Why is Jerry suddenly not eating?

Hi there,

We have a four year old cat named "Jerry" who recently had a bout of some stomach condition. We aren't sure what happened, but he was suddenly not eating right and was vomiting a lot of frothy white stuff. We figure he may have ate something around the house he shouldn't have, but can't be quite sure.

Anyway, we took him to the vet and $500 later he seemed to be a bit better. The vet ran the full gamut of tests and x-rays and found nothing out of the ordinary. He gave Jerry some pills to calm his stomach and within a few days he was perfectly back to normal. In fact, for the next 2.5 weeks he was back to normal.

And then he stopped eating...

About three days ago this started and he won't touch anything since. He'll nibble on cat treats, but that's about it. He's losing weight rapidly too, but at the same time still drinks, goes to the washroom and is (relatively) active. Moreover, he doesn't seem in pain nor does he seem too upset. Also, he's not vomiting at all or anything else weird. He just won't eat! We are obviously planning on taking him back to the vet within two days, but we are a little concerned about another $500 bill.

Does anybody have any clue as to why my cat is suddenly not eating?

 

have you given him hairball medicine. does he lick alot??? he may just have a hairball.

maybe he has become burned out on his food...have you tried other foods?? i would try to feed him something that is know to be palatable...like royal canine...chicken soup for the cat lovers soul, are good dry foods that are well liked by kitties. or have you tried wet?? what about chicken baby food? or plain baked chicken?

it can be dangerous if they go too long without eating...taxes the liver and kidneys....

my vet used to give otis (who passed away last march) an appetite stimulator...i think in the form of a shot...when he had some problems eating a couple of times....that seemed to work.

can you give more info?? any changes in the house...other animals...etc??

 

:m23: and welcome! I'm so sorry about Jerry's condition. Lynn gave great advice. I hope he perks up soon. Please keep us posted on his condition! BTW, do you have any pics to share?

 

there is an appetite stimulant you can give him...it's cypro something and although it's an antihistimine it stimulants a cat's appetite (I have to use it on fosters sometimes when they get stressed). Also there is a product that helps the good bacteria in pets - you can feed either plain yogurt or Bene-Bac (at pet stores but yogurt is cheaper).

 

Thanks everyone for your concern.

I'll try to post some pics of the Jerry very soon!

Anyway, Jerry was looking very lethargic and tired this morning and we couldn't bare to see him go another day without eating so we took him to the vet. They ran the full gamut of tests again and still aren't sure what's wrong. They have however hospitalized him for a day or so and will be feeding him intravenously. All the lab results come back tomorrow morning, so we are keeping our fingers crossed even though the doctor has already speculated it "could" be luchemia or possibly an organ failure. Still, we aren't giving up just yet as it could be a simple virus or something as well.

To answer a few of your questions...

He generally doesn't get much hairballs and with winter coming, it's not exactly hareball season for him anyway. He licks, but I wouldn't say a lot. The vet doesn't seem to think it's a simple hair ball.

While we did change his foods a few months back, we are now offering him every cat food (wet and dry) one could imagine, but he still won't touch any of it. He'll nibble at a "treat" but that's about it.

I believe he'll be given one of those today in the hospital. Hopefully it'll get him eating naturally.

Nope and nope.

Anyway, I'll keep everyone posted once we get the results tomorrow morning!

 

OH DEAR....I AM SO SORRY HES IN THE HOSPITAL....

i will say a prayer for him. little kitty....

i hope they find its just a virus.

 

I'm so sorry your kitty is sick. Have you heard anything yet? I will keep him in my thoughts...

 

there is an appetite stimulant that is pill form - it's cypro something. I give it to my fosters when they need a little help with eating. It's an antihistimine but for some reason makes cats hungry. You might want to check these out

 

Thanks everyone for your concern!

Jerry is still in the hospital though. He "may" be coming home today...

The good news...

He's been fed via a tube for 4-5 days now, so he's regaining his weight, his energy, he looks better, his fur shines, etc. etc. More good news...He's tested negative for just about everything. No leuchemia, no feline AIDS, no virus', etc. He had a bit too much protein in the urine, but the vet feels that's probably just his liver working overtime during his period of non-eating.

The bad news...

He still won't eat on his own. Although, he has started to sniff around his food again showing "some" interest. Moreover, his foot has got a bit infected from the I.V. (but that shouldn't be a big deal). He's also drooling a lot, but apparently that has something to do with the medicine he's getting injected into him.

The vet is going to do some kind of pancreatic test today, but after that, he's basically been tested for everything. So not sure where we stand. It looks like that cat is "technically" healthy, although he still won't eat.

For the record, he lost about 4.5 pounds in 1-month, so the weight decrease was pretty rapid as far as cats go. He's already gained a bit of it back though.

I'll keep everyone informed. Not sure if we should bring him home or not though. It costs roughly $200/day to keep him in the hospital, yet there we can be sure he'll get food (via a tube). If we bring him home, he may still decide not to eat and I'm not sure how successful we'd be at feeding him via a tube.

Any thoughts?

Jason

 

Are you home most of the time? If so, have the vet go over with you how to safely feed and care for your baby. I'm sure Jerry will be much happier recouperating at home.

 

how were his kidney tests? I'm sure that's probably the first thing the vet considered. Poor fella - I hope he improves and gains his appetite back soon...and your wallet too