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cat with eating issues

2K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  doodlebug 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
So my cat is Bria, she is a wonderful black and white ragdoll. We have been trying to get by on what we can afford, which was 9 lives. She started having occasional spells first thing in the morning where she would get sick and vomit a little. I have had cats before and they were on kibble, so it just seemed normal to me that they go through this. Looking back i guess not. Anyway, i have done the best i can, i got blood work done for her and the vet literally told me that she doesnt know, right before telling me that she feeds her cats kibble. The bloodwork showed 2 things, that her glucose was a tad high, but not diabetic high and that the thing that shows if she is having kidney issues was showing elevated level but not enough to show proof it was her kidneys. So not knowing what else to do, i tapped my raw feeding knowledge. My family had a raw food business, but things went south between the stepfamily and I and we parted, but i do have a little knowledge i learned before that, so i have been trying to transition her off of canned food. At first we had some success. I was starting to add in bits of meat and she seemed to perk up the day i made it for her, i thought we nailed it and kept feeding her raw, but then she started to get constapated. Since then its been a struggle of adding mylax ( was told this is fine to replace psylium husk ) and tryingt different combos of meats and ratios to get it right. Each time i feed her though it seems she gets a bloated belly and pulls away from me and hides someplace till she feels better. But as time is going on she has gotten more distant. Last night i got really scared though. This whole time has felt like progress, rough progress, but progress. But after she got backed up the last time, i fed her hairball formula to help her pass and she did, so i figured i would run a mix of canned only through her so she would would have a easy time of digesting and thats when she stopped eating all together. Ive gotten her to eat a few nibbles here and there, but i swear its like she is confused on what to eat because everything i eat is making her sick, so she doesnt want to eat or something. Last night i cuaght her at 4amish with her head on the water dish looking dazed and later she vomited and had a little blood in it, which was new.


At this point i dont know what to do. Ive tried so many things and each one brought us enough hope to keep us from the vet, but in the end i can look back and see its just been a slow decline. The vet is no help, i dont have a lot of money to go crazy on this as im out of work and living off what is left of my life savings. I just dont know what to do. Ive had cats before, but ive never loved a cat like this, she kinda helped me grow my love and i just want to help her or if i have to end her suffering.


As of right now we are on watch. She has barely eaten in the lst 24 hours, she wont move from where she is and im thinking it might be time to take to the vet to end her pain. I have reading and memory issues, im trying to learn what i can, but my eyes go cross eyed and at this point, she doesnt need a dumby experimenting, we need help.

I dont know what else to say thats helpful, i havent slept right or eaten well in weeks, i hope im communicating properly. If anyone has any advice, im open.

Thank you for your time in reading this.
 
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#2 ·
Have you thought of trying home cooked or raw ? If you do it yourself it doesn't cost any more than buying produced stuff.


Lottie is getting on now but from the moment we had her she had eating issues but we have found that she copes better on "real" food - especially for her first meal of the day.


Wish I could offer more advice.
 
#3 ·
Is she pooping or is she constipated again? If she's really blocked up it will cause her to stop eating. She needs to see the vet. Rather than experiment with raw feeding, I'd get her on a good quality canned food. In the meantime, look for resources in your area to help with vet bills...Google and your local Humane Society may be able to point you in the right direction. Look at the websites for various vets in your area as they may have some options (for example; my vet has a fund that she uses for exactly this purpose).
 
#4 ·
First off, I second the suggestion of asking local shelters if they or another agency to help you with vet services and bills. I volunteer at Seattle Humane and during several of my visits, there were people there that were having or just had surgical procedures done for their animals because they were having financial difficulties themselves. There are certain requirements to qualify for that, but it is definitely worth you checking into for your little girl.


The vet that did the tests for you sounds worthless, I'm afraid. WHEN Bria gets better, I hope you can find a much more reliable and proactive vet in the future. I suggest asking around or go online for reviews. But for now...I have just a few thoughts that might help:


my dear Angel had kidney disease. if her kidney levels were somewhat elevated, this might be one of her problems. until you can get a better professional opinion on it, I would suggest at least keeping bone out of her diet to keep her calcium levels in check. it doesn't sound like you're giving her bone in the raw, but thought I'd mention it. I don't think this will hurt anything at all in the meantime. and I suppose there's a slight chance the bone may have scraped something along her digestive tract which resulted in the blood in her vomit? maybe, maybe not. Angel had blood in her vomit once and I completely panicked back then myself. what helped immediately was Carafate (like pepto bismol or milk of magnesia for humans -but definitely don't give her the human stuff). Angel had stomach ulcers in conjunction with her kidney disease. not only would they make her nauseous and vomit sometimes, but if the ulcers flared up, they would bleed which resulted in blood in her vomit. the Carafate did wonders for her. the emergency vet described it as a bandaid for ulcers. it coated them to stop the bleeding and flare ups and gave them time to heal as well. Angel actually enjoyed getting the Carafate because I think it gave her immediate relief. I always kept some on hand for her after that, but I believe you have to get it from the vet with a prescription. I would then ALSO get her some anti-nausea medicine ASAP because that could be why she has no interest in eating. she is probably very hungry with nothing in her stomach right now and the ulcers are working overtime, possibly flaring up and causing the blood in the vomit. I think she really just needs something in her stomach for the acid to work on vs. her stomach lining itself, so I strongly recommend the anti-nausea and Carafate meds. this might be all she needs right now. if you can get her eating again (and mix in the miralax and perhaps a little baby food winter squash if she'll eat it to help things move through her system to combat constipation), then at least you've got the immediate issue taken care. it will let her build up her strength again and then when you are able, bring her to a new vet for a full check up if you can. it could be as simple as this and you DON'T have to even consider the irreversible decision you were thinking about it.


