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Hello. I just got back home from a two month long vacation in Texas to see family, and I got home a hour ago. Long story short, when I greeted my silver shaded Persian cat, Sophie, as I petted her, the first thing that I noticed was how skinny she felt under her fur coat. I then tried to entice her to eat, so I opened a pouch of meow mix wet food, she refused to eat but the other cat did eat it. I really am concerned about Sophie’s almost complete lack of mass, in addition to not eating, she seems to be lethargic and listless. I really want to take her in to the vet ASAP but the clinic that I take her to is closed for the night is only open 8 am to noon tomorrow and is not open at all on Sunday. I really would hate to see Sophie die from not eating, so I guess my biggest question is What should I do? The cat caretaker said nothing about how my cats were doing while I was gone. Please give me some rational advice on what you would do if you were in my shoes, thanks.
First of all never use that pet caretaker again. They should have noticed your cat not eating and gettign thin. Second anythign could be causing your cat to not eat. Likely something dental related. Get her in ASAP tomorrow, or to an emergency vet.
I know that my cat stresses and won't eat if I'm gone longer than a day. I went to visit my daughter for 5 days and in that time my cat didn't eat much and lost some fur too. She looked like she had lost a third of her weight. Pitiful. She did improve after I was back home for a bit.
The past few months I've been packing to move and we just moved into a new house 2 days ago. The cat spent the first day with no eating or drinking and hiding in an empty drawer in the coffee table. The vet recommended a bit of valium. I gave her (she's small.. 9.5 lbs) 2.5 mg valium and she eased up, relaxed and suddenly ate 2 cans of food and has been eating pretty good since. If it's an emotional issue and not a sickness of some sort... valium is used to increase appetite in cats. I did not know this until I looked it up yesterday. It's made a huge difference with my cat and her eating.
I hope you have already taken her to the 24 hour emergency vet. If that's still your zip code in your location there is one in your area and others not too far away. How did it go?
About your pet sitter. Don't pay your pet caretaker. You may even want to sue her in small claims for treatment costs. You can spread the word factually about your situation. You may have to PM her name.
A thought....did the other cat upset Sophie, do you think? Maybe stole a lot of her food? Not that that's an excuse. The pet caretaker still should have stroked her and checked her health regularly, brushed/combed her and checked her relationship with the other cat and the usual social and medical things.
Last edited by petsandgardens; 08-11-2018 at 12:08 AM..
I gave Sophie wet food and she finally started to eat it last night after I let her cuddle in my lap. I think that she may have also eaten some of the wet food during the overnight hours because when I woke up this morning almost all of the wet food was gone(Emma doesn’t like the wet food as much as Sophie does based on past feedings),I also have noticed that last night and this morning that both Sophie and Emma were much more vocal last night and this morning before I woke up and came out of my bedroom. Sophie seemed to be all over me this morning before I left and went on a walk(maybe she thought she’d never see me again?) anywho, I will feed my cats again a little bit later today and observe Sophie and Emma to see if Sophie eats some food today.
I'm glad to hear that your kitty is starting to eat again. I don't think you mentioned her age, but in the past I've found that older cats sometimes tend to stress out more when the owner is away (a cat I once had, in his younger years, was absolutely fine when I had to leave for a week or more, but when he began to hit his teens (around 14-15) he started 'pining' whenever I'd go away, and his appetite would go down and he'd stress himself out until I got back).
I'd suggest two things here: First, a quick vet visit just to make sure there is no underlying health issue that may be hidden; and second, find a new petsitter when you do have to go away again. A good petsitter would have been informing you that something was amiss with your kitty, so you'd be aware of the problem, and perhaps ready to give instructions for him/her to take your cat to the vet in order to avert a potential emergency.
*As an aside, my son's girlfriend has a rather elderly cat who is FIV positive, and lately his appetite has been way down. He was getting quite thin, and while I was there visiting them, she tried various methods to attempt to stimulate his appetite (including appetite stimulants, and some Honest Kitchen dehydrated food, which many animals love). I did notice that Pumpkin was always interested in his catnip, despite his age and health issues, so at one point I suggested she take a little bit of it and sprinkle it on his wet food. She did, and voila! Pumpkin began eating again. He's still a finicky eater, but at least he's once again eating his meals and is keeping his weight at a constant.
I gave Sophie wet food and she finally started to eat it last night after I let her cuddle in my lap. I think that she may have also eaten some of the wet food during the overnight hours because when I woke up this morning almost all of the wet food was gone(Emma doesn’t like the wet food as much as Sophie does based on past feedings),I also have noticed that last night and this morning that both Sophie and Emma were much more vocal last night and this morning before I woke up and came out of my bedroom. Sophie seemed to be all over me this morning before I left and went on a walk(maybe she thought she’d never see me again?) anywho, I will feed my cats again a little bit later today and observe Sophie and Emma to see if Sophie eats some food today.
Once left an older cat at the vet for a week as she was on multiple meds...they told me later she immediately quit eating...chalking it up to missing home and me. They gave her app stimulants and she did ok.
When I got her home first thing she did was eat a bowl of wet food....major changes to their routine can be very upsetting for them. Then she settled in my lap...
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) anywho, I will feed my cats again a little bit later today and observe Sophie and Emma to see if Sophie eats some food today.
