Monday, April 2, 2012

anorexia

Buddy has continued his resistance to eating. After a lot of prodding he'll eat some but never a full serving. I've been worried about his weight, he seems thinner. And recently, he has altered his cuddle schedule, which is very unusual. Being the cat-hypercondriac that I am, I ran him over to the vet on Saturday to get him looked over again. He was in last in January for the same deal.


The vet said he looks good and his weight was a few ounces more than the last visit.  She noticed a red, inflamed spot on his gum, which might explain his reluctance to eat. She did some diagnostic blood work, the results come in on Monday. Depending on what the blood tests reveal, we might be scheduling a dental to get that spot looked over. Dentals on older kitties make me very nervous, especially after Mary Ann over at The Very Best Cats, lost her precious KC a little over a year ago to a dental gone bad.


Buddy spends most of his time curled up or sprawled out on the ottoman in front of the fire. Lately, he's really been enjoying playing with Nahum - they both seem to enjoy each other, which is a delight to see. Yesterday, they even spent some time snuggled together!

17 comments:

  1. I hope Buddy will be OK. I know you are worried.

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  2. We're sending purrs to Buddy, and have our paws crossed that if he needs a dental, all will go well. Paws also crossed for the bloodwork results!

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  3. I understand how you feel about being nervous about the dental. My oldest dog of 13 years has to have dental work done next month and I'm very nervous about it all.

    We'll keep our fingers, paws, and everything crossed here that everything will go well for Buddy.

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  4. Poor little Buddy, don't you wish they could tell us what was wrong. Hope all is well.
    Jane x

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  5. Just as it is with people, general anesthesia is always a risk... but the vet and tech will try to minimize the risk. There are also different types of anesthesia and different premedications. The best case scenario is to go to a vet that is familiar with your kitties health record so as to choose the best options.

    Good luck to Buddy! ... and to his "parents"!

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  6. I a very worried..this is Katie's mommy. Please let us know what the lab report is. I HOPE it is the red spot and nothing more serious. How old is Buddy?

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  7. We hope Buddy doesn't have any serious issues. We are sending purrs for Buddy.

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  8. aww.. I'm so sorry Buddy has mouth issues. I can totally relate to your worry over the dental, I hope everything goes well..

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    1. Beautiful Buddy. I'm glad you brought him in to get checked out. Let us know how the blood test goes. Have you tried interesting him with different food brands or treats? My guess is that you have. If you bring him in for dental work, remember you know Buddy and his behaviors best. Really tune into how he is doing/feeling that day (if you schedule him for dental work.) If he seems under the weather, reschedule.

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    2. Yes, we have tried many brands and types. He only goes for junk food but then it is very hit or miss. He prefers his wet food heated, but not too hot!

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  9. we hope he is feeling better soon. dentals can be scary, but a couple of us have had them done and it can certainly help us to feel better....

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  10. Paws crossed that the red spot is nothing serious, and the bloodwork will be OK, too. Our Felix is a terrible picky eater, and is a thin as a rail, in fact we call him "Pencil Boy" because he's so slim and orange! Would Buddy prefer to eat alone? Perhaps the others intimidate him.

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    1. Buddy only eat alone, if another cat even so much as looks at him while he's eating he's done. None of that! He eats alone and takes occasional breaks to have his tummy rubbed and then goes back to eating.

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  11. Buddy is so sweet looking - I want to kiss him on the head. I hope all tests go well. Paws crossed!

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  12. I understand your worry...dental procedure makes me very nervous even if it's for younger kitties. I hope Buddy will be ok.

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  13. Poor Buddy! I hope that all goes well with his test results. My 16 yr old cat just had her teeth cleaned and did great - my vet does blood work and some kind of protein snap test just to make sure that their bodies can handle the anesthesia so that does help. I'm sure yours does something similar. Is Buddy on any kind of anti-anxiety medication such as prozac? The reason I ask is because my 13 yr old male cat started losing weight and we could not figure out why. We ran all kinds of blood tests thinking it was kidney issues or hyperthyroidism. Turns out it was the medicine causing him to lose weight. We weaned him off of it and he has gained a pound in just over 3 weeks. I just thought I would mention it in case Buddy is on meds and all other tests check out okay. Good luck!

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  14. I was terrified to put my 16 year old girl through a full mouth extraction - I could not believe this would have a good outcome. 4 years later, she has made me see the true resiliency of cats. She came home the same day from having all her teeth pulled, stomped into the kitty dining hall and chowed down... now at 20, her time is winding down, but she is still eating. The good thing about having her teeth pulled - it doesn't hurt the others when she bites them now!
    But still scary I know, and I don't mean to minimize the worry. Only to say I think it can be worth the risk. Take care - Nancy

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