- Joined
- Dec 7, 2023
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Hi everyone, long time no post.
You may remember that I have a lovely 5-year-old cat named Rory. We used to share our home with my senior cat, Lou, but he passed away in September. Rory grieved hard for him. We had a failed adoption of a 2-year-old cat in November (the rescue gave us the wrong information and he ended up needing a much different home) and since then Rory has been on his own.
My local SPCA had a call for emergency fosters recently, so I took in a beautiful 4-year-old girl I am calling Maisie on Tuesday. We've been doing a slow introduction, but it has been going very well for the most part; both cats have lived with cats their entire lives, give or take a few months, and are known to be cat-friendly. I am hoping to adopt Maisie once the foster period ends. She is sweet, respectful, and kind, with the sort of quiet confidence Rory usually responds well to.
Rory, however, is a somewhat neurotic boy and is prone to having herpes flareups when he's stressed. Oddly, I think he is more stressed out about a door being closed than Maisie being around; he is constantly trilling and chirping at her, and there's been zero hissing or signs of aggression. Our apartment doesn't have any extra rooms, so she's in my mother's room for now--which has a window he really loves in it.
Long story short, he's having a flareup now. I know how to handle this, but... he's also having a hard time eating. I can't tell if he's nauseous, is having mouth pain, or something else. He had a full dental done last month and his mouth has since healed. He seems to WANT food--he will follow me into the kitchen, he will try to lick at treats--but when I provide him food, he just walks away.
He normally eats only wet food, so I've tried a few different flavors and brands. No dice. Warmed it up. No dice. Extra Fortiflora on top for that liver flavor? No dice! I bought a rotisserie chicken, which he ate eagerly yesterday--but now will only try to mouth at some of the pieces before pawing at the ground and walking away. (Normally he will beg for more and more and more, making it a rare treat.) I even opened a can of high quality tuna (just tuna and water) and he happily drank the water... but left the chunks. I offered him some hard treats, broken in half, and he licked them... but left them on the floor. He normally goes nuts for Churu, but he only had a few licks before walking off today.
He's gotten enough in him that I'm not super worried about hepatic lipidosis, and I wrote an email to my vet that they'll see tomorrow looking for ideas.
In the meantime, does anybody have any other ideas on how I can help encourage him to eat? I don't know if the flare up is making his mouth sore or if he's just feeling under the weather, but it makes me sad to see him like this. I did manage to get some L-lysine in him by sprinkling it on top of some cut up chicken he was lapping at, but I just want my boy to feel better. He also did eat a bit of cat food from my hand, but only a few bites.
I currently have a same-day delivery coming of some kitten milk and foods to see if that helps encourage him to eat, but any other ideas are hugely appreciated.
You may remember that I have a lovely 5-year-old cat named Rory. We used to share our home with my senior cat, Lou, but he passed away in September. Rory grieved hard for him. We had a failed adoption of a 2-year-old cat in November (the rescue gave us the wrong information and he ended up needing a much different home) and since then Rory has been on his own.
My local SPCA had a call for emergency fosters recently, so I took in a beautiful 4-year-old girl I am calling Maisie on Tuesday. We've been doing a slow introduction, but it has been going very well for the most part; both cats have lived with cats their entire lives, give or take a few months, and are known to be cat-friendly. I am hoping to adopt Maisie once the foster period ends. She is sweet, respectful, and kind, with the sort of quiet confidence Rory usually responds well to.
Rory, however, is a somewhat neurotic boy and is prone to having herpes flareups when he's stressed. Oddly, I think he is more stressed out about a door being closed than Maisie being around; he is constantly trilling and chirping at her, and there's been zero hissing or signs of aggression. Our apartment doesn't have any extra rooms, so she's in my mother's room for now--which has a window he really loves in it.
Long story short, he's having a flareup now. I know how to handle this, but... he's also having a hard time eating. I can't tell if he's nauseous, is having mouth pain, or something else. He had a full dental done last month and his mouth has since healed. He seems to WANT food--he will follow me into the kitchen, he will try to lick at treats--but when I provide him food, he just walks away.
He normally eats only wet food, so I've tried a few different flavors and brands. No dice. Warmed it up. No dice. Extra Fortiflora on top for that liver flavor? No dice! I bought a rotisserie chicken, which he ate eagerly yesterday--but now will only try to mouth at some of the pieces before pawing at the ground and walking away. (Normally he will beg for more and more and more, making it a rare treat.) I even opened a can of high quality tuna (just tuna and water) and he happily drank the water... but left the chunks. I offered him some hard treats, broken in half, and he licked them... but left them on the floor. He normally goes nuts for Churu, but he only had a few licks before walking off today.
He's gotten enough in him that I'm not super worried about hepatic lipidosis, and I wrote an email to my vet that they'll see tomorrow looking for ideas.
In the meantime, does anybody have any other ideas on how I can help encourage him to eat? I don't know if the flare up is making his mouth sore or if he's just feeling under the weather, but it makes me sad to see him like this. I did manage to get some L-lysine in him by sprinkling it on top of some cut up chicken he was lapping at, but I just want my boy to feel better. He also did eat a bit of cat food from my hand, but only a few bites.
I currently have a same-day delivery coming of some kitten milk and foods to see if that helps encourage him to eat, but any other ideas are hugely appreciated.