15 year old girl needs to gain weight - help

FeebysOwner

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Try using plain baby food meats to mix with the chews. Feeby was eating her Glyco Flex chews (for arthritis) and then all of sudden she stopped. I crush the chews up and then mix it with baby food meat. She now waits for it to be served to her that way - I mean, literally waits! You could also probably do the same thing with the standard tablets, as long as they can be crushed.
 
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catminionjess

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Try using plain baby food meats to mix with the chews. Feeby was eating her Glyco Flex chews (for arthritis) and then all of sudden she stopped. I crush the chews up and then mix it with baby food meat. She now waits for it to be served to her that way - I mean, literally waits! You could also probably do the same thing with the standard tablets, as long as they can be crushed.
She was begging for the original chews! I don't think she would eat baby food. A few years ago I tried to give my former male baby food meats when he was declining due to ckd (and probably cancer) and not eating. He wouldn't eat it and neither would she or the other male. The only other thing I can think of is, possibly crush it up and put it her wet food, but I'd have to lock her away from the boys until she's finished eating. Knowing her, she'd probably just eat around the medicine though.
 

FeebysOwner

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You can also crush them up and mix them with some human canned tuna or chicken water - just enough for her to lap it up. Then, give her a piece of the tuna or chicken as a treat. I have also successfully done that with some of Feeby's meds in the past. Just another thought...
 

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Try canned chicken in water, or Buddig meats - anything, or a different flavor of the baby food than what you used before.
 
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catminionjess

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She had another follow up at the end of August. The methimazole was helping, but they upped the dose to a 10mg chew split twice a day. I figured out the "seafood" flavor was the "fish" samples and she started happily eating her medicine again. But that only lasted a month. Now it's hit or miss if she will eat it on her own or if I have to pill her. Sometimes times I can get her to eat it if I toss a treat next to it. Her appetite is good and she seems to be maintaining her weight now with the meds. She's been extra grumpy for the past couple of months. The vet said they wouldn't need to see her again for a year unless something changes, but her annual checkup is usually late January so I'll have them retest everything then.
 

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I think it is a good idea to have her checked again in January, especially with the increase in her H-T meds! I am assuming you could crush the chews into a crumbled pile, mix it with food, and hide it better? (I do that with Feeby's Glyco Flex Plus chews, but so far she is good to have them mixed with just baby food meats.)

In the meantime, here all are the things I am trying with Feeby to make sure she gets her H-T meds. Hers are pills, but I crush them and add just enough of the below to get her to eat the meds. The first one is the only one I have tried to so far, and it has been a success. The rest I am adding to her 'repertoire', just in case. I am sure there are more, but I am still researching...
  • Tiki Cat Velvet Mousse (I give Feeby chicken, but there are other flavors - ditto for the ones listed below)
  • Applaws Chicken Puree Cat Treats
  • WholeHearted Chicken Recipe Puree Squeezable Cat Treats
  • Vitakraft Lick 'n' Lap Flavor Creamy Treats for Cats, Low Calorie, Grab-n-Go Squeeze Tube Treats
  • INABA Churu Lickable Purée Natural Cat Treats
  • Tiki Cat Stix Wet Treats, Grain Free Lickable Silky Smooth Blend in Creamy Gravy, Topper or Treat
 

35 year catdad

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I feel your pain and going thru this now with my beloved Tortie at 19.
heres what works for her low apatite.

I put her wet food on plate after warming it with filtered hot water-gets it even runnier for old kidneys.
DSCN3781.JPG
. Then I rinse and rinse and rinse canned tuna (loaded with salt) and put maybe a 1/4 teaspoon evenly on top.
Its like priming a pump. Once they start in they eat whats below.
Real small portions every 1/2 hr is what my girl wants......geeeeze I never leave...
Also using food competition.
Whats that?
Her housemates very near wanting whats hers. cats always want what others are about to snag.
I try a little food-she eats 1 teaspoon...the 10 minutes later she eats a bit more...
then 1/2 hr later a little bit more...
man this is a labor of love!

Her blood work is terrible on the 22nd Oct but since then has made amazing recovery in all aspects. Finished the amoxicillian (first ever antib.) and now shes getting twice a day
Liquid vit C about 300 mg , B12 powder from a sublingual human tablet...tiny tiny pinch, shes a little low on iron /energy
Lysine tiny pinch, coconut oil tiny bit (anti microbial/viral) mixed in water then pulled into syringe and slowly squirted into sides of mouth. All these are in very small amounts her Wysong food anyway and I just talked to Vicky who works at Wysong with my unique protocal. She told me about their PDG product off to check it out....
Im not saying do this...its what I did and it worked. Im not a vet but vets prescribe expensive special diets with cellulose (sawdust or plant fibers) corn and wheat gluten thats why our cats dont like it!!!!....so ask your vet what function these foods have?
no function except $$$$$$$$$

I'm convinced old cats dont make enough ascorbic acid (normal is 180mgs a day in their livers) for 150 lb human thats 2750 mg
so I take 5-6000mg daily total with meals in divided doses increased very slowly over a year. Healed a knee injure I've had for 36 yrs.


Beware of farmed salmon-its full of terrible things. PCBs and toxic junk they spray over the pens with respirators and white hazard
suits. I've seen the videos of these poor sick fish its beyond sad. No such thing as healthy farmed salmon. DONT believe the people who rai$e them. Norway farmed salmon is the most toxic food sold on the planet I found.If its Atlantic salmon...its farmed.
No such thing as wild Atlantic Salmon.
WOW Janet! 27? a Siamese? if not....we'll have what she/he had! Hibou promised me 25 but I got nuttn in writing!!!!
 
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35 year catdad

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Gosh about the only thing normal on our blood work was T4 at 1.6 normal range with IDEXX labs is 0.8-4.7
Is that not similar to us? mine personally is lowish and I'm glad-body temp usually 97.6
For us its better to be a bit low accord. to Dr Steven Gundry the health guru cardiologist.
We are getting good at syringe in side of mouth delivery thanks to a video someone here sent a link to! Furballs Mom?
I forget but thanks whoever posted kidney info'
I asked Vicky at Wysong today why their Geriatrix formula is 47% protein and she said Dr Wysong the vet says its not the % of protein but quality thats important. So I guess protein from soy, animal by products, etc at say 32% is worse than chicken meal, organic chicken, barley meal, and pea protein at 42% (Geritrix first 4 ingredients)

I think i want to be a nutritional holistic cat healer geek that works from home.
PHD in feline nutritarianism from the university of U tube. .
My shingle will say Send me your sickest cats pictures (mouth and butts too) stomachs, ears inside, gums etc with their lab numbers and life long complete history and I formulate a supplement plan.
Must have note from your vet saying...nothing more we can do.
My ginea pig needs feeding gotta go It was a bad pee day with a little pink urine. Only happened twice now past 30 days
She had a stream going two days ago that shot about 7 inches out..

Sorry to bash special vet diets for kidney disease....do no harm should always be top priority for our family. I've seen what gluten does to people I know and cant imagine it good for cats with CKD its inflammatory do cats get leaky gut? How tight are their junctions? man what a geek i've become...
 
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catminionjess

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FeebysOwner FeebysOwner , these soft chews don't crumble easily. She made me think she loved the original flavor so I made the mistake of ordering a 120 day supply to save on the cost per soft chew and only one compounding fee versus one every 30 days. It saved me around $60. The feeding schedule is a 3oz can and 1/2 cup dry for her and her senior brother in the morning and again for dinner. I give them more dry or a split tray if they've finished that and are acting really hungry. When they were young, I would split it up in a set of bowls for each of them, but they never would eat at the same time. They're both more grazers than gobblers and worked out taking turns eating a long time ago. One would start eating and the other would leave the kitchen and not go back in until they saw the other one had left. I was burritoing her to pill her when she wouldn't eat the soft chew on her own. Then I tried tossing a dental treat next to the chew and another after she ate it. That's been the best method so far for us when she won't take it on her own.

35 year catdad 35 year catdad , my former male cat had ckd and it did suck. He wouldn't eat any of the Rx food. Keeping his appetite up and keeping him from throwing up what he would eat was a struggle. He only lasted a year after diagnosis and passed from what was probably cancer. My girl though, has hyperthyroidism. She has a good appetite, but thyroid hormones are out of whack and made her lose a lot of weight despite eating well. The meds are helping, but getting them in her is the struggle.
 

FeebysOwner

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FeebysOwner FeebysOwner FeebysOwner FeebysOwner , these soft chews don't crumble easily. She made me think she loved the original flavor so I made the mistake of ordering a 120 day supply to save on the cost per soft chew and only one compounding fee versus one every 30 days. It saved me around $60.
Neither do the Glyco Flex Plus crumble easy. I have to take a fork and crush, crush, crush, and then crush some more. Feeby used to love them just cut into pieces, and then no more. So, now after I literally 'granulize' them with a fork, then I put them in a small amount of baby food meat (or whatever works for you) and let them sit just long enough to 'meld' the granules so that they are totally mixed together. If not baby food meat, there are a whole host of other things to try, as I mentioned before.
 
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