My little girl Rini is poorly. She coughed up a fur ball Saturday lunchtime and hasn't eaten since nor used her litter tray. She had enough energy to get herself upstairs and sleep on our bed but wouldn't move from there. Prior to the fur ball she was her normal self chasing round the house with her brother etc.
Took her to the vet yesterday morning and they kept her in for fluids (she was dehydrated and had lost 300g from last time she was weighed, which is quite a lot when she's only about 3.5kg to start with.) Vet thought she could feel a lump in her tummy. Temperature slightly high. Blood tests showed signs of infection / inflammation but nothing else to worry about. Put her on antibiotics for the infection. X ray showed what looked like compacted faeces in the lower intestine but again nothing else to worry about.
So now she's fully hydrated and still refusing food. They've tempted her with sardines, (I was suprised - bones???) tuna, white fish, Waitrose cat food (!) and she's not having any of it. She hyper-salivates when they try to feed her. This morning they gave her some sort of appetite stimulant. Lunchtime they gave her anti-nausea and anti-inflammatory drugs. Now they've given her diazepam (also supposed to stimulate the appetite and presumably (?) lower stress levels.
Next step will be to insert a feeding tube into her stomach but the vet said it can't be done via the nose (like in humans) because the nose is too small, so they would have to insert the tube through a cut in her neck into the oesophagus.
I don't really understand how something seemingly so minor (furball) has escalated into something so major. The vet said that trauma can put cats off eating and then it's very difficult to get them to start again.
To make matters worse, we are supposed to be going abroad tomorrow with my MIL coming round once a day to feed the cats & clean the litter tray. She agreed because we promised it wouldn't be difficult. Even if Rini starts eating and comes home, she'll need to be looked after for a few days, fed separately from her brother, and probably need pills. I can't ask MIL to do that. I think we need to stay at home but my DH hasn't had a holiday for ages and this is something he really wants to do. It's too late to get a refund and I've checked the travel insurance and it doesn't cover cancellation due to pet illness. He said he doesn't want to go on his own so if I don't go, he won't go.
The vet said it might be possible to leave Rini there while we're away. At least then I'd know she was in good hands and would be monitored and get treated if something was wrong, even if it bankrupts me. (I don't have pet insurance - gambled and lost this one.)
Sorry for waffling on - I'm worried! Have any of you had cats refusing food and what happened? Did they recover?
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The litter tray
Can I get a hand hold please?
15 replies
Mitzimaybe · 20/03/2018 17:21
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