Cat, please pray.

[gardenmom5]

He's not really eating or drinking much.

I've been cleaning the litter box twice a day to monitor. 

He doesn't like clam juice,  and only drank a little tuna water last night and this morning. 

The fountain doesn't impress him.

He did jump on the counter this morning to speed up my fixing his food. I added some water, so he did get some of that, but didn't eat much of it. 

[Ethel Mertz]

Maybe baby food chicken or turkey would appeal.

[TexasProud]

Praying. 

[gardenmom5]

Oh - I posted from my phone.  I did drop him off at the vet.  So, we'll see.

[Kanin]

9 minutes ago, Ethel Mertz said:

Maybe baby food chicken or turkey would appeal.

This worked for my cat when she was sick.

Are you giving him special food (like kidney diet food)? My cat would NOT eat the food, and practically was willing to starve herself to death. I gave in when her poop turned a horrible shade of green because she was simply not eating. As soon as I gave her her normal (wet) food, she wolfed it down and went back to normal. 

If he absolutely much have the special food, maybe you could phase it in?

[Spy Car]

13 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

He's not really eating or drinking much.

I've been cleaning the litter box twice a day to monitor. 

He doesn't like clam juice,  and only drank a little tuna water last night and this morning. 

The fountain doesn't impress him.

He did jump on the counter this morning to speed up my fixing his food. I added some water, so he did get some of that, but didn't eat much of it. 

He just had surgery for a urinary blockage, right? Did they do one of those urethral enlargement surgeries?

Is he now passing urine?

Has the vet discussed the possibility of feeding fresh meat (things like dark meat turkey, dark meat chicken, hearts) and organs with you?

I hope your little guy is okay. I'd consult with the vet. (<---ETA: I cross-posted)

Bill

 

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by Spy Car

[gardenmom5]

2 minutes ago, Kanin said:

This worked for my cat when she was sick.

Are you giving him special food (like kidney diet food)? My cat would NOT eat the food, and practically was willing to starve herself to death. I gave in when her poop turned a horrible shade of green because she was simply not eating. As soon as I gave her her normal (wet) food, she wolfed it down and went back to normal. 

If he absolutely much have the special food, maybe you could phase it in?

He hates the urinary care food.   In desperation I tried watering down his regular poultry, then adding a tiny bit of the new food.  but he's eating less and less.

But I'm more concerned with the drinking.   He was really excited about the tuna water - until he realized it was just water . . . He did sip at it this morning, but not much.

1 minute ago, Spy Car said:

He just had surgery for a urinary blockage, right? Did they do one of those urethral enlargement surgeries?

Is he now passing urine?

Has the vet discussed the possibility of feeding fresh meat (things like dark meat turkey, dark meat chicken, hearts) and organs with you?

I hope your little guy is okay. I'd consult with the vet. (<---ETA: I cross-posted)

Bill

 

 

they didn't do the enlargement surgery yet - they were talking about that as a "if it keeps happening" thing.

I thought he was passing urine, as I'd get a couple big "pancakes" in his litter box (I cleaned twice a day), but now I'm wondering if it was actually diarrhea. 

He's at the vet now - they're only doing drop offs.

[Kanin]

1 minute ago, gardenmom5 said:

But I'm more concerned with the drinking.   He was really excited about the tuna water - until he realized it was just water . . . He did sip at it this morning, but not much.

6 minutes ago, Spy Car said:

The vet could give you a syringe, like the kind you give medicine with. You could hold him on your lap and squirt tiny bits into his mouth. (He won't love it but you could get a bit of water in him at a time.)

Sorry this is happening, pet problems are so stressful!

[wintermom]

Oh no! I hope he's going to be alright.  Praying.

[Spy Car]

3 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

He hates the urinary care food.   In desperation I tried watering down his regular poultry, then adding a tiny bit of the new food.  but he's eating less and less.

But I'm more concerned with the drinking.   He was really excited about the tuna water - until he realized it was just water . . . He did sip at it this morning, but not much.

they didn't do the enlargement surgery yet - they were talking about that as a "if it keeps happening" thing.

I thought he was passing urine, as I'd get a couple big "pancakes" in his litter box (I cleaned twice a day), but now I'm wondering if it was actually diarrhea. 

He's at the vet now - they're only doing drop offs.

I'm praying that it is urine.

Being owned by a cat is new to me (as of 10/10 last year) so I'm a newbie. But our Desmond showed from his first meal here that he prefered raw over cooked, and cooked over canned (I made a big platter to test his preferences).

One thing I've noticed over the past months is that he produces copious amounts of urine. Mind-boggling almost.

Since my understanding is that dehydration or under-hydration is a major common issue with cats, feeding fresh meat (to which I sometimes add hot water) at least relieves any concerns about our cat getting enough fluids.

I have read about people adopting such a diet after their cats have developed urinary blockages. Might merit a discussion with your vet.

I hope this situation works out for you.

Bill

[TheReader]

Praying; we just went through similar with our kitty, and she did bounce back; praying the same for yours. 

