Very ill cat not eating

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Phil - 30 Aug 2004 10:27 GMT

How long can a cat go without eating and still make it back? It's
possible that my cat hasn't eaten much if anything for the last month,
and in that time he lost two or more pounds.

I've been out of the country for the last six weeks and during that
time my roommate was looking after my cats. Got back home this morning
to find one of them is severely ill. Skinny, unkempt coat, dehydrated.

Of course I rushed him to the emergency vet, he's dehydrated and
jaundiced. He's got an IV drip. Blood test results back tomorrow will
give a better picture, but the vet says that liver damage is likely,
and that he probably has a systematic infection that caused him to
stop eating.

Roommate says she has no idea when this started, but thought he looked
a bit off for a while.

I'm worried sick. Can a cat make it back from several weeks of not
eating?

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Phil P. - 30 Aug 2004 11:48 GMT

> How long can a cat go without eating and still make it back? It's
> possible that my cat hasn't eaten much if anything for the last month,
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> I'm worried sick. Can a cat make it back from several weeks of not
> eating?

Yes. With aggressive nutritional therapy. However, it could take from a
few weeks to a few months to reverse the process. The survival rate is
about 80%.

Effective nutritional therapy usually requires tube feeding because its
virtually impossible for a cat to eat enough food voluntarily to reverse the
process. Force feeding isn't a good idea, either, because its also
practically impossible to force feed a cat enough food to reverse the
process. Also, many force-fed cats develop an aversion to food because they
associate the unpleasant experience of forcing with food. This can delay
the cat's return to eating voluntarily and recovery even longer. Therefore,
the only reliable treatment option is tube feeding.

As I said, most cats pull through but it takes a lot of patience and
dedication - so keep the faith.

Best of luck.

(Another) Phil

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Becky Smith - 30 Aug 2004 12:44 GMT

Don't give up on your cat. A friend went through this same thing. She got
a second cat and had it about a month when it started hiding under the bed.
She thought the cat had been eating but it wasn't - the whole month she had
her. At one point her vet sort of suggested euthanasia - but she didn't
give up. This cat is fine and healthy - with no apparent problems. It took
a lot of work (going home at lunch, right after work...) and a lot of
money. It was worth the cost!

Your leaving could have triggered the cat to stop eating. Have you left
this cat before?

Good luck.
Becky

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whayface - 30 Aug 2004 14:27 GMT

>How long can a cat go without eating and still make it back? It's
>possible that my cat hasn't eaten much if anything for the last month,
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>I'm worried sick. Can a cat make it back from several weeks of not
>eating?

First I would dump the room mate and get one the like cats !!!

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Sherry - 30 Aug 2004 17:11 GMT

>>Of course I rushed him to the emergency vet, he's dehydrated and
>>jaundiced. He's got an IV drip. Blood test results back tomorrow will
>>give a better picture, but the vet says that liver damage is likely,
>>and that he probably has a systematic infection that caused him to
>>stop eating.

Mine went probably about a month, and eating only what we force-fed him. He got
down to skin and bones and lost all the hair on the back of his neck. (the
resulting bout of hepatic lipidosis (liver disease) was brought on by a
reaction to vaccines).
When the vet let him come home, I honestly thought I was bringing him home to
die. He couldn't even use his back legs, he was so weak. One day I offered him
turkey baby food on a spoon, (after force feeding him) and that's what started
him back eating.
A couple of things we did that helped was give him Nutrical, a tube vitamin
supplement. Also, b-complex vitamin drops. Once he started eating, the crisis
was over.
Sometimes, you never find out what the primary infection/problem even was that
made them stop eating. The problem is when it turns in HL. Are his ears yellow
yet?
Your vet will probably give you a better idea of what his condition is after a
couple of days. Please keep us posted. Good luck.
Don't give up on him. You wouldn't believe how awful Yoda looked and that was
four years ago.

Sherry

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DL - 30 Aug 2004 18:43 GMT

>>Of course I rushed him to the emergency vet, he's dehydrated and
>>>jaundiced. He's got an IV drip. Blood test results back tomorrow will
>>>give a better picture, but the vet says that liver damage is likely,
>>>and that he probably has a systematic infection that caused him to
>>>stop eating.

Be sure to have them check for INflammatory Bowel Disorder. We lost
our precious Carlisle to that on Easter. He was sick a year before
and the vets we used found nothing wrong and couldn't explain his
projectile vomiting and loss of appetite. He got somewhat better and
then seemed much better for many months. In early February we found
he wasn't eating and we took him in and they couldn't figure it out
and thought maybe he had eaten something that didn't agree with him.
A few months later her got much worse and dropped from 22 pounds to 13
(he was a beautiful 9 year old orange Maine Coon) and became very
lethargic. This time they finally sent us off for further tests at
the emergency clinic where they figured this out. He was on IVs for
days and then came home but still wouldnt' eat. They put him on
steroids which should help this condition but it was too late. We
spent over $2,000 on this and I believe our vets (a father and son and
daughter team) just didn't put in the research time to figure out what
might be wrong. I found this diagnosis on the Internet within 5
minutes. With a course of steroids started in February he would still
be with us most likely. On Easter we finally had to take him in to be
put to sleep. The hardest thing I have ever done. This kitty had the
greatest character of any animal ever - even when he was near death
and could barely move he would crawl into his litter box to go, even
though he couldn't get out. Not a day goes by we don't cry about him.

