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Four weeks ago, we lost our Benny to kidney failure. We have three other cats. Benny was closest to our Ringo, and we often joked that they had a "bro-mance" because they would often sleep together.
The day before Benny died, Ringo started avoiding him, which was understandable.
At first, things seemed ok, but then Ringo started avoiding meals. We'd had to follow him around the house with the food bowl. Different food/bowls/treats didn't seem to make a difference. I specifically kept the routine the same (same time of day, mostly same order of feeding).
This past Friday, Ringo went into hiding and wouldn't eat. After 24 hours of this, we started to worry and brought him to the vet. Blood work and physical exam were normal. His anal glands were full (an ongoing issue with him). I asked the vet for an appetite stimulant and gave him one dose. I had to force feed him on Saturday afternoon, but by Sunday he was eating again.
Everything seems normal now. He's eating again and seems back to his old self.
I have no idea what happened. Delayed grief? If he hadn't been hiding and lethargic I'd have thought a hairball, but he really scared us for a while. He's had full anal glands before but he hadn't acted that sick. I just hope we're past all of this!
To think that cats don’t grieve would be wrong in my opinion. Ringo probably does miss his furry friend. To think that cats don’t think back to what was would be counterintuitive. Ringo remembers Benny, probably dreams of him. Cats however are much better than us bipeds at living and being in the moment.
Something stressed Ringo; delayed stress, I doubt it. If Ringo is elderly, maybe a sonogram of his intestines to look for signs of lymphoma and bowel wall thickening. Sometimes steroids can control that. Thickened walls in the intestine can cause vomiting and loss of appetite. Ask the veterinarian for his or her opinion.
May have been a one off case of food poisoning or a wild hair peculiar to cats in general or Ringo in particular just because he could.
Something stressed Ringo; delayed stress, I doubt it. If Ringo is elderly, maybe a sonogram of his intestines to look for signs of lymphoma and bowel wall thickening. Sometimes steroids can control that. Thickened walls in the intestine can cause vomiting and loss of appetite. Ask the veterinarian for his or her opinion.
He is pretty young (6). The vet had suggested we monitor him for a while to see how he does before getting more tests. So far, after one dose of appetite stimulant and one meal of force feeding, he's back to normal.
it's a mystery for sure. Only hope we're past it now.
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