9mo kitten (Fred) - not eating or drinking

[AnimalHouse]

Hello,
We just had Fred fixed (male orange tabby), he is about 9 months old now. He went in last Wed night (surgury was Thursday the 21st). When he came home he seemed to be doing all right all things considered, was eating and playing. Come Sat night though he started throwing up, Sun he started being lethargic and wouldn't eat that much and threw up some more. Today (Christmas) he has thrown up a couple more times, stared at the food and water but won't eat it. We tried wet food , he licked a bit of it but that was about it.

He was on some antibiotic (think pink liquid... looked alot like Pepto) so I pulled him off that figuring that was the cause. I talked to the vet who suggested the same thing and to monitor his water / food intake.

Does anyone know what could be going on? Is this normal kitty reaction (it seems so delayed to the surgery)? Is this the quick trip to the vet? We've been giving him eyedroppers full of water to help with the dehydration but it is such a small amount.

Any help would be great

Thanks

[krazyaboutkatz]

Welcome to PT.:) I'm so sorry to hear about Fred.:( No,this isn't normal behavior. He may be having a reaction to the antibiotics. I know that when my cat Storm was on Clavamox liquid he also became very sick from it. I would suggest taking him to the vet. I'm glad to hear that you're able to give him some water so he won't become dehydrated. I hope he'll recover and start feeling better soon. Please continue to keep us updated about him.

[Laura's Babies]

I would get him off the meds and keep giving his as much water as I could and get him back to the vet as soon as I could.

[AnimalHouse]

Thanks everyone,
He has been off the meds for a day and a half now, though still in a funk so tomorrow he is going back to the vet as suggested. In the mean time he is holding the water he is given via the eyedropper. Still doesn't want anything to do with the water dish or soft food though.

Will post what the vet has to say.

Thanks for responding, good to get others opinions / ideas in these cases.

[heidiv]

The vet has a food that has a real strong smell and I think its a form of food that they feed to cats that have stomach surgury(so its easily digestable and contains a good amount of water for hydration) I had a kitty that would not eat at all from a URI Snotty nose coughing the whole 9 yards anyway it was really the only thing I could get her to eat because she could smell it. Cats tend to not eat if they can't smell it??????? I have just had Paris spayed and she came home with a small cold. Mainly just a runny nose. If he is displaying any signs of fever you should get him in ASAP... Good luck at the vet tomarrow....Keep us updated....And have that little boy get better soon!

[kb2yjx]

Welcome and soory to hear about Fred!! Do you have any baby food in the house??? When the cats will not eat, chicken baby food sometimes helps. Some cats just take alot longer to comeback after having anesthesia. Glad to know that Fred will be going back to the vet!! Good luck!!

[AnimalHouse]

Hello,
Great idea about the babyfood and 'high scent' foods, thanks. I didn't know the importance of scent in their diet (though I should have suspected something every time I opened a can of soft food... ewww) Well as promised here is the latest status of Fred, the vet could not find anything physically wrong with him so our marching orders were to pretty much keep doing what we were and call if things change. Sigh, I could have come to that conclusion alot cheaper ;) Anyhow, a couple days have passed and it is apparent he is feeling better. Fred has hornked a furball, sits and stares at us apparently trying mind control and makes more attempts to eat. I really believe at this point that it was the antibiotics he was on that were getting to him.

Thanks everyone for the advice and support, great forum here at 'pet of the day'

Cheers