do you think a cat can be bipolar (manic-depressive)? seriously.

[Terri]

I work for a vet and we give the client a copy of labwork, it helps to get the client involved, because we don't see the patient 24/7 so it helps if we explain what all those numbers mean. I sure if you ask, they would agree.

 

[Imp]

You mentioned his intestines were full of liquids. Mega colon possibly?

Good luck,
Imp

 

[debilorrah]

I have (had) a cat named Taco. When Ken and I moved in together I took him with me. The poor thing lost all his hair, refused to eat, etc. I gave him back to my mom and he is right as rain! So YES cats get stressed out.

 

[Big C]

We have one that is 17 years old now and blind as a bat.
If we are gone for a few days, he will urp food where we usually walk around the house
Pee in front of the washer/dryer
Meow incessently untill he gets his popcorn treats when we get back
He knows when we leave the tv on so he can hear human voices and will crap in front of the tv
Knows when the kids come for a vistit and he gets attention
Knows when the grandkids come for a visit and hides

Could go on and on but, yes they can be... IMO

 

[patandchickens]

Whoa, more very good questions and suggestions -- THANKS!!

I've tried raw chicken, egg (raw and cooked), rare roast beef, and most every other thing you can try to tempt a cat. (As well as, to date, six different brands of dry food and five of canned). If he is eating, he will eat anything; if he is not, nothing. The chickens are getting a good deal out of this anyway

He does throw up, a lot (like every 4-5 hrs, sometimes as often as every 1-2 hrs for half a day or so), during the times he is not eating. (not at all when he is eating ok). It starts out as clear liquid but progresses to blood-tinged as the hunger strike goes on. Is accompanied by nasty wet squirty diarrhea and drinking a lot. I have no idea which of those three things (vomit, diarrhea, drinking a whole lot) is cause and which is/are consequences, tho. He is currently on famotidine and two other pills (an antidiarrheal and an antiemetic, don't recall names offhand); famotidine has seemed to help some, the other two seem to help a lot. The antidiarrheal and antiemetic are just short-term til he is solidly eating again. He's been getting the famotidine for at least a couple weeks after starting eating again. I don't like using lots of medications but these do seem to be helping so will continue as vet directs for now.

WBC count was just towards high end of normal, remember, not elevated in the usual sense of the word.

Megacolon and IBD have been considered hard (as they were the vet's initial theories) but everything looks normal on xray and u/s, no thickening of gut wall or distension of gut - but it is uniformly filled the whole way with nonechoic (i.e. thin non chunky) liquid.

He ate about half his normal breakfast this morning. Not sure whether this is part of return to normal or whether yesterday was an anomaly and he's going back to not eating. Argh!

Have to get new bag of catfood today anyhow, so I will see if I can get his #s.

(edited to add, b/c I forgot to say: only two houseplants in the house, neither has been chewed at all in any way. You know, I'm not sure whether his temp was taken by the vet [not while I saw, but he was there for the day several times, so dunno], I didn't take it, that is another good point. I may try to take his temp if he starts acting poorly again -- but am not sure whether it will work as, despite his generally very relaxed and confident personality, he really *really* does not like to be restrained and have things done to him, and the one time I did see the vet try to take his temp, the vet gave up

)


Pat

 

[maplesky7]

I was going to ask about house plants...

I also had a cat with irritable bowel disorder but never was it bloody...there's something else going on. Try a new vet.

 

[farrier!]

We have switched all our cats to the following.
Diamond Active Cat

Contains no wheat, no corn, no soy

It has made a world of difference. Nice wights and no digestive problems, no barfs to clean up. All the coats on the cats are softer and shiny.

Not sure if this was on you list of what you tried but it sure worked on out picky cats and our one that went out of his mind. Our quiet boy suddenly would not be touched, found a hole to get under the floor and left for days at a time. He would not come out even for water! This went on for weeks. Finally I thought he had died. A very frantic bag of bones appeared one day and we managed to catch him. Dirty wild eyed and so so skinny. We switched to the Diamond and he has returned to his mellow loving self. No more weird episodes for the last 3 months....

Good luck!

 

[KDbeads]

I was going to suggest the famotidine actually. The blood suggests ulcer and/or extreme irritation of his stomach and throat to me. I've used sucralfate and slippery elm with success with ulcers.

Try a grain free food, there are tons of them out there, to see if he feels better on it.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Quote:
If he is throwing up tha much, the blood might be from his esophagus lining being raw,maybe.

 

[miss_thenorth]

How long was he at the animal shelter and did they notice any problems with him? I assume not or they would not have adopten him out, but maybe he wasn't there that long?