Cat badly mauled by a dog - cat won't eat/drink?

IanG1471

Last Friday my little 3yr old cat was badly mauled by a dog. She has many puncture wounds and although she can walk, she cannot use her back legs to spring up to sit on the sofa etc (she uses her front paws/claws to sort of scramble up) at the moment. More worryingly though she will not eat anything or drink anything at all despite being tempted by her favourite foods etc.



I do not know what dog attacked the cat, all I saw was my cat slowly coming up the path covered in blood and trailing her back legs. I quickly scooped her up in a towel and we took her straight away to the vets (We phoned ahead to the vets and she was rushed straight in). The vets have x-rayed and scanned her and cannot see anything obvious (no broken bones etc). They kept her at the vets, cleaned up her wounds and gave her pain killers, antibiotics and a drip to keep her hydrated over the last few days but at the vets she would not eat or drink anything.


The vets thought it maybe the stress of being at the vets which was stopping her eating/drinking. Hence, with the vets blessing, I fetched her home for 24 hours to see if she would drink/eat at home. However despite trying all her usual favourites she had not shown any interest in eating or drinking.


I took her back to the vets last night and, as she had started to de-hydrate again, she was re-admitted and again put onto a drip to rehydrate her, as well as being given pain killers and vitamins. The vets (one junior one and both senior partners) have all examined her again and cannot find anything obvious that is stopping her eating or drinking (no mouth/throat injury, internal blockages etc etc). Her puncture wounds are all healing up and her blood tests have come back as normal but this lack of eating/drinking is really worrying.


I have only had this little cat for 4 months. She was a rescue cat from the Blue Cross, bought after my last lovely cat had to be put to sleep (she had a cancerous tumour on her heart and her heart could not beat properly any more).


My cat is well insured so there is no bar to the treatment she can be given financial wise, but it seems the vets are starting to get a little stumped as to why she will not eat or drink. Has anyone had this happen to their cat and has anyone any ideas how we can get my cat eating/drinking again?


Thanks


Ian

kazwookie

I would guess the cat is still in shock at the moment, may be lots of gental cuddles might help.

Make sure you leave lots of water bowls around, and keep trying small amounts of food often, when my cat was recovering from an operation, chicken and tuna did the trick to get him eating again.

WantToBeSE

I agree with Kaz, its probably shock, and lots of cuddles will help.

IanG1471

kazwookie wrote: »

I would guess the cat is still in shock at the moment, may be lots of gental cuddles might help.

Make sure you leave lots of water bowls around, and keep trying small amounts of food often, when my cat was recovering from an operation, chicken and tuna did the trick to get him eating again.

Thanks both,

I actually tried this when she was home for the night. I stayed awake all night with her, stroking and cuddling her etc. She seemed happy enough (purring and licking my fingers etc) but just wouldn't drink or eat her real favourites such as M&S cooked chicken, tinned tuna, tinned salmon, poached cod in milk (she normally goes absolutely mad for this whilst it is poaching in the microwave - she paws the microwave door trying to get at the fish!!), nor her favorite cat foods and favorite cat treats deposited everywhere, all to no avail.

There were lots of bowls of water and cat milk around - even placing her next to the bowls had no effect. I even tried to squirt water into her mouth with a syringe and tried to give her water and cat milk on a spoon to no avail.

The vets had given her diazepam to help with any shock/keep her calm but it didn't seem to help with feeding/drinking

The real worry is de-hydration, as she won't drink at all so has to stay at the vets with the drip in to keep fluids going into her. The vet nurses have said she seems happy enough at the vets and they do stroke her often and she has been purring but not eating/drinking.

I hope it is just a matter of time, but the vets did say they hoped that by now she would be taking at least water by herself.

Ian

moggymutt

Sounds like you've tried about almost everything, but here's a few suggestions that you might possibly not have tried.

Have you already tried syringe feeding hills a/d - designed to go in a syringe and I find cats accept having that syringed into their mouths better than water. Just about a half ml at a time, sadly she might just sit there with the little blob still in her mouth, but most cats will swallow it down. I swear by a/d, it's saved countless poorly cats for me over the years- very time consuming, but you sound like the sort of person who would happily do anything for her.

The other thing to try is Bach Rescue Remedy in a dropper- I haven't got a clue how or why it works (all sounds a bit too hippy dippy to me at times), but I find that it DOES often work, so I use it a lot.

