# Wheezing and poor appetite-- need help with Beck



## emeko (Nov 28, 2009)

Hey guys, I need help with my little guy again.

His appetite has been quirky all this week, and it's really messing with my monitoring of him. For the first time in his life, I'm not watching him eat his dinner, and this sudden decline in appetite is really bothering me. I suspect that his enalapril is responsible, because that's the only thing that's changed since he lost his appetite. He has been eating a pretty regular amount, but he leaves it for HOURS and hours in his cage before touching it at all. All his life until now, he would dive on kibble and just eat it all at once until he was full. His teeth are fine, no sores around his mouth, so I don't think it's anything like that.

He hasn't had much spunk the last few days. When I take him out, his choice behaviour is sticking his head deep into the Carefresh in the corner of his litterbox. It's to the point where if I put him down, he just RUNS to that corner to burrow in. Runs past his food. Runs AWAY from his food when I put him near it. I coax it into him bite by bite, but he doesn't have much interest in it, that's for sure. 

Tonight, in his litterbox, he had some faint wheezing action going on. He only wheeezed in his Carefresh, and it stopped when I took it away. He's sleeping now, but not wheezing. So I don't know if he was just kind of whistling from breathing through the Carefresh, or if it was fluid in his lungs. 

The other thing that's odd is that he's pooping less than usual, even though he is getting normal amounts of food now on a daily basis. Last night, there was only a bit of poop on the wheel, and he hasn't done his normal nightly poop, and he's been out for an hour and a half. It's like he doesn't want to wake up to eat, or even poop. 


I'm going to call the vet tomorrow and see what she thinks in terms of adjusting his medicine. Would it be better to take him off the meds so he at least has an appetite? Or does anyone have any thoughts on the wheezing?

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. I just... don't know what I'm doing anymore.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

I would talk to the vet about it, maybe they can give you something to boost his appetite as loss of appetite is a known side-effect of enalapril.


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## hercsmom (Jul 6, 2010)

The wheezing could be from the carefresh, I know it made Herc very sneezy. I would ask the vet to be sure though. Any chance of switching to fleece liners?


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## emeko (Nov 28, 2009)

He has a fleece liner. The only place he has Carefresh is in his litterbox, which is only in his "station" on my desk, not even in his cage 24/7 because he doesn't use it in his age. But when I get him out, that's the only place I want to be, is with his head stuck in the corner, buried in Carefresh.

It's a classic, "I just want to stick my head in the corner and be left alone" kind of look. :/

Also, to give an indication when I say "he's not pooping much"... I grabbed a picture of his wheel this morning. He did eventually eat 55 kibbles around 3am, as he did last last night. The poop on his wheel in this picture represents all the poop he's passed in 24 hours. Should I try and syringe feed him some pumpkin to help get him more regular?


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Yara asked me last night if fluid in the lungs and a URI would cause wheezing and I suggested that you post to the forum. Glad you did.  

Laying with his nose in the carefresh could make him wheezy as it is dusty stuff. If he has a bit of fluid on his lungs from his heart condition that could do it too and fluid on the lungs can turn to a URI. If he has a bit of congestion or even just a piece of Carefresh dust, changing position can make it move so no more wheezing. I wouldn't panic too much about the wheezing just yet especially since it went away when he moved. 

His wheel looks pretty good for poop and 55 kibbles is great. With his heart problems and the meds he is on, he may be starting into what will be a new normal and he may not eat, or poop on the same schedule he used to. If you feel he is constipated, or having difficulty going, the pumpkin will help. Constipated poop which is usually dryer is not the same size as normal poop so the smaller amount of poop could be constipation related. I agree with Nikki on talking to the vet to see if something could boost his appetite. 

Remember the time change. Did you account for it last night? Perhaps his not pooping at normal time was time change related. 

The fact that he is eating 55 kibbles over 24 hours and that he is running and pooping on his wheel is positive so try not to worry too much.


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