Advice on feeding a very picky eater

[Scamper Cat]

Hi everyone,

Scamp, my 13 year old calico, has been a picky eater all her life. She was my husbands cat for the first 7 years of her life before I came into the picture. For a long time she ate nothing but chicken flavored Iams dry cat food, that was the only thing she would eat until recently. For the past few months now, she has been very picky about food to the point where I noticed she had gotten very skinny really fast. We took her to the vet about a month and a half ago where they diagnosed her with being dehydrated and gave her subcutaneous fluids and also gave us an appetite stimulant to help her eat more. They also tested her for anything that might cause her problems such as liver disease or kidney problems, but they said they didn't find anything and that she is mostly healthy, just really skinny. The appetite stimulant seemed to work the first couple of times, but the last time we gave it to her, she seemed very lethargic and not herself at all. We're not sure if we can keep it up with the stimulant because of that and have now looked all over for a good food for her to have. For a while she loved the Fussy Cat Tuna and clams wet food, but suddenly turned her nose to it. She still eats some dry food, but usually it's very sporadic and has been showing more interest in wet food. She seems to enjoy cooked chicken on occasion too, but it really depends on her mood.

So does anyone have any suggestions for food that might entice her more and help get her weight back up? I have a friend who recommends probiotics which I ordered online. Do they work in wet food?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. As far as I know the probiotics can be added to wet food. Did they check her thyroid levels? What about things like malabsorption (e.g.; B-12 level, which can cause weight loss), which is not a common thing to be checked for?

Feeby (16+ yo) has lost a lot of weight over the past year. She was about 16 pounds last August (2019); her last weigh in just a couple of weeks ago, she is at 13.4 pounds. She could stand to lose weight, so we are not yet worried. But, all of her blood tests have come out well, with the exception of her thyroid level - which we are going to re-test in the coming weeks. I haven't had her B-12 checked yet, but if the thyroid level is not totally out of whack on the next testing, that will be my next step.

She was never really a 'picky' eater, per se, until I added canned food to her diet. The longer she was on canned food, the less she wanted her dry that she had been on for nearly 10 years. After about 2-3 years of canned food, she has stopped the dry altogether. She was on urinary care food (both wet and dry), and for awhile she was good with just the canned. About 6 months or so ago, she kind of started to lose interest in her urinary canned food, so I started mixing Fancy Feast pates with it. That worked until just recently, when she no longer wants the urinary care food at all - so, now she is getting strictly Fancy Feast (6 different flavors).

Long story short - try Fancy Feast - the pates are probably the best in terms of ingredients, but I think their other lines aren't all that bad either. It, so far, has helped Feeby to want to eat.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
These might help, in case there's a consistency she shows a preference for;

Canned Cat food Spreadsheets

CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat

Cat food reviews for 3000+ wet and dry cat food products from 180+ brands. Includes product analysis, ingredient lists, nutritional breakdown and calorie counts.

catfooddb.com

 

[Scamper Cat]

So I somehow forgot to mention too. She gets excited for wet food especially anything with seafood, but seems to only lick the gravy and maybe take a few bites. I did read recently how some cats do experience nausea and so they have trouble eating even though they are hungry. Might have to do an ultrasound soon.

 

[MissClouseau]

What did the vet say about her teeth? Your description also sounds like it could be dental problems related. Pate texture food helps with that too. Especially if you add a bit extra water and make it smoother.

Small meals throughout the day is easier on the digestion so it would be the best to give half a can at once, several times a day.

 

[Scamper Cat]

What did the vet say about her teeth? Your description also sounds like it could be dental problems related. Pate texture food helps with that too. Especially if you add a bit extra water and make it smoother.

Small meals throughout the day is easier on the digestion so it would be the best to give half a can at once, several times a day.

We got her teeth checked too and the vet said they were fine. I might try the extra water though for the pate because I know she likes that kind of food as well, but seems to prefer the brother currently.

 

[cataholic07]

Get her b12 checked if it's low it's possible it could be IBD/GI lymphoma. Try Koha, Rawz, Hounds and gatos. Given her age you might need to heat it up for 3-5 seconds to make it extra stinky as her sense of smell won't be as good.