Cat seems to be struggling to eat
Discussion
Bit of medical history for context - cat is 15 years old, female, domestic long hair (or possible NFC or Maine Coon cross or similar). She has a thyroid issue which she gets Thyronorm for and has thickening of the stomach lining (receiving steroids for this) and some sort of gastric lymphoma, for which she is on Chlorambucil.
She'd lost a lot of weight and was vomiting several times a day when the vet eventually found her stomach lining thickened and the lymphoma, they put her on the steroids and Chlorambucil which made a big difference. Latterly though we've noticed she seems to be struggling a bit to eat. This is most noticable when she's having her Dreamies of an evening, she'll drop bits of them, seem to have a harder time crunching them than she used to, tilt her head to one side and sometimes lift a paw up to her mouth as if to catch stuff falling out. We've seen her do this at her food bowl as well.
She does seem to want her food and her dreamies but her appetite does seem reduced compared to when she went on the steroids. She does also go through spells of vomiting now and then as well. The vet looked at her mouth last week and said they saw nothing wrong but I can't help but feel she's maybe eating less because it's uncomfortable for her to do so. They gave us some painkillers (Tramadol!) but we've been unable to get her to take them. To get her to take medicines we have to mix them in with her food, which then means if she doesn't eat she doesn't get the medicines.
Anyone else had a cat which had these sort of issues with eating? I suspect there may not be much else we can do but hoping there's something that the vet might have missed.
She'd lost a lot of weight and was vomiting several times a day when the vet eventually found her stomach lining thickened and the lymphoma, they put her on the steroids and Chlorambucil which made a big difference. Latterly though we've noticed she seems to be struggling a bit to eat. This is most noticable when she's having her Dreamies of an evening, she'll drop bits of them, seem to have a harder time crunching them than she used to, tilt her head to one side and sometimes lift a paw up to her mouth as if to catch stuff falling out. We've seen her do this at her food bowl as well.
She does seem to want her food and her dreamies but her appetite does seem reduced compared to when she went on the steroids. She does also go through spells of vomiting now and then as well. The vet looked at her mouth last week and said they saw nothing wrong but I can't help but feel she's maybe eating less because it's uncomfortable for her to do so. They gave us some painkillers (Tramadol!) but we've been unable to get her to take them. To get her to take medicines we have to mix them in with her food, which then means if she doesn't eat she doesn't get the medicines.
Anyone else had a cat which had these sort of issues with eating? I suspect there may not be much else we can do but hoping there's something that the vet might have missed.
8bit said:
This is most noticable when she's having her Dreamies of an evening, she'll drop bits of them, seem to have a harder time crunching them than she used to, tilt her head to one side and sometimes lift a paw up to her mouth as if to catch stuff falling out. We've seen her do this at her food bowl as well.
Poor dentition/gums I'd guess.8bit said:
She does seem to want her food and her dreamies but her appetite does seem reduced compared to when she went on the steroids.
Steroids increase appetite so I'd expect it to lessen when she's not on them.Has the vet checked her teeth and gums? 15 for a cat is about 85 for a human.
(NB I'm not a vet, just a cat owner)
solo2 said:
When my cat was like this it turned out to be throat cancer, vet didn't find it until she was sedated for a thorough dental but when they tried to tube her they couldn't.
15 Is a great age.
Sorry to hear that 15 Is a great age.
Ours had an endoscope and biopsy taken from her stomach pretty recently so I'd have thought they'd find anything like that then.ali_kat said:
I’m not a Vet, my mind went to CKD, because the vomiting & weightloss
But if bloods are clear, it won’t be x
Am I right in thinking you're (or were?) a vet. nurse though? The weightloss (original concern) was attributed to thyroid dysfunction, she was put on Thyronorm when her Thyroxin count passed whatever the threshold was, that worked to great effect, her appetite shot back up and her weight went back to healthy normal again very quickly. The vomiting started a little while after that, this was eventually attributed to thickening of the stomach walls. She was put on the steroids for that which helped greatly too. At that time they took a biopsy of her stomach lining and found the lymphoma so the chemo tablets (Chlorambucil) were started around then.But if bloods are clear, it won’t be x
She's had full panel bloods a few times through all that (over about the last 12 months all told) and several times over the past 3 or 4 months since she started on the chemo. There's been no indication of poor kidney function thankfully. The only thing showing in the bloods since the chemo started was low lymphocytes count but this is apparently an expected side-effect of the Chlorambucil and her overall white cell count is still OK.
rallye101 said:
Horrible to hear....
