Cat - 17 y.o. m not eating/drinking

[catman000001]

My 17 y.o. m cat has been sick for about a week. Not eating or drinking. Vomiting lots at first. Has been to vets. First diagnosis: lots of hard stool in bowel. Bladder full. Blood tests normal except sugar slightly elevated in blood and urine. Probably stress, not diabetes. No fever, we think. Second diagnosis: UT infection. Treatments have included i.v. hydration and then antibiotic for U.T. Tried a different food, things mixed with water in syringe, chicken soup. Water in syringe. Cat still won't eat/drink independently, and resists syringe. Still throws up some, now thicker bile. Suggestions? Diagnosis? Prognosis?

[Jim Hall]

well it doesnt sound like you relly have a diagnosis yet maybe try another vet?

[clm]

I'm afraid you're going to have to keep going back to the vet until they find the problem. Good luck!

Cindy

[NoahGrey]

I am surprised that the vet didn't want to admit the cat for a few days for observation and more testing. I would also be going to an ER vet. This cat need to be probably hooked up to a constant drip, this cat is probably extremely dehydrated. Also, after a few days (2) if a cat is not eating or drinking, their organs start to shut down.

Please don't tell me that you have only been to your vet once in a week, while your cat is still not eating/drinking for a week. I understand your heartache over this, but you have to use common sense. What if your child didn't eat or drink for a week? This is a SERIOUS issue.

ACO22

[growler~GateKeeper]

Did the vet mention anything about the amount of stool in the bowel? If the cat is constipated it will not want to eat, the straining to poop will also cause the cat to vomit. When was the last time the cat pooped? IMO it sounds like the cat needs to be admitted for the vet to administer an enema.

Also when did the cat last urinate? Was there a check for urinary crystals? Any straining, crying or bleeding when urinating? Any repeat trips to the litterbox to attempt to urinate w/little or no results?

Time to bring the cat back to the vet - a new one if possible

[RedBull]

Any updates?

I'm currently experiencing a ver similar situation. Our cat, Patches, is about 15 years old and is an indoor cat. She started vomiting gradually over a period of about 1 week. She always vomited within 2 mins after eating. Her vomit is mainly a thick mucousy phlegm with a small portion of food mixed in. The food is always undigested. In the early stages this only occurred sporadically, but now she can’t eat or drink without this happening. This is a cat who always demands her wet food in the morning - she is a bigger cat and loves her food. Now she won’t touch any food or treats we put in front of her, but she keeps meowing as though she’s hungry. Now I’m not sure if the vomiting is causing her to not eat, otherwise the vomiting may be a symptom of her problem.

We had blood work done, which came back fine (slightly high glucose levels, but nothing of concern as this can be normal in stressed pets). At this point she was becoming a little dehydrated and needed sub q fluids. We were also told that her teeth needed some attention as her teeth could have been causing her pain leading to a lack of appetite. The vet gave her an injection of a painkiller (I forget the name of it). By the time we got home the pain killer set in and we put a plate of food in front of her and she snarfed it down. We were hopeful that dental work would solve the problem.

So we took her in for dental surgery 2 weeks ago. Patches had a few teeth extracted and is still healing from this surgery. Her appetite is still missing. 5 days ago we took her back to the vet since she was getting a little dehydrated again. Got more sub q fluids and more A/D food to force feed her. We have been doing this over the past few days with no progress. What we do have is a cat who knows when she is going to be fed – and she hates it. :sad:

Overall, during the past 3-4 weeks she has had smaller urinations than usual. She has had virtually no bowel movements. I would classify her bowel movements as terdlettes – much smaller than usual. She has also been losing weight gradually during this whole time.

After doing a few google searches, I’m thinking this could be related to a gastro-intestinal issue. There are some reports of cats getting a gas bubble built up in their stomach causing a lot of discomfort. This may be related to a hairball that hasn’t been able to pass through their system. Laxatone (or laxotine?) may help.
We haven’t done x-rays…yet. Patches has never been one to eat or chew on foreign objects.