Something is Wrong with my Old Cat

[Zoom-boing]

So Shadow (15+ years) decided to play finicky eater over the weekend. Ok, no biggie. He refused to eat his dinner Sun night. Gave him something different Mon .. no go. He was just drinking water but throwing that up nearly immediately. White foam. He did eat tiny bit of turkey, which he promptly threw up. Was peeing but not sure on the pooping No other food Mon. Decided Tues morning to give him one more day then to the vet. He was drinking - not a lot at all and very slow laps and doing weird things with his left paw, kind of tapping along the side of the water dish, almost as if he was checking to see if there was water in there. Tues he started throwing up yellow bile. Called the vet, took him over for an emergency visit. He was dehydrated but after a thorough physical exam, she found nothing out of the ordinary. Felt no lumps or anything in his organs, his bladder was full at that point but she felt no poop in his colon. They hydrated him, gave us an rx for pills to perk up his appetite and said to let her know how he was doing. If nothing changed, call her Friday.

I asked her how was I to get the pill into him, as I usually give it to him wrapped in a tasty tidbit but he wasn't eating. I've tried everything too, all his favs. Nope. I told her we had given him pills before by crushing them, mixing w/a bit of water and putting that into a syringe then putting that down his throat. She said that was fine.

Well, we did that about two hours ago. He foamed at the mouth, white foam and saliva, then threw up (kind of mucousy). He eventually made his way downstairs and was very unsteady on his feet, kind of wobbly. That passed, he is hungry, I kept offering him different things. He wants to eat he can't. I put some turducken (the good food) in a dish and he finally lapped a wee bit ... maybe 1/4 teaspoon. He's having some trouble jumping up onto the counter (I blocked it so he won't try). He then headed back up to bed. I called the vet after he threw up, the vet we saw yesterday isn't in. The girl asked the other vet who is there about giving the cat the pill that way and they said that was the cause of him barfing, to crush it and mix it into some gravy and literally rub it on his gums. Haven't done that yet. Personally I think this isn't an answer, he is hungry he but can not eat. We don't know why and that's the problem.

Anyone have any ideas? I'm reading all kinds of things online and they all seem to say that a cat not eating for three or fours days is quite bad. I'm very, very worried and the vet doesn't seem to be. I made an app't for tomorrow morning but don't know what the next step they will take. There is only so much we are willing to do (for example, exploratory surgery --- I wouldn't put him through that). Will they x-ray? I asked the girl who answered the phone at the vets all these questions but she didn't have any answers. Anyone here have anything they can offer? Thanks.

(Like this hasn't been a shitty enough year, now this?)

 

[Wolfsister77]

Did they do any blood work to look for kidney issues or something like that?

I would think an xray would be the next thing to do.

Good luck.

 

[Zoom-boing]

Oh shoot, forgot to add that info. Yeah, they just did a 'senior' blood panel about six weeks ago and all results were fine. I was expecting that to show some kind of kidney issue but all the numbers were good.

He did manage to get about another 1/4 tspn of food into him and he was drinking some water and so far has kept it down. My daughter is picking up a jar of chicken baby food to see if maybe he'll lick that. I'm wondering if maybe he has a sore tooth or maybe a canker sore -- do cats even get them? They did look at his mouth the best they could but he is, uh ...let's just say he's the original grumpy cat and on a good day he wouldn't let the vet near him with a ten foot pole. If they had to sedate him some to get a good look in his mouth I'd be fine with that. He was purring for a bit and gave me some head butts. His being so wobbly earlier ... might that be from being dehydrated (although they gave him fluids yesterday) or from the throwing up? Dizzy maybe?

 

[Gracie]

I wish I knew the answers, zoom. I hope your kitty gets better. If worse comes to worst, maybe a new vet? Sounds like the one you have is not too concerned and they should be.

 

[Gracie]

I think [MENTION=23424]syrenn[/MENTION] knows a lot about cats. Maybe she has some extra advice?

