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Go to vet for regular 6-month checkup (senior cat, hyperthyroid), labs now show additionally CKD (chronic kidney disease, aka CRF/chronic renal failure). Go to vet again to start subcutaneous fluid treatment. Get appetite stimulant. Have trouble giving meds. Cat doesn't eat for 2-3 days. Finally stabilize meds a bit, another sub-q fluid treatment. When other foods fail even thinned and spoon-fed, try meat baby food spoon-fed. Cat steadily improves, comes back closer to normal, starts eating from bowls on her own. Slowly mix in Hill's A/D (very mushy recovery diet) with baby food.
That's where I'm at right now. Because I want her to eat as much as possible, I have often left bowls of her dry food out just in case, but she hasn't shown any interest in that.
Above is the real story of my last 2 weeks. Do not try this at home.
At least cats are smarter than people, when they are sick they won't choose 'dry food'. If that was a person with lung cancer, they'd have reached for their cigarettes.
I'm so sorry to hear about Amber!! Your story is going to make me work that much harder at getting Bumbies to eat wet. He's the only one out of our 5 that won't eat it.....he actually runs away from the wet food and if I even have the smell of it on my fingers from feeding the others and try to give him treats that normally he LOVES he runs away :-(
At least cats are smarter than people, when they are sick they won't choose 'dry food'. If that was a person with lung cancer, they'd have reached for their cigarettes.
Not in my experience. My cat had a UTI and needed to switch foods and he definitely preferred his old dry food.
We used Purina Feline Fortiflora sprinkled on the canned food and that did the trick. They love their canned food now.
We used Purina Feline Fortiflora sprinkled on the canned food and that did the trick.
Yeah, I can't really recommend this enough as a method of getting a cat to switch foods. I'm very sure it's not foolproof, but it's worked every time for me when I've wanted to switch a cat to a new type of food, and they've previously been stubborn about it.
What I have learned... remove ALL dry kibble from your house. If they know it is available, many will hold out. Dry kibble is THAT addictive.
Start with a few meals of nasty smelly carpy foods found in grocery stores. Slowly, graduate to foods with better ingredients.
Rotate at least 3 different brands. No fish.
I used a lot of the tips that Dr. Lisa Pierson DVM suggests at Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition :: healthy cat diet, making cat food, litter box, cat food, cat nutrition, cat urinary tract health
If you are currently free feeding... that is another habit that most felines don't like to give up.
Good luck!
Yeah, I can't really recommend this enough as a method of getting a cat to switch foods. I'm very sure it's not foolproof, but it's worked every time for me when I've wanted to switch a cat to a new type of food, and they've previously been stubborn about it.
Yes, I'm very sure it's not foolproof. My foolish cat was not impressed. I should try some now though, sometimes the tastes change and maybe she'll be interested now.
Go to vet for regular 6-month checkup (senior cat, hyperthyroid), labs now show additionally CKD (chronic kidney disease, aka CRF/chronic renal failure). Go to vet again to start subcutaneous fluid treatment. Get appetite stimulant. Have trouble giving meds. Cat doesn't eat for 2-3 days. Finally stabilize meds a bit, another sub-q fluid treatment. When other foods fail even thinned and spoon-fed, try meat baby food spoon-fed. Cat steadily improves, comes back closer to normal, starts eating from bowls on her own. Slowly mix in Hill's A/D (very mushy recovery diet) with baby food.
That's where I'm at right now. Because I want her to eat as much as possible, I have often left bowls of her dry food out just in case, but she hasn't shown any interest in that.
Above is the real story of my last 2 weeks. Do not try this at home.
I hope she is doing better! I have 7 kitties and 2 of them have no interest at all in wet food. At the vet the tech tried to give them a treat for good behavior and they had no interest in treats either. They're just not very motivated by food.
I am giving the others more wet food these days ... wish Hansel and Gretel were interested too.
I hope she is doing better! I have 7 kitties and 2 of them have no interest at all in wet food. At the vet the tech tried to give them a treat for good behavior and they had no interest in treats either. They're just not very motivated by food.
I am giving the others more wet food these days ... wish Hansel and Gretel were interested too.
She's doing somewhat better but last night's mix of food was less interesting it seems (more regular food + less baby food = not as much eaten).
Most cats are pretty "eat to live" as opposed to "live to eat" in general. So yeah not exactly motivated by food is not entirely unusual. This becomes a bigger problem when you have a condition that naturally pushes the cat into a mode where it doesn't want to eat. Although...I'm not sure I would read a lot into a cat not taking a treat at the vet. My cat has never taken a treat associated with the drive to or from the vet or at the vet, despite many tries over the years. Come on now.
Also it's normal for them to have small meals throughout the day not mealtimes, although from what I see around here it is possible at least when healthy to train them towards mealtimes. Small meals is tough with wet food although it can stay out longer than you think. But some cats won't eat it after it's out for a while. Tricky things.
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