A couple of months later we finally got a new kitty - a little Maine
Coon named Willow. He is now 5.5 months old and is great but I sure
wish he could have interned with Carlisle.

In summary - have them check out the possibility of the Inflammatory
Bowel Syndrome.

- -

DL

http://www.geocities.com/dicklong14_ca/fanclub.htm

>> Evidently your buddy Cedeño is a bastard.
>
>First of all, Cedeño is not my buddy.

::::::::::::::::

Halter Sucks!

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Amy Gray - 30 Aug 2004 17:59 GMT

>First I would dump the room mate and get one the like cats !!!

Are we sure the roommate did anything wrong? I would point
a number of years I was siting for a friend and her
cat while she was away from home and this cat would
often disappear for more than a week at a time. Nobody seemed
to know where the cat was for the intervening week..

I would also point out is very common for a cat to have
several homes, one owner may not even be aware of the
other owners.

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M.C. Mullen - 30 Aug 2004 14:53 GMT

| How long can a cat go without eating and still make it back? It's
| possible that my cat hasn't eaten much if anything for the last month,
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
| I'm worried sick. Can a cat make it back from several weeks of not
| eating?

Yes, definitely. I'd worry more about the jaundice and the infection. Once
this is sorted out he'll eat. Ask the vet what's the best way to feed him
now. Little of what he likes or much or diet? I'm not sure.

Good luck

Carola

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Amy Gray - 30 Aug 2004 17:52 GMT

>How long can a cat go without eating and still make it back? It's
>possible that my cat hasn't eaten much if anything for the last month,
>and in that time he lost two or more pounds.

Not very long. As someone who had a sick cat loose alot of weight
very quickly time is very short. You did the right thing taking the
cat to the vet.

I'm not sure how long that would be, if it were my cat I would
be worried after the first meal that the cat didn't eat and take the
cat to the vet.

I would add two pounds is alot. You have a cat who weighs ten
pounds, that means the cat lost 20% of it's weight.

I would be more worried about the dehydration than the eating.

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Luvskats00 - 31 Aug 2004 04:32 GMT

Phil nol@t.com
writes

>..." my cat hasn't eaten much if anything for the last month,
>and in that time he lost two or more pounds.
>I've been out of the country for the last six weeks and during that
>time my roommate was looking after my cats....to find one of them is severely

ill. Skinny, unkempt coat, dehydrated. Roommate says she has no idea when this
started

Roommate is a clod and an arse! I highly suspect room mate gave little or no
care to the cats because it doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize the cat's
not eating. Putting food in a dish and finding said food in dish day after day
for over a month, for example, would give one a clue that cat isn't eating.
Roommate wasn't aware cat was losing weight? I send good thoughts your way.

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Phil - 31 Aug 2004 04:35 GMT

Visited my cat today and consulted with the vet. Cat is looking
better, but will remain on IV to rehydrate him. He's also getting a
couple of antibiotics to treat a system-wide infection. They're force
feeding him right now. Don't think that implanting a feeding tube will
be necessary.

The blood test shows that he is FELV negative but FIV+. His white
blood cell count is very high which may be a sign of fighting
infection, but may also be a sign of leukemia or some other cancer.
His bilirubin count is also elevated, which is not good. Going to have
to talk to the vet again because I'm a bit hazy on all this.

Vet suggests x rays of vital organs, which I agreed to, may also need
ultrasound to see what's going on. Also more blood tests after he is
more stable. I'm to "think good thoughts" but frankly it doesn't sound
too good. Guess more will be known after further diagnostics.

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Karen Chuplis - 31 Aug 2004 05:35 GMT

> Visited my cat today and consulted with the vet. Cat is looking
> better, but will remain on IV to rehydrate him. He's also getting a
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> more stable. I'm to "think good thoughts" but frankly it doesn't sound
> too good. Guess more will be known after further diagnostics.

Sorry to hear about the FIV. You never know. Make sure they test again as
falso positives can happen with some tests. Keep us posted. I will think
good thoughts anyway.

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dgk - 31 Aug 2004 14:26 GMT

>Visited my cat today and consulted with the vet. Cat is looking
>better, but will remain on IV to rehydrate him. He's also getting a
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>more stable. I'm to "think good thoughts" but frankly it doesn't sound
>too good. Guess more will be known after further diagnostics.

My cat just had a high WBC count also (around 50,000). You can look at
the differential to see what type of WBCs are elevated. I think that
high Polys (Neutrophils?) indicate infection but higher types of other
cells are likely leukemia.

Your cat has my best wishes for it being nothing serious.

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Linda Terrell - 31 Aug 2004 15:30 GMT

> My cat just had a high WBC count also (around 50,000). You can look at
> the differential to see what type of WBCs are elevated. I think that
> high Polys (Neutrophils?) indicate infection but higher types of other
> cells are likely leukemia.
>
> Your cat has my best wishes for it being nothing serious.

High incidence of Lymphs usually indicate a virus. But in a
virus infection the WBC is usually suppressed. In FeLeuk,
the WBC tends to crash to 1000 or so, with lots of lymphs
and as it gets worst with anemia, you gets lots of nucleated
RBC's as the marrow tries to push out cells before they
are ready.

LT

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