 

[syrenn]

ok.... ask your vet if he is dehydrated and if he needs fluids.... and do that right now, do not wait. Dehydration will effect all of what you are describing. Drinking will not be enough....its going to have to go in subQ.

try warming the food to bring up the aroma. A bit of tuna juice on the food sometimes helps.
Chicken Gerber baby food.... i swear its kitty crack.
Kitten food.... Royal Canin babycat Instinctive... is like kitty mousse.


i would also highly suggest an X-ray.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

syrenn is right about hydration. Its really the first concern. In case you don't know how to check, you gently pull up the skin on the back, just below the shoulder blades. If it snaps back quickly, hydration is likely fine. If the skin tents up, she's in trouble, as in emergent, life threatening.

If you're not sure if you're seeing tenting, do the same on a healthy animal, preferably another cat. Use that as a baseline.

Heating food is also good. If you're adding liquid meds, keep the meds cold. The cat will react to the smell of the warm food and not so much to the cold icky drug.

If you have a compounding pharmacy in your area, they can mix up most drugs with chickeny smelling liquid and you can mix that in the food.

Don't fall into the trap of trying various foods in hopes of getting more calories in her. You'll just end up making it worse. Don't give kitten food unless the vet knows. Kitten food is very high in fat and protein that babies need but that can put an adult cat into renal failure in a snap. Your vet is the final word on this.

OTOH, there are special products, very high calorie, low volume that help you get her through this. That is, assuming the underlying issue is not terminal. A name that comes to mind is Nutri-Cal but do not give it unless the vets says its okay. Reason, depending on what her underlying illness is, some products can do more harm than good.

I'm sure you already know but elderly cats can go down very quickly with either kidney or liver failure or both.

Cats can look like they're going to make it, they can even look good or as though they are rallying and then BAM, they're down. So, keep a close eye on her.

15 is elderly and you may be looking at the end. I wish you and your cat well. It never gets any easier for us humans to have to make that decision, but just as she depended on you all these years, she depends on you now to give her a decent end.

The oldest I've ever had was 22. I have fostered and rescued all my life but when the time came, when she was in renal failure, I stood there like an idiot and asked the vet if there wasn't something more we could do. I can't imagine what the heck I was thinking.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Oh shoot, forgot to add that info. Yeah, they just did a 'senior' blood panel about six weeks ago and all results were fine. I was expecting that to show some kind of kidney issue but all the numbers were good.

He did manage to get about another 1/4 tspn of food into him and he was drinking some water and so far has kept it down. My daughter is picking up a jar of chicken baby food to see if maybe he'll lick that. I'm wondering if maybe he has a sore tooth or maybe a canker sore -- do cats even get them? They did look at his mouth the best they could but he is, uh ...let's just say he's the original grumpy cat and on a good day he wouldn't let the vet near him with a ten foot pole. If they had to sedate him some to get a good look in his mouth I'd be fine with that. He was purring for a bit and gave me some head butts. His being so wobbly earlier ... might that be from being dehydrated (although they gave him fluids yesterday) or from the throwing up? Dizzy maybe?

Make sure the vet knows about any oddball food you're trying. Its usually not a good idea to add exotic stuff and can backfire. By "exotic", I mean anything he's not used to or is "rich".

Cats can have horrible (or no) teeth and still eat. But, an abscess can make them very sick and they can go down quickly.

I'm not clear on what you've said about the inside of his mouth. Sores on the inside of the mouth can be a sign of leukemia. If he goes out and if he's not vaccinated, that's a possibility. Is that what the vet was looking for?

Purring can be a sign of illness, pain, distress..

Did they give sub-q fluids? It can be almost magic the way hydration can help a sick animal get back on his feet.

