Finicky Cats!

[carolyn]

Dear Cat Lovers,

My cat is old. She is healthy, except for an occasional seizure which cant be pinpointed. Her weight is very low, so I must make sure she eats well. I fear she is getting too picky. Today I have 3 different kinds of food out for her. One of them is probably too chunky. The other, too crunchy. The last, probably too cold. By the time she decides to try eating again the food will be too 'dried up' and she will want something more fresh!

 

Am I contributing to her pickiness?

 

Any suggestions on ways to get more food/nutrients in her?

She has claws and doesnt like to be held, so force feeding may cause a number of battle wounds.

 

Please help!

 

Sincerely,

A frustrated (and pissed-off) cat owner in despair!

 

 

[G-spotter]

Cats alawys want to eat your food. So cook a little bit extra for kitty.

 

Or get her some live mice. You can buy them at the pet store cause snake people need live food.

[carolyn]

My cat doesnt eat mice, silly wabbit! She just bats it around until its brain no longer functions. She sits in front of the refigerator for hours on end waiting for them to come out and play.

 

She does like vanilla ice cream. I hate to condition her to eat 'real' food. Maybe some canned tuna would do the trick?

 

Ive actually got a call into the vet. there has to be some high calorie food out there or vitamins. She does seem to like the dog food (and the dog likes the cat food-grrr). Maybe I should just start feeding her that!

 

[archenemy]

Cats alawys want to eat your food. So cook a little bit extra for kitty.

 

Or get her some live mice. You can buy them at the pet store cause snake people need live food.

Its what's for breakfast

[G-spotter]

maybe the pet owners in the giant housecat thread can advise.

[counterfeitfake]

Am I contributing to her pickiness?

 

Objectively, yes. If you weren't providing her with all these options she would either have died of malnutrition or learned to eat what she was given. I'd bet the latter would happen before the former.

 

But this is a key element in the psyche of the cat owner, you want to cater to your cat's pickiness. And it is in the psyche of the cat to appreciate almost none of what you do for it.

[sobo]

Pretty big generalization there about cat owners, CF. I give the critter food. He eats it, or he eats somewhere else, or he starves. Same with my kids. No bullshit. I cater to no one. And yes, I've been called an ass more than once.

[counterfeitfake]

Pretty big generalization there about cat owners, CF. I give the critter food. He eats it, or he eats somewhere else, or he starves. Same with my kids. No bullshit. I cater to no one. And yes, I've been called an ass more than once.

 

You're right, sorry, I've seen plenty of cat owners with your style. So tell me, have you ever had a cat that wouldn't eat what you fed it?

[carolyn]

for the past 13 and a half years she has been so incredibly low maintenance. I could leave a big ass bowl of food and water and leave her for a week or two. Kind of along the lines of what Sobo said. I hate to play that game with her now, as she has lost 2.5lbs this year, weighing in at 7.2lbs. She is no contender for the photos of big housecats, thats fer damn sure.

[G-spotter]

Maybe SuperCat will hear your plea for help

[sobo]

...So tell me, have you ever had a cat that wouldn't eat what you fed it?

 

Yep, but not for very long.

[sobo]

for the past 13 and a half years she has been so incredibly low maintenance. I could leave a big ass bowl of food and water and leave her for a week or two. Kind of along the lines of what Sobo said. I hate to play that game with her now, as she has lost 2.5lbs this year, weighing in at 7.2lbs. She is no contender for the photos of big housecats, thats fer damn sure.

 

Despite what I said to CF above, I do have a soft spot. I had a cat a few years back that I treated just like you have treated yours. Put out the food and water, have a friend check once or twice while I'm gone, and go off on "walkabouts." I come back, the cat's still there. It's all good.