try to stay upbeat for her and you! I am sending you positive vibes and healing prayers. I understand the panic you are experiencing as I have experienced it myself. but try to keep things in perspective as I think there is a good chance it is not as bad as you think. she just needs something to make her feel a little better to get her appetite back right now I think. oh! if you can afford the trip to a new vet along with the Carafate and anti-nausea medicine, then I hope you can also swing an appetite stimulant. if you can't, but the vet approves, maybe you know someone who you trust who might have some of these meds leftover from their own animal that they don't currently need. I know I personally had a TON of meds left after my Angel passed and I ended up donating it all back to the vet or shelters and they happily accepted them all.


thinking of you and Bria!!!! XOXO Good luck and please keep us updated!
 
#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
@Arianwen

I was mixing in raw. Thats when she got constipated, I think i was switching her too fast, i wanted to get her off that bad food as quick as possible and i guess i didnt let her body adjust? As of right now she is eating lots of fancy feast. She had a bad round last night, throwing up anything i gave her, but i finally found something she would eat and it was fancy feast chicken and gravy. So right now im just letting her eat up and get strength back. I took her to park yesterday and today for excitement and to get her moving. It seems to be helping. Wont know 100% till she poops, but im hoping we got this. If she keep eating, i can then move her back to raw slowly and finally be where we need to be.
 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
@doodlebug


She wasnt eating much of anything for days, so i dont think she has anything to poop. But she has downed about 2 cans of fancy feast so far, so im thinking there is a poop coming. I also have some hairball stuff that helped last time. I guess a question is, how long is too long for me to wait for a poop ? right now she is looking and acting really good. Her belly was even getting bloated before when i was feeding her and i just fed her and its not bloating. Im trying to not get too happy yet, but it seems like she is recovering ? Im wondering if i hurt the siutations trying different fodos and pushing too hard on raw, maybe she hurt her insides and had to go through a process.

Thank you so much for the info on vet bills, thats amazing. Sometimes it feels like no one cares in this world, but when you hear about that, it brings a tear to my eye almost because people really do care out there. Some people are pretty amazing i guess.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
@maggie23


First off, thank you for your positivity. She has been doing so well and i have cried myself into acceptance that whatever happens i need to be strong for her, but just seeing you say " when she gets better" is choking me up all over again. Thank you also for your post, i will follow all of your advice.



Also, thank you everyone. I felt so alone and scared and this is not something im educated in, but i have been trying to do my best. Now i feel like i have a place to turn and will do my best for her to follow these suggestions. Thank you all so very much, ill keep you updated.


As of right now bria has a full belly and is napping off catnip. :)
 
#9 ·
that is wonderful news, Daryll! a very welcome light at the end of the tunnel. :laugh:


taking her to the park and getting her moving was a great idea, too! it made me remember that that tactic worked well for one of my cats too. ha ha. before we adopted her at 15 years old, she had chronic constipation and the shelter ended up giving her the occasional enema. they were giving her miralax and lactulose, which got really messy. :frown2: luckily we were able to wean her off of the lactulose. we replaced it some pureed pumpkin which she didn't mind and made her food really soupy. she did great on it. we still did miralax, though. but when I noticed a day or two go by without a poop, I would carry her downstairs so that she would HAVE to walk up the stairs on her own to get back to her favorite spot. I'd do that a couple times, and she would inevitably give me a poop soonafter. so, yeah! if you can keep her moving, I think that certainly helps her digestive system.
 
#10 ·
So update on bria.

She has been eating like a champ, but she started acting irratable. At first i thought it was me, but as time went on i could tell she was backed up again. She pooed this morning and i dont know how long it was there ( couple hours tops) but it was very hard, so no wonder she was grumpy. She is back to her sweet self again and since she is eating i moved her to a patte fancy feast chicken. The fancy feast i was giving her was basically cooked chicken. So again, she gets backed up on anything close to real food.

Im thinking she just needs to be trasitioned right after eating 9 lives so long. Does anyone have advice on this ? How long it should take or what % over what time i should doing. Far example 5% week 1 then 10% week 2 while monitoring bowel movements ?

I am calling around today to try to find a vet that is willing to help us, thanks again for that info. :)
 
#11 ·
sounds like a good transition schedule. the more gradual the better in general. hopefully she decides she likes the new food, too!
are you still doing the miralax and/or the hairball stuff? tough when we have kitties with sensitive digestive systems. I have a foster right now whose poop is always hard and dry and he won't eat the miralax despite it supposedly not having a flavor. hmph.
and now HE has started throwing up. think he has an upset tummy. : ( have told the shelter and waiting for them to let me know how to proceed. I mentioned the Pepcid thing to them that I PM'ed you about this morning.
 
#12 ·
Constipation is a symptom of kidney disease and you mentioned that her kidney numbers were a bit off. I'd get that checked again in a couple months. In the meantime, if she'll eat it, you can add some canned pumpkin to her food (plain, no pie spices). I'd start out with the tip of a teaspoon and work it up to a half teaspoon over the course of a few days. You can go up to a full teaspoon if needed. If she won't eat the pumpkin you can try psyllium, slippery elm or BeneFiber.
 
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