My Poor Baby

[tucan]

this is one of my maine coons frosti. his k9 tooth was cracked and had to be removed last week, before that he had lost interest in food and lost about a kg in 4 weeks. during the operation. he had blood test, xrayed, and urine tested, and found his kidney is ok, found some fluid in his lung ( vet think it is lung worms and now been treated for). soon after the op, he started eating again and started gaining weight, but the last couple of days he lost interest in food, so we took him back to the vet and the vet can't figure it out what is wrong with him? any one have any idea?

just reread my post, sorry for typos and grammer, but i'm rather upset right now.

update. frosti have a tumor in his liver, vet said he have about 2 weeks left. we brought him home as he is not in any pain, but he will get weaker then we'll ring for the vet to come over.

 

[Curiosity101]

I'm presuming the vet checked for signs of an infection? Raised temp, swollen red gum, pale mouth... stuff like that?
Did they try preventative antibiotics?

What sort of body condition would you say the cat is in now? And is he acting normally other than eating?

It's always going to be the vets advice that's the best, so personally I'd get a second opinion from another vet just to be sure.

But if he's still got enough fat on him and is acting pretty normally then I wouldn't worry too much. If he was off food for awhile maybe he's just feeling a bit sore or constipated now he's started eating again.

Have you tried him on cooked chicken? Tuna? Stuff like that, whatever it is that he particularly likes.

 

[tucan]

I'm presuming the vet checked for signs of an infection? Raised temp, swollen red gum, pale mouth... stuff like that?
Did they try preventative antibiotics?

What sort of body condition would you say the cat is in now? And is he acting normally other than eating?

It's always going to be the vets advice that's the best, so personally I'd get a second opinion from another vet just to be sure.

But if he's still got enough fat on him and is acting pretty normally then I wouldn't worry too much. If he was off food for awhile maybe he's just feeling a bit sore or constipated now he's started eating again.

Have you tried him on cooked chicken? Tuna? Stuff like that, whatever it is that he particularly likes.

the vet did all the checks and nothing amiss. frosti is still really loving but just won't eat, he'll lick the food but won't actually eat it. i've brought every brand avaliable and the vet gave us some high protein cat food too, tuna, chicken and yogurt. he is on antibiotics which had to be taken orally, normally he is with them but this time he won't have it. we've tried hidden in treats, food, he'll walked away and we ended up forcing it on him. today the vet gave him an injection instead but hte oral ones are appaerenty works better.

 

[Curiosity101]

Oral ones take practise lol. You have to get the mouth open, and get it far enough down their throat that they can't spit it out (whilst keeping hold of your fingers) and then keep the mouth shut, stroking the throat so they swallow.
Hehe...

On a serious note, if you're worried about your cat then get a second opinion from a different vet.

Was he overweight or old before this all happened? Just wondering if there was any chance he could be developing fatty liver disease... But at the same time I don't want you to worry un neccesarily.

He's probably just feeling under the weather. Could it even be that the antibiotics are giving him nausea?

 

[tucan]

he is around 9 years old and just under 8kg but that is average for his breed and he was not skinny but has the middle age pouch cats get, he's now under 7kg. his brother is ok in health just abit over weight. they don;t think is the liver as the blood test was ok. we've made another appointment next week and if things don't improve then they'll going to try other test. the urine had some protein but they think that is because he is losing it from the muscle due to he was not eating. does that sound right?

 

[Curiosity101]

If they've ruled out his kidneys then yeah... that sounds feasible.

Just did some googling, looks like some antibiotics can cause nausea. Do you have the bottle of what he's currently on? You could try googling it's name and look for side affects. You never know, there may be lots of people whos cats have gone of their food whilst on them.

Or maybe his gums are just sore after having a tooth removed?

Have you tried him with really squishy food, or high calorie drinks like cream?

 

[tucan]

metronidazole. i've been looking at his gum and it seems ok but he does shakes his head like his mouth is in pain. just had a thought that it is possible that because his k9 is missing, the bottom teeth are digging into his top gum?

 

[Curiosity101]

nausea, vomiting and decreased appetite are the most frequent complaints.

from http/www.wedgewoodpetrx.com/learning-center/professional-monographs/metronidazole-for-veterinary-use.html

I doubt the bottom teeth are digging in. I reckon more likely he was suffering with a poorly tooth for awhile, then he got taken into the vets and had it removed aswell as being pumped full of pain killers.
On coming out of the vets he started eating but then the pain came back abit(he did just have a tooth out).

Couple that with nausea from the antibiotics... maybe he just doesn't feel like eating.

I don't profess to be a cat specialist by any means (or a vet for that matter), but if he seems happy enough and the vets can't find anything wrong then perhaps you're worrying for no reason. Just give him plenty of cuddles and his favourite foods and unless given other advice from the vets, presume he'll come round once he comes off the antibiotics.

 

[tucan]

i hope so. it doesn't help that when the vet start talking about all the possible causes why that could be, like cancer, heart failure, kidney....etc. he is now sleeping in his fav bed with his brother legs wrapped around him ( i would take a photo but it might wake him up so i won't).

 

[tucan]

update. he seems to perked up since tuesday and started eating some food and today he had an post op. checkup and he losted another 0.1 kg, more blood was taken for tests. will know results by monday.

 

[Kirsty5]

Metronidazole can make animals and humans feel quite nauseous, I reckon this is your answer.

Sometimes, just the taste, (if giving orally), can make them salivate a lot and / or vomit

It can be given to alcoholics to help them get off the drink!

I am glad your furbaby is improving, I really hope the Metronidazole was the problem with his lack of appetite

(I used to be a vet nurse, not an alcoholic!!!).

 

[tucan]

test results show no signs of flv, fip or fiv, but they now think it might be pancreatitis. we now have to take him for an ultrasound on thursday..he has not eaten much since last week and when he does eat, he vomit back up hours later and i think he lost even more weight. anyone with experience of that with their cat before? i've been trying to get all the info on the net all day.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

I havent read the whole post fully but try changing his food or getting softer food for him. His mouth might be a little sore from having his tooth removed. When my dog went off her food we changed the food and gave her treats until she ate again; then we had to switch to "old lady dog food" as it was softer for her to chew.

 

[tucan]

I havent read the whole post fully but try changing his food or getting softer food for him. His mouth might be a little sore from having his tooth removed. When my dog went off her food we changed the food and gave her treats until she ate again; then we had to switch to "old lady dog food" as it was softer for her to chew.

i've tried brand there are, roast chicken, tuna, makreal, and he doesn't think too much of the a/d food from the vet as he tried to push it towards the litter tray and buried it.

 

[tucan]

frosti have a tumor in his liver, vet said he have about 2 weeks left. we brought him home as he is not in any pain, but he will get weaker then we'll ring for the vet to come over.