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Cat won't eat



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 9th 07, 03:06 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,alt.pets.cats
Gary Woods
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Posts: 5
Default Cat won't eat

Neutered male, 8 years old:

Eli ate very little according to pet sitter, while we were on vacation, now
losing weight (12#, down to 9#), and has eaten virtually nothing for a
couple of weeks.

Vet found nothing wrong; blood work normal, X-rays showed no tumors, no
blockages. The did tooth cleaning and extracted a couple of bad teeth.
He's still not eating, other than an occasional teaspoon hand fed by a
caring lady....

Don't know what else to do. He wants to eat a bit of grass, which may be a
clue, but nothing in the cat pan, due to almost nothing coming in.


Background:

Major changes, in the form of a my S.O. moving in 3 months ago with her
mini sheltie, who has lived with cats before and wants to be pals. Which
the cat is having none of. No hostility, just "go away kid; you bother
me...."

I'm fresh out of ideas.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G
  #2  
Old August 9th 07, 04:16 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,alt.pets.cats
Rene S.
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Posts: 741
Default Cat won't eat

On Aug 9, 9:06 am, Gary Woods wrote:
Neutered male, 8 years old:

Eli ate very little according to pet sitter, while we were on vacation, now
losing weight (12#, down to 9#), and has eaten virtually nothing for a
couple of weeks.

Vet found nothing wrong; blood work normal, X-rays showed no tumors, no
blockages. The did tooth cleaning and extracted a couple of bad teeth.
He's still not eating, other than an occasional teaspoon hand fed by a
caring lady....

Don't know what else to do. He wants to eat a bit of grass, which may be a
clue, but nothing in the cat pan, due to almost nothing coming in.

Background:

Major changes, in the form of a my S.O. moving in 3 months ago with her
mini sheltie, who has lived with cats before and wants to be pals. Which
the cat is having none of. No hostility, just "go away kid; you bother
me...."


Unfortunately, you have a number of issues going on here. First, how
is Eli's overall demeanor? Does he want to play, purr, be with people?
Is he lethargic, hiding, or otherwise acting unusual (signs that he's
very ill)?

First and foremost, you need to get him to eat! He's lost a lot of
weight in a short amount of time, which is very dangerous for cats.
Have you tried tempting him with his favorite treats? As a short-term
measure to jump-start his appetite, try a fish variety of Fancy Feast,
warmed slightly in the microwave. Another short-term food is Hills A/
D, which is very palatable. You can also use meat baby food (without
onions), turkey or chicken. Anything to get him interested in eating
again, then slowly switch him over to a better diet.

Have you asked your vet about giving Sub-Q fluids at home? I'm sure
he's horribly dehydrated and isn't feeling well because of that. If he
won't eat anything on his own, also ask your vet about force feeding.
It's not a pleasant thing to do, but he needs nutrition badly.

Another idea is to ask for cyproheptide (sp?). It's an antihistimine
that also stimulates appetite, very safe and inexpensive to get from
your vet.

Also, please keep the cat and dog separated right now until things
settle down. It's obvious that he's under a large amount of stress
right now and this might be worsening his condition.

Rene

  #3  
Old August 9th 07, 08:51 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,alt.pets.cats
William Graham
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Posts: 349
Default Cat won't eat


"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
Neutered male, 8 years old:

Eli ate very little according to pet sitter, while we were on vacation,
now
losing weight (12#, down to 9#), and has eaten virtually nothing for a
couple of weeks.

Vet found nothing wrong; blood work normal, X-rays showed no tumors, no
blockages. The did tooth cleaning and extracted a couple of bad teeth.
He's still not eating, other than an occasional teaspoon hand fed by a
caring lady....

Don't know what else to do. He wants to eat a bit of grass, which may be
a
clue, but nothing in the cat pan, due to almost nothing coming in.


Background:

Major changes, in the form of a my S.O. moving in 3 months ago with her
mini sheltie, who has lived with cats before and wants to be pals. Which
the cat is having none of. No hostility, just "go away kid; you bother
me...."

I'm fresh out of ideas.


Will he drink? - I have had cats who neither eat nor drink.....They didn't
last very long. If he drinks, but doesn't eat, then it's likely a
mouth/tooth problem, or a blockage somewhere.....If he takes liquids, then
feed him soups and broths to get some calories into him while you try to
sort it all out.....


  #4  
Old August 9th 07, 09:38 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,alt.pets.cats
Buddy's Mom
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Posts: 243
Default Cat won't eat

Treat him for hairballs. Get some Temptations for hairballs - they
are in a foil pouch in the grocery or pet store.


On Aug 9, 10:06?am, Gary Woods wrote:
Neutered male, 8 years old:

Eli ate very little according to pet sitter, while we were on vacation, now
losing weight (12#, down to 9#), and has eaten virtually nothing for a
couple of weeks.

Vet found nothing wrong; blood work normal, X-rays showed no tumors, no
blockages. The did tooth cleaning and extracted a couple of bad teeth.
He's still not eating, other than an occasional teaspoon hand fed by a
caring lady....

Don't know what else to do. He wants to eat a bit of grass, which may be a
clue, but nothing in the cat pan, due to almost nothing coming in.

Background:

Major changes, in the form of a my S.O. moving in 3 months ago with her
mini sheltie, who has lived with cats before and wants to be pals. Which
the cat is having none of. No hostility, just "go away kid; you bother
me...."

I'm fresh out of ideas.

Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G



  #5  
Old August 10th 07, 07:05 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,alt.pets.cats
Rhonda[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 168
Default Cat won't eat

Gary,

Cats not eating can develop fatty liver disease very quickly. If he is
not eating much at all -- you may need to syringe feed some more until
you can get this under control.

Has the vet given you any A/D food? It's made for cats who are not
eating. Many will eat that when they won't eat anything else. It is very
rich. We've also used Pro Plan canned food, the one with sardines in it
for non-hungry cats going through an illness.

Something is very wrong and it's going to take some more investigation
to find out the problem. Since this is so serious, I would try for a
second vet opinion. There could be something that's being overlooked and
you don't have a lot of time. Maybe even ask to be referred to an
internist vet. They usually only take appts with referrals. The one we
saw was based in a 24-hour animal hospital.

Keep him as stress-free as you can for now too. I hope you don't have
another vacation planned for a little while.

Are there any other symptoms? Did they do urine tests for bladder
infection, etc? Is he on antibiotics because of his bad teeth? One of
ours was very sick due to infected teeth.

I'm glad you're still trying hard to help him. Let us know what happens.

Rhonda

Gary Woods wrote:
Neutered male, 8 years old:

Eli ate very little according to pet sitter, while we were on vacation, now
losing weight (12#, down to 9#), and has eaten virtually nothing for a
couple of weeks.

Vet found nothing wrong; blood work normal, X-rays showed no tumors, no
blockages. The did tooth cleaning and extracted a couple of bad teeth.
He's still not eating, other than an occasional teaspoon hand fed by a
caring lady....

Don't know what else to do. He wants to eat a bit of grass, which may be a
clue, but nothing in the cat pan, due to almost nothing coming in.


Background:

Major changes, in the form of a my S.O. moving in 3 months ago with her
mini sheltie, who has lived with cats before and wants to be pals. Which
the cat is having none of. No hostility, just "go away kid; you bother
me...."

I'm fresh out of ideas.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G


  #6  
Old August 11th 07, 01:32 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,alt.pets.cats
Cheryl
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Posts: 1,355
Default Cat won't eat

On Thu 09 Aug 2007 11:16:46a, Rene S. wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
oups.com:

Another idea is to ask for cyproheptide (sp?). It's an
antihistimine that also stimulates appetite, very safe and
inexpensive to get from your vet.


Another appetite booster that used to work for Shadow was a shot of
vitamin B12. They have to do it intramuscular, and kitty has a bit
of a sting, but it used to work wonders.

I'd also try people food at this point to stimulate the appetite -
lightly poached chicken, canned tuna with the water - anything
tempting. Work out the finickiness that will come after, later.

--
Cheryl


  #7  
Old August 11th 07, 08:28 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,alt.pets.cats
silvercelt
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Posts: 47
Default Cat won't eat

On 11 Aug, 01:32, Cheryl wrote:
On Thu 09 Aug 2007 11:16:46a, Rene S. wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
oups.com:

Another idea is to ask for cyproheptide (sp?). It's an
antihistimine that also stimulates appetite, very safe and
inexpensive to get from your vet.


Another appetite booster that used to work for Shadow was a shot of
vitamin B12. They have to do it intramuscular, and kitty has a bit
of a sting, but it used to work wonders.

I'd also try people food at this point to stimulate the appetite -
lightly poached chicken, canned tuna with the water - anything
tempting. Work out the finickiness that will come after, later.

--
Cheryl


If it happened whilst you were away it might be because he was upset
at having someone else looking after him. You can buy rich food and
heat it in microwave for a few seconds and that could encourage him to
eat too.

  #8  
Old August 11th 07, 03:13 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,alt.pets.cats
Gary Woods
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default Cat won't eat

"Rene S." wrote:

Another idea is to ask for cyproheptide (sp?).


Well, the vet gave us some of that, whatever the spelling (I'm too lazy to
go upstairs to look). Eli was already nibbling at the high-priced rich
food, and that jump-started the appetite. He's going through a can of
Fancy Feast daily, plus some dry kibble left for midnight snacking. And
just sucking up all the hand-feeding and lavish attention my Dear Lady is
giving out. Maybe if _I_ go on a hunger strike?

Just kidding.... sort of.

Anyway, things are looking up. I put out a tray of wheat grass, since Eli
has been nibbling house plants. Hasn't eaten any yet.

Thanks, all, for your help.

I'll update in a few days, hopefully when I can't feel his backbone so
sharply...


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G
  #9  
Old August 12th 07, 03:58 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,alt.pets.cats
cindys
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 592
Default Cat won't eat


"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
"Rene S." wrote:

Another idea is to ask for cyproheptide (sp?).


Well, the vet gave us some of that, whatever the spelling (I'm too lazy to
go upstairs to look). Eli was already nibbling at the high-priced rich
food, and that jump-started the appetite. He's going through a can of
Fancy Feast daily, plus some dry kibble left for midnight snacking. And
just sucking up all the hand-feeding and lavish attention my Dear Lady is
giving out. Maybe if _I_ go on a hunger strike?

Just kidding.... sort of.

Anyway, things are looking up. I put out a tray of wheat grass, since Eli
has been nibbling house plants. Hasn't eaten any yet.

Thanks, all, for your help.

I'll update in a few days, hopefully when I can't feel his backbone so
sharply...

-----------
I just love happy news! :-)
Best regards,
---Cindy S.


  #10  
Old August 21st 07, 06:54 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav,alt.pets.cats
Rhonda[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 168
Default Cat won't eat

Gary, how is he doing now?

Rhonda

Gary Woods wrote:

I'll update in a few days, hopefully when I can't feel his backbone so
sharply...


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G


 




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