At my wits end....

paddypaws101

I hope your cat is continuing to do well.
I have dealt with quite a few elderly ( or sick ) cats over the years so have had to deal with similar inappetance.
Most cats will accept gently syringe fed food....Gourmet Gold pate is ideal for this as it is a soft smooth texture. use kitten feeding syringes or similar.
Someone mentioned Mirtazapine.......ask your vet about Periactin ( Cyproheptadine) which is a fast acting appetite stimulant to be dosed daily which does not have the side effects of the other drug. It can actually be bought in regular chemist shops without prescription but of course you must check with your vet before giving it.

shoppingnoodles

Hi all.


So the saga continues......we took Jack to another vet for a second opinion last Monday. He had a full geriatric blood work up and the vet gave him a really thorough top to toe examination. The only thing she found was that he is constipated, but she says that often happens of they are eating poorly. She had obtained his previous records from the last vet. He had lost more weight despite my efforts and now weighs just 3.125Kg.


She called me yesterday and left a message. The bloods were absolutely fine. The only thing that was slightly elevated were his inflammatory markers, but this can be caused by stress (surgery, multiple vets trips and daily hand feeding would do that) or steroids (of which he has had 2 lots). She is as mystified as the first vet as to what is going on.


She did float the opinion that it is something "bizarre and sinister", by which she meant a form of cancer somewhere that isn't showing up. I have read everything on the net and there are whole threads devoted to folk whose cats have the exact same symptoms. Unfortunately many of them have turned out to have lymphoma :-(


The vet is off today, but she is going to call me tomorrow to discuss an on going plan. The cat is happy and still doing all the things he wants to, so right now, I think it is too soon to have him PTS. AT the rate he is losing weight I can't see him going on for too many more weeks. We have had to cancel our holiday next week as we can't leave him like this. All in all, these are not good times I'm afraid.

Froglet

So sorry to hear he is still struggling.At least you have put your mind at rest by seeing another vet and you know now that you are doing all you can to get to the bottom of the mystery.


Sometimes though, there aren't any easy answers.If a vet cannot say for sure then all you can do is give him as much love and care(which you are doing anyway) until you know he is no longer enjoying life.Then you won't have any guilt when it is his time to go,and won't berate your self ,it is human nature to think "if only we had done this or tried that" etc.


I hope you can enjoy the time you have left with him.You are truly caring ,how many people would give up their holiday to be with him ? He is lucky to have you.

zaksmum

How is the little fella today shopping noodles?

shoppingnoodles

Hi everyone........you won't believe this!


I got to speak to the vet yesterday and we had a long chat. She really is genuinely puzzled as to why Jack wouldn't eat and we spoke about all the possibilities, including that it might be psychogenic - in other words he has slipped a cog and can't remember how to eat. I asked her about the appetite stimulants and she agreed that we should give them a try. I wasn't holding out much hope.


So, I picked up the mirtazapine yesterday and gave him the first dose. About an hour later Jack started to really freak us out as he was sick, then started to toss his head in a weird way. I was in bits as I honestly thought that we would be taking him to the vet the next day to be PTS......then suddenly he was his normal self and crying for food.


He ate his dinner unaided last night and has had 3 small meals so far today and I can honestly say that at the moment I feel like we have turned a corner. My dear old cat seems to be back!


Please keep your fingers crossed that the drugs keep working. I'll keep you all posted and that you all for your concern. What a lovely bunch you are.:A

HB58

My fingers are firmly crossed for you!

owlet

Wow that's fantastic news! So pleased you . Thank goodness you have a vet that keeps an open mind. Hope it continues :-)

Lorian

Keep an eye on the fact that bowel movements are happening.

shoppingnoodles

Hi Lorian. I am very mindful of that the vet thinks he is constipated and we are going to start him on Lactulose tomorrow (as she didn't have any in stock on Saturday).


He is still eating little, but often meals. I guess his tummy has shrunk after 3 months. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he is eating enough to stop him from losing any more weight.

nicter

Mirtazepine is an anti-depressant so hopefully he will be a well rounded cat in all ways ! :rotfl: