer. My grinder just came in, so I'm about to start that transitions.

If fortiflora isn't helping, what about parmesan? It's mentioned on Dr. Pierson's site as a possible enticement.

Best of luck, it's so frustrating when a cat looks at their food and says to you, "Really?" and then walks away.

Suzanne
 
If you choose to go raw it takes at least a week to transition and more likely 2-3 and you have to do the mixing over the course of changing them. One of my cats still has to have kitty crack on his to eat it at all (That’s what I call forti flora since that’s what they coat dry food in to get the cats to eat it). If you are interested in going raw read Dr. Pierson’s site, there is a lot of great info.

Antibiotics can tend to upset the stomach. I would think that to a certain extent they could also disrupt the good bacteria in the system as well.

It could also be a vitamin deficiency but I would expect her to be acting off and she isn’t, just won’t eat.
 
Suzanne&Grey said:
So sorry you're still struggling with Trinket not eating! If it's hairballs, kitty grass as mentioned is easy to grow. I've also tried the Temptations hairball treats, they seemed to help but I don't know the carbs of them.

As far as raw, how about trying a fully or mostly cooked and cooled chicken thigh? I wouldn't add any spices to it, it's just too dangerous considering the number of foods that can hurt a cat. Just bake and cool. It's not a complete meal nutritiously, but it might be a way to get food in her stomach. At roughly $1.99/lb, it might be worth another try. Did you try any of the premixes out there? My cats tried to eat through a bag of premix, they liked it that much! Premixes now stay in the freezer. My grinder just came in, so I'm about to start that transitions.

If fortiflora isn't helping, what about parmesan? It's mentioned on Dr. Pierson's site as a possible enticement.

Best of luck, it's so frustrating when a cat looks at their food and says to you, "Really?" and then walks away.

Suzanne
Click to expand...

Thanks Suzanne. I do have a chicken thigh or two in my freezer. I'll try again. I hadn't seen the Temptations hairball treats. I will buy them - she does like Temptations - in fact she ate a few this morning without coaxing.
 
Traci, I'm not sure if this helps, but my cats aren't eating FF very well right now either. There must be a lot of variation in flavor between lot numbers, because sometimes they love it and other times they won't touch it. Right now even Lucy is turning up her nose, and Lucy usually loves all food. I got some Blue Wilderness and some of the new PurinaOne, and they are eating those.

It sounds like you think there is something else going on, but I thought I would throw this thought out there. I hope Trinket is ok!
 
Hi, can't offer much help, because I have the same problem.

My cats ate 2 big bags of applaws (low ch dry food), but the 3rd bag was not to their liking anymore, and since then eating has been difficult for Tricky, the diabetic one. I tried many different brands dry and wet, but Tricky only eats the dry food that's worst for her, and even that she sometimes doesn't want, making it impossible to regulate her. The other one likes everything, except the applaws (also other new bag and other flavour). It's all a mystery to me, and I now how stressful it is.

I spent a long time googling for this problem, and found some other possibilities, besides the cat just being stubborn and fussy (which I still suspect) :
- they associate their old food with being sick (Tricky had very low hypo values shortly before refusing the applaws, maybe Trinket is reminded of her painful leg ?)
- rivalry with another cat (am now going to try to feed Tricky in another room than Zorro, my healthy cat, maybe that helps)

Also, have you tried putting the food bowl a bit higher, on a book or something ? Maybe her leg is a bit stiff so she's not comfortable eating from the ground ?

Good luck anyway !
 
Cerenia is mainly an anti nausea med, but also helps mild inflammation and pain.

I just came to the conclusion it was hairballs with Carma because I too found some huge ones on the floor when I got home from work and sometimes she would vomit them up right in front of me. I began to notice a pattern of her not being hungry in the days proceeding her vomiting a hairball.

She didn't vomit any other time and she didn't have diarrhea - her coat and eyes looked fine and labs were fine too, so the vet didn't feel there was any type of cancer or other illness present because she didn't exhibit any other symptoms. I even had her teeth cleaned and they extracted a tooth which was loose and had some gingivitis around it, but she was still going through the "not eating" and then "eating" phase - which - as I already said, I eventually figured out was cycling around hairballs.

