At my wits end....

shoppingnoodles

Zingara wrote: »

I've a similar problem with a stray that I have looked after for a few years. He had all but stopped eating - managed to get about 25g of food down him a day. He looked like he wanted to eat but never managed to.

He is now at 2.4kg.

He is on thyroid medication and the vet seems to suspect that he feels sick when he eats so doesn't want to (even though he does act like he wants food). He is also showing early signs of kidney problems so he has been given some tablets for his kidneys which help with nausea.

Since he has been on the tablets his eating has really improved. I know it won't be forever but he's eating at the moment so it's a small victory.

Gosh well done to your vet! How did your vet come to his diagnosis? My cat's bloods have been fine so far.


So, I took him back this afternoon. We showed the vet the video we had made and she said that having teeth out can sometimes cause neurological jaw problems. I suggested trying him on Meloxicam for a week to see if pain relief helped (at least it would give us an idea why he won't eat), but she wasn't keen. She gave him another steroid injection instead.


He has lost weight again despite my considerable efforts and is now 3.4Kg. I think what is upsetting me so much is that we have no idea where this is going, so I asked the vet for a plan, even if it meant putting him to sleep after a few more attempts to resolve this. She has suggested that we try gabapentin next if this doesn't work, but in all honesty if he keeps losing weight I wonder if we should consider the one way needle :-(


I didn't get a chance to tell her that her receptionist was awful as I was getting a bit upset and didn't want to seriously blub. However, I am right about that receptionist - she was really short with me when I paid (again!) and didn't even say thank you or please, just "take your card out". Not the way to treat someone who is clearly upset.

Zingara

I suspect it could be guesswork with my vet - the bloods did show up some problem with the kidney (I can't remember exactly what) and he already has a heart murmur so he was given Fortecor to help his kidneys. She said that the Fortecor also helped with sickness - if he is feeling sick he won't want to eat. With yours just having an operation he could still be suffering from that.

I also managed to find a food that he will actually eat - Gourmet souffle (from Zooplus) and Gourmet Senior pate (which is very very soft). Since he went on the tabets he has also eaten chicken and tuna. With the souffle food he does eat more of the soft souffle than the meat but it can really be mashed down and at least it is something - if you want to try that I can send you a can if you pm me your address. My boy also has very few teeth after having to have most of them out. Ironically today he hasn't eaten as much as he has done over the past few days.

I would be tempted to get a second opinion in all honesty. I think if he is still showing signs of wanting to eat it is a good thing - there is something that is stopping him.

shoppingnoodles

Zingara wrote: »

I suspect it could be guesswork with my vet - the bloods did show up some problem with the kidney (I can't remember exactly what) and he already has a heart murmur so he was given Fortecor to help his kidneys. She said that the Fortecor also helped with sickness - if he is feeling sick he won't want to eat. With yours just having an operation he could still be suffering from that.

I also managed to find a food that he will actually eat - Gourmet souffle (from Zooplus) and Gourmet Senior pate (which is very very soft). Since he went on the tabets he has also eaten chicken and tuna. With the souffle food he does eat more of the soft souffle than the meat but it can really be mashed down and at least it is something - if you want to try that I can send you a can if you pm me your address. My boy also has very few teeth after having to have most of them out. Ironically today he hasn't eaten as much as he has done over the past few days.

I would be tempted to get a second opinion in all honesty. I think if he is still showing signs of wanting to eat it is a good thing - there is something that is stopping him.

That is SO lovely of you to offer to send me some food for my cat to try! Bless you. x Ironically having tried about 20 foods the one he is most likely to eat is Gourmet Mousse and Gourmet Pate recipes!


Thank you for the name of the meds he is on. It gives me some more information to try out on whichever vet we end up with. I will give the injections a week or so and we'll see where we go from there. I am finding this so incredibly upsetting :-( Its the not knowing what is happening that is the worst thing.

