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Help! Cat not eating [Long]



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 23rd 03, 08:33 PM
mroo philpott-smythe
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Default Help! Cat not eating [Long]

My 17-year-old tuxedo female, Faridah, has gone off her food of late. I
took her to the vet yesterday, and he couldn't find anything wrong with her.

A little background:

Faridah was the only cat for many years. When she was about 3 or 4, I
adopted Ramon, a rescue black Persian/Siamese, to be a companion for
her. This did not work. Faridah does not like other cats. Ramon,
however, was quite the gentleman and let her be the Alpha cat. Then we
moved house and Faridah (who had always been an indoor cat) insisted on
going outdoors (we live in the hills, lots of free open space, no cars
except way down the hill) and really took to it. When she was about 10
years old, I adopted two (male) kittens. She did not like that, but
maintained alpha status.

When she was 11 or 12, Ramon died (cancer). About 2 years ago (Faridah
was 15) I adopted two more rescue kittens (one female). Faridah hated
every minute of the new kittens' arrival. Their mother was also confined
indoors for a while, but she was unacceptably feral and we had to
release her in the end, but she lives outside now.

Last year, Faridah developed thyroid cancer, and had treatment for it
this year (radiation); also, I was forced to invade her space with an
elderly rescue dog and two MORE cats, one of whom is a very aggressive
Japanese bobtail. AFAIK, he has never attacked Faridah, but he's very
vocal and plaintive. Earlier this year, his mother died of a heart
attack. She was also a rescue, who had had a very hard life, and an
undetected heart murmur took her.

So Faridah's had lots of changes lately, and the dog's arrival + thyroid
cancer caused her to lose 5 lbs in two or three months. She's now down
to about 5 lbs. - very skinny - and lately, she won't eat, no matter
what I do. Today she ate 3 tsp. of canned cat food.

I tried feeding her cooked and raw beef, salmon, shrimp, scallops,
chicken - I've tried everything.

What am I to do?

Her kidneys and liver are failing. Her BUN and creatinine levels are
high, but other cats with higher BUN levels have been known. I MUST get
her to eat and drink more.

Can anyone help? Should I force feed her? She seems unable to smell her
food. I even tried spraying it with salmon oil and fish sauce.

Help?

sq

  #2  
Old July 23rd 03, 09:28 PM
Cathy Friedmann
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

With high BUN & creatinine levels - which doesn't really jive, in my mind,
with the vet finding nothing wrong w/ her yesterday - I wouldn't be
surprised if it's CRF that has caused her to lose her appetite. This is
what's springing to my mind - though of course it could be due to another
reason, incl. liver disease. (I've had cats w/ both CRF & liver disease -
both had depressed appetites.) Is she being treated for her kidney
failure - sub-Q fluids, an appetite stimulant, whatever? If you haven't
seen it, here's a really good site on CRF:
http://www.felinecrf.org/index.htm

Yes, in the meantime I would force-feed her. First I would offer her some
Hill's a/d (available at the vet's), & if she doesn't eat it on her own, you
can syringe feed it to her - a little every 2 - 3 hours, say. I'd also call
back the vet & ask about the possibility of an appetite stimulant
(Periactin/cyproheptadine being one option).

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon
"mroo philpott-smythe" wrote in message
...
My 17-year-old tuxedo female, Faridah, has gone off her food of late. I
took her to the vet yesterday, and he couldn't find anything wrong with

her.

snipped
So Faridah's had lots of changes lately, and the dog's arrival + thyroid
cancer caused her to lose 5 lbs in two or three months. She's now down
to about 5 lbs. - very skinny - and lately, she won't eat, no matter
what I do. Today she ate 3 tsp. of canned cat food.

I tried feeding her cooked and raw beef, salmon, shrimp, scallops,
chicken - I've tried everything.

What am I to do?

Her kidneys and liver are failing. Her BUN and creatinine levels are
high, but other cats with higher BUN levels have been known. I MUST get
her to eat and drink more.

Can anyone help? Should I force feed her? She seems unable to smell her
food. I even tried spraying it with salmon oil and fish sauce.

Help?

sq



  #3  
Old July 23rd 03, 09:28 PM
Cathy Friedmann
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

With high BUN & creatinine levels - which doesn't really jive, in my mind,
with the vet finding nothing wrong w/ her yesterday - I wouldn't be
surprised if it's CRF that has caused her to lose her appetite. This is
what's springing to my mind - though of course it could be due to another
reason, incl. liver disease. (I've had cats w/ both CRF & liver disease -
both had depressed appetites.) Is she being treated for her kidney
failure - sub-Q fluids, an appetite stimulant, whatever? If you haven't
seen it, here's a really good site on CRF:
http://www.felinecrf.org/index.htm

Yes, in the meantime I would force-feed her. First I would offer her some
Hill's a/d (available at the vet's), & if she doesn't eat it on her own, you
can syringe feed it to her - a little every 2 - 3 hours, say. I'd also call
back the vet & ask about the possibility of an appetite stimulant
(Periactin/cyproheptadine being one option).

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon
"mroo philpott-smythe" wrote in message
...
My 17-year-old tuxedo female, Faridah, has gone off her food of late. I
took her to the vet yesterday, and he couldn't find anything wrong with

her.

snipped
So Faridah's had lots of changes lately, and the dog's arrival + thyroid
cancer caused her to lose 5 lbs in two or three months. She's now down
to about 5 lbs. - very skinny - and lately, she won't eat, no matter
what I do. Today she ate 3 tsp. of canned cat food.

I tried feeding her cooked and raw beef, salmon, shrimp, scallops,
chicken - I've tried everything.

What am I to do?

Her kidneys and liver are failing. Her BUN and creatinine levels are
high, but other cats with higher BUN levels have been known. I MUST get
her to eat and drink more.

Can anyone help? Should I force feed her? She seems unable to smell her
food. I even tried spraying it with salmon oil and fish sauce.

Help?

sq



 




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