Artie and his Issues

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Margret

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Once a junk food junkie, always one.. but when it effects his health, it is so hard..
I know I did not make him this fussy...or did I??
Excuse me?! Come on, Cindy. Do you honestly think humans make cats fussy? They're cats! It's in their nature to be fussy!

I am just frustrated. so sorry..
And quit apologizing!!!

Cindy, not only is it bad for you when you blame yourself for every little thing, it's bad for Artie because it distracts you from reality.

On to more practical matters. I've noticed with every cat I've had that they want a variety. If they're getting a variety of, say, 3 flavors of food, rotated daily (which is Jasmine's current schedule) and one of those flavors is less of a favorite than the other two, I have two choices: I can either remove that flavor from her diet, or I can keep feeding it and tell her that I'm sorry but that's what she's getting today. And if I remove the flavor from her diet, pretty soon she decides that one of the other two is no longer her favorite, and it turns into a real mess. But if I keep it in the rotation, pretty soon she decides that it's worth eating after all.

I find it totally unsurprising that Artie gets fussy when he's been eating the same thing for weeks or months. I wonder what would happen if you occasionally gave him some baby food with no chicken in it, as a bit of a treat? I know it's not ideal for cats, but if you read the label carefully and just give him a little it at least shouldn't hurt him.

Margret
 

mazie

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Forgive me is this has already been mentioned, but if Artie is in one of his moods where he is refusing all of his favorite foods, what about baby food? Is he allowed any baby food? Maybe some foods such as sweet potatoes, which all babies love will at least fill his tummy and not make him feel sick? Just an idea.
 

tarasgirl06

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Gerber baby food in the tiny jars comes in beef, turkey, lamb, and of course, chicken. I would not feed a cat -- or anyone else, for that matter -- any pork products, as it is not healthy to do so. I have used the Gerber baby foods on cats who won't eat and they do love these, for the most part. They don't contain all the vitamins and other elements needed by cats, so they shouldn't be the complete diet, but they can certainly be helpful in getting moody cats to eat.
 

Mamanyt1953

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Maybe a food log of some sort? VERY simple (like you need MORE paperwork when it comes to Artie), but just a quick note when he likes a food, then quits eating it. Wait a few months and try it again...
 

artiemom

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Artie update:
Last night, around 11:45pm, he woke me up, so he could poop...
It was a long thin poop of: 8 x 1/2 inches, perfect consistency.. a bit on the softer side of perfect.

Spoke with NVet.. he was not helpful.. sigh.. I think Artie is a challenge to him also.. All he said was that I have to expect bad days and bad times.. as long as he is alert, eating, peeing, and pooping--of any kind, and no vomiting.. then NVet is pleased..

He was surprised when I told him I had cut way back with the Miralax dose and the colace. He wants me to try to get him back to the prescription food.. That is going to be impossible. I just mixed the last of his Seafood Banquet with the W/D.. Wanna make a bet that he refuses it???

About the probiotic; NVet does not really want to introduce another pill for him to take. I said I had it on hand, unexpired, and that I can mix it with his food, as I had before..
His exact words: "Give it a shot".... OMG!!

NVet is great, but I really feel he is stumped as much as I am with Artie...and he does not have to deal with all the cleaning... Honestly, I think he is just as confused as I am..
As long as it is nothing that he can medically intervene with, he is lost.. basically, it is moment by moment with him ~~ as his symptoms change..

So basically, I am on my own... Artie does much better with the prescription food.. sigh

I am going to either put the prescription wet food aside for a bit, or I will keep trying to mix it in with the leftover junk food, at night..
fingers crossed: at least he is eating 1/3 cup of the prescription Fiber Response food, at night..
 

neely

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Spoke with NVet.. he was not helpful.. sigh.. I think Artie is a challenge to him also.. All he said was that I have to expect bad days and bad times.. as long as he is alert, eating, peeing, and pooping--of any kind, and no vomiting.. then NVet is pleased..
I'm sure Artie is a challenge to NVet but I'm also guessing he has dealt with a lot of challenges. Although I don't know him but from what you have written I'm sure he is being honest with you and trying to be relatively optimistic. I will keep my fingers crossed that he continues to eat his prescription food at night. :crossfingers:
Stay warm in the midst of this frigid weather and please give Sir Artie a big bear hug from me. :hugs:
 

tarasgirl06

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I do have a couple jars of baby food in the house.. I leave that for emergencies.. I mean real emergencies, as when he is shutting down..
The veterinarians and doctors don't know everything. They know what they are taught, and if they're very good, they also have intuition and caring for their individual patients. But we can't expect them to know everything, IMHO. You are every bit as important in Artie's journey as NVet is, because you KNOW Artie. You LOVE Artie. So do what your intuition tells you, and what Artie communicates to you. :yess::redcat:
 

