cat drooling and not eating

by Deborah
(West Palm Beach, Florida)

Hello-we have a 10/11-year-old long haired cat that we added to our cat brood 6 to 8 months ago. Recently we noticed that she was not eating and she was drooling a lot. The first trip to the vet she was tested for kidney and liver problems which thankfully were eliminated as well as having her mouth checked for a bad tooth. The vet administered fluids, determined that she was congested and gave her a shot of antibiotics and I was sent home with liquid Clavamox. She continued to not eat as far as we could determine as well as produce huge amounts of drool. We attempted baby food mixed with pedialyte and a reduction in the amount of antibiotic. No change. She returned to the vet 2 days ago, this time for a blood glucose test to eliminate diabetes and the vet also did an x-ray to look for a blockage and looked at her mouth again. The only thing that appeared was a slightly enlarged colon which might indicate colonitis. We are currently attempting to feed her some soft food with some miralax mixed in but it is difficult because unless she is eating dry food at night she is not eating. i have been force feeding her but she struggles with that. What am I missing? Any suggestions? Thanks for your help it is frustrating as all of the major health concerns for a cat of her age are not present but we cannot figure out what her problem is.

Answer by KAte
Hi well I am sorry to hear that your cat is not well and that your vet cannot find the reason for it. I am not a vet and so cannot give you any sort of diagnosis, my first reaction was that she had something wrong in her mouth like a bad tooth or some sort of foriegn body stuck in the soft gum somewhere.

You say she has recently stopped eating, I don't know if you mena days or weeks. If it has been weeks then she would be showing signs of lossing weight and getting genrally weaker, if she is not showing these signs then maybe she is eating but not when you are around in which case she may have a behavioral issue ie nerveous and highly strung.

I really don't know what to suggest here, I am surprised the vet has not instructed you with how to norish her i,e should you be trying to force feed her and if so how. If there is some sort of behavioral issue here this could be making things worse. I don't know but if you are not getting enough information or guidance from your vet If it were me I would get a second opnion from another vet. I have done this myself and find that one vets approach can be very different from anothers.

I really hope your cat gets better soon it sounds terrible for you all.

Sorry I could not be of further help

best wishes Kate

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