 

[Starlight]

So Sorry about your cat, Zoom. Like someone mentioned, sounds like you need a different vet. I would think with the seriousness of your cat's problems, he would be given an xray, and if he has an abscessed tooth, they would anesthesize him to check in his mouth. Hope he gets better soon, Zoom.
Very hard to see our pet family sick and suffering so much.

 

[testarosa]

Zoomy - I'm so sorry about your cat. There was some great advice posted here.

Keep us updated.

 

[Esmeralda]

So Shadow (15+ years) decided to play finicky eater over the weekend. Ok, no biggie. He refused to eat his dinner Sun night. Gave him something different Mon .. no go. He was just drinking water but throwing that up nearly immediately. White foam. He did eat tiny bit of turkey, which he promptly threw up. Was peeing but not sure on the pooping No other food Mon. Decided Tues morning to give him one more day then to the vet. He was drinking - not a lot at all and very slow laps and doing weird things with his left paw, kind of tapping along the side of the water dish, almost as if he was checking to see if there was water in there. Tues he started throwing up yellow bile. Called the vet, took him over for an emergency visit. He was dehydrated but after a thorough physical exam, she found nothing out of the ordinary. Felt no lumps or anything in his organs, his bladder was full at that point but she felt no poop in his colon. They hydrated him, gave us an rx for pills to perk up his appetite and said to let her know how he was doing. If nothing changed, call her Friday.

I asked her how was I to get the pill into him, as I usually give it to him wrapped in a tasty tidbit but he wasn't eating. I've tried everything too, all his favs. Nope. I told her we had given him pills before by crushing them, mixing w/a bit of water and putting that into a syringe then putting that down his throat. She said that was fine.

Well, we did that about two hours ago. He foamed at the mouth, white foam and saliva, then threw up (kind of mucousy). He eventually made his way downstairs and was very unsteady on his feet, kind of wobbly. That passed, he is hungry, I kept offering him different things. He wants to eat he can't. I put some turducken (the good food) in a dish and he finally lapped a wee bit ... maybe 1/4 teaspoon. He's having some trouble jumping up onto the counter (I blocked it so he won't try). He then headed back up to bed. I called the vet after he threw up, the vet we saw yesterday isn't in. The girl asked the other vet who is there about giving the cat the pill that way and they said that was the cause of him barfing, to crush it and mix it into some gravy and literally rub it on his gums. Haven't done that yet. Personally I think this isn't an answer, he is hungry he but can not eat. We don't know why and that's the problem.

Anyone have any ideas? I'm reading all kinds of things online and they all seem to say that a cat not eating for three or fours days is quite bad. I'm very, very worried and the vet doesn't seem to be. I made an app't for tomorrow morning but don't know what the next step they will take. There is only so much we are willing to do (for example, exploratory surgery --- I wouldn't put him through that). Will they x-ray? I asked the girl who answered the phone at the vets all these questions but she didn't have any answers. Anyone here have anything they can offer? Thanks.

(Like this hasn't been a shitty enough year, now this?)

Your vet sound incompetent. If she is competent, get the cat back there and do more tests. Or take him to another vet. This is a seriously ill cat and he needs treatment!

 

[strollingbones]

think long and hard about having to subQ for long....

rice and chicken are the best things to give him right now...

sounds like he may have picked up a virus of some type....

good luck with all this

 

[Zoom-boing]

He was dehydrated and they did rehydrate him (sub-Q) on Tues. night (I did say that in the op but didn't remember that it was called sub-q). She did not seem over concerned but was also being cautious, trying minimum things at first. I swear people have lost the ability to actually listen, though. Why she gave him an appetite stimulant I'm still not sure. I said several times he is not eating ... he goes up to the food but won't eat, he's hungry but won't eat, etc. We did go in as an emergency at 7pm, she was swamped and tired I'm sure ... but still. People need to listen to what is actually being said, rather than what they think is being said. Oy. We didn't even try to get any more of the appetite stimulant into him yesterday. He's hungry, he just isn't (or isn't able) to eat.

