Trigger Warning: Recognizing Feline Anorexia
9 tips to help cats in your veterinary clinic have less stress and more appetite to avoid feline anorexia.
Whether a cat presents to your clinic with anorexia or develops it during hospitalization, you can take steps to manage each case while the cat is in your care. According to Susan Little, DVM, DABVP (feline), during a presentation at the WVC Annual Conference, the first step is to understand what female anorexia is (and isn’t) and how it’s triggered.
Don’t miss these stress signals
Make note of the following information daily since many of these factors could indicate a stressed kitty (e.g. for muscle conditioning scoring, cats can lose muscle mass quickly and easily when sick or when their nutrition is inappropriate):
- Temperature
- Pulse rate
- Respiratory rate
- Body weight
- Body condition score
- Muscle condition score
- Amount of food actually eaten
- Amount of water consumed
- Estimate of urine quantity
- Fecal quantity and score
- Vomiting evidence
