Expert: Ali - 3/19/2009

Question
NEED URGENT REPLY  !!!!!!
My male cat is 22 yrs old.  Buster has been on & off an antibiotic for infected teeth and uninary problems.  Recently when I returned after 1 wk. vacation (having a volunteer from animal cruelty society doing the feedings), his eating habit changed as of Sunday and he didn't want to eat or drink.  After a while of great observation I decided that he WAS EAGER to eat BUT when he smelled it first, he turned away and became very weak.  We came to the conclusion that his "sense of smell" was deteriorating and now within the last fews days, I've been frantic trying to find someone that knows about this situation and WHAT TO FEED HIM.  I work full time and live alone which leaves Buster by himself along with another cat (10 yrs. Chops).  I have the same girl coming during the day the last several days trying to feed him and at night I'm home giving him the antiBiotic and trying to find out if this gets better.  I'm sick of the thought of losing him... he wants to eat but I can't go on giving him tuna warmed up by the directions of the internet.

Answer
Vivian,

Sometimes antibiotics can cause loss of appetite as they don't discriminate in terms of the types of bacteria that they kill. You need the antibiotic to kill off bad bacteria causing infections, however antibiotics also kill off the beneficial bacteria normally found within a mammal's digestive system which is why diarrhea and vomiting can be common side effects. I think that it might be wise to try feeding Buster a mixture of pureed chicken breast, either a kitten milk replacer or an ensure type product for senior cats and at least a tablespoon of plain, unsweetened organic yogurt. The pureed chicken breast will provide Buster with some important nutrients, the kitten milk replacer/senior nutritional liquid will provide all of the vitamins and minerals needed in the short term and the yogurt will help to replenish the beneficial bacteria in your little guy's system. I'd recommend purchasing a whole organic chicken breast from your local butcher (whether you cook it or not is up to you, but if the meat is raw you'll need to take extra precautions to preserve the mixture and prevent spoiling). You'll need to puree the whole chicken breast, I'd recommend adding a couple of tablespoons of the plain, unsweetened organic yogurt to help replenish beneficial bacteria normally found in your cat's digestive system and add enough of the kitten milk replacer or senior nutritional shake to create a finished product that's the consistency of cooked cream of wheat. If Buster refuses to eat this on his own (and he might because of the fact that he's not feeling so hot with the antibiotics knocking out the bacteria he needs to digest his food) then you will need to add enough of the liquid nutrition to create a mixture you can feed via syringe. You'll need to make sure that Buster eats at least every 3 hours and keep the quantities small, a couple of tablespoons at a time should do it because you don't want to irritate his system anymore than is absolutely necessary. You're absolutely right to be concerned about continuing to give Buster tuna, it's fine as a treat, but as the only source of nutrition it's not so hot. If you don't see a significant improvement in Buster's willingness to eat on his own after a few days I'd recommend taking him back into the vet to be reassessed because you have to consider the possibility that due to his advanced age there may be something else going on here. At 22 years old Buster is over 100 in human terms so be as gentle as possible, have patience, show him lots of love and make sure he's as comfortable as you can make him by providing him with the best possible nursing care you can. Unfortunately at Buster's age there aren't any guarantees that he will recover from this downturn in his health, it's very important that you allow him the dignity and peace of a painless passing to the Rainbow Bridge when the time comes. I can send you a copy of the Rainbow Bridge if you like, or you can find it at Petloss.com/poems/maingrp/rainbowb.html. I would be very interested to hear how Buster is doing so please don't hesitate to send an update my way.