He’s only 3. As long as he doesn’t have a serious terminal illness, he can probably be fixed up. I think the odds are good that the OP will get his/her kitteh back.
flatlined,
I’ve been where you are. My beloved cat had liver disease. We went through a few weeks of tests/treatments, finally had surgery, a week more in intensive care, bought him home…I finally decided to let him go. It was awful for him (and for me) but I believe he was truly miserable at the end, just medicating him everyday had become such a trauma for him that he couldn’t even trust me anymore. As much as it hurt me I did the right thing by putting him down. I’m so sorry this is happening, be brave.
The last time I had a cat who quit eating during an illness, I worried about the same thing. My vet had to reassure me that not every cat who loses weight suddenly is destined to get hepatic lipidosis. That kitty survives to this day, seven years later, and I’m hoping the same for your little guy.
Sending off some serious health and comfort prayers for the kitty and his hoomins. And long distance internet hugs {{{{{Hugs}}}}
My cat had a upper respiratory infection and couldn’t smell and he didn’t eat for about 2 weeks. He was at the vet for a while, antibiotics, water packs to keep hydrated. Went from 7.5 pounds to about 5. However, he did start to eat again and is now nearly 15 pounds. (the vet assures us that he’s not fat, just a large build) That was 6 years ago and he’s been happy and healthy since. There is hope, so hang in there.
{{{flatlined}}}
Oh dear, I hope you come back with an update! I hope it’s an encouraging one.
I’m glad you took him back to the vet. I’d worry more about hepatic lipidosis if he were a big chubby guy, those are they ones that are at the most risk if they stop eating. If he started out at a normal weight, it’s less likely and I wouldn’t worry quite so much. But still, sounds like you tried all the tricks.
A warm compress to the face can sometimes help a little with congestion, but with cats it’s pretty tricky. It also depends on how tolerant they are of you doing stuff to them. I’ve also seen nose drops used with cats, the “Little Noses” brand. But not all cats are tolerant of those. I don’t know when you went through the liver issues with your other cat, but anti-nausea medications have gotten better in just the last ten years (Cerenia, I’m looking at you [chronic pancreatitis]) and the above mentioned mirtazapine has become a popular appetite stimulant for cats, or the older and shorter acting standby Cyproheptadine.
Syringe feeding with either a prescription food made to be syringe fed, or using baby food, is not entirely out of the question, but it does take a careful hand. Cats can aspirate food easily and that’s why they and brachycephalic dog breeds are usually advised against any kind of force feeding by novices. I think flatlined could do it if need be.
Anyway, I hope all of the above is irrelevant since Baker went to the vet and is hopefully doing better by now.
Been thinking about Baker! Hope there a good update.
I’d take an update, too, whether it’s good or bad. Realistic about the latter but hoping for the former.
Thanks all for the kind words. I just brought our boy home. He spiked a very high fever yesterday and its still up but not as bad.
He isn’t having liver or kidney problems. He doesn’t have pneumonia, FIV or FeLV. His white blood count is pretty high. According to his bloodwork, he’s fighting off a pretty major infection, but what is causing it is not known. He’s lost gone from 11.5 lbs to 10.7 lbs since Friday, which is what…about a 9% weight loss in 72 hours…not good.
He got another shot of Convenia (wow, that stuff is expensive) and he’s on Clavamox, Mirtazapine and Cerenia. FrillyNettles I had the vet take a good look at his teeth and they are fine. (I was pretty sure they were, he had his check up less than a month ago, but it was worth checking again.)
The vet seems to think that the Mirtazapine will get him eating, but I’m wiling to continue force feeding him if need be. Baker is a pretty easy going cat at the best of times and now that he’s sick, he doesn’t object much when use my finger (nail trimmed very short) to put food on his tongue. If its watery enough, he swallows it. Baby food is the perfect texture, but it doesn’t have the taurine he needs, so I also got some Royal Canin Recovery RS food.
Cats are so weird. Lucky and Steve were sneezing, they each got a shot of Convenia and are feeling great again. Baker was displaying the same sympthoms, and the shot did nothing.
This is the first time I’ve had to medicate a kitty since we (cats and I) moved to Texas and once again the vet looked surprised when I asked for all of his meds in pill form. I’m used to that reaction, even though I don’t understand it. Cats spit liquids out, and mixing it with their food isn’t a guarentee that said cat will eat all of the food and get the full dose. Besides, I’m lazy and pills are just easier for me.
I really do learn a lot here, so before I spoke to the vet I had written Cerenia, Mirtazpine and Cyproheptodine down so I’d remember to ask about them, along with asking the vet to recheck his teeth. When the vet told me what he was recommending, we both kinda laughed when I showed him my list and said that “yes, I had been online, how could you tell?”
So, that’s where we are. Baker is still a very sick little guy. We are still very worried about him.
Thanks again for the kind thoughts and warm words. We will do the best we can for our little buddy. Hopefully, he will get over this soon and live out the rest of his normal life span happy and healthy.
Thank you for updating. I’m keeping Baker in my thoughts and prayers.
Hugs and scritches to Baker.
As another person said, I’ve had luck giving watered down baby food from a kid’s oral med syringe; down the side of the mouth toward the back of the throat, 3 ccs at a time, 3X, followed by 5cc of plain warm water. They didn’t love it, for sure, but it did the job of feeding them till they felt well enough to eat on their own.
I hope your Baker pulls through. I’ve been in your shoes and it just sucks.
