4-5 month old just spayed, now won't eat or drink... :(

Hello All,

My wife and I have had a kitten since the 1st of June and just recently (this past Tuesday) had her spayed and her second set of shots done. We kept her from eating the morning before the surgery and by the time she got home was as expected very hungry. We may of made a mistake because we let her eat her fill, instead of limiting it as I've now read. That was Tuesday night...by Thursday we began to notice that she wasn't eating normally. And after a closer watch we learned that she wasn't eating at all in our presence, nor drinking from her water fountain that we have for her. On Friday afternoon she threw up a bit of clear substance. Then on Saturday afternoon she threw up a yellowish substance. We then quickly decided that the non-eating / drinking along with the throwing up was signs of something that wasn't getting better on it's own. We took her into the vet on Saturday afternoon. The vet checked her stitches, which looked fine she said and took her temperature. Which was also fine we were told. We had her de-wormed while there and they ran a Leukemia test which was also negative.

She seems to be progressively returning to more of her normal self, she is playful and aggressive. And seems to have more energy than we would think for not eating. (she weighed 4 lbs 11 oz. btw)

The vet gave us a special canned type of food to give her. She wouldn't eat it though. We bought some Baby Food and she seemed a bit more interested in that. Ate very little on her own though. She would lick some off my finger but that didn't last long either. We decided to try to use a syringe and have given that to her 3 times now with a mixture of the baby food (sans onion powder) and the food from the vet. She puts up quite the fight every time though.

Not really sure what to do. She seems pretty much fine except for the non-eating also drinking VERY little but a few laps here and there. She has passed some stool and is peeing a bit. So we don't think she has a blocked intestine or CRF.....going to call the vet back tomorrow and I guess have her blood work done and see what that shows.

Just a very frustrating and worrisome time for us. Going to call back the clinic that performed the surgery again and see what they say. Everyone seems to try to not link her condition to the operation. All I know is she was fine going in...and now she's not.

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas PLZ let us know! Neither one of us have had a cat since we were kids, so we're not experts at all...though we are trying to learn all we can now from vets to the internet

Anyway, Thank you for listening! Hopefully we'll have "Asha" back to normal soon! She's a Brown/Black Tabby btw, very high spirited and beautiful

Best Regards,

Stu & Heidi & Asha

 

HI, sorry your kitty's not feeling so good. I was curious, maybe I mis-read this part, you said your giving her baby food with onion powder in it? Its better not to give onion, either peices, salt or powder, it would probably take a while of giving it daily to do any damage but is known to be toxic to cats and dogs (unless for some reason your vet told you to give it, although I dont know of any reason why :? )
Obviously I couldnt tell you what the problem is but a couple of things come to mind, she may not be ill as a direct result of the actual surgical procedure itself however the whole process of going under anaesthesia, the stress factor, not eating for a day and then gorging, deworming, did she get vaccines also when she was spayed (thats the usual routine), it could all have been a little too much for her body to cope with all at the same time. Does she have discharge from her eyes, nose, any congestion?
Sometimes the vomiting will trigger an 'ongoing cycle' happens to people also, the vomiting starts and then you just keep feeling nauseous afterwards. What you described, the yellow substance sounds like bile which is what comes up when theres no food in the gut. I would definitely take another trip to the vet, its always better to be on the safe side. With the syringe feeding, best way is to give small amounts at regular intervals, reduces the risk of vomiting and will be less stressful as you not spending as long doing it, also try giving some pedialyte if possible. It sounds as though Asha is starting to perk up a little though if she is starting to play, hopefully she will be back to normal very soon.

 

most cats don't like the food from the vets....and I've tried them all - well not personally but on various cats.
I'd go back to regular canned kitten food and see if she starts to eat. Starting with a small amount. I'd also start adding some pediatlyte and NutraCall to the food. Mix a little in making it soupy

 

Thanks a lot for the replies!

Well this morning was a bit of a surprise. I was able to get her to drink a bit of water on her own and she ate a bit of her dry food. She didn't eat a lot , but I was happy she was eating at all. I decided to try a little of thin sliced turkey that we pull apart in small pieces. That she's liked in the past. She also ate quite a few pieces of the turkey. But soon she’d had her fill.

So now...I'm not sure what to do. Still going to call both the Vet and the clinic that gave her the operation and see what they suggest. I wonder if shots/vac that she had (including the Leukemia vaccine) may have had a bad reaction that effected her sense of smell? Or the stress of the whole ordeal, like was suggested, too much for her?

I just hope that the fact that she is eating a small amount on her own is a sign that she's getting back to normal.

I'll look into the pediatlyte and NutraCall and try to introduce that to her.

Also, the baby food has NO onion powder in it

So that's the situation at the moment.

Thank you again...I'll keep you all posted. If any other thoughts or ideas plz let me/us know

Regards,

Stu

 

I have one cat that reacts horribly to the feline leuk vaccine...so bad she doesn't get the vaccine anymore. She's inside only and in spite of me fostering she gets ill to the point where it's simply not worth letting her have the vaccine.
Maybe your kitten is going to react badly to it.
Missy didn't eat for days, slept all the time and just looked like she was going downhill.
Sometimes the reaction is so severe the vaccine isn't worth it - especially if your cat is inside only and isn't going to come into contact with cats who don't have vaccines and their health is questionable.