WeAreGhosts

shoppingnoodles wrote: »

That is SO lovely of you to offer to send me some food for my cat to try! Bless you. x Ironically having tried about 20 foods the one he is most likely to eat is Gourmet Mousse and Gourmet Pate recipes!


Thank you for the name of the meds he is on. It gives me some more information to try out on whichever vet we end up with. I will give the injections a week or so and we'll see where we go from there. I am finding this so incredibly upsetting :-( Its the not knowing what is happening that is the worst thing.

Sorry to hear about your trip to the vet

I have been in the 'one way needle' position before, but that was when I knew what was wrong. I would hate to do that and not know the cause.
I think a second opinion would be best, if all the vet did today was give him a steroid injection.

Do you have some insurance for him? Some have a telephone number for advice from a vet/vet nurse.

You probably have tried ... but HiLife Indulge Me sachets always go down well with my cat, and they're quite mushy.

shoppingnoodles

Hi WeAreGhosts.


Yep, tried Hi Life sachets - that was one of the things he wolfed after his op, but he only licks the jelly off now.


I haven't got insurance for him as he has always been so healthy, so this is coming out of my savings I'm afraid. I suspect we will get a second opinion if this doesn't work.....I'm not holding my breath.


He seems quite happy in himself though.

WeAreGhosts

shoppingnoodles wrote: »

He seems quite happy in himself though.

That's good news.
As sad as it sounds, though, perhaps he's just winding down? (Sorry ...)

This has brought back memories of trying to get my old cat to eat. I remembered she used to lick the flavouring off crisps too. The vet would have had a fit, but she loved it ... even cheese and onion, and onion is supposedly toxic to cats! :eek:

Zingara

Just remembered - mine will eat Dreamies as well even when nothing else worked! Maybe try some if you haven't? I know they aren't nutritionally valuable but they have calories in them and could keep him eating until you get to the bottom of it.

danih

Did the vet explain why the steroid injection is a better option then the metacam?

I have suggested all sorts to my vet over the years - some ideas they go with, some not. But they always explain their treatment option, and I've always been happy with that.

For a vet that is quiet happy to charge you so much for so many visits, I wonder why they haven't pushed the X-ray or MRI?

TBH I'm cross on your behalf, the staff in your vets practice should ALL be professional enough to be mannerly and empathetic to all their customers, no matter how unsettled you are, or how busy they are.

shoppingnoodles

Hi Zinghara and Danih.


Thank you both for your lovely replies.


Dreamies; he used to absolutely go mad for them, now he is completely disinterested. For a few weeks he would eat these treat cat yogurt type sachets called Lick E Liks, but he went off those too. I even emailed the manufacturers to find out how many calories are in the so I could approximately work out what he was eating in a day - that is the act of a desperate cat owner!


Danih, I know what you mean about the xray / MRI. The vet seems convinced he is healthy - she has examined him every single time and says apart from his kidneys feeling a bit small, there is nothing wrong with him. She suggested the steroids over the Meloxicam. She felt that painkillers long term may be harmful (but then did go on to say that Meloxicam is seen as being quite safe). She said that the action of the steroid jab he had last time went on for around 18 days and yesterday was day 18.


However, having had a very weepy evening yesterday and pretty much resigning myself that we will lose him, he seems pretty good today. I had sent off for lots of samples on the net and a packet of GO Cat Crunchy and Tender arrived this morning. He chomped through a few spoonfuls of that. I hand fed him half a tin of Gourmet and we have just come home to find he had eaten about a tablespoonful of chicken when we were out. He cried for some more food and ate about a quarter of a sachet of duck in gravy. I wouldn't have thought the steroid would have acted that fast? Who knows, but either way today he is doing better.


Fingers crossed!

HB58

I am so sorry you are going through this, especially as you have your own health problems

The is a product that can be prescribed that comes in a pump dispenser and contains a full day's calories in 1 or 2 pumps. Sorry I can't remember what it is called! I'm not necessarily suggesting this long-term but it could help buy you some time while this is being investigated.

I do hope you are able to get to the bottom of this and get your boy well again.