Calling all cat people. I need help!

jap618 · August 2014

This is my handsome Bob. He's 4 and has been really sick all week. He hasn't been eating or drinking water and has been very, very lethargic. We brought him to the vet on 2 separate occasions this week and when given fluids he seemed to be doing better. After 2 days of not bringing him in to get him fluids, and him still not eating (we were syringe feeding him wet food at that point), I spent 6 hours at the emergency clinic yesterday. He was diagnosed with triaditis and likely we'll be dealing with long term irritable bowel disease. Does anyone have any experience with this? Or recommendations on a grain free wet food we can try? He's still at the hospital now but I'm hopeful we'll be able to bring him home tonight. The doctor is talking about needing to put a feeding tube in though

My heart just breaks for this little guy, he's such a sweetheart. Thanks ladies

nomnommama · August 2014

Wellness does a grain free version of food called core. I'm so sorry he has been sick. I lost my beloved kitty this winter because he stopped eating and developed liver failure. It was heartbreaking. Hopeful that your guy continues to get better,

Skrittens · August 2014

I don't have any experience with that. I am so sorry you are dealing with this. Sending t&p your way.

jap618 · August 2014

nomnommama said:

Wellness does a grain free version of food called core. I'm so sorry he has been sick. I lost my beloved kitty this winter because he stopped eating and developed liver failure. It was heartbreaking. Hopeful that your guy continues to get better,

@nomnommama Thank you; he hasn't been eating either. We've been monitoring him and since at least Wednesday he hasn't been eating on his own. We have 3 cats so unless we lock one in a room with food we don't typically notice if one is or isn't eating. I'm so nervous because at this point all of his major organs are inflamed and they aren't willing to give us a prognosis

Thank you for the recommendation & I'm so sorry about your kitty. We lost our first cat 3.5 years ago to what we assume was a blood clot but she was also young, I don't think we'd handle this well if we lost him too.

jap618 · August 2014

@skrittens thank you!

@shanniegal thank you! We've been syringe feeding him right into the back of his throat for a couple of days prior to taking him in. He didn't love it but he also didn't throw it up (which I would if someone was forcefully shoving food down my throat). DH wants to continue doing that for a few more days to see if he will start eating on his own if we do, but I think the vet wants us to have the feeding tube in case it's longer term. Did your cat need anything to keep him from digging at the tube? I feel like it would get in the way?!

transplantedhawkeye · August 2014

Sorry, my cat has been pretty healthy, I've no experience with cat IBS. I'm sorry you are dealing with this though.

graciest719 · August 2014

I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty! I've been feeding my sick kitty core and while she does not love it, it seems to be helping (Frisky has bladder issues, not bowel). Good luck! I hope you can bring him home tonight!

jap618 · August 2014

@transplantedhawkeye thank you!

gdamore11 · August 2014

I'm so sorry! I totally know how you're feeling. I have 3 kitties and they are my babies. One of mine went through something very similar and was diagnosed with kidney failure. 2 out of 3 different doctors told me to put her down, but I know my kitty better than anyone and she wasn't ready. It's now been almost four years since then and she's happy and healthy! I changed her diet to all natural food from Blue Buffalo and I SWEAR by it! I also have to give her fluids through an IV on occasion when she starts acting lethargic. The most important thing over the next couple weeks when you get to bring your kitty home is to give them lots of attention and keep a close eye on them. Feed as often as you can to get their weight back to a healthy level. I would even feed mine tuna out of my hand just to make sure she ate at first. I'm sorry you're going through this, but you need to be a strong mama for your fur baby!

jap618 · August 2014

@graciest719 thank you! I think Bob may also have a UTI/bladder infection. Literally I think all of his organs are shutting down but I'm trying to remain hopeful that some fluids, food, antibiotics, steroids and anti-inflammatory will calm everything down enough.

graciest719 · August 2014

Frisky's bladder just doesn't work right anymore. I had to make her an outdoor only cat, and it breaks my heart! Just give your Bob lots of love and care. He is pretty young at 4, so he will probably bounce back. Are you keeping him isolated from your other kitties when he is home?

jap618 · August 2014

gdamore11 said:

I'm so sorry! I totally know how you're feeling. I have 3 kitties and they are my babies. One of mine went through something very similar and was diagnosed with kidney failure. 2 out of 3 different doctors told me to put her down, but I know my kitty better than anyone and she wasn't ready. It's now been almost four years since then and she's happy and healthy! I changed her diet to all natural food from Blue Buffalo and I SWEAR by it! I also have to give her fluids through and IV on occasion when she starts acting lethargic. The most important thing over the next couple weeks when you get to bring your kitty home is to give them lots of attention and keep a close eye on them. Feed as often as you can to get their weight back to a healthy level. I would even feed mine tuna out of my hand just to make sure she ate at first. I'm sorry you're going through this, but you need to be a strong mama for your fur baby!

Thank you for this story. I definitely need it today. They haven't actually said to put him down but they do keep saying "if you want to continue". I just can't even fathom there being another option, he's 4!!!! I'm hopeful because fluids alone had him purring and snuggling again on Thursday. We're very committed to our cats and very willing to do whatever we need to do to keep them happy and healthy. I just hope that's enough :-/

lisap0924 · August 2014

Im so sorry your kitty is sick. I don't have any experience with cat IBS but I wanted to say get well soon Bob!

jap618 · August 2014

graciest719 said:

Frisky's bladder just doesn't work right anymore. I had to make her an outdoor only cat, and it breaks my heart! Just give your Bob lots of love and care. He is pretty young at 4, so he will probably bounce back. Are you keeping him isolated from your other kitties when he is home?

