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Our 6-year-old and otherwise apparently healthy DSH Othello, once or twice a week, will stop eating half- to three-quarters of the way through his dinner, scratch at the floor as if to bury the leftovers, and walk away; he'll usually be willing to finish the rest later, or at least ask for a dry food snack before bed. We'd pretty much figured this was his “normal”, that given his choice he'd be a free-fed grazer. (With Desdemona, the food vacuum, in the house, this is not an option; she'd eat anything he left behind if we let her, and she does not need the extra calories!) He's ordinarily a very active, sociable kitty.
Last year about this time, he had a more lengthy episode of depressed appetite, so we took him to the vet; after “pristine” bloodwork and a clear x-ray, the vet gave us some metoclopramide, and a one-week course of that seemed to get him back on track.
Beginning about last Wednesday, he started having a more severe depressed appetite, worse than last year: Thursday he ate a fraction of his dinner and puked, Friday night he only ate a tiny bit, and Saturday morning he refused to eat anything at all. Sniffed his food and walked away immediately, and I couldn't even tempt him with tuna juice or shredded cheese, two of his usual favorite treats. So it was back to the vet yesterday – he helpfully puked in his carrier right in the vet's waiting room. :lol: They gave him some sub-q fluids since he was a little dehydrated, and we're on another course of metoclopramide to get him eating again, as that did the trick last time. It seems to be working, since I was able to get about half of his usual breakfast into him this morning, so he's heading in the right direction, and we'll make sure he keeps going that way. But this is no longer a one-off, “wackadoo” event, this is now a pattern, so once we do get him eating normally again, we need to start digging deeper into what's going on in his little gut. What sorts of tests should we be looking into with the vet? She'd suggested it might possibly be an irritable bowel thing, and my husband said Dr. Google mentioned excessive stomach acid as a possibility...
Last year about this time, he had a more lengthy episode of depressed appetite, so we took him to the vet; after “pristine” bloodwork and a clear x-ray, the vet gave us some metoclopramide, and a one-week course of that seemed to get him back on track.
Beginning about last Wednesday, he started having a more severe depressed appetite, worse than last year: Thursday he ate a fraction of his dinner and puked, Friday night he only ate a tiny bit, and Saturday morning he refused to eat anything at all. Sniffed his food and walked away immediately, and I couldn't even tempt him with tuna juice or shredded cheese, two of his usual favorite treats. So it was back to the vet yesterday – he helpfully puked in his carrier right in the vet's waiting room. :lol: They gave him some sub-q fluids since he was a little dehydrated, and we're on another course of metoclopramide to get him eating again, as that did the trick last time. It seems to be working, since I was able to get about half of his usual breakfast into him this morning, so he's heading in the right direction, and we'll make sure he keeps going that way. But this is no longer a one-off, “wackadoo” event, this is now a pattern, so once we do get him eating normally again, we need to start digging deeper into what's going on in his little gut. What sorts of tests should we be looking into with the vet? She'd suggested it might possibly be an irritable bowel thing, and my husband said Dr. Google mentioned excessive stomach acid as a possibility...