When not eating, I've found that cats can go for foods that I wouldn't expect- eg hills k/d biscuits has been a favourite with any poorly and reluctant eaters with me. The biscuits though, not the wet. If the biscuits can get her eating while she's being hydrated at the vets, then hopefully she can then start eating other wet things. The other favourite is pilchards in tomato sauce -probably the most commonly used food for tempting wild cats into traps for neutering.

One last unusual example- we had an RTA cat in many years ago, who could not eat because he could not get food from the front of this mouth to the back of his mouth- we presume his tongue wasn't working properly. Luckily for us he was so hungry that he would sit with his mouth wide open as we slid long thin sections of pilchard in tomato sauce down the back of his throat, which he could then cope with because he still had his swallow reflex . What cured him was acupuncture, a fortnight's sessions got him eating again- very messily at first- mouth submerged in deep sloppy food, but it worked. Always remained a noisy eater, but so what?

Pretty sure that most insurance companies pay out for acunpuncture as long as it's a done by a vet and recommended by your vet.

Good luck.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Ask the vet what side affects the painkiller have.


I know when felix my Turkish van had been attack (by a human not a animal) and his back end was in bits, he was in shock wouldn't eat or drink, but when he had his x-rays and had antibiotic and painkillers the side affects of the pain killers was much like tramadol for humans its suppressed his appetite. as long you try and get kitty hydrated and keep hydrated, eating will follow on shortly after try chicken or tuna, and try and tempt on drinking with leaving bowls of water or try some cats milks you can get that's formulated for cats don't use normal cows milk, lactose intolerant are cats.

Gold_Dust_2

I'm another advocate for hills a/d, it packs a punch and is very tempting. Another one I can recommend is Royal Canin Convalescence Support. It's a powder that you mix with water and syringe feed, and cats love that too. Purina fortiflora is supposedly a magic probiotic that cats can't resist when it's sprinkled over their food, a lot of people swear by that, and my last two suggestions are thrive dried chicken treats and fresh, wet prawns. I've had great success with all of these with some very sick cats in dire situations.

You have to keep syringing water into him at least and as much food as you can, else you'll just have to keep taking him back to the vet. Try rubbing his throat gently to stimulate the swallowing reflex when you've syringed something in.

You might want to ask your vet to pop a feeding tube in as that would make it easier for you to feed him until he resumes of his own accord. They seem scary and distressing, but they are lifesavers!

IanG1471

Thanks all.

My cat is still at the vets, still on a drip as she gets de-hydrated very quickly.

She did have an odd mouthful of tuna fish at the vets yesterday but that's all she has had since last Friday. I am visiting my cat at the vets this afternoon so will ask about the Hills a/d, Royal Canin Convalescence Support etc as I believe they maybe prescription only. I know I can probably order them off the web cheaper but it maybe quicker to get them directly from the vet.

At least she has started to urinate properly again (from the IV fluids) and the vet said she seemed a bit brighter this morning, but they still want to keep her on the drip until at least tomorrow to ensure she has enough fluids/meds in her.

Ian

lister

I have certainly dealt with RTA cats (suffering nothing more than serious bruising) who have had to be on a drip for well over a week before they start to eat and drink again. I don't know how much it is pain, and how much shock, but some combination stops them eating.

I would think the cat should start to pick up soon, and the spoonful of tuna is a very good sign. Also worth trying the bribe of choice for all cats - cheap chicken slice (Saisnburys version seems to be the absolute favourite) - my weapon of choice for the recalcitrant cat.

IanG1471

Thanks again all.

I am hoping we may have turned a corner so to speak.

Last night I spent quite some time with my cat at the vets. I took with me some of her favourite toys as well as some of her favourite cat food (Sheba) and her favourite cat treats. My cat has lost a lot of weight and the vet did say her stomach may have shrunk a little whilst she not been eating.

I managed to persuade her to eat around 15 of her cat treats and a couple of mouthfuls of Sheba (She was even sniffing around to try to find more of her cat treats which she obviously preferred to the Sheba).

The vets were really pleased she actually ate something, albeit she remains at the vets on a drip which as well as fluids is giving her vitamins and opioid pain killers.

They are going to review her this morning and if she has eaten anything else she will be allowed home. I have got some of the Hills a/d from the vet for when she comes home in case she doesn't eat her normal food..

Ian

Slinky

I hope kitty is home soon and eating. It must be very worrying for you.