Aww!!
I hope he’s home soon and I’m glad glad Beth is doing better.
Jingling that everyone keeps improving!!
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Oh bless his poor little heart. He must have been saying “MOOOMmm come and get me!” I’s either that or you were getting such a tongue lashing.
When my cat Duncan had to be hospitalized for urinary blockage, the vet staff kept thinking he was dead because .he lay in the back of the cage and never moved. I mean, they said they never even saw him blink. He would only eat if the vet hand fed him. And still barely moving - just the tongue licking off the food from her finger. Mr Drama.
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Rascal, who I lost earlier this year to kidney failure, HATED the vet. Many years ago, he had bladder stones and had to have surgery to remove them. Then, of course, he had to stay for a few days. But the vet sent him home earlier than he wanted to - I got a call saying “Come get him. He won’t eat. We can’t do anything with him.”
So I went to get him. They brought him into the exam room to show me the stitches and talk about aftercare, and they set him on the table and he just sat there, all hunched up, staring straight ahead, not moving. I said his name, and his ear twitched. I said it again, and got down at eye level with him. Suddenly, he turned his head, saw it was me, and slid across that table and buried his face against my chest. Most of my cats have been okay with staying at the vet for a few days, but Rascal never was.
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Quick update: the vet sent Nigel home tonight, because the office is closed over the weekend and he was the only cat there, so he thought he’d be happier here. He has become anorexic again over the past two days, though, and has refused to eat since he’s been home (I picked him up about 5pm). The vet really wants to talk to the lab and see what they recommend we do for him in terms of keeping him on this medicine, or changing to something else, but he has dropped to 6lbs at this point. He just acts like he feels like hell.
That said, he’s breathing better, so the vet is sure the meds are working (since the fungus was in his lungs). He had ant-nausea meds today, but they aren’t doing anything, as far as I can tell. I am starting to think that he may be one of those cats that doesn’t come out of it. Or maybe he needs an antidepressant, or an antacid? I wish I knew.
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Or both? I had a cat once that decided to stop eating. Nothing was ever found really wrong with her - she just decided that she did not want to eat. We went thru everything to get her to eat and finally resorted to force feeding her AD diet. Which she just loved - not. I think we managed to jolly her out of it by feeding her little canned shrimps or some expensive treat. And then she decided to eat again. Go figure.
Sometimes I wish we could read their little minds or they could talk so we could help them feel better. I am still sending positive energy your way along with jingles for Nigel.
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Thanks for the jingles - his eyes are still bright, so I know he wants to fight, but … I ended up syringe-feeding him tonight, and once he tasted it, he ate a little on his own. Then he acted like his stomach hurt. So I know something isn’t right. But what?!
I’m glad Nigel got to come home. Hopefully that will help him feel better. It’s a good sign that his breathing is better. It sounds like he’s one step forward, 2 steps back. When he eats, does he throw up or is he able to keep it down? I hope the sweet kitty does better at home this weekend.
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My kitty was starting not to eat very much a few days ago. I bought a packet of chicken bone broth and he loves it. Found this particular brand in an independently owned pet food store, but apparently Petco sells it as well as Amazon. I assume Petco sells the individual packets, have not checked there. It is a relatively new product. It says it contains “shreds” but I have yet to find anything beyond very tiny and nothing I would consider shreds.
Another thing you might try to perk up his appetite.
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What’s he on?
I’ve never found cerenia to work very well, and that’s what’s usually prescribed. Zofran has been much better for my kitties. It pairs nicely with cerenia (they’re different classes of meds.)
My “kitchen sink” approach with inappetent, nauseous kitties is:
Pepcid
Zofran
Cerenia
Mirtazipine
And that’s been very, very effective for some complex hospice cases, and we’ve been able to keep them around comfortably for much longer than the vet expected.
Pepcid is otc, everything else is rx. My favorite pepcid is the small generic tablets from Walgreens. You want the regular strength 10 mg ones.
Once his nausea is managed and you kick in his appetite, he will still probably not eat anything you’ve put in front of him lately–just like how we get averse to foods we see when we feel really poorly, so do they. A buffet of new stuff to offer should help.
I hope he turns around soon!!
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I hope he eats better after some pepcid.
Still jingling for Mr. Nigel!!
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Pepcid aka Famotidine (my fave is from target). My kitty, subject of Cat is NQR any ideas? Got some Cerenia yesterday morning in addition to her famotidine. She’s eating better since last nigh (not great, but better). I recommend grabbing some famotidine and adding that. I specifically asked the vet about giving them together and she said it was fine. She also said that for my girl at 6.25lbs 1/4 of a 10mg pill is a full days dose, but I’m going to start giving her 1/4 morning and night as it seem like it wears off less than 24 hours after taking it. @Simkie has had her vet ok that. I think mine is just conservative. She’s mentioned rebound reflux when taking them off of it. But I’ll just wean her down slowly from the higher does if she ever gets normal again!
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No, no vomiting- he just hunches up as they do when they don’t feel well. It really is 1 step forward, 2 back.
He drank a little milk last night and this morning, so that was encouraging - he also voluntarily ate a bit of canned and dry. I didn’t even have to encourage him.
Thank you! I am going to PetCo this weekend, so I will see if they have it in stock.
I’m not sure what he’s on. My vet typically uses Mirtazipine but I will ask. I can get the Walgreens Pepcid today. How much do they get? Can you give it to them in something?
Thank you! I will pick that up today- how do you give it? Can you mix it with something, or grind it into a powder and tip it down the hatch?
2.5 mg once to twice daily is what my vets have always rxd. Yep, they can have it with food. We just add to wet for for the kitties that are eating but not as well as we’d like, or cover with very small piece of pill pocket for pilling.
Good luck!!
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I was told I could grind it into a powder and mix it into the food, but since she won’t eat the food I went with just chucking a quarter of the pill into the back of her throat. Luckily she’s really good about that. She also won’t got for pill pockets. If you don’t have a pill cutter I’d grab one of those as well. Make sure you get the regular strength famotidine, the extra strength pills are 20mg and you’d have to cut them up even smaller.
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Have you ever syringe fed? I had an FIP kitty I had to syringe feed for a bit. I would burrito him in a towel fresh from the dryer, wrap him up and do a liquid high calorie food. Kitten milk also works well in a syringe.
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Not often, but I have. Or rather, eye-dropper fed. I have a large eye dropper that I used last night to get some food into him.
A quick update: last night he was syringe-fed, and then ate a bit on his own, and he drank some milk. This morning, he was bright-eyed and vocal, and drank some more milk, and voluntarily ate a bit of dry, and some canned. He ate a little more canned twice more, then again about 4pm. Its not a lot - he’s probably eaten about a tsp and a half today - but he’s interested and I hope that by feeding him a little continuously, it will help.
He had his Intra about an hour ago, and you could tell instantly that he was more depressed. I gave him his 1/4 pill of Pepcid about half an hour ago; he’s now sleeping. I’ll try him again in a while on some more food. Thanks for the continued jingles!!!
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