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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / July 2004Newbe here with a question on cats health
Hi folks, have a question on our cats health and this looked like a good place for some opionions. We have had this cat for about 6 years. Found this palm sized fur ball in our flower garden one drizzley morning about 6 years ago. It is strictly an inside cat, never goes outside and has never acted like it wants to go outside. We just found out what kind of cat it is, as when we were at the vet Fri. a woman says, "oh, you have a Maine Coon Cat". Went on the web and looked it up, yep, this has got to be our cat. He is a 20 lb. male(fixed) and with the long hair looks huge. Anyway the problem is about a week ago he quit eating and drinking any appreciable amts. of food and water. Took him to the vet fri. and had a full blood workup and all the results came back normal except for a low white cell count, indicating an infection. The vet said he was mildly dehydrated. He gave us some antibotics which we started him on and are to bring him back in Monday. As of this Sun. morning he hasn't started eating and drinking any more. At the vets Fri. he was 19.4 lbs. instead of his usual 20. As far as his normal behavoiur goes I haven't noticed much change. Still a pain in the butt for attention :-), he still looks alert and watches you with those big round bright eyes, and follows us around. Haven't noticed him lately going into one of his fits of insanity and tearing around the house lately tho. So I am concerned and thought I'd come here for some of your thoughts on this. Thanks.  SignaturePaul O. oplholik@hotmail.com >At the vets Fri. he >was 19.4 lbs. instead of his usual 20. As far as his normal behavoiur goes I [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >insanity and tearing around the house lately tho. So I am concerned and >thought I'd come here for some of your thoughts on this. Thanks. If it were me, I'd try another vet. I am surprised that your vet didn't either hospitalize, prescribe an appetite stimulator, or even advise you to force-feed a cat who hasn't eaten in a week. Particularly a large one. He is at *high* risk for developing hepatic lipidosis, and once a cat gets on the downward spiral from that disease they very likely can die. You've got to get food and water down him. I had luck with offering mine baby food on a spoon. Nutrical is good if you can get some today. I don't mean to scare you, but it's a dreadful secondary condition that almost always starts with another unrelated health issue that causes them to stop eating. Like your cat. Mine got it from being sick as a result of a reaction to vaccines. Best of luck. I understood your post to read that he hasn't eaten at all since he was at the vet's. If that's true I'd probably call the vet today. Sherry > >At the vets Fri. he > >was 19.4 lbs. instead of his usual 20. As far as his normal behavoiur goes I [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > Sherry Thanks Sherry. he has eaten, but just kinda nibbled. > > You've got to get food and water down him. I had luck with offering mine > baby [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Just looked up nutrical and Petsmart has some so will go get some and try it. SignaturePaul O. oplholik@hotmail.com > > > You've got to get food and water down him. I had luck with offering mine > > baby [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Just looked up nutrical and Petsmart has some so will go get some and try > it. Besides baby food & Nutircal, when at the vet's, you can also pick up some Hill's Prescription Diet a/d (as also mentioned earlier by Laura). It's specifically made for pets who are ill & have a depressed appetite, &/or need to be force-fed via oral syringe. It's a very fine-textured canned food & many cats love the stuff. I used to use it for one of my cats; she liked it so much that sometimes she'd lick it off a spoon & I could then forego the force-feeding routine. *And* my other cats would come around whenever I fed it to the ill cat - they wanted some, too; I'd give them a small amount as a treat. The vet may also prescribe an appetite stimulant; cyproheptadine (Periactin) usually works quite well. Your story reminded me of a cat my parents once had. My father found him wandering around in their driveway as a *tiny* little kitten. But he rather quickly grew up to be a _huge_ cat - an 18 pounder Maine Coon. Large head w/ along muzzle, & l-o-n-g tail. Good luck w/ him; I hope the vet can figure out why his white blood count is low & come up w/ a successful treatment plan. Cathy circa Sun, 27 Jun 2004 13:44:08 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Paul O. (oplholik@hotmail.com) said, > Hi folks, have a question on our cats health and this looked like a good > place for some opionions. We have had this cat for about 6 years. Found this [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > morning he hasn't started eating and drinking any more. At the vets Fri. he > was 19.4 lbs. instead of his usual 20. AIUI, you have an appointment tomorrow, correct? Seconding what Sherry mentioned, I would make an issue with the vet of the fact that your cat isn't eating [much]. Whether the vet prescribes an appetite stimulant or perhaps a food for inappetant cats (such as A/D), it is important that your cat eats. I have lost two cats to hepatic lipidosis in my time, and it can happen frighteningly quickly. I'm glad your cat is going to the vet tomorrow, because if he wasn't, I would suggest that he did. Please let us know what the vet says. Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde Paul, First of all, I hope you are feeding your cat canned food. "Fixed" males are prone to urinary blockage and a good quality canned food helps to prevent that. Now to your problem - sometimes a producer changes their formula and some cats don't like the new version. That happened to me. Amber refused to eat Nutro when they changed the formula. I switched to Wellness which is a high quality food and both cats like it. My Tiger appears to be a Maine Coon and at his last vet visit weighed in at 25 pounds. With his long hair he sure looks big (like a bowling ball with fur!) ---MIKE--- >Hi folks, have a question on our cats health and this looked like a good >place for some opionions. We have had this cat for about 6 years. Found this [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] >insanity and tearing around the house lately tho. So I am concerned and >thought I'd come here for some of your thoughts on this. Thanks. You did not mention if he suffers from hairballs. If he has them, this could affect his appetite. Discuss this with the Vet. Best of luck in finding a solution. MLB > >Hi folks, have a question on our cats health and this looked like a good > >place for some opionions. Just as kind of an update, The wife was out today and picked up some Whiskas pate just to see if he might take to it and eat some. I put a teaspoon in his bowl and he lapped that up, no problem, I put in another teaspoon and he ate about half that. So I think I'll try a little more later with some nutrical mixed in. Darn, shoulda tried this sooner, just didn't think.He has never wanted anything but his dry food and has never shown any interest in anything else. So maybe this will help. Will see how it goes. SignaturePaul O. oplholik@hotmail.com circa Sun, 27 Jun 2004 19:55:54 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Paul O. (oplholik@hotmail.com) said, > > >Hi folks, have a question on our cats health and this looked like a good > > >place for some opionions. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > never wanted anything but his dry food and has never shown any interest in > anything else. So maybe this will help. Will see how it goes. Sounds like Mike's thinking may have been spot-on. Good luck, and still take the kitty to the vet tomorrow, okay? Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > circa Sun, 27 Jun 2004 19:55:54 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, > Paul O. (oplholik@hotmail.com) said, [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Laura food abruptly doesn't mess his system up too bad, assuming he is going to continue to eat this food. If I change food permanently I want to get a good canned food like Iams. Thanks. SignaturePaul O. oplholik@hotmail.com >>> Hi folks, have a question on our cats health and this looked like a good >>> place for some opionions. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > never wanted anything but his dry food and has never shown any interest in > anything else. So maybe this will help. Will see how it goes. Good! I agree that maybe he has a mother of a hiarball. It can create these very symptoms. Blood counts get off because of not eating. It can become serious though if you don't get them eating. Have you given him laxatone or something similar? Karen > >>> Hi folks, have a question on our cats health and this looked like a good > >>> place for some opionions. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Karen No I haven't. Did some searching after reading your question about laxatone. I see that vaseline(petroleum jelly) is the same as some hair ball treatments. Might try some of that tonite. How quickly can this work and how much to give? Thanks. SignaturePaul O. oplholik@hotmail.com circa Mon, 28 Jun 2004 01:06:22 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Paul O. (oplholik@hotmail.com) said, > No I haven't. Did some searching after reading your question about laxatone. > I see that vaseline(petroleum jelly) is the same as some hair ball > treatments. Might try some of that tonite. How quickly can this work and how > much to give? Thanks. About a teaspoon should be good. You might just want to hold out the jar and see how much he'll eat, if any. I had cats in the past who just loooved Vaseline. As far as how fast it'll work, a day or two should likely be enough, I'd think. Maybe three. Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > > >>> Hi folks, have a question on our cats health and this looked like a > good [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > treatments. Might try some of that tonite. How quickly can this work and how > much to give? Thanks. A strip the size of toothpaste, about an inch long. But Cats will usually tolerate the commercially prepared hairball remedies a lot better. If you think it is a big hairball, or he coughs up or poops out a portion of one, I have experience nursing a cat though the passage of what has to be the largest hairball ever passed (it was nearly fatal) - I will post my tips below. Please keep us posted on how he is doing. -L. **paste** My 12 year old cat just nearly died from a giant hairball recently, so I have come up with a plan to keep him hair-ball free. He is free-fed Nutro hairball maintenance diet, Purina "indoor" cat formula, and Purina Diabetic diet (D/M) - all dry chow, as much as he wants. Twice daily, he is fed 3 oz. canned cat food - Iams kitten, D/M, or other ground cat food high in water content. Each day he gets 1/2 inch ribbon of hairball remedy goo (Petromalt, Linetone, etc.)