Sense Of Smell Gone?

[KatSpazz]

My cat, Kevin, was hit by a car 3 weeks ago and sustained a head injury. He lost the vision in his left eye, his lower jaw was broken, he had some damage to his left sinus, and he had a very small tear in soft tissue in the roof of his mouth. He went through so much, including surgery to have his jaw wired.

But even so, he bounced back so fast that it was really almost miraculous. The day after he was hit, he rolled onto his back for the techs and was purring and rubbing his face on their hands. Personality-wise, after 3 weeks, he is completely Kevin. He's in my lap, sucking on my shirt (I know...cat spit!), purring like a maniac, loving on the dogs...

The problem is that he will not eat or drink. I'm giving him fluids sub-q and taking him to the Veterinarian daily to be tube fed. I rattled his bowl this morning and he went crazy because he knows there's food in there... and he sniffed it...big, deep sniffs, but he wouldn't eat it. I'm frustrated, he's frustrated...

So here are my questions... has anyone out there run into a situation like this? My fear is that the vomeronasal (sp?) organ was somehow damaged. Is it possible for a cat to ever learn to eat from sheer hunger or is their sense of smell so tied up into the eating that it will be impossible? I don't want to tube feed him for the rest of his life.

I know I really need to talk to my Veterinarian about this, but I'm from a small town, so I wanted to see if anyone out there had any pertinant info. Thanks in advance!

[latergatorj]

Very sorry to hear about what happened to your kitty.

Smell is very important to cats and does affect their willingness to eat. I'm not sure what information i could give you that could directly help you get your kitty smelling/eating again.

However, I'm a member of another pet website that is moderated by a licensed Veterinarian as well as some Veterinarian techs. I'd repost your question there, they might have something to say.

http://p069.ezboard.com/bhealthforumfordogsandcats

Not trying to send you away to this site, but sometimes it helps to put your fishing line in multiple locations.

i do hope you'll post both here and there and let everyone know what happened. Best of luck to you and your kitty.

[KatSpazz]

Originally Posted by latergatorj

Very sorry to hear about what happened to your kitty.

Smell is very important to cats and does affect their willingness to eat. I'm not sure what information i could give you that could directly help you get your kitty smelling/eating again.

However, I'm a member of another pet website that is moderated by a licensed Veterinarian as well as some Veterinarian techs. I'd repost your question there, they might have something to say.

WebDVM Message Boards - Message Board - ezboard.com

Not trying to send you away to this site, but sometimes it helps to put your fishing line in multiple locations.

i do hope you'll post both here and there and let everyone know what happened. Best of luck to you and your kitty.

Thanks much for the link...I'll certainly give it a go there!