[KSera]

Oh dear, I hope he's still passing urine okay and just needs more volume to get flushed through. The turkey baby food is high water content and most cats like it. It can't be a long term diet because it doesn't have everything he needs, but it can get a cat through a patch when they don't want to eat. Many cats will also eat if you sprinkle packets of Forti-Flora probiotic on top of their food (the vet likely has this available to purchase). We've also had a cat have to have a shot of an appetite stimulant after she was ill and had trouble restarting her appetite. Once she got eating, then her appetite returned.

I think I mentioned in your other thread, when we were first dealing with this acutely with our cat, I fed many times a day, with water mixed in every serving. This kept water going in all day long, and I think initially her appetite was better with small amounts every couple hours than trying to get her to eat a big plateful. We were using the crystal litter at the time, which is white, which allowed me to clearly see the transition from red to dark orange urine to pink to clear. It only actually took a day of the high flush of fluids for that transition to happen, but our kitty hadn't had surgery, so I know your guy might be more complicated and take longer.

[Ethel Mertz]

I had a cat that needed subcutaneous hydration. It’s pretty easy to do and it really helped her. Ask your vet about it.

[Catwoman]

Praying for your cat, Kristen! It’s extra-stressful when you can’t be there in the examining room. 😞 

[ktgrok]

Any canned food is better than not eating. And if he's eating only canned food he wont' drink much, as it has so much moisture in it. 

[KSera]

58 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

He hates the urinary care food.   In desperation I tried watering down his regular poultry, then adding a tiny bit of the new food.  but he's eating less and less.

But I'm more concerned with the drinking.   He was really excited about the tuna water - until he realized it was just water . . . He did sip at it this morning, but not much.

Coming back to this, if he truly hates the urinary food, but was eating his other food before, I would stop adding the urinary food to it so that he will eat and get fluids that way. It’s entirely possible that he will never drink much. My urinary issue cat does not drink. But she no longer has urinary issues because she gets enough fluids through her meals. That’s the normal way for cats to get their hydration, so focusing on eating very wet food it’s likely to be more successful than trying to get a cat without much thirst drive to drink.

Have you ever tried the liquid treat tubes? You could even squeeze those on top of his food if he likes them. They are the consistency of stage one baby foods.

[gardenmom5]

27 minutes ago, KSera said:

Oh dear, I hope he's still passing urine okay and just needs more volume to get flushed through. The turkey baby food is high water content and most cats like it. It can't be a long term diet because it doesn't have everything he needs, but it can get a cat through a patch when they don't want to eat. Many cats will also eat if you sprinkle packets of Forti-Flora probiotic on top of their food (the vet likely has this available to purchase). We've also had a cat have to have a shot of an appetite stimulant after she was ill and had trouble restarting her appetite. Once she got eating, then her appetite returned.

I think I mentioned in your other thread, when we were first dealing with this acutely with our cat, I fed many times a day, with water mixed in every serving. This kept water going in all day long, and I think initially her appetite was better with small amounts every couple hours than trying to get her to eat a big plateful. We were using the crystal litter at the time, which is white, which allowed me to clearly see the transition from red to dark orange urine to pink to clear. It only actually took a day of the high flush of fluids for that transition to happen, but our kitty hadn't had surgery, so I know your guy might be more complicated and take longer.

I started giving very small amounts, water added to the canned.  At first he was very happy with it and would lap up all the liquid, and eat most (or even all) of the food.  I think at first his output was good because he'd been on an IV.   They were just concerned if he'd pee after removing the catheter - not if he was drinking enough.  (which is why i started in on the tuna water.  first time, he was excited, but the interest started going down.)

It didn't help that they didn't give me the syringe for the appetite stimulant.  I used one of the pain reliever syringes  - but it was too big to fit the dispenser so harder to load.

Male's urethras are narrower than females, so they are more problematic.

 

27 minutes ago, Ethel Mertz said:

I had a cat that needed subcutaneous hydration. It’s pretty easy to do and it really helped her. Ask your vet about it.

is that something that can be done at home?

18 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Any canned food is better than not eating. And if he's eating only canned food he wont' drink much, as it has so much moisture in it. 

That was my attitude - get him through this.  give him food he'll eat.  I was adding water to the food - so he get's water.  This morning he even jumped on the counter because I wasn't moving fast enough.   

8 minutes ago, KSera said:

Coming back to this, if he truly hates the urinary food, but was eating his other food before, I would stop adding the urinary food to it so that he will eat and get fluids that way. It’s entirely possible that he will never drink much. My urinary issue cat does not drink. But she no longer has urinary issues because she gets enough fluids through her meals. That’s the normal way for cats to get their hydration, so focusing on eating very wet food it’s likely to be more successful than trying to get a cat without much thirst drive to drink.

Have you ever tried the liquid treat tubes? You could even squeeze those on top of his food if he likes them. They are the consistency of stage one baby foods.

I think I tried the liquid treat tubes when he was a kitten - he wasn't impressed.   I will look again.

 

I can hope the reason he's being so difficult is being on two pain rx that are both somewhat sedating.  That thought occurred to me - and I'm holding on to it.  (so there)

This is being hard on the boys.  2ds is having a harder time that I would have expected.  

