popmom Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 One of my sweet cats had to go to the ER vet Monday evening. She had a dangerously high fever. I agreed to all the diagnostic tests. Elevated white blood cell count was the only thing off, so they put her on two antibiotics. She was on IV fluids for 3 days before she was stable enough to bring home. This is known as “fever of unknown origin”. The poor baby has been poked and prodded, wrapped in wet towels, temp taken rectally every half hour to hour (depending on how high the fever was. I REALLY don’t want to have to take her back in. Today is her first vet free day since Monday. BUT...SHE WONT EAT. The vet said to bring her back and they can giver her an appetite stimulant. She said they hate it—makes them foam at the mouth—not a pleasant experience, but it works. She’s already been through so much...I’m hoping to avoid that. (Also I’m at over $1500 so far. She’s worth it but...ouch!) She is drinking some water. I’ve been forcing some chicken bone broth in a syringe with a probiotic mixed in, but she’s only taking about 2t at a time. Help me avoid another vet visit! We’ve tried treats, tuna, wet food, dry food. So far nothing interests her. Cat mamas, any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmom Posted June 15, 2019 Author Share Posted June 15, 2019 (edited) 24 minutes ago, kand said: You can try turkey baby food—make sure it’s only turkey (no onion or garlic). Our vet prescribed fomatadine (available OTC as Pepcid AC) for our cat when she was ill. We gave 1/4 tablet twice a day for a seven pound cat. Baby food! Thank you! I bet I can mix the turkey baby food with the bone broth in the syringe. Definitely trying this. She’s been given a few doses of acid reducer by injection. They gave it whenever they gave her a steroid injection. I’ll be lucky if I can get her to take her antibiotic tablet. Edited June 15, 2019 by stephensgirls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 Have you tried warming the food just a bit? Sometimes that will do the trick. It makes the food smell stronger, and that makes it more appealing. Also--did you just bring her home from the vet yesterday? Or Thursday? Either way, it wouldn't overly concern me if she didn't eat until today as long as i was getting sufficient fluid in her. But if she doesn't eat at least a little today (even by using the baby food/syringe) . . . yeah, that would make me worry. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 You can buy a high-calorie, vitamin-enriched, very palatable nutritional paste at pet stores. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Vetoquinol-NutriCal-4-25-oz-Paste/dp/B000RI3ZG6/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_199_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=38S3P7BANNQDJVWJPTD3 Most animals will lick it off a spoon or finger. Hope she feels better soon! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 13 minutes ago, MercyA said: You can buy a high-calorie, vitamin-enriched, very palatable nutritional paste at pet stores. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Vetoquinol-NutriCal-4-25-oz-Paste/dp/B000RI3ZG6/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_199_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=38S3P7BANNQDJVWJPTD3 Most animals will lick it off a spoon or finger. Hope she feels better soon! If she won’t lick it off a spoon or finger (I have perverse cats who won’t), try smearing some on her paw and she’ll clean it off by licking her paw. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 (edited) 12 hours ago, stephensgirls said: . She said they hate it—makes them foam at the mouth—not a pleasant experience, but it works. I had a cat not eating and the vet gave us Mirtazapine. Our sweetie didn’t foam at the mouth, and the vet never mentioned that he would. Maybe he just tolerated it well? Or maybe it’s a different med from what your vet is recommending for your cat? You can always ask the vet if they are giving Mirtazapine or not, just to know what’s going on. After he had that pill, he ate a lot for the next few days. They cut a single pill into quarters (teeeeeny pieces) and said we could give a quarter to him every 3 days, but after the single quarter, he was back to eating like normal. They gave him the original 1/4th of the pill in the office, and I still have the remaining 3/4 of the pill in a huge bottle. (No clue why they gave us a honkin’ huge bottle for 3 pieces of a pill.) Also, I don’t think it cost much, since they gave us a single pill. Unless they also require another office visit, it might not be very much money to get a single pill. However, then you’d have to get the pill down the cat’s throat, which I find very challenging. Edited June 15, 2019 by Garga 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmom Posted June 15, 2019 Author Share Posted June 15, 2019 Thank you! Y’all have been so helpful! I got to bring her home Wednesday evening. I had to take her back Thursday for a temp check and subcutaneous fluids. She’s still not eating on her own. I got the baby food turkey and mixed it with bone broth. Added the probiotic and a pinch of lite salt (which has potassium). She took it just fine from the syringe. I’m about to go look for that nutritional paste, too. This will get us through till Monday. If at that point she’s still not eating on her own, I’ll take her in for the Mirtazapine. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanin Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 13 hours ago, kand said: You can try turkey baby food—make sure it’s only turkey (no onion or garlic). Our vet prescribed fomatadine (available OTC as Pepcid AC) for our cat when she was ill. We gave 1/4 tablet twice a day for a seven pound cat. Turkey baby food is what my cat eats after an illness, too. Also check that it's just turkey + water, no cornstarch (makes them throw up). The brand I buy is Beech-Nut. Sorry about your sweet kitty 😞 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthwestMom Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 My sister's cat just had to receive an appetite stimulant to re-start eating after trauma and it worked wonderfully well. It saved his life! I would not hesitate to accept that if my vet recommended it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 Their appetite tends to be triggered by smell, so I hold my nose and serve Kitty Queen. It absolutely stinks which usually works. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Mainer said: Turkey baby food is what my cat eats after an illness, too. Also check that it's just turkey + water, no cornstarch (makes them throw up). The brand I buy is Beech-Nut. Sorry about your sweet kitty 😞 Chicken baby food for mine. And canned pumpkin. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 I was going to mention meat-only baby food too. I have also put it on my finger & put a bit on the roof of the cat's mouth to get it in. The nutritional paste is also good, though I've had cats hold out on that one & just let it dry on their fur & not lick it off. With one cat, the vet recommended that I use a small piece of hard food (something that comes in very small pieces/pellet sizes) & give it to the cat like a pill (basically push it into the back of her mouth/her throat) after she had been ill & having only fluids & baby food for awhile. He said she might have kind of "forgotten" about eating hard stuff & sometimes you have to "prime the pump". She had a form of cancer, so the meds & her cancer sometimes caused her to go through periods of not eating well. Doing the hard food trick usually worked well (would do it a couple of times in a day, one or two pieces at a time) & she would be back to eating hard food in a day or so. I have not heard of the foaming at the mouth effect of Mirtazapine. I have had various cats have it over the years w/ varied success. It seemed to work for some; for others, it seemed to make their stomach upset (& less likely to want to eat). Hugs for you & your cat. Hope she continues eating & getting stronger. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 If I had to "prime the pump" I might give these Whisker Lickins treats try. These are like cat crack. https://www.chewy.com/whisker-lickins-chicken-flavor-soft/dp/128240 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmom Posted June 17, 2019 Author Share Posted June 17, 2019 Quick update: This poor kitty. I took her in this morning to get the the med. Long story short—she’s very constipated and has trapped gas. (Seen on X-ray) So they are keeping her today to do an enema and see if they can get things moving. I feel so bad for her. This has been such an ordeal. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmom Posted October 3, 2019 Author Share Posted October 3, 2019 I know it's an old thread, but I wanted to update in case this ever comes up in a search. Lily Bea has recovered quite well. I will say--she's not quite the same as she was before she got so sick, but she seems pretty happy. Her personality is just a little off. She is a healthy girl who can leap and climb up to the top of our screened in porch in a millisecond to catch a moth--her favorite past time. FYI: the appetite stimulant mirtazapine is available in a topical ointment that is applied to the ears. It worked like magic! No foaming at the mouth or forcing pills. All cat mamas and dads need to know about this. Thanks for all your support! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 That's really good news. I'm glad she's doing well now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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