Took me a couple of visits to my vet, they are the experts so know best so i fobbed myself off before saying please bloody look at the roof of his mouth.
"Aagh,missed that"...
Thanks for posting that. She's been a little better today in terms of food intake and general presentation but I just gave her some Dreamies and had to clear about 50% of them as soggy, chewed fragments off the floor. She's definitely appears to be struggling with mastication. She could do with dematting around her hind quarters so I'll see if they'll sedate her for that and have a proper look around her mouth and throat while she's asleep.Took me a couple of visits to my vet, they are the experts so know best so i fobbed myself off before saying please bloody look at the roof of his mouth.
"Aagh,missed that"...
8bit said:
ali_kat said:
I’m not a Vet, my mind went to CKD, because the vomiting & weightloss
But if bloods are clear, it won’t be x
Am I right in thinking you're (or were?) a vet. nurse though? The weightloss (original concern) was attributed to thyroid dysfunction, she was put on Thyronorm when her Thyroxin count passed whatever the threshold was, that worked to great effect, her appetite shot back up and her weight went back to healthy normal again very quickly. The vomiting started a little while after that, this was eventually attributed to thickening of the stomach walls. She was put on the steroids for that which helped greatly too. At that time they took a biopsy of her stomach lining and found the lymphoma so the chemo tablets (Chlorambucil) were started around then.But if bloods are clear, it won’t be x
She's had full panel bloods a few times through all that (over about the last 12 months all told) and several times over the past 3 or 4 months since she started on the chemo. There's been no indication of poor kidney function thankfully. The only thing showing in the bloods since the chemo started was low lymphocytes count but this is apparently an expected side-effect of the Chlorambucil and her overall white cell count is still OK.
I hope she’s better soon, it’s so worrying when they are sick, especially as they hide pain so well.
Thanks for the well wishes and suggestions 
So she still seems to be having a hard time chewing/crunching her food but she is still putting a reasonable amount of it away. She's shouting for her food at the usual times and the past few days she seems much more like herself and vomiting far less. My wife and kids were away from Mon-Thurs this week, maybe coincidence but the cat seems much better now they're home. I was away most of the previous week with work, my wife said the cat was fairly quiet that week too so wonder if our being away had affected her?
ali_kat said:
Not me, sorry ?? my boy was diagnosed with CKD last June - I’ve spotting signs in 3 other friends cats since then who have caught it earlier than they would have.
I hope she’s better soon, it’s so worrying when they are sick, especially as they hide pain so well.
Ah sorry, mistaken - there was someone who worked as a VN that posted in here a lot some time ago. Our older cat passed away last year, he'd had kidney issues for a few years prior to that but it was kept at bay with Semintra. Ultimately it was the same type of lymphoma that claimed him that Sasha has but we didn't catch it until it was already a sizeable mass in his gut.I hope she’s better soon, it’s so worrying when they are sick, especially as they hide pain so well.
So she still seems to be having a hard time chewing/crunching her food but she is still putting a reasonable amount of it away. She's shouting for her food at the usual times and the past few days she seems much more like herself and vomiting far less. My wife and kids were away from Mon-Thurs this week, maybe coincidence but the cat seems much better now they're home. I was away most of the previous week with work, my wife said the cat was fairly quiet that week too so wonder if our being away had affected her?
8bit said:
Ah sorry, mistaken - there was someone who worked as a VN that posted in here a lot some time ago. Our older cat passed away last year, he'd had kidney issues for a few years prior to that but it was kept at bay with Semintra. Ultimately it was the same type of lymphoma that claimed him that Sasha has but we didn't catch it until it was already a sizeable mass in his gut.