[Kassia]

I'm so sorry!  Hope he'll be okay and glad he's being seen.

[Spy Car]

Might you have a little bit of uncooked skinless chicken (preferably dark meat) that you could dice up to lure him into eating?

This sounds so stressful. 

Bill

 

[*****]

Usually tuna entices them because it smells so good, I had to use that and cat food for a dog once who wasn't eating, and that often helps to 'prime the pump'.  Have you tried frying an egg, letting it cool and see if he will eat it or at least the egg yolk?  Praying...

[katilac]

1 minute ago, ***** said:

Usually tuna entices them because it smells so good, I had to use that and cat food for a dog once who wasn't eating, and that often helps to 'prime the pump'.  Have you tried frying an egg, letting it cool and see if he will eat it or at least the egg yolk?  Praying...

My cats like softly scrambled eggs with cheese. This is an emergency, so you could probably be generous with the cheese. 

[almondbutterandjelly]

When my cat wasn't eating, we syringed some chicken broth into her cheek.  That seemed to jumpstart things.

[Catwoman]

Any news, Kristen? I hope he’s ok!

[MercyA]

I'm so sorry, Kristen! It's hard when our animal companions don't feel like eating. You've already been given lots of great suggestions. I will pray! Please keep us updated.

[Wildcat]

.

Edited March 8, 2022 by Wildcat

[gardenmom5]

He Pee'd.  who'da thunk that would be exciting. . . . 

The vet suggested reducing his pain med dose so it's less sedating (he's on two things that are sedating).  He actually used the litter box before I picked him up.  So - good.

Dh left leftover rare steak on the counter.  and walked out of the kitchen . . . . if the food is right, he has an appetite. lol.  He went after that like a starving . er  . . cat . . who hadn't eaten much in a week.  Then he was looking for more.

[Wildcat]

That is fantastic news!!

[Spy Car]

7 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

He Pee'd.  who'da thunk that would be exciting. . . . 

The vet suggested reducing his pain med dose so it's less sedating (he's on two things that are sedating).  He actually used the litter box before I picked him up.  So - good.

Dh left leftover rare steak on the counter.  and walked out of the kitchen . . . . if the food is right, he has an appetite. lol.  He went after that like a starving . er  . . cat . . who hadn't eaten much in a week.  Then he was looking for more.

Great news. 

Bill

[gardenmom5]

9 minutes ago, Wildcat said:

Here are some ways we get liquid into our elderly cat (male, 20 years old):

Squeeze ups, Delectables, or Fancy Feast broth and soup pouches. We add enough water to them so they are pretty watery and mix well.

Canned cat food with gravy. We add a bit of water to the gravy and mix well.

Sardines packed in water -- not oil, the water. Since he doesn't eat much at a sitting, we give about 1TBS of sardine, mash it up/flake it and add some of the sardine water. I then refill the tin with more water to crate a 'sardine soup' for the next serving.

Canned tuna with water. I scoop out about a TBS of the tuna and add some of the canned tuna water. I then add some plain water to dull the tuna smell a bit. For some reason, he won't drink the tuna water if not diluted. This is his least favorite option but he does drink it.

Something we call "Shrimp soup" -- we take a cooked shrimp ('cause that's the kind I buy frozen) and I cut it up into tiny bits then add about 1/4 cup of water and let it sit for a few minutes, giving it a swirl before serving. You now have "Shrimp Soup".  He can't drink the water fast enough.

After three UTIs or whatever in two years, our vet told us to give our cat only filtered or distilled water and not bother with the special food since many cats won't eat it. If you have a water dispenser on your fridge, that will work. That is what we use. We just keep a couple gallon jugs of water on the counter/in the pantry and refill from the fridge as necessary. Since we started doing that, he has been fine. His last UTI was five years ago. I'm not saying that will work for all cats but for ours, we are positive the filtered water is what helped him.

Also, the vet told us that the Fancy Feast canned cat food is best for kidneys/urinary issues. Dry food is the worst. Everything else is degrees in the middle.

I have noticed that our cat doesn't simply drink plain water much at all and prefers to get his liquid from eating. If I offer any liquid by itself, he'll turn his nose up at it, but if there is something he can see in the bowl, he will usually drink it. Hence, the tuna, sardine, shrimp, etc, in with the water.

OP, I hope your cat pulls through.

There are several brands that make rx urinary cat food.  (Royal Canin, Hills Science, and a Purina.  I think those are about it, and not many flavors. He only likes pate, so I may food process some 'stews' to get the texture he likes as the flavor would be different.) I've got some of each - there's not much.  It boggles my mind there is a kibble version.  They said not until he's fully recovered to even try the urinary kibble.  (they said only as a side, not the main.) Right now - I will stick with the Rx urine care canned food.

It's not just higher water content, there's also lower potassium and lower protein.  (this via the vet).  And one pet store worker who had this with two of his cats, said lower ash?  not sure of all the differences.  That expensive pet store doesn't even sell the Rx cat food.  (but lots of "freeze dried", and raw food.)

we'll see how he reacts to the steak . . . at least it was rare so it was fairly moist.

[Selkie]

Glad to hear he is doing better!