worried about cat: not eating/drinking

[Xanthoria]

Went to the vet yesterday with our 9 yr old (SPCA) Abyssinian because he hadn’t eaten or drunk anything in 24+ hours, was vomiting and feeling very lethargic. Won’t eat wet food, kitten food, treats, boiled chicken, or chicken baby food.

Vitals were ok and he was v perky at the vet of course… Bloodwork showed mildly elevated ALT (liver) but vet wasn’t excited by it. He got SQ fluids, anti-nausea meds (Cerenia) and antacid (Famotidine). They thought possibly he has a GI upset from our feral foster kittens.

This morning he’s the same. Force fed about a teaspoon of baby food before he got very annoyed. They said bring him back today if he’s not better, and I’ve decided to wait till 4pm (24 hours after the fluids, which are still absorbing)… but I’m worried. He’s hunched up on a heated mat right now, looking miserable. He did pee a good amount this morning.

And of course regular vets are shut so this is all expensive emergency vet stuff

Appetite stimulants for cats? Mirtazapine?

[Simkie]

I’ve never been impressed with cerenia alone for managing nausea. Zofran is much better, in my experience. It’s also very nice paired with cerenia. If you have any in the house, cat dose for a normal sized cat is 1 mg. Appetite stimulants can be useful but not until you have the nausea managed.

Are you continuing the famotidine at home? Not sure a single dose will make much of a change. That one’s easy since it’s OTC, as long as it doesn’t come back up.

Is there any chance the foster kitties brought something back from their spay? That happened to me last year–some gi bug from the alter clinic. Went through all the kittens, then my big kitties. First sign was inappetence, then vomiting, then diarrhea. Took metronidazole to clear up, along with quite a lot of zofran and pepcid to manage the symptoms. Once the nausea was managed, I added mirtazipine to kick start the eating, but things pretty quickly turned around once we added the antibiotics.

I hope he feels better soon!!

[Xanthoria]

Could well have brought something home from the spaying, but the kittens seem perfect!

They didn’t say to continue the famotidine and I don’t have any to give. I’ll ask for zofran and mirtazipine today - going to take him back to the emergency vet in about 2 hours. Just had another abortive force feeding event with beef baby food

[Simkie]

For the mirtazipine–def ask for the transdermal pen from Wedgewood. It’s SO much easier than trying to use the pills that you have to break into tiny pieces. Even if you have to wait a few days for it, it’s so worth it!

Good luck at the vet!

[Redemption3]

This may have been addressed very early on but wanted to mention anyway… when one of my cats had those exact symptoms it was the advanced stages of a hairball blockage

[Xanthoria]

Advanced hairball blockage? Oh FFS! What even is that?!

I’m at the vet now. They have mirtazipine in case it’s needed. They’re prodding him now…

[Xanthoria]

Well I always think small animal care is cheaper than horse care with the exception of teeth but NO! They’re doing 2 rads and they’re $300 each! And it’s an emergency clinic so all the other bells and whistles and we’re at $765! Then there might be ultrasounds! And prescriptions!

For fox ache…

[Xanthoria]

Ok. They did rads. Showed nothing. 765. Want to keep him overnight so they can ultrasound tomorrow at an additional cost if 700. Um, no. I’m taking him home with sub q fluids again! Won’t give him appetite stimulation or anti nausea in case of obstruction. Gah.

[Simkie]

Ugh, I’m sorry Was there something on the rads that was concerning for obstruction?? I don’t understand not giving anti nausea when a) the other vet already did and b) presumably you can restrict his intake so he’s not going to magically feel 100% and gorge on top of an obstruction. Leaving him feeling crappy seems like such a poor solution.

Hopefully the second round of fluids is all he needs!

Maybe consider picking up some pepcid? It’s handy to have in the house for the kitties. The regular strength OTC stuff (the 10 mg tabs) is what you want. Normal sized kitties take a quarter tab twice daily.

[Xanthoria]

I don’t get it either… Nothing drastic seen on the rads - they’re going for a 2nd opinion. All they can come up with is obstruction, despite palpating great. So they want him in for u/s tomorrow at great expense. I just don’t feel like that’s covering all the bases… and of course my reg vet is closed today… along with all the others…

He just got up and sniffed some wet food which is a good sign, but didn’t eat. Ugh.

Sidebar: HOW can a night in a cage be $600? Single line item on the quote. And OK running an IV for $198 on top… when sub Q fluids is $78…

Lastly, the front desk woman undercharged me by $300 when I went to leave… she was so happy when I pointed it out… :uhoh:

[Marshfield]

@Simkie

Ugh, I’m sorry Was there something on the rads that was concerning for obstruction?? I don’t understand not giving anti nausea when a) the other vet already did and b) presumably you can restrict his intake so he’s not going to magically feel 100% and gorge on top of an obstruction. Leaving him feeling crappy seems like such a poor solution.

I’ve been the one to do the surgery on a few too many pets where using Cerenia masked the foreign body and delayed surgery to the detriment of the pet. So, if there’s any concern of an obstruction, many of us won’t give it.

[Xanthoria]

@Marshfield that was also the reason they wouldn’t give mirtazipine. They also didn’t tell me NOT to feed him. I’m a bit lost here…

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

I would ask for another round of blood work, for sure - something may have be brewing that will suddenly be clear now.

Can your regular vet come in for an emergency call? Mine does, but I know not all do. I’m always more comfortable with him than someone who doesn’t know my animals.

Did an obstruction actually show up on the rads? Did they feel anything by palpating? I assume they ran the entire GI tract, including the stomach? Did they run a fecal?

[Xanthoria]

No obstruction on rads. Nothing on palp. They did 2 views - I don’t know what views: they didn’t show me. No fecal. Reg vet closed - I called them 2 hours before closing on the 3rd and they haven’t called back.

[Redemption3]

@Xanthoria

Advanced hairball blockage? Oh FFS! What even is that?!

I’m at the vet now. They have mirtazipine in case it’s needed. They’re prodding him now…

A hairball that went unpassed and unnoticed for a couple of days. Not an emergency at first but in my poor cat’s case it turned into an emergency because it was missed. Showed all the symptoms your cat is showing. I hope they find the cause and he recovers quickly.

[Marshfield]

@Xanthoria

@Marshfield that was also the reason they wouldn’t give mirtazipine. They also didn’t tell me NOT to feed him. I’m a bit lost here…

I’ve not heard of skipping mirtazapine for possible obstruction.

[Simkie]

How is your kitty this morning, Xan?

[Xanthoria]

He got up at 5.30am and did a smallish, softish poo which I was super happy about, then a big pee. But he’s still extremely lethargic, and camped out on the heated bathroom floor on a rug. I’m waiting til 8am when I can call his regular vet. Not even the slightest interest in food or water…:no:

[Xanthoria]

@Redemption3

A hairball that went unpassed and unnoticed for a couple of days. Not an emergency at first but in my poor cat’s case it turned into an emergency because it was missed. Showed all the symptoms your cat is showing. I hope they find the cause and he recovers quickly.

Oh no… I hope the outcome was good… :nonchalance:

[Xanthoria]

@Marshfield

I’ve not heard of skipping mirtazapine for possible obstruction.

Hm. I mean it kinda made sense to me that you wouldn’t want an obstructed cat eating…?