My cat has diarrhea, lost weight, won't eat after surgery. What to do?

Diarrhea and a decrease in appetite could be a sign of a number of different problems. Intestinal parasites are possible, even for indoor cats, as are some infections or diseases like colitis or inflammatory bowel disease. If the diarrhea continues for more than 24 hours or seems to be getting worse, or if her appetite does not improve during that time I'd recommend seeing your veterinarian. They may treat her symptoms or recommend some testing like blood work or a fecal analysis depending on what they find during a physical examination.

That is a very difficult situation. You may talk to your vet about treating for giardia (even if the test was negative), IBD, food allergies, an aggressive dewormer, running a GI panel, or referral to a specialist in internal medicine. The next step may be biopsies through exploratory surgery or endoscopy. Many cats with diarrhea of unknown cause will respond to a prescription hypoallergenic diet.

Make sure he is getting plenty of fluids. I would syringe him water and feed him wet food to get more moisture in him. I would feed a diet of chicken and rice and add in a probiotic such as Purina fortiflora which can be found online quite easily or at your local pet store. If there is no improvement or he worsens, I would recommend having a veterinarian examine him so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Without knowing the course of his illness, test results, etc. it is difficult to give accurate advice. It does sound serious enough that your cat likely needs a feeding tube surgically placed so that you can give him the necessary amount of food each day. It is quite difficult to force feed a cat who is sick and doesn't want to eat. The feeding tube is often needed in these situations. You should discuss this option with your veterinarian and inquire about having it done asap. It may also be necessary that your cat remain hospitalized for more intense supportive care including IV fluids. Please consult with his doctor right away.

Poor Larry! It sounds like it’s time to move onto further diagnostics. Obviously something is wrong and it just hasn’t been discovered yet. I recommend to discuss an abdominal ultrasound with your veterinarian and possibly checking a fructosamine level to see if the blood sugars have been elevated over the past month. This will help to figure out if diabetes, pancreatitis, cancer or inflammatory bowel disease is present. I hope this gets figured out quickly. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Given her age there are several things that cross my mind, but a common issue in these young kittens is parasites. Sometimes their parasite burden can be so high that they cannot maintain adequate glucose levels, and also can become uninterested in food and sometimes will begin vomiting. I would recommend deworming her. Also, it would be important to rule out signs of infection and/or sepsis. I think she needs to be seen by a veterinarian right away. Such a young and small animal can deteriorate quickly even with easy to resolve issues like gastrointestinal parasites.

Unfortunately it can take a long time - weeks to months - to recovery from hepatic lipidosis. I typically recommend a feeding tube because feeding the appropriate number of calories is most important and it can be difficult to get enough calories in with syringe feeding alone. If you have other concerns for questions about her care you should check in with your vet and be sure to follow up for all recommended rechecks.