Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Please, if someone has any advice....

My 7yr old tabby, Holly, has stopped eating in the past few days. I had noticed about a week ago that her behavior had changed. She is normally a very happy, active cat, always greeting me at the door..up on my lap in an instant to convince me to share my yogurt. A week ago, she started laying on the couch, not getting up for anything. After 2 days of that, I began watching her closely. She seemed to have difficulty moving, especially in the back legs. Very very lethargic. I set her on the ground and her back legs went out from under her. She walks delicately like it might be painful. She has a strained, dull look to her eyes. She still drinks water and will lick at wet food, but really doesn't eat it. She will urinate and defecate, but the only time I have seen is when I place her in the box, not on her own. She seems to not want to get up otherwise. I took her to the vet yesterday and they ran some tests. Supposed to call me this afternoon. The vet is going to guess heart problems and says her blood appears anemic. He did not sound reassuring, but we're waiting on the tests.
Is there anything I can do for her in the mean time? She has never had any health problems and seems too young for this. She was fine and was her usual self a week ago. Our other 2 cats both went through a "bug" a few weeks ago, but were only down for 2 days or so. She seems to have something similar, but is lasting a whole lot longer. She is the oldest of our 3.
Holly was my first kitty and it's been she and I have been through everything together. I'm at a loss of what to do for her.

Hi There,

I'm glad you took your baby in because a cat that stops eating is very ill and is at risk of developing fatty liver disease. This would be on top of whatever caused her to stop eating in the first place.

I think before you can be advised on what to do for Holly, you have to know the diagnosis. However, you can try offering her strained meat baby food (with no onion added). Sometimes sick kitties will eat baby food when they don't eat anything else. Baby food can also be fed using a feeding syringe.

I know how scary it is having a sick baby and having no idea what is going on. But once you know, you can begin treatment and hopefully your kitty will start feeling better.

One thing that disturbs me a little is that your vet didn't hospitalize your kitty. She really needs supportive care, such as IV or subcutaneous fluids and some kind of assisted feeding as long as she isn't eating on her own. She has to be dehydrated at this point and that isn't a good thing.

Any cat can become very ill, regardless of age. Actually a 7 year-old cat is starting to get into her senior years, which will cause her to be at higher risk for certain problems. Chances are excellent, though, that whatever she has is treatable.

Take care, and please post when you get the lab results.

Regards,
PHKitkat