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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Desperate - Ideas for my very poorly cat - any vets?

64 replies

noarguments · 09/04/2016 11:45

Very poorly 9 month old cat - had high temperature and feeling rubbish for 10 days or so. Multiple vet visits. Normal Antibiotics and Metacam given with only short term improvement. In at vets all day yesterday for blood tests - negative for feline versions of HIV and leukaemia. High platelet count - vet wondered about a different sort of infection and gave a different antibiotic injection plus steroid, back to vets on Monday but still looking awful today. Extremely lethargic, and weak. Eating the odd mouthful here and there, but nothing more.
Anyone got any ideas of what this could be?
And also what could I tempt her with food wise? She really needs to eat something.

OP posts:
Wolfiefan · 09/04/2016 11:51

Bumping.
Mine always liked microwaved coley fish or roasted chicken.

Hoping for better news soon.

cozietoesie · 09/04/2016 12:04

Very worrying for you.

Is she drinking/properly hydrated do you think?

cozietoesie · 09/04/2016 12:05

PS - and how has her tray use been over the past little while? (Peeing, pooing etc.)

Vinorosso74 · 09/04/2016 12:12

Poor cat. Hope she's better soon. I'm not a vet so sorry no idea what may be wrong but with regards getting her to eat. The stronger smelling the food the better so any sort of wet cat food warmed in the microwave, try smearing a little around her mouth so she licks it off.
Boiled chicken, ours was given pilchards and sardines to get her eating whilst in hospital and quite liked those but make sure they are just in water.
Little and often with the food is probably best and as long as she is eating something.

Original poster
noarguments · 09/04/2016 12:43

Thanks for replies and bumps. She's weeing fine, not much pooing (but not really eating). She has been drinking a bit. Vet didn't think she was constipated.
Will try those ideas for food. Keep the ideas coming please .....

OP posts:
Original poster
noarguments · 09/04/2016 17:12

bump Sad. Had 2 mouthfuls of sardines a few hours ago, but no longer interested in it.

OP posts:
Lonecatwithkitten · 09/04/2016 17:16

Pancreatitis would be very high on my list. Even if the test is negative it can still be pancreatitis and it can look like any other disease.
I would be admitting cat for I/v fluids etc.

BlackHillsofDakota · 09/04/2016 18:18

Have you checked for ticks? Our cat went missing for 2 weeks, when he came back he was lethargic, sleeping all day not moving, hardly eating. It turned out he had several huge ticks, as soon as they were removed he was back to his old self in no time.

toldmywrath · 09/04/2016 18:22

Not a vet, but when my cat had a road accident & injury to his jaw (poor little moggie) I used a childs calpol syringe to squeeze in a few drops of cat milk every half hour or so, at least he was hydrated . Hope your cat feels better soon, they are such a worry & can't say where it hurts. Sad

Wolfiefan · 09/04/2016 18:25

Did vet check teeth?

Original poster
noarguments · 09/04/2016 18:43

Yes teeth checked, I think. Vet did full examination and she was in for blood tests on Friday, so I'm sure ticks would have been found. Plus she's not really been exploring enough to get any I don't think.
Hoping we can get through without further deterioration til Monday am when I can get her back to our local vets.
Will mention pancreatitis.... would that just be a case of managing symptoms until she perks up then?

OP posts:
Lonecatwithkitten · 09/04/2016 18:47

Treating pancreatitis is supportive treatment, but they do much, much better with I/v fluids, antibiotics and pain relief.

FuzzyOwl · 09/04/2016 18:57

Does your vet check the bloods onsite or send them away? My cat was just like this a fortnight ago and she has been diagnosed with Feline Infectious Anaemia - the vet said she has never seen a cat have it without feline AIDS or leukaemia and if the test was done off site, they wouldn't know because the parasites wouldn't still be showing on the red blood cells by the time they were checked.

My cat completely lost her appetite (we honestly thought she was going to die when she went to the vet) but we have been tempting her with various small tins of cat food. A favourite is Gourmet Solitaire with beef in a tomato sauce or the small Sheba tubs (the ridiculously expensive ones, instead of the normal expensive ones).

I really hope you find the answer and your cat is better soon.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 09/04/2016 19:03

When Harry came home after he broke his jaw the vet gave us some Hills AD. It's a soft pate and it's crack for cats! Harry is a really fussy eater and he couldn't get enough of it my to my my surprise. I think you can only get it from the vet but it did mean that he ate something.

Slippersandacuppa · 09/04/2016 21:08

Our boy had similar symptoms and they found out it was triaditis (inflammation of the liver, pancreas and small intestine). He was taken in and recovered quickly - I wonder if that's been ruled out for you?

Vinorosso74 · 10/04/2016 10:46

How is she tokay?

BoatyMcBoat · 10/04/2016 11:56

Make clear chicken soup, and let her lap it up a little at a time. I had a cat many years ago which I had to do this with; I held a teaspoon of ssoup in front of her mouth every 15 minutes and let her lap at it. It kept her hydrated and got a bit of nourishment into her, and was easy for her to swallow. She had FIE and the vet expected her to die, but he managed to pull her through in the end. This was nearly 40 years ago.

(In fact, I used Brand's Chicken Essence which was a concentrated chicken soup, but I don't think it's been around for donkey's years now; it came from the chemist, anyway, and is meant for babies.)

BoatyMcBoat · 10/04/2016 11:58

You can get it!!!!! www.brandsessence.co.uk/en/Our-Products/Essence-of-Chicken

Bless the interwebs!

Original poster
noarguments · 10/04/2016 12:31

Still the same today - still having sips of water here and there, and a mouthful of food..... thanks for the support folks, keep the ideas coming.

OP posts:
Wordsaremything · 10/04/2016 15:35

Tuna in spring water? Warm Roast chicken? Warm chicken or beef stock ( if none handy, supermarkets sell it) syringed into mouth? Grilled liver?

FelicityR313 · 10/04/2016 15:39

I'm not sure about the treatment for pancreatitis in cats, but the treatment for humans is nil by mouth!

Lonecatwithkitten · 10/04/2016 18:12

Felicity that is the old treatment in animals, but we now know this is counter productive and that getting them eating fast is the mist important thing.
I really think your cat needs to be admitted the longer she goes without eating the more likely serious problems are to occur.

FelicityR313 · 10/04/2016 18:15

Lonecatwithkitten Thanks for clarification. I just know that the current medical treatment for humans with pancreatitis is nil by mouth (with IV fluids) as anything injested puts the pancreas under further distress and risks rupture of the pancreas.

Lesson learned: Cats do not equal humans! Cats are superior! Grin

Original poster
noarguments · 11/04/2016 09:26

thank you so much everyone - Flowers honestly it feels really helpful....vets this morning, hoping she will be put on a drip. Small morsels of posh cat food and cat milk going down quite nicely - every hour or so (although left her overnight and she's still here, thank goodness)

OP posts:
Vinorosso74 · 11/04/2016 09:27

At least she's eaten and drunk something. Hope all goes well at the vets today.

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