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18 y.o. won't eat after abscess - HELP!

mleak Aug 12, 2006 07:37 PM

If anyone has any suggestions, I would be extremely grateful.

Let me explain what led up to this. My cat Tiana is nearly 18 now, but she's always been extremely healthy. No problems whatsoever, until now. One night a few weeks ago, she came inside after being gone longer than usual, and the next day, she began to limp. The vet couldn't find any apparent problems, so we brought her home to keep an eye on her. After about a week we discovered that a large abscess had formed, so we took her back to the vet. He opened and drained the abscess and put her on 10-day antibiotics and some painkillers.

She's done with the antibiotics now, and the abscess is gone, but she still has a severe limp. The vet couldn't find any sort of broken bone, though Tiana responds to touch as though there's something wrong with her tendons or ligaments, perhaps. She gave us a much milder painkiller to give her.

Unfortunately, toward the end of the antibiotics, she began to eat less and less, and she has become very lethargic. She is usually on one of our laps for at least a couple of hours every day and on my bed at night, but she hasn't done either for days. Now, we can hardly even get her to eat at all. She normally eats dried food, which she has ignored completely. She wasn't even tempted by smoked salmon, her favorite treat. We tried getting several different types of wet foods and microwaving them, and last night I was able to get her to eat a little bit this way, though she mostly just licked it. Today she has only given the food a sniff here and there.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'm getting really worried. She has always been on the thin side, only about 7-8 pounds, and she has already lost weight in the last week, almost a pound, which seems like a huge amount. What else can I do? The vet will be closed until Monday, and the car ride is extremely traumatic for her as it is.

Thanks in advance

Emily

Replies (4)

PHMadameAlto Aug 13, 2006 06:35 PM

Probably the very best thing you could do for your cat right now is to contact an emergency vet and get her in ASAP. If you can't do that this evening (Sunday) then by all means you should be on the vet's doorstep as soon as the office opens on Monday. From what you are describing you have a true emergency case on your hands - when a senior cat goes lethargic it is a sign that something serious is going on. It may or may not be related to the abscess problem.

Best wishes. Let us know what happens!
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

mleak Aug 14, 2006 09:12 PM

It was CRF Her injury seems to have been too much of a shock to her body, and she had an enormous crash. Huge numbers...creatinine 25.9, BUN 235, and phosphorous 29.5. We didn't even know she had CRF, as she didn't really show any signs at all before now. She's on an IV at the vet, and we're hoping that if she gets rehydrated over the next couple of days, the numbers might drop...

cyclopsgrl Aug 15, 2006 07:05 PM

Sorry to hear that. Good that you know what it is so you can work on it. I have a cat in early stages of CRF. You will be in my thoughts and prayers as you work thru this.
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

PHKitkat Aug 14, 2006 12:26 AM

Hi,

I agree with MadameAlto. Your cat has something very serious going on and needs veterinary care immediately. Senior kitties can go downhill very quickly.

Please take your baby in and let us know what happens. I'll be thinking of her.

Regards,
PHKitkat

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