We were, yes. We had him in our bedroom with food, water and a litter box for multiple days. He didn't have any interest in leaving either (which is weird) until after his fluids on Thursday. And even when he did leave the room he went to another room to hide or sleep.

jap618 · August 2014

Shanniegal said:

My kitty didn't dig at the tube at all, but she was so sick that she had pretty much lost interest in everything. (She wasn't even cleaning herself.) I can't remember how it was attached - I think it was taped on the outside, but it might have been stitched in place, too. My kitty's was on the back side of her neck (not under her chin), so it wasn't really in the way of anything.

How long did she have it? Did she start eating on her own eventually?

PS edit to add I'm so sorry that you're kitty was that sick.

cafecreme · August 2014

Poor kitty. I recommend Science Diet (although not sure if they do grain free). My cat is on a prescription diet for Feline Urinary Tract Disease. I hope Bob gets better!

Lmsq1611 · August 2014

Poor Bob. I hope he gets better soon. I don't have any experience with kitty IBS but I know how scary it is when our fur babies are sick. Hang in there and hopefully he will start feeling better.

cakergirl · August 2014

No advice or experience for triaditis specifically, but our cat went into liver failure last year and never recovered. From what I read about liver failure you MUST catch it early and start nutritional supplementation immediately or the liver failure is irreversible. I am not a vet so take it with a grain of salt, but looking back I wish we had recognized sooner how sick he was and that our vet had offered a feeding tube and IV fluids sooner. I guess even if she had we might not have done it because it seemed so extreme, but still. We took him home and tried to force feed meds and supplements and tried to syringe feed but he was just too sick to do it, and we work full time so we were not able to do much. After he died I read about it a lot and wished we had been a lot more aggressive with nutrition and done the tube feeds early on because apparently for the type of liver failure our cat had its the only thing that works. Each case is different and who knows if it would have worked for our cat, or for yours, but I wish we would have tried it at least.

MalVough · August 2014

I'm a crazy cat lady and Rottweiler mom. Verus makes grain-free food for dogs and cats. It was recommended to us by a pet nutritionist. Our dog was very sick and Verus pretty much saved her life. That's why we also feed it to our cats.

ChristianMomma1980 · September 2014

Our 14 y/o cat has inflammatory bowel disease. He is on budesonide, an enteric steroid (effects only the digestive system instead of being systemic like prednisone, which he reacts badly to). The budesonide is compounded at a human pharmacy. All of our cats eat Blue Wilderness Duck Formula dry food and various Merrick grain-free canned food. He's doing well on both.

jap618 · September 2014

@shanniegal I'm sorry about your kitty

@cafecreme thank you!

@lmsq1611 thank you!

@cakergirl I'm so sorry about your cat

I don't think Bobby has hit the stage of liver failure, thankfully. I really think it's the IBD and then lack of nutrition that made things spiral. He seems to be responding well at the hospital (he's still there) to the fluids & had a feeding tube put in last night and is doing well with the food. We should be able to get him home this morning and figure out a feeding schedule. I'm hopeful that he'll start eating on his own quickly so we don't have to do it for long! Thank you for sharing your story.

@malvough thank you! I'm definitely a crazy cat lady. Both DH & I adore our cats and would do anything for them.

@ChristianMomma1980 I'm sorry that your cat has this too. It seems so awful. I'm glad to hear that you are able to alternate dry & wet food, I'm hoping that we can get there someday too. Thank you for the information!

jap618 · September 2014

Just an update for those that are interested: He spent another night in the hospital and had a feeding tube put in. As of this morning he has been responding well to the food and we are hoping we can go pick him up this morning. Thank you all for your stories & information. I think we're in for a long road but hopefully he'll be ok!

alexandria22489 · September 2014

Poor Bob! T&P that he gets better soon.
I know when I worked at a vet a few years back we had prescription Science Diet foods. I am not sure if they are wheat free, but you could ask your vet if this is a possibility

mangomimosa · September 2014

Oh no!! @jap618 I am so, so sorry to hear about your kitty! I have no suggestions but just wanted to send hugs (and chin scratches for Bob). My cat Gus (below) was in the "ICU" for 5 days with a severe respiratory infection when he was like 7 weeks old -- they didn't think he'd survive & it was so scary. I hope Bob comes home & feels better soon!

ciaobellat · September 2014

No advice but we have two cats that we love to death so I can only imagine how you must feel. Sorry you are going through this! Hope Bob feels better!

kowyen · September 2014

Just wanted to add another "good luck!" to the pile - I'd be a hot mess if my kitty was having issues like that. Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Bob!

createmagic14 · September 2014

I'm so sorry your cat is so sick! I don't have any cats, but I know that Merrick (what we feed our dog) makes grain-free cat food. Also, check out: https://www.petfoodratings.org/quick-cat-food-reference-table/ It tells you what is in every kind of cat food and rates them. I used a similar site when we were looking for dog food. Good luck and I hope Bob feels better!

Edited because your cat's name isn't Bab.

jap618 · September 2014

createmagic14 said:
I'm so sorry your cat is so sick! I don't have any cats, but I know that Merrick (what we feed our dog) makes grain-free cat food. Also, check out: https://www.petfoodratings.org/quick-cat-food-reference-table/
It tells you what is in every kind of cat food and rates them. I used a similar site when we were looking for dog food.

Good luck and I hope Bob feels better!

Edited because your cat's name isn't Bab.

Thank you!!! I feel like that website is exactly what I've been looking for! He is home now snuggling in my lap. We did his first feeding at 4 and it went well. Now we're just praying that he'll start to eat on his own.

DragonflyDreaming · September 2014

I just read on the random thread that you got him home safely!! So so so happy for you!!

I hope he continues to flourish and do well cuddling with you at home. Got my cat snuggling my arm at the moment.

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