I'm not giving him anything he doesn't already eat. Trying different flavors of his cat food, some turkey or ham, people tuna. He licked maybe 1/4 tspn of cat food at one point yesterday. I always take the chill off their food anyways, although Shadow never seems to mind if its cold. Last night my daughter picked up a jar of turkey baby food. I got him to take about 15 licks of if off my finger then another 10 licks a bit later. He kept that down. He is still drinking and he did pee and poop sometime last night.

He could not settle down last night or today. He was in and out of our bedrooms last night (not in pain or pesting, just not sleeping either). He was giving head butts and purring a lot last night, seemed happy to be around us. He was not doing this Tues or earlier Wed.

when I called the vet yesterday (only spoke to whoever answered the phone) I also made an appt. Took him early this a.m. She did another sub-q, gave him a shot to ease nausea. She said a cat that's hungry but is nauseated will go up to the food but will not eat. She also gave us anti-nausea med to give him (via syringe) tonight. About two hours ago he licked maybe 10 fingerfuls of the baby food from me and about an hour ago he ate maybe 1/2 tspn (hard to tell exactly how much but not much) of cat food from his bowl. He's still kind of wandering around, not settled or sleeping just yet. I'm hoping he takes a nap soon.

She said many, many things could cause him to be acting this way ... anything from a virus to IBS to pancreatitis to who knows what, it's a long list. I'm to call her tomorrow to let her know how he did today. Next step w/be abdominal ultra sound to see what that would show. I''m hoping it's some kind of virus (no idea where he'd even pick one up though) but am really worried it's something more. Oh, she said they would re-run his blood work to see if anything changed. Even though it was done 6 wks ago in cat years, that's more like 6 months (? is that right?) so yeah, something could have changed. TBH, when the bloodwork they ran came back normal I was surprised; I really thought it would show something be off because he's so skinny in the back end. From talking to others that might just be a normal thing that comes with age.

Today I asked more questions (like what the next steps w/be) and got more answers but it pisses me off that if I don't ask the exact question, they never offer information. For crying out loud, how can I ask a question if I don't even know what to ask? I find this to be true of most any doc and with things in general.

Thank you all so much for your input/advice/experiences. I totally appreciate it .. keep it coming!

 

[syrenn]

He was dehydrated and they did rehydrate him (sub-Q) on Tues. night (I did say that in the op but didn't remember that it was called sub-q). She did not seem over concerned but was also being cautious, trying minimum things at first. I swear people have lost the ability to actually listen, though. Why she gave him an appetite stimulant I'm still not sure. I said several times he is not eating ... he goes up to the food but won't eat, he's hungry but won't eat, etc. We did go in as an emergency at 7pm, she was swamped and tired I'm sure ... but still. People need to listen to what is actually being said, rather than what they think is being said. Oy. We didn't even try to get any more of the appetite stimulant into him yesterday. He's hungry, he just isn't (or isn't able) to eat.

I'm not giving him anything he doesn't already eat. Trying different flavors of his cat food, some turkey or ham, people tuna. He licked maybe 1/4 tspn of cat food at one point yesterday. I always take the chill off their food anyways, although Shadow never seems to mind if its cold. Last night my daughter picked up a jar of turkey baby food. I got him to take about 15 licks of if off my finger then another 10 licks a bit later. He kept that down. He is still drinking and he did pee and poop sometime last night.

He could not settle down last night or today. He was in and out of our bedrooms last night (not in pain or pesting, just not sleeping either). He was giving head butts and purring a lot last night, seemed happy to be around us. He was not doing this Tues or earlier Wed.

when I called the vet yesterday (only spoke to whoever answered the phone) I also made an appt. Took him early this a.m. She did another sub-q, gave him a shot to ease nausea. She said a cat that's hungry but is nauseated will go up to the food but will not eat. She also gave us anti-nausea med to give him (via syringe) tonight. About two hours ago he licked maybe 10 fingerfuls of the baby food from me and about an hour ago he ate maybe 1/2 tspn (hard to tell exactly how much but not much) of cat food from his bowl. He's still kind of wandering around, not settled or sleeping just yet. I'm hoping he takes a nap soon.