 

He died a few years ago of CRF. He went from 13 lbs to less than 6 lbs. over a year and a half. I kept him in good spirits with sub-Q injections of lactated ringers solution (3x/day) and special, low-protein cat food (kD diet that you get from the vet). He carried on after his diagnosis for the better part of 18 months or so, when the vets all gave him less than 6 months to live. I had people telling me to put him down, but he still seemed to be a happy kitty, so I let him cost me thou$$and$$ of dollars over that time period. He became the "Poster Child" for CRF survivability at WSU, where he made more than one appearance at the vet school there.

 

Why am I telling you all this? Have you had Kitty to the vet recently and had any blood work done on her? If not, now's the time, if you really love this critter. If she is losing weight this fast, she may have CRF. It is imperative to get her on a new diet (with reduced protien intake) and to get some fluids into her. You may even have to spart feeding her with a syringe. It is not going to be easy, and your climbing is definitely going to suffer, unless you can find a good petsitter (like I did) to administer the meds while you're off climbing.

 

And what do you mean exactly by "siezures?" Are they "classic" siezures, or do they look more like the result of muscle atrophy and the resultant failure to control them? Let me know what the vet says. If it's CRF, I can help you with tips and links to good info. Seriously. I really am a softie for cats, although it would appear to be against my nature.

[carolyn]

Hey thanks.

She has been to the vet 4 times in her life. Once when she was a kitten, for all the shots. The other three times, within the past year.

 

She had her second seizure a few weeks ago which is why I took her in. Christ! Its sooooo traumatizing to take her there!!!! Anyway, all her bloodwork was perfect. They have suggested a spinal tap. If that doesnt provide reasoning behind the seizures (and her somewhat aggressive behavior as of late), then she is off to the neurologist at the university. I have decided to hold off on the spinal tap until we see if she has anymore seizures. I will do everything I can for her, but I can only do so much (financially). If she was a kitten, I would probably borrow money to extend her life. She is old, though. I dont neccesarily want to do a bunch of stuff to make her live longer. I just want to make sure she is comfortable as long as she is alive.

 

Eating has been more of an issue the past six months or so. She had an obstruction in her bowels, so I started feeding her soft food per the vets suggestion. Now she wont have anything else. However, even that is getting difficult to get her to eat. And, yes, I have had to take into consideration less multi-day climbing trips. I guess I figure she has been such a low maintenance cat for so long, that if I have to give her extra time, so be it.

 

Other than the random, occassional seizures and eating, she is playful, loving, and alert. You would never guess she is 14yrs old.

 

Btw...the vet called and suggested kitten food - its higher in calories. Guess I will give that a try.

 

And, what is CRF?

 

I dont think she likes being photographed (notice the tongue sticking out!)

 

Edited January 16, 2007 by carolyn

[sobo]

I dont neccesarily want to do a bunch of stuff to make her live longer. I just want to make sure she is comfortable as long as she is alive.

That was my reasoning as well. I probably just had more resources with which to do it. He was the one who kept on living happily. He chose the time of his leaving, one cold night in November, 2001.

 

 

 

And, yes, I have had to take into consideration less multi-day climbing trips. I guess I figure she has been such a low maintenance cat for so long, that if I have to give her extra time, so be it.

Again, that was my reasoning as well. I could tough it out for "6 months..." I don't regret what I did for him, because of what he did for me for all those years.

 

 

 

You would never guess she is 14yrs old.

Btw...the vet called and suggested kitten food - its higher in calories. Guess I will give that a try.

Doesn't sound like CRF, if she's bouncing off the walls at 14. Although CRF can come at any age, it usually onsets in cats over 12-15 years of age, if they are going to get it at all.

 

 

 

And, what is CRF?

Chronic Renal Failure. Their little kidneys give out.

[archenemy]

Carolyn

 

The hardest part (for me at least) to being a pet owner is coming to that time that it might be better to just let go. It sounds like you are already aware that you could be getting close to the end and that things are going downhill. Sounds like your cat has had a wonderful owner for many many years.

[Mr_Phil]

The hardest part (for me at least) to being a pet owner is coming to that time that it might be better to just let go.

 

Cashing the $550 check makes up for it, no?

[sobo]

MP: that's pretty rude.

