I Feel somewhat guilty that I didn't take my cat to the vet sooner than last Saturday. I've had him for a month. Here is his recent history. My aunt has been trying to give him to me for a year or more because he loves me, and I have finches so I said no. But, the first week of march he disappeared. We live in a 9,000 pop. city surrounded by rural. I called the shelter, the animal control to look for him and agreed to take him if he showed up again. 3 weeks to the day give one or two, he showed up again.
Health problems : He had diahrea and it stuck on his long fur about two days later. He was acting energetic enough, but he stunk so nobody would pet him. He wouldn't eat.
I couldn't stomach the smell (it was really bad) and didn't offer to bathe him at that time, my aunt said she would. I was going to take him home that weekend after the Wednesday he showed up but I thought it was too soon and would be too traumatic.
I waited until the following weekend and my aunt and I bathed him, gagging and almost vomiting. We should have wore clothespins. We used dishsoap.
When he was almost totally dry I took him home. When he was totally dry my husband and my roommate said he stunk.
I bathed him again using people shampoo. He didn't stink anymore.
He had hemoroids or a rash from the poop that had been stuck to his butt and wouldn't let me brush him anywhere near his hind quarters and he developed half a dozen walnut sized matts.
I tried to trim the mats and keep brushing him, deciding to take him to be professionally groomed when he sheds a little more (I'm on a tight budget).
He was eating limited amounts (if not none) of his Purina for the two weeks after I bathed him, because he was no longer humiliated that he stunk.
Two weeks later he stopped eating, but has always drank enough water. I work 4 days a week and go to school, so I coaxed him to eat little bits of cheese and milk without time to go to the vet because they're only open during days.
This last week he totally lost energy and slept all the time and wouldn't eat. He looked funny, so I took him to the vet my aunt took him to.
Exam: Wasn't taking good care of himself, underweight, looked like he had jaundice and leukemia test negative. Blood work up recommended.
Blood Work Up: Mild Anemia, Jaundice (10x normal dead red cells), low white blood cells, and he wasn't making new cells.
Second Leukemia Test: Negative
Prognosis: None. Treat for liver disease. Coax to eat.

So, he didn't want to eat today after I had gotten him to lick tuna juice out of 3 cans Saturday and licked juice out of giblets. Yesterday licked some juice out of tuna and all out of giblets.
Today: He didn't eat that same food offered plus purina and milk. I got on the Cat Care Central Chat and folks in there told me he should be hospitalized, should have had an appetite stimulant but it might be too late for that after weeks, should be tube fed, and I should try force feeding baby food. They said that FATTY LIVER DISEASE can develop in cats after 3 days of not eating.
I went shopping and got Gerber baby food and an oral feeding syringe and fed him 2 1/2 syringes (10ml each) of baby food.
He liked it compared to the amoxicillin I have been feeding him.

DOES HE HAVE FATTY LIVER DISEASE?
IF HE DOES, WILL HE ALWAYS HAVE IT?
ARE HIS SYMPTOMS FROM THE WORK UP SIGNS OF STARVATION OR OF A VIRUS?

I DONT WANT GEORGIE TO DIE.

LAURABEANER - WISCONSIN

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