Is that crucial in such an acute case, though? I mean, I know how taurine is important for cat food and why, but I figured it as more of a long-term deficiency issue. Not questioning your judgement or anything like that, just curious.
Scritches to BakerKitteh from another corner of the state.
Just double checking, he’s not still taking oral Clavamox while the Convenia injection is on board, is he? They’re basically the same antibiotic. If he was on a different antibiotic like Baytril while the Convenia is on board (good for at least 2 weeks) that’s normal, but oral Clav at the same time is like giving double doses of the same antibiotic. The injection is usually in place of the oral. It could be contributing to his tummy troubles.
Anyway, I was starting to get worried not hearing back from you since yesterday morning, so I’m happy to hear the update and it really sounds like he’s going to be fine. It’s so stressful in the meantime, take care of yourself, too!
Thanks. Yeah, Baker doesn’t love it but at least I’m getting food in him. So far, I thought I was doing good with hand feeding him, but 3/4 lbs weight loss in 3 days says I’m not getting enough into him. Syringe feeding will happen next. And yeah, this really does suck.
Thanks for the scritches, Baker is a purring sort of kitteh, even now, he purrs when he’s touched. He purred for you.
You are probably right that the taurine not that important now, I’m just so used to not feeding them cooked meat that it is something else to worry about. If he won’t eat the recovery food, I’ll get some powdered taurine to put in baby food. It will make me feel better.
I did not know that Clavamox is the same as Covenia. I thought the vet was trying a different antibiotic. Baker has gotten two shots of Covenia since Friday, which I wondered about. I would have thought he should get something different. I will be calling the vet in the morning. Thank you.
Its been 3 hours since he got the Mirtazapine and Cerenia. He still doesn’t want to eat on his own, so I finger fed him about a quarter of a can of the Rescue RN (good texture on that stuff, but not very stinky and we all know that he needs stinky now). He didn’t love it, but he didn’t puke.
More proof that cats are teh weird I’m sorry for your kidney cat, I did that with Fred. Its hard, but you got 17 years out of him. That’s pretty good.
When Fred started failing at 17, I changed to palliative care. I knew he wasn’t going to get younger and that his kidneys would continue to fail, so my goal was just to keep him comfortable. He got to eat whatever he wanted (liberally sprinkled with taurine), I bought more fountains and put them in the 3 rooms he hung out in and I gave him sub-q fluids every night. When he gave me that look, I sent him to the Bridge with dignity and love. It was hard, but I’m at peace with how Fred left.
My fatty liver cat was 8 years old and like Zago, I went deeply into credit card debt (well maybe Zago didn’t have to use plastic to pay for it)and did everything I could to keep my big boy alive. It didn’t work, and his end was not good. He died alone at the vet’s office. I feel terrible about that and won’t do it again.
My plan for now is to keep putting food in Baker’s mouth, to call the vet tomorrow and ask for a different antibiotic and love on Baker as much as he allows. He’s only 3, he was a happy, healthy kitteh on Thursday. This sucks bigtime.
Try grilling some chicken skin.
Try to stay optimistic! I’ve seen so very many cats that seemed to be knocking on death’s door, and then they turn a corner and suddenly they’re better. It’s giving that supportive care in the meantime, and it can be draining and stressful and tearful.
I can understand how going through a cat dying from liver failure can put you in a panic about the next cat who stops eating for you. I’ve seen lots of cats recover once they have a tube placed, but it’s not a guarantee, and over the years I’ve been doing this have learned once the question has been raised to place the tube or not, there’s no time to dawdle on the decision, and once the question is raised, it’s no longer a question. But lots of owners and lots of veterinarians haven’t dealt with it as much as those who work in shelters or huge ER’s and it can be a very tough call. It’s one of the roughest things I’ve seen owners go through with their kitties and I’m truly sorry you’ve done it first hand.
Anyway, back to the Baker man, one other thing you can ask for in addition to the mirtazapine (since that’s one dose every three days), is see about getting some cyproheptadine. Cypro is an antihistamine, so it could help with congestion, but the side effect is has on cats is an appetite stimulant. It can be given along with mirtazapine, and it’s much shorter acting, so it’s usually given for your guy’s weight at 1/2 of a 4mg tablet by mouth every 12 hours. It may or may not work for him, if he’s showing any interest in food like sniffing it then turning away, the cypro just might help, I’ve found it to either work or not work within an hour or two of giving it. It’s super cheap and could be worth trying a couple doses.
This may be obvious, but just in case, make sure anything being offered has been warmed up, that helps any food be more fragrant. You can simply mix the tasty baby food with the Rx food from the vet. Also, tuna juice, or low sodium broth mixed with the Rx food might make it smellier/tastier for your guy. To keep his weight up, he should probably be getting at least a can a day of the rescue formula from the vet, so if he’s taking a quarter at a time, four times a day, that’s a good start. If you can get a third of a can into him four times a day, that’s probably better.
And finally, as to the antibiotics, Convenia is cefovecin and Clavamox is amoxicillin with clavulanic acid added to it. So they’re not the same per se, but they’re both broad spectrum and I’ve yet to see a doctor prescribe them together. Usually for a cat running a fever it’s one of those plus Bayrtil or clindamycin. Maybe FrillyNettles can come back and clarify that, since the depths of pharmacology are beyond me. All I can tell you is what I see typically prescribed.
Am happy to see Baker came home from the hospital, and crossing fingers that he feels better soon. Hopefully he is just being a drama queen?
I don’t have much to add except to say good luck. And I know what you’re going through.
If he gets better, you need to post some pictures of this kitteh!