So she still seems to be having a hard time chewing/crunching her food but she is still putting a reasonable amount of it away. She's shouting for her food at the usual times and the past few days she seems much more like herself and vomiting far less. My wife and kids were away from Mon-Thurs this week, maybe coincidence but the cat seems much better now they're home. I was away most of the previous week with work, my wife said the cat was fairly quiet that week too so wonder if our being away had affected her?
Yes, there was - Bex if I recall correctly, can’t remember her alter ego.So she still seems to be having a hard time chewing/crunching her food but she is still putting a reasonable amount of it away. She's shouting for her food at the usual times and the past few days she seems much more like herself and vomiting far less. My wife and kids were away from Mon-Thurs this week, maybe coincidence but the cat seems much better now they're home. I was away most of the previous week with work, my wife said the cat was fairly quiet that week too so wonder if our being away had affected her?
That’s what Pepi is on at the moment, I’m sorry you lost your boy
Changes to routine can stress them & they stress puke or pee!
Very happy to hear she’s doing better
rossub said:
It’s possible. Older cats really don’t like change and their routines upset.
We left our then 14 year old last year for 4 days with my Mum looking after her. She didn’t eat very much and was noticeably thinner when we got back.
Thanks for posting, that is reassuring.We left our then 14 year old last year for 4 days with my Mum looking after her. She didn’t eat very much and was noticeably thinner when we got back.
ali_kat said:
Yes, there was - Bex if I recall correctly, can’t remember her alter ego.
That’s what Pepi is on at the moment, I’m sorry you lost your boy
Changes to routine can stress them & they stress puke or pee!
Very happy to hear she’s doing better
Ah that's right bexVN I think? Think I used to see her and you posting a lot in cat-related threads and got you mixed up That’s what Pepi is on at the moment, I’m sorry you lost your boy
Changes to routine can stress them & they stress puke or pee!
Very happy to hear she’s doing better
Well... Funny you should ask...
She seemed to perk up a bit and her appetite improved after we put her back on 1.5 Prednisolone tablets per day, we then reduced that to 1x per day and she was OK then too. She had a very pukey day late last week, following day she was in for dematting, came home looking a bit silly but much more like herself and ate well over the weekend. The vet that did that also had a good look in her mouth while she was out cold and found nothing at all. All good, we thought.
Yesterday she was very off colour again, didn't eat a lot, wasn't around much at all. In the evening she was sick in my office, mostly blood. Thick, tar-like consistency and very dark brown/almost black. Rang the emergency vet number who said if she's not still bringing up blood and doesn't seem to be deteriorating then monitor her overnight and call the usual vet in the morning. My wife took her in this morning, she got an injection of some 24-hour anti-nausea drug and some vitamin B12 which initially seemed to help but she's not really looking for food or attention right now. The vet didn't find anything nasty and said just to watch her for another day or two and get in touch again if she was no better or had gotten worse.
So just waiting and seeing for now.
She seemed to perk up a bit and her appetite improved after we put her back on 1.5 Prednisolone tablets per day, we then reduced that to 1x per day and she was OK then too. She had a very pukey day late last week, following day she was in for dematting, came home looking a bit silly but much more like herself and ate well over the weekend. The vet that did that also had a good look in her mouth while she was out cold and found nothing at all. All good, we thought.
Yesterday she was very off colour again, didn't eat a lot, wasn't around much at all. In the evening she was sick in my office, mostly blood. Thick, tar-like consistency and very dark brown/almost black. Rang the emergency vet number who said if she's not still bringing up blood and doesn't seem to be deteriorating then monitor her overnight and call the usual vet in the morning. My wife took her in this morning, she got an injection of some 24-hour anti-nausea drug and some vitamin B12 which initially seemed to help but she's not really looking for food or attention right now. The vet didn't find anything nasty and said just to watch her for another day or two and get in touch again if she was no better or had gotten worse.
So just waiting and seeing for now.
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