 

Sounds like you are doing all you can. Keep us posted.

 

Hello Mary_NH,

That's exactly what I have wondered since I read about it online. We won't be giving it to her again, just to be on the safe side. She is a complete indoor cat. So like you said it's just not worth it if that's what's making her feel this bad. At least it'll be one more item we can rule out

Thanks,

Stu

 

Will do

My wife and I both work, so we'll see Asha at lunch time (12:00) and see how she's doing.

Thanks a lot for all the support!

Stu

 

:m23: and welcome! I'm sorry Asha is feeling so badly and it's good to hear that she's starting to perk up. I'm not a fan of vaccinations for my kitties unless it's absolutely neccessary. I've brought it up with my vet and she agreed with me that unless my cats are going outdoors and not the type to escape outdoors, it's better not to give them vaccines. I only give my cats the state mandatory Rabies shots with the exception of Milo who has to be let out 1-2 hours a day. He gets the whole works. Is she on antibiotics? After having their teeth cleaned, Monty didn't eat for 1-2 days and Pumpkin was allergic to the pain killers or antibiotics. She went right back to normal as soon as they were discontinued. They both rebounded quite nicely. How is she doing now?

 

Thanks for the info "vene"

Well a new twist in the situation...

While at lunch (just now) I was able to feed her a few small pieces of thin sliced turkey. But I really wanted to get her to eat some of her dry cat food for all the nutrients I know she's been missing. I replaced the "mixed" IAMS and Vet brands with pure IAMS in her normal ceramic bowl. She sniffed around the edge of the bowl but no go, she wouldn't eat anything. I did a few more things in the kitchen and decided on a whim to try and give her a few individual pieces of the dry in my hand. She did a quick sniff and to my surprise ate them all rapidly.

I got the bag and put about half a handful in my hand...she quickly ate that. I did this 6 time total, till she seemed to get her fill. Next I wanted her to get some water down (especially after all that dry food) carried her over to her water "fountain" of circulating fresh water, nothing...she sniffed it and watched the few bubbles for a second and then left without having any.

I went and got a ceramic cereal bowl and put fresh cold water in from the sink and took that to her. She sniffed the bowl and dipped a paw into it and preceded to drink a bit. In the end she drank several, somewhat short drinks...but she drank.

I honestly don't know what to make of all this.

My 2 guesses are that she's extremely "scent" sensitive after the surgery or the 2nd set of shots (including the Luc vaccination)

or the stress of the whole ordeal surgery/shots was too much and she's just slowly returning to normal.

My hope is that she didn't go too long without eating or drinking before we caught on to what was happening. I've read quite a bit about "Fatty Liver Disease" and "Cholangitis" We'll continue to watch for signs and hope for the best.

Any thoughts about the eating from my hand and not her bowl would be welcome as always

I appreciate this forum and it's members very much!

Btw vene she's not on any antibiotics. The clinic didn't give us any after the surgery. Is that normal procedure?

Stu

 

In my experience, for a routine spay or neuter antibiotics are not given.

 

a little trick I had to do with a foster kitten who wasn't feeling well enough to eat was bit a tiny bit of Karo corn syrup on her gums. Gave her a boost of energy (can we say sugar buzz) and she chowed down. Couldn't do it often but enough that she was eating.

 

Come to think of it, none of my kitties were given antibiotics after being neutered and spayed. Pumpkin and Monty were given antibiotics for having their teeth pulled and cleaned along with painkillers. Sounds like she's doing much better. I hope she'll continue to improve! BTW, do you have any pics of Asha to share? :m7:

 

Not developed as of yet, but we're planning on borrowing a digital camera soon froma friend

I'll post a pic asap

Stu

 

Asha's still eating her dry Vet & IAMS food from my hand...but she's now drinking from both her dish and the fountain!

Hopefully the worst is behind us now!

I'll keep you all posted

Stu

 

Eating and drinking on her own again!!! Though I like to still help her some by holding some of her dry food in my hand

Thank you for all the information and support! I'll post a pic as soon as I can get a hold of a digital camera

Best Regards to All and your owners heh,

Stu & Heidi & Asha (our 5 month old sandy brown/black baby Tabby girl)

:y_the_best:

 

Im happy to hear Asha is now doing well...

 

if there was a kind of food Max didnt like...he wouldnt eat it unless it is out of my hand. and he would eat very little of it. he does the exact same thing ur cat does. he would sniff it and walk away. i had to try lots of different foods until i found the one he loves. he now eats whiskas meaty selections dry food. i am not sure if that is the case with ur cat. :|

 

Thanks for the info

Asha's now eating very well on her own... I "think" the surgery and shots just was too much for her and she kind of caved in on herself. After we force fed her that one day she seemed to get her appetite back slowly.

Now she seems fine...pretty much like her old self. Though I think she's holding a bit of a grudge against my wife for the forced feeding lol

Stu 8)