Triumphrat

Haggis · 11-01-2009, 12:14 PM

The family cat is not well. I took Smokey to the vet a few days ago - he hadn't eaten for a couple of days. He was also dehydrated "depressed" and "very poorly" according to the vet. $500.00 and 2 days later and the vet cannot find anything physically wrong.

The vet had him on IV fluids and anti-biotics for 2 days and ran a full battery of tests. His kidneys were normal. He also gave him an appetite stimulant. xrays showed no abnormalities.

We have no real idea how old he was since he was a rescue cat. We had thought he was only 5 now, but he looks like he is 15 all of a sudden.

3 weeks ago we were beginning to think he was getting fat, now he is skin and bones.

We brought him home yesterday and Smokey is still not eating.

We've tried everything we can think of to get the dammed cat to eat.

The vet says he can do exploratory surgery - and maybe/probably still find nothing since he's already done Xrays etc - or if Smokey is still not eating send him to pu$$y cat heaven since he is so poorly.

It's Smokey's last stand - do any of you good folks have any tips or tricks or good advice (no cat hating advice please, this animal is loved!).

triumphite · 11-01-2009, 12:25 PM

They when their time is , mate. Don't take it too hard and just try to keep old Smokey comfortable in his last days. It's all part of life, ya know.

Haggis · 11-01-2009, 12:32 PM

I know.. but he's only 5!

I've got no problem having a sick animal put down - I've done it a few times. But this animal is not old, and has no obvious illness or injury!

Normandy · 11-01-2009, 12:37 PM

In dogs they call it parvo, could be a twist in the intestines ?

sprocket42 · 11-01-2009, 12:41 PM

If he is a cat that goes outside he may have eaten rodent poison, hang on in there he may perk up in a day or 2.

Wombat · 11-01-2009, 12:46 PM

My cat Katie , who is also a recuse cat and who I brought with us from Aust when we moved, went through similar symptoms a few months back.

The vet could not find anything physically wrong with her other than she was extremely de-hydrated and losing lots of weight.
It seemed that she had some issues with a build up of toxins in her system caused by animal proteins in her diet, so no more meat and chicken ( poor thing loves it too).

She had lost nearly 40% of her total weight.

We had to give her IV fluids every other day to try to flush the toxins out and that picked up her appetite and we also had to put her on a special diet. (Science Diet k/d and a/d)

After about 4 months we still give her the IV fluids but now only twice a week and she is still slowly gaining weight slowly and is a lot more active than she was.

I hope all goes well.

TonyD · 11-01-2009, 01:06 PM

Trouble is that loss of weight/appetite can be symptoms of many cat dieases or conditions. I presume that your vet will have taken a blood sample to run tests for the more common ones.

Sometimes giving a cat warm food can help stimulate its appetite, and of course it should be its favourite food. Is he drinking enough water? If not, sometimes rigging up some running water will encourage them to drink. They seem more attracted to drinking from moving water, for some reason.

Haggis · 11-01-2009, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Normandy

In dogs they call it parvo, could be a twist in the intestines ?

on the xrays the small intestines were fine, the large intestines were bloated with gas.

mozart · 11-01-2009, 01:18 PM

You can try forcing fluids. Clear broths if he will tolerate it. Canned Mackerel might entice him to eat also. Cats are hard to turn around their very finicky eaters.

Haggis · 11-01-2009, 02:11 PM

Right now we're syringing "catmilk" into him. He's swallowing it!