I try to keep grass available now because that's done better at helping with the hairballs than any of the other treatments.
 
Another thing I thought of was constipation. Racci won't eat when constipated. Has Trinket been moving her bowels regularly and are they hard? I also agree with the hairballs theory being a possibility. Petromalt is Racci's favorite. She licks it off my finger like a treat. It's a gel in a tube.

Melanie & Racci
 
Suzanne&Grey said:
So sorry you're still struggling with Trinket not eating! If it's hairballs, kitty grass as mentioned is easy to grow. I've also tried the Temptations hairball treats, they seemed to help but I don't know the carbs of them.

As far as raw, how about trying a fully or mostly cooked and cooled chicken thigh? I wouldn't add any spices to it, it's just too dangerous considering the number of foods that can hurt a cat. Just bake and cool. It's not a complete meal nutritiously, but it might be a way to get food in her stomach. At roughly $1.99/lb, it might be worth another try. Did you try any of the premixes out there? My cats tried to eat through a bag of premix, they liked it that much! Premixes now stay in the freezer. My grinder just came in, so I'm about to start that transitions.

If fortiflora isn't helping, what about parmesan? It's mentioned on Dr. Pierson's site as a possible enticement.

Best of luck, it's so frustrating when a cat looks at their food and says to you, "Really?" and then walks away.

Suzanne
Click to expand...

Hi Suzanne-
Thank you for your suggestions. I bought the hairball treats. I had never seen them before! My chicken thighs are defrostig and I'll cook them tonight. Parm doesn't really doit for her - I've tried that too. nailbite_smile
 
Libby and Lucy said:
Traci, I'm not sure if this helps, but my cats aren't eating FF very well right now either. There must be a lot of variation in flavor between lot numbers, because sometimes they love it and other times they won't touch it. Right now even Lucy is turning up her nose, and Lucy usually loves all food. I got some Blue Wilderness and some of the new PurinaOne, and they are eating those.

It sounds like you think there is something else going on, but I thought I would throw this thought out there. I hope Trinket is ok!
Click to expand...

Hi Libby-

Since you helped me in the past so much with Boomer I went right out and got the foods you suggested. I figured it couldn't hurt. She's eatimg more but still needs coaxing. She seemed to like both the Blue Wilderness I gave her last night and the one this morning.

Much to my horror, last night she showed a NEW symptom. Now she's got a runny eye and it sneezing. She wasn't doing this until yesterday night. This morning her eye seems better but she's still sneezing. I need to start a new post about this I guess. nailbite_smile
I will once I get back from the insane asylum.
 
liewil said:
Hi, can't offer much help, because I have the same problem.

My cats ate 2 big bags of applaws (low ch dry food), but the 3rd bag was not to their liking anymore, and since then eating has been difficult for Tricky, the diabetic one. I tried many different brands dry and wet, but Tricky only eats the dry food that's worst for her, and even that she sometimes doesn't want, making it impossible to regulate her. The other one likes everything, except the applaws (also other new bag and other flavour). It's all a mystery to me, and I now how stressful it is.

I spent a long time googling for this problem, and found some other possibilities, besides the cat just being stubborn and fussy (which I still suspect) :
- they associate their old food with being sick (Tricky had very low hypo values shortly before refusing the applaws, maybe Trinket is reminded of her painful leg ?)
- rivalry with another cat (am now going to try to feed Tricky in another room than Zorro, my healthy cat, maybe that helps)

Also, have you tried putting the food bowl a bit higher, on a book or something ? Maybe her leg is a bit stiff so she's not comfortable eating from the ground ?

Good luck anyway !
Click to expand...
Putting the bowl up higher does help. She DOES get distracted when my other cat Merlin comes around while she's eating; but he's not really a rival - they like each other....so this morning I closed the door while I was feeding her and she immediately goes to the door either because she feels trapped or because she knows Merlin is on the other side of it.

I don't think she has a negative food association because she constantly has had a big variety of flavors.
 
MelanieAndRacci said:
Another thing I thought of was constipation. Racci won't eat when constipated. Has Trinket been moving her bowels regularly and are they hard? I also agree with the hairballs theory being a possibility. Petromalt is Racci's favorite. She licks it off my finger like a treat. It's a gel in a tube.

Melanie & Racci
Click to expand...

