16 yr. old cat on hunger strike while owners were away

Question
Hi Jessica:
My inlaws cared for my 16 yr. old cat while my family was away on vacation for a week. They came to our home twice a day and tried very hard, but the cat stopped eating and drinking.  She had been underweight (down to 8 lbs. for the past year or so ( from 12 lbs.)  but basically healthy before we left (checkups, shots up-to-date, etc)

. When we returned home last night she was very weak, unable to stand up for long and would neither eat nor drink.

Since last night, I have been giving her "eye droppers" full of water and liquified Hills dog/cat prescription food(the kind for intermittent use only)every 1-2 hrs.  She has urinated twice and is walking better, is purring a little, has drunk from her water bowl a few times and looks a bit better (had sunken eyes, coat was shedding, etc.) She now occasionally mews and seems a little more "perky". It seems like she has "a will to live" but I was afraid last night!

Do you have any suggestions?  It is a Sunday. Considering her and our financial constraints age, my husband and I probably cannot take "extraordinary measures".

Thank you,
Jane

Answer
Hi Jane,

I bet some fluid therapy would REALLY help your girl.  Do you think you could manage a vet visit, financially?  It would be most beneficial if this could be done today.  Most emergency facilities charge about $100 for the visit, and then the treatment on top of that.  But you can let the vets know up front that you don't have a lot of money to work with, and discuss the treatment plan before any treatment takes place.  If you went with sub-q fluids rather than IV fluid therapy, the treatment would only take about 5 minutes and would require no hospitalization.  In my experience, the treatment only runs about $30 in most hospitals.  The only downside is that it doesn't act as quickly as the IV fluids, but if your financial situation doesn't permit a hospitalization, it is certainly a fine choice.  And your cat might not be in a condition that would require IV fluids, anyway.  

The fluids that are used in nearly all situations, called Lactated Ringer's Solution, have electrolytes and some sugars to help strengthen the kitty and relieve any muscle cramps they might be feeling.  Correcting those two things really has them feeling much better within a matter of a couple hours, and their appetites tend to bounce back a lot on their own.

If you are unable to manage an emergency vet visit, I would still try to get her to a regular vet tomorrow, because severe dehydration can be hard to correct with water.  It would probably still benefit her to have the sub-q fluid therapy.

If there is no chance of a vet visit, continue to do what you're doing with syringe feeding the a/d and water.  You might consider mixing her water with a 1:1 dilution of unflavored Pedialyte to try to replenish some of her electrolytes.  She's probably going to fuss over it, but it might help her feel a little better.  

Wishing she makes a swift recovery!

Jessica