She said many, many things could cause him to be acting this way ... anything from a virus to IBS to pancreatitis to who knows what, it's a long list. I'm to call her tomorrow to let her know how he did today. Next step w/be abdominal ultra sound to see what that would show. I''m hoping it's some kind of virus (no idea where he'd even pick one up though) but am really worried it's something more. Oh, she said they would re-run his blood work to see if anything changed. Even though it was done 6 wks ago in cat years, that's more like 6 months (? is that right?) so yeah, something could have changed. TBH, when the bloodwork they ran came back normal I was surprised; I really thought it would show something be off because he's so skinny in the back end. From talking to others that might just be a normal thing that comes with age.

Today I asked more questions (like what the next steps w/be) and got more answers but it pisses me off that if I don't ask the exact question, they never offer information. For crying out loud, how can I ask a question if I don't even know what to ask? I find this to be true of most any doc and with things in general.

Thank you all so much for your input/advice/experiences. I totally appreciate it .. keep it coming!

(((hugs)))

something you seriously have to ask yourself is what the cut off point is. I went though medical with one of my cats a few years ago....he was only a year old so it was worth it to give him his best shot.... 24k later after all was said and done.....and he still put him down. i was very sad.


the anti nausa is good..... she is right that they will not eat if they feel that way. I also think the ultrasound and x-ray are in order as soon as possible. Keep on top of the dehydration..... that is very important at this point.

I agree with bones....try some poached chicken and rice.

 

[Wolfsister77]

Yeah, my two cents is, the xray or ultrasound. Did they run a test for Pancreatitis? I went through something similar with one of my cats a couple years ago.

She was dehydrated, wobbly, throwing up, wouldn't eat. Her kidneys were enlarged and they just figured she was shutting down so we put her down.

Peace, this is never easy.

 

[Wolfsister77]

Hey, just thought of something. Did they look in his mouth at all? Sometimes they swallow something-like something with a string maybe and it gets stuck and they can't eat.

Not likely but worth a shot anyway.

Good luck.

PS-did they check for hyperthyroidism?

 

[Wry Catcher]

Has the cat possibly ingested the string from a roast? I know this is an outside the box question but it could explain the problem. Best of luck.

 

[Zoom-boing]

They looked at his mouth the best they could but to really get a good look they'd have to sedate him.

Wry -- yeah, I wondered did he get a hold of some kind of string or a rubber band or something. He didn't as far as we know but I think an xray or ab ultra sound would be able to tell. Since he's drinking/peeping/pooping I don't believe it would be that but you never know.

He just ate about 1/3 of a 2.5oz jar of chicken baby food, took a bath (which he hasn't even done in several days) and is now sleeping. He was grumping at me the whole time he was eating ... merrr, merrr, merrr and kind of growling. But he ate.

sy -- yeah, there is only so much I'd put him through. X-rays and like but ... well, we'll just take it a day at a time.

 

[Zoom-boing]

Yeah, my two cents is, the xray or ultrasound. Did they run a test for Pancreatitis? I went through something similar with one of my cats a couple years ago.

She was dehydrated, wobbly, throwing up, wouldn't eat. Her kidneys were enlarged and they just figured she was shutting down so we put her down.

Peace, this is never easy.

Not yet but that may be the next thing,running more bloodwork/tests.

 

[Sunshine]

Has he had all his rabies vaccine? Sometimes people don't get their indoor pets vaccinated. But other animals can carry rabies and infect your cat. I have other cats and various animals come to the door and bump noses with my cat. That is all it takes.

Also, has he been checked for urinary tract problems?

Maybe he is just old and it's time to die. Animals will stop eating when that time comes. We had a horse that did that and I had to have her put down.