[rmncwrtr]

Carolyn,

 

I hope the kitty food works.

 

I have three cats. One goes through picky stages a couple of times a year where she won't eat anything unless I'm eating it. During those times we fix her chicken (baked), pull the meat off the bone and feed it to her in little pieces. I also give her a little yogurt too.

 

Baby food (the little glass jars of meat) is what they fed her at Dove Lewis Hospital when she was sick once so you could always try that if nothing else works.

 

I hope your kitty is doing better and eating soon!

[carolyn]

Ya! That was rude! This is cafe Sensitivioso ya know!!!!

 

Arch - letting go is the hard part for sure. The deeper the love, enjoyment and companionship, the harder it will be when they get sick. You cant have one without the other when it comes to a life.

 

You may or may not believe this to be true, but ... some buddhists believe that when an animal dies it is because it has been released of all its negative karma. As a human, all we can do is make them as comfortable as possible while they are in the animal realm. In turn, it produces good karma for both the animal and human to carry into their next life. Deep, I know. Truth? Who knows. I like to believe it could be true.

 

Two days of eating maybe a 1/4 can of food. One day eating a full can. And today, nada! Tried the kitten food. Heated it up. Put tuna water in it. Nothing. I did get a 1/2 spoon of baby food in her. Who knows maybe she will go on a binge tomorrow.

 

Im just glad that Im un-der-employed and can be home with her.

 

Hey - and sobo - thanks for letting me know that Im not alone in the way I choose to deal with her end of life. My vet seems to think she could live to be 20 and doesnt follow the same philosophy as me! I also take her to a vet that serves a lot of wealthy people. Im not one of them. Just someone who wanted to give her good care. Maybe its time to search elsewhere.

 

Damn, this should be the poster child of posts in cafe sensitivioso!

[AlpineK]

This won't help you much, but my parents cat has an interesting problem.

 

If you have any wool cloths sitting out you're in big trouble. The cat will eat up anything wool sitting out where he can get it. He's wrecked a few wool sweaters my folks left out.

 

Other than that the cat is happy and in good condition.

[G-spotter]

that cat is part moth, maybe. try mothballs.

[carolyn]

This won't help you much, but my parents cat has an interesting problem.

 

No, it wont...but it did make me laugh.

Cats all have their own funny quarks about them, dont they?

 

My cat has always loved rolling around in my smelly shirt at the end of the day (the smellier, the better). Ive even caught her wrapped up in my bra on occassion!

 

I had a friend recently use a psychic healer/holistic vet for his dog who has cancer and was about ready to be put to sleep by his regular vet. He swears it did wonders - the dog has never been so active. Maybe something to look into. Anyone else ever use one of these?

[rmncwrtr]

I have, Carolyn.

 

With that same picky eater cat I posted about above, when she had serious health problems, we used a homeopathic vet who made house calls. She helped the cat, Spirit, feel better and I felt better knowing what she was giving her was natural. She had been on steroids and other medicines that seemed to have a lot of side effects. But even she couldn't figure out what was going on with the cat, either.

 

At one point, I was so afraid we were going to lose her (and I didn't want to have exploratory surgery done after an MRI didn't turn up anything) we resorted to a pet communicator via phone call. A bit woo-woo, I will admit, but hey, it helped and was a lot cheaper than surgery.

[mtn_mouse]

Cats alawys want to eat your food. So cook a little bit extra for kitty.

 

Or get her some live mice. You can buy them at the pet store cause snake people need live food.

Its what's for breakfast

 

Carolyn, see even mice and cats can get along. Take care of your Kitty!

[tvashtarkatena]

A tangent here, but we've got 2 cats (tabbies, brothers) and 2 dogs. They've been increasingly working as a team lately. The cats will reach food containers out of dog range, and topple them; everybody wins. The cats also open cabinets. Same result.

 

Lately, Jerry the cat has learned that if he meows to be let in from the basement catdoor, we'll open the kitchen door so he can sprint across the cold porch and not have to wait outside.

 

Who's in charge, here, anyway?