I need help with my 13 yr. old Calico, she won't eat/drink!

I have a Calico cat, ironically enough, named Calico. She's a small cat, and her base weight is about 7.5 pounds. Recently Calico became sickly and did nothing but go down to the basement and sleep. She also began a trend of not eating or drinking. We knew something was wrong so we called the vet. They took her in and said she got diareah earlier and then became dehydrated, resulting in near kidney failure. Luckily we got her in quick enough that they were able to keep her overnight, hook her up to IV's and rehydrate her. At this point she had lost about a pound, she was down to 6.5 pounds. They said on the X-Rays they found a growth on her lungs between her lungs and her heart. They aren't able to identify it and they have an ultrasound specialist coming in on Wednesday to check her out.

They released her into our care, they gave us some Clavamox antibiotic and some steroid supplement to give her to increase her appetite. We got her home and she wasn't eating at all. I tried to hydrate her through water from an eyedropper but she fights, kicks, screams, and cries when you try to get the thing anywhere near her mouth so that's an ordeal in itself. I hydrate her the best I can but sometimes she gets so unruly it wears me out.

Up until last night she refused to eat any of her Fancy Feast cat food, which she has always loved. So we tried this stuff called Nutri-plan and my mother runs upstairs in excitement telling me to come look and sure enough, there she was eating away. I think it had to do with the steroid we gave her, but regardless I was hoping that was the breakthrough we needed. It wasn't. I woke up again today and gave her food, she took 3 small bites, and walked away.

So again, she's not eating. It's a hassle to get her to take any pills as she does her best to spit them back up. We still make sure she gets her steroid to make sure she eats. However a day ago we read a post on a vet's message board saying how Clavamox can often cause the cat to not eat. So we have ceased giving her the Clavamox and her appetite has marginally increased but not nearly enough. She's still looking quite unhealthy and does little more than mope around the house. Is there ANYTHING AT ALL I can do to motivate her to eat and drink?

We already forked out more than $300 bucks to the vet and we really don't want to have to do that again. I feel so bad because the poor thing is just killing herself and she doesn't even know it. I'm not sure if it's that growth in her lungs or what that's making her not eat, but I sure do hope I can field some suggestions from you people. Thanks for any and all help you may be able to give! By the way, another hunch of ours, maybe she has some kind of sinus infection and can't smell the food? However that wouldn't make much sense seeing as she doesn't sneeze and has no runny nose or anything. -Matt

 

:m23: and welcome! I'm sorry Cali is not feeling well. Have you tried different types of canned foods? How about dabing a bit of tuna on her food to stimulate eating. Wouldn't hurt to try steam baths every few hours. Most sick kitties will eat baby foods (without the onions). Please keep us posted on her condition.

 

Yep. We've tried Fancy Feast, Iams, and Nutri-Plan. She responded best to the Nutri-plan but she still won't eat or drink. I wish she wasn't so obstinant about us giving her fluids.

 

I'm so sorry your baby is sick Other than getting advice from your vet, the only things i can suggest are to try what Vene said with the tuna and steaming. You could also try getting her some canned chicken chunks, the kind for people. My cat loves that. Also, have you ever seen those cat treats they sell, the dried bonita flakes?? I used to put that on the food of sick kitties when i worked in an animal shelter clinic and it worked very well cuz it has a strong fishy smell to it. I've even used catnip. Also some Nutrical would be good to have around. You could mix it in with the water you are giving her in the syringe or eye dropper. Or even maybe use the juice from a can of tuna in spring water instead of just plain water and see if she takes that. When I steam I use a cat carrier and a pot of boiling water with some thyme leaves in it. I cover the carrier with a towel to keep the steam in and then place the pot at the front of the carrier and steam it all up. Just have to be careful she doesn't touch the hot pot. I put a towel inbetween them and the pot. I add the Thyme leaves cuz they contain thymol which is an ingredient in Vick's Vaporub to help clear them up. Oregano has it too if there's no Thyme around. That's all I can think of for now. Hope that helps.

 

Thank you very much for the advice, but there's one problem. Kinda funny actually, and it makes my cat quite unique. She doesn't really like seafood much haha. She just won't eat the stuff and I'm not quite sure why. But nonetheless she's breaking the cat stereotype one step at a time haha. I'll try all of your suggestions and if anyone else has more, keep em' comin.

 

for her pills put them on a spoon full of water and have someone else hold and open the cats mouth. the water makes the piill go down really easy, i have the same pill prob. with my cats but the water makes it a lot easier. for the food prob. try giving her the kind of chicken that come in a small kind of can, (looks like a tuna can). for water i give my animals ice water and they drink it a lot better than regular water (shadow will not drink water that she hasen't seen ice put in it). good luck with your kitty!

 

sometimes the really cheap canned food will be appealing to cats. Yeah it's not the most nutritional but if a cat isn't eating it's at least food. The 9 Lives canned tuna is the smelliest stuff on earth - heat some of that up in the microwave and see if the smell appeals to her.

I have a cat that can't eat fishy cat food either - goes through him quicker than Ex-Lax would :roll:

You could also get some Nutra-Call and start smearing that on her tongue (good luck) it's added calories and minerals in it.

Hope the test results turn out okay...please let us know

 

Yep, I'll keep you posted. I did however come home today and when I came upstairs much to my delight I saw an empty plate! Meaning she ate all of her food I put out for her! I was so deliriously happy that I gave her quite the pet and hug and gave her new food and she went right to eating that too! I'm hoping this is the sign of a big turn around in Calico's lifestyle. As for the ultrasound, we're hoping for the best and I'll keep you updated.

 

good for her!!

 

Hope she's doing better. Definitely keeping you and she in my thoughts and prayers. Hang in there.

 

The cloud that showed up on the X-Ray was nothing more than a bit of scar tissue she probably recieved from having tapeworm as a kitten (she was a stray until she was rescued at approximately 1 and a half years old). They did however say that she has pnuemonia and they gave us a strong antibiotic that they say however has no harmful appetite side effects on cats. But just to play it safe since the vet said so, we're still giving her the steroid supplement they prescribed that makes her want to eat.

So we keep giving her antibiotics to cure the pnuemonia and steroids to keep up her appetite, and pretty soon she'll be back to normal. Thanks for all the concern everyone! Take care! And best of wishes to you and your pets as well! -Matt

 

Glad to hear of the good news. I hope the pneumonia goes away soon!