Sparkles the cat lost HALF of his body weight

Summary

Sparkles the cat lost half his body weight due to undiagnosed dental issues, despite regular vet visits, requiring significant interventions including dental surgery and medication.

Abstract

Sparkles, a shorthaired cat, faced severe weight loss from 16 to 8 pounds due to dental issues that went unnoticed initially. His owner, failing to observe the gradual weight loss, eventually noticed the drastic change after some time away. Sparkles was diagnosed with genetic dental issues and stomatitis, causing him pain and affecting his ability to eat. Despite a dental cleaning and tooth extraction, his condition did not improve. The owner resorted to syringe feeding and administering medications like Onsior and gabapentin, which Sparkles resisted, leading to difficulty in treatment. All of Sparkles' teeth were eventually removed in an attempt to alleviate his pain and encourage eating. Despite trying various foods, Sparkles has not regained all his weight, and his owner continues to seek solutions, with another vet visit scheduled.

Opinions

The owner initially did not notice Sparkles' weight loss due to the daily interaction, highlighting the subtlety of weight changes in pets.
There is a concern that without proper nutrition, Sparkles might face starvation or organ failure, prompting the owner to take drastic measures like syringe feeding.
The owner expresses difficulty in administering medication due to Sparkles' aggressive response to any mouth handling.
There is a sense of hope mixed with ongoing struggle as the removal of all teeth was expected to improve Sparkles' eating habits but did not fully resolve the issue.
The owner is persistent and dedicated, trying different foods and maintaining regular veterinary care to help Sparkles recover.
A strong recommendation is made to other pet owners to seek veterinary care promptly if they notice unexplained weight loss in their pets.

Sparkles the cat lost HALF of his body weight — due to dental issues

Dental issues can be tough with cats. Sparkles was always an overweight shorthaired cat, but one day he started losing weight. He went from a height of 16 pounds to 8 pounds. He regularly visited the vet.

It was hard to see the weight loss because I saw him every day. When I did notice the weight loss after being away for some time, I brought him to the vet. The veterinarian identified genetic dental issues and stomatitis, which was causing him great pain to eat. We did a dental cleaning, removed a few teeth, and assumed the issue would improve, but it did not.

Sparkles continued not to eat, and I began syringe feeding him KMR, which he hated (both the KMR and the syringe feeding). I continued, however, because I was concerned he would starve to death or that his organs would shut down without food. The vet prescribed various medications, including Onisor and gabapentin, however, it was really hard to medicate Sparkles as any time I tried to touch his mouth he became angry and aggressive.

We returned to the vet and after review, we removed all of Sparkles’ teeth. We hoped that this would help him return to eating, however, we still struggle. Right now I feed him a variety of foods like Royal Canin Wet Kitten Food and also, Hill’s Urgent Care Cat & Dog Wet Food, but he’s not gained all of the weight back. Sometimes when eating he runs away from his bowl whimpering. We have another vet visit on the schedule to see if we can find out more.

If your kitty is losing weight, take him or her to the vet ASAP.