Not constipated...not to be gross, but I witnessed her pooping last night and it was quite large - so she is eating. I need to remember that. She's become a "nibbler" my BF says. It's certainly annoying to be the fur-mom to a nibbler. nailbite_smile
 
If she has started to sneeze and her eyes are watering she might have either allergies or a cold, if she can't smell right that could be why she isn't eating as much. Cats won't eat what they can't smell. Have to tried warming her food up? Perhaps adding a little L-Lysine to her food would help her get over the sneezing and boost her appetite. Or she just may have turned into a grazer now that she is going from a kitten to a young lady. Several years ago, I had a civie Morgana that did that as a kitten she would eat anything that wasn't nailed down but at about a year old she started to take a few bites, wander off, come back for a few more bites, wander off, come back etc until she finished her meal. Nothing was every found to be wrong with her, just as her growth slowed down so did her ravenous appetite.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
MommaOfMuse said:
If she has started to sneeze and her eyes are watering she might have either allergies or a cold, if she can't smell right that could be why she isn't eating as much. Cats won't eat what they can't smell. Have to tried warming her food up? Perhaps adding a little L-Lysine to her food would help her get over the sneezing and boost her appetite. Or she just may have turned into a grazer now that she is going from a kitten to a young lady. Several years ago, I had a civie Morgana that did that as a kitten she would eat anything that wasn't nailed down but at about a year old she started to take a few bites, wander off, come back for a few more bites, wander off, come back etc until she finished her meal. Nothing was every found to be wrong with her, just as her growth slowed down so did her ravenous appetite.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
Click to expand...

Hi Mel-
My vet keeps saying the same thing about slowing down as she's almost one. I agree (perhaps-but not convinced because I've never seen any of my other cats do this) that this could be a possibility. I'm still assist-feeding with a spoon and coaxing. She's doing better. She also eats a little more now when I first put the food down before she starts pawing everything and taking off.

The cold literally just started yesterday. I'm just blown away that she's now got a cold on top of whatever else is going on. I read that colds can be catching but Merlin doesn't seem to have anything at this point. Where do I get L-lysene? Is it a human thing? I've heard of lots of peeps here use it. Do cats like it? From what you said it sound like it's something you sprinkle on their food?
 
dian and wheezer said:
this is where a lot of us buy from. It is pure. might be able to find capsules or t pills in walmart or such or health food store but this is a good bang for the buck. powder and you just sprinkle 1/8-1/4 tsp BID on their food.
http://www.iherb.com/Now-Foods-L-Lysine ... g/653?at=0
Click to expand...

Dian-
I just bought it. Thanks for the link.
You could have gotten a $5 off coupon if you gave me a referral code.
Do they like the taste of this stuff??? Will they eat it? God I hope so.
 
If she is trying to bury her food then it could very well be that she is turning into a grazer with age. Cats in the wild do that to hide their cache from other animals so they can comeback and eat it later. Both Morgana and my one and only grazer here (Duvessa) do that. They eat a little, act like they are trying to bury it and then walk off, only problem with that for Duvessa here is that everyone else is a hoover and there is nothing to bury her food with..lol.

It seems that I have seen that behavior more in my females than I have in my males, but that kind of makes sense since in the wild with the big cats the females do the hunting but eat last in a pride. Females do the killing, then cover it and bring the rest of the Pride back to eat. Males just show up for dinner...How typical of men..j/k guys! :lol:

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Traci and Boomer said:
mybuddybinks said:
AW...SENDING "PLEASE EAT YOUR FOODS" VINES TO SWEET LIL TRINK...
Click to expand...

Thanks Celi; I was over at LL earlier and saw Binks's "before" pictures! Have him send some of that appetite over here! :lol:
Click to expand...


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Yup...he's STILL not speaking to me after he got a glance at that condo!
actually what's strange to me is that until FD, Binks was always kind of an indifferent eater-
Homie (GA)...his partner in crime and my lil soulmate, was my hungry bunny- and never went over 11 lbs.
Sadly, Binks kept to the kibble and dissed the canned that I fed to entice his daddy.
OH...the things we wish we had known before FD... :roll:

Still thinking of Trinket the Vampire Hunter, and hoping she feels better!

celi
 
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