not eating due to infection

by barbara
(england)

cat persian taken to vet 5 days ago with green snots,given antibiotics & antiinflamatories,stools have become very dark, snots now pale yellow but she wont eat.I have given her paste treats with pippet, should I be worried she seems alert enough, she is 12 yrs old.Thank you.

RESPONSE:

It’s good that you have taken her to the vet. It sounds like the antibiotics are doing their job. Medications can cause a change in stool color.

However, cats that stop eating tend to acquire an ailment called hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver syndrome). Unfortunately there is no way to detect which ones will be predisposed to develop the condition. This problem can start with only 3 or 4 missed meals.

When a cat doesn’t take in calories, its body starts breaking down proteins and mobilizing the fats it has stored. These fats can clog the liver, which isn’t designed to handle them and may stop functioning properly. Underlying diseases can predispose cats to the condition such as kidney disease and diabetes and even obesity can do the same thing.

Medications can also cause cats to feel nauseous so they decline food. Plus, older cats are commonly less sensitive to smell so the usual food doesn’t have the same aroma when she has nose mucous. Cats that have a diet of canned food get a lot of their water from it and dehydration can occur if they aren’t eating. The main goal is to get the cat eating so it doesn’t develop a fatty liver.

Although we normally don’t give our cats a main diet of treats because the nutrition isn’t adequate, giving treats that it will eat on a temporary basis can stave off the liver problem. Other options are to force feed kitty with a liquid diet that has nutritional supplements using a syringe if she won’t drink the liquid from a saucer. Cats need the amino acid called taurine so most cat products will contain this. Go to this page: Cat Nutrition Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will see 4 types of liquid food available from Amazon. Since you are out of the USA, you will be able to find similar products at your local pet store or pharmacy.

I recommend that you phone your vet and alert him to the eating problem. He may have some additional input that will help you.

I wish you well in getting your older kitty healthy again!

Other articles that may be of interest:

Senior Cat Diets

Cat Liver Diseases

Or, for a complete list of articles see: Cat Health Menu