(which he doesn't eat well - I mix it in food/tuna and let him eat what he wants). Each day he also eats two herbal hairball relief chewable tablets (AM and PM): http://www.petsmart.com/products/product_12319.shtml These things are awesome!!! He also gets a little milk once or twice weekly. I have a separate bowl of water for him so that he can drink as much as he wants. So far, this regimen has cleared his HUGE blockage, and has him pooping regularly. > > >>> Hi folks, have a question on our cats health and this looked like a > good [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > treatments. Might try some of that tonite. How quickly can this work and how > much to give? Thanks. Well, it will all depend on the kitty. Laxatone is more palatable (or Petromalt found at pet stores). Probably a couple of days. In desparation for a quicker solution on my mom's long haired (really, really long haired cat) the vet used mineral oil once. I would ask the vet when you go in today. Please let us know what they said. Doing another blood test to check for any changes. Took x-rays. Looks like very bad constipation. Vet said he had a hard time getting a stool sample due to hard stool. He says this is a secondary problem. X-rays show that the intestines and colon instead of being spread out have dropped are kind of off to the side. Whats going on with the cavity he doesn't know. Will have to go for a ultra scan as soon as we can get an appointment. So for now, force feeding broth and have a prescription for some kind of stool softner, I would call it. That should get him to feeling better and hopefully eating. I know what it's like being constipated :-) So that's where we are for the moment. He did mention cancer, but just not sure yet. So when I find out something else, will let ya all know. Thank you all for your responses, I truly appreciate it. SignaturePaul O. oplholik@hotmail.com Good luck; I hope the constipation isn't secondary to cancer, but to some other more benign cause. The ultra scan will be easy on your cat; not uncomfortable. Is the constipation med Lactulose (sp?), maybe?? Cathy > Doing another blood test to check for any changes. Took x-rays. Looks like > very bad constipation. Vet said he had a hard time getting a stool sample [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > something else, will let ya all know. Thank you all for your responses, I > truly appreciate it. > Good luck; I hope the constipation isn't secondary to cancer, but to some > other more benign cause. The ultra scan will be easy on your cat; not [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >The medicine is Enulose syrup. SignaturePaul O. oplholik@hotmail.com circa Tue, 29 Jun 2004 01:36:33 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Paul O. (oplholik@hotmail.com) said, > Doing another blood test to check for any changes. Took x-rays. Looks like > very bad constipation. Vet said he had a hard time getting a stool sample [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > something else, will let ya all know. Thank you all for your responses, I > truly appreciate it. Oh, poor kitty. Please update when you know more. Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > circa Tue, 29 Jun 2004 01:36:33 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, > Paul O. (oplholik@hotmail.com) said, [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > intestines and colon instead of being spread out have dropped are kind of > > off to the side. Whats going on with the cavity he doesn't know. A little update. Got the new blood tests, a few changes, cholestrol a little low,Albumin high,Magnesium high, border line fever at the time the vet saw him, has lost another pound>, we have an appointment for tomorrow morning for a Ultra scan or whatever it is. Have been getting babys food and Nutrical down him along with the Enulose. His water intake has picked up in the last day. Still seems to be constipated. Seems to be a little more chipper now tho, but have to wait and see. Probably another visit with the vet as soon as he gets the results from the scan thing. That probably won't be till next week tho. So, will let ya know. Thanks again. SignaturePaul O. oplholik@hotmail.com >Probably another visit with the >vet as soon as he gets the results from the scan thing. That probably won't >be till next week tho. So, will let ya know. Thanks again. Good luck with the scan. Actually anyone qualified to administer an ultrasound would also know how to read the results, at least as far as identifying unusual amounts of echogenicity or unusual masses. If it's done by a technician then the vet would translate that to a diagnosis. There is nothing to send out unless you are going to an ultrasound clinic with no vets present, then the results would be sent to your vet. -mhd circa Wed, 30 Jun 2004 22:29:31 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Paul O. (oplholik@hotmail.com) said, > A little update. Got the new blood tests, a few changes, cholestrol a little > low,Albumin high,Magnesium high, border line fever at the time the vet saw [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > vet as soon as he gets the results from the scan thing. That probably won't > be till next week tho. So, will let ya know. Thanks again. Please let us know what the ultrasound shows; I hope all turns out well. Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde Paul O. (oplholik@hotmail.com) said, > > A little update. Got the new blood tests, a few changes, cholestrol a little > > low,Albumin high,Magnesium high, border line fever at the time the vet saw > > him, has lost another pound>, we have an appointment for tomorrow morning > > for a Ultra scan or whatever it is. > Please let us know what the ultrasound shows; I hope all turns out > well. > > Laura Good news I hope. Took the cat in for the scan today and found nothing seriously wrong. What has pushed the intestines and everything out of place slightly apparently is fat.This a Maine Coon Cat and haven't ever worried about his 20 lb weight. So that part apparently isn't a big concern at the moment. But will have to keep him under 20 lbs. from now on. The colon has cleared and the bowels seem to functioning properly. Could have been a lot of hair that caused it, not really sure. The vet said to use the hair ball treatment a couple times a week. Also keep the long hair on his underside shaved as that will eliminate some of the hair he will lick at. He gave us some pills to stimulate his appetite if needed till he gets going again. He has seemed more chipper today, at least, but is pooped now from his day long trip. So thats about it for now, just have to see if everything works out ok and returns to normal. Thanks again everyone for your help and support. SignaturePaul O. oplholik@hotmail.com > Paul O. (oplholik@hotmail.com) said, > > > A little update. Got the new blood tests, a few changes, cholestrol a [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > trip. So thats about it for now, just have to see if everything works out ok > and returns to normal. Thanks again everyone for your help and support. That's good that nothing ominous showed up on the ultrasound scan! I hope it was just a case of an extra-bad hairball - or anyhting else benign, & that he'll spontaneously begin to return to his old self now. Two of my cats have each felt ill at one time from a recalcitrant hairball, but they each eventually threw up the offending mass & then bounced right back. I wouldn't have thought anything suspicious about a male Maine Coon weighing 20 pounds, either, unless it was obvious that he was fat. But in general, hey, they're known to be *big* cats. Thanks for the update. Cathy "> > Good news I hope. Took the cat in for the scan today and found nothing > > seriously wrong. What has pushed the intestines and everything out of > place [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Would like to ask you all a question. After having him home for a few hrs. now, he has not shown any interest in his regular food which considering the day he had might not be anything to worry about. He did come out from under the bed a while ago and was acting like he wanted something, but his normal food wasn't it. The vet said to try to get him back on his regular dry food as you don't want to abruptly change a cats diet. But I'm wondering if after being on baby food and nutrical for almost a week if it makes any difference at this point what we get him to eat? Have yet to try the appetite stimulators I was given as I was going to wait till tomorrow to see if it was needed. Thanks all. SignaturePaul O. oplholik@hotmail.com > "> > Good news I hope. Took the cat in for the scan today and found nothing > > > seriously wrong. What has pushed the intestines and everything out of [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > stimulators I was given as I was going to wait till tomorrow to see if it > was needed. Thanks all. Right now I'd feed him whatever he wants & will eat. ;-) But I'd pop an appetite stimulant into him, to jump-start his appetite - at which point (about 20 minutes to one hour later) he might gladly eat his regular food. If it's cyproheptadine/Periactin, I found that sometimes half a recommended full dose was enough to do the trick. Cathy > Paul O. (oplholik@hotmail.com) said, >>> A little update. Got the new blood tests, a few changes, cholestrol a [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > trip. So thats about it for now, just have to see if everything works out ok > and returns to normal. Thanks again everyone for your help and support. Oh my. I can identify. Do you play with him quite a bit? If not, I suggest a cat dancer and some nightly play sessions. The exercise will help a lot. I'm glad they didn't see anything worse!! hair balls can realllly do a number on them. My Sugar got quite sick from one once. circa Thu, 01 Jul 2004 22:19:32 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Paul O. (oplholik@hotmail.com) said, > Good news I hope. Took the cat in for the scan today and found nothing > seriously wrong. What has pushed the intestines and everything out of place [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > trip. So thats about it for now, just have to see if everything works out ok > and returns to normal. Thanks again everyone for your help and support. FanTAStic!!! I'm so glad to hear this! Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde |
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