Did you know that Valium can be used to stimulate a cat's appetite?
{ponder}
As in, a cat that hasn't eaten in days, has been unwilling/unable to eat, even after anti-nausea meds, etc., who was in danger of getting hospitalized, given an IV and have a feeding tube stuck in (again), was given a shot in the leg (low dose, below what would tranquilize her), and within 3 minutes, she practically inhaled a full can of cat food. We're talking about tearing into it like there's no tomorrow, making a total mess of the examining table, not really chewing, just gulping it down as fast as she could.
The insane cat munchies apparently last only a few minutes, but we're hoping it's enough to kick her appetite back into something a bit more normal so she'll start eating again.
(The cat in question has a bit of brain damage, and we're starting to suspect that if she gets off her feed for whatever reason - such as a kitty flu or something, there may be something neurological that makes her go anorexic and it takes something pretty severe to get her to eat again.)
When the vet said we'd give this a try, and that, when it worked, it had pretty spectacular results, we still sort of expected to bring her home and maybe see some results this evening. Imagine our surprise when he brought in paper plates with cat food on 'em (2 canned, one dry), stuck them in front of her (she sniffed, then ignored them), then gave her the shot. She didn't even bother standing up after the shot, just suddenly started wolfing down the food in front of her.
I didn't know whether to laugh at the spectacle she made or cry in relief that this 3rd vet visit of the week brought such spectacular results, but finally settled for laughter.
... but ... *valium* ... giving a cat mega-munchies.
{shakes head} Valium?!
{ponder}
As in, a cat that hasn't eaten in days, has been unwilling/unable to eat, even after anti-nausea meds, etc., who was in danger of getting hospitalized, given an IV and have a feeding tube stuck in (again), was given a shot in the leg (low dose, below what would tranquilize her), and within 3 minutes, she practically inhaled a full can of cat food. We're talking about tearing into it like there's no tomorrow, making a total mess of the examining table, not really chewing, just gulping it down as fast as she could.
The insane cat munchies apparently last only a few minutes, but we're hoping it's enough to kick her appetite back into something a bit more normal so she'll start eating again.
(The cat in question has a bit of brain damage, and we're starting to suspect that if she gets off her feed for whatever reason - such as a kitty flu or something, there may be something neurological that makes her go anorexic and it takes something pretty severe to get her to eat again.)
When the vet said we'd give this a try, and that, when it worked, it had pretty spectacular results, we still sort of expected to bring her home and maybe see some results this evening. Imagine our surprise when he brought in paper plates with cat food on 'em (2 canned, one dry), stuck them in front of her (she sniffed, then ignored them), then gave her the shot. She didn't even bother standing up after the shot, just suddenly started wolfing down the food in front of her.
I didn't know whether to laugh at the spectacle she made or cry in relief that this 3rd vet visit of the week brought such spectacular results, but finally settled for laughter.
... but ... *valium* ... giving a cat mega-munchies.
{shakes head} Valium?!
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