Antonio65

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I would not feed a cat -- or anyone else, for that matter -- any pork products, as it is not healthy to do so.
Pallina has been found intolerant to lots of ingredients, mainly fish, poultry, grains. She's been diagnosed with IBD, and some ingredients would flare it up, she would vomit a few minutes after eating. It took us some time to understand what is good and what is bad for her, and I think we haven't a definitive list or bad/good food.
But we have found that pork wet canned food is great for her. It's 80-90 % pork, the rest is 5% lamb, potatoes and cranberries. She's been eating this kind of food since April and not a single vomit of food since. And she loves it.
It's a premium food, made in Italy by an Italian high quality brand. All the vets I have taken Pallina to in the last months have told me I made the best choice.
 

inkysmom

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My dog has ibd and food allergies. Any chicken gives him awful diarrhea but he loves bacon treats, sausage treats, pork anything. He eats all that fine with no diarrhea.
My cat has environmental and food allergies and is allergic to pork, salmon, potatoes, wheat, lots of stuff. Vets all tell me he has to eat prescription food. No one told him that. He and my other cat are both on the thin side and won't eat any prescription foods.
I have to read labels and found iams for sensitive skin And stomachs dry food. The only canned food they'll eat is Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers. There's the large boxes that come in three flavors which are more cost effective too especially at Market Basket or with coupons or sales at pet stores. The meat flavors are good for my cats but the fish flavors might be good for Artie.
None of the many cats I've ever had would eat the same flavor of food daily. Except my diabetic cat who did eat his prescription diabetic food. Even he snuck out and ate the other food every chance he got.
Varying between three flavors encourages them to eat more. There's plenty of days where my cats don't finish their cans too and they're both thin to underweight no matter what I do. Cats like some variety in canned food I think.
I wouldn't be discouraged about the vet. All the great vets I've dealt with just say stick to a prescription food. If they won't eat they say do the best you can.
The only vet that was really phenomenal consulted with nutritionists and outside specialists to help me save my old horse. But she had to since my horse developed Cushing's disease, lost 300 pounds in two months was literally on the verge of death and had to gain weight on a Cushing's safe diet and wasn't eating and is very picky. So it was literally life or death and this vet is amazing. I don't trust any other vet like I do her. No offense to your vet, he sounds great too.
But maybe Artie would like the Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers if he hasn't already tried it. At least he's eating dry prescription food.
My emergency go tos have always been beef and turkey baby food in broth and human tuna fish. If a cat won't eat those I go to the ER.
If he had a hairball that might have messed up his appetite too. If all the food you bought has chicken and he's allergic, the store should refund or exchange it if it's making your cat sick. I've had to return many foods since learning about my cat's many allergies. I just say I didn't realize it had this ingredient in it and he's allergic so can't eat it or I tried it and my cats won't eat it. They're always very nice about it.
It's taken many trips and searches to find foods without anything he's allergic to since he's allergic to so many things. Same with my dog, why does a can of limited protein beef dog food have as it's second predominant ingredient chicken in it???!!! Which he's allergic to??? Pissed me off to read that I feel like writing a nasty letter to the company. It's one of the few canned foods he'll eat too.
If Artie has been gagging maybe give him the cerenia for a few days to help his stomach settle and recover.
 

artiemom

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Artie refused the W/D prescription food, which is: Pork and believe it or not, chicken.. but mostly pork..
But he did eat more than a 1/3 cup of the dry prescription Fiber Response food during the night.

I did find a plain pork cat food for him; he was eating that last year, but suddenly got tired of it..

I cannot feed him the Gravy Lovers food.. anything with gravy, he will gobble up the gravy, leaving the food morsels...

Artie pooped this morning, in the box, as soon as I got up: 7 x 1 inches.. Yes, it is now on the harder side of normal.. I do not want it to get any harder.. I will restart the miralax, at the lower dose and the colace today.

OMG.. just looked out the balcony window! The Sunrise is absolutely gorgeous!! All different shades of orange/red.... You know the saying: "Red sky at night sailors delight, Red Sky in morning, sailors take warning"
Yup, We are having a Blizzard tomorrow... somewhere between 10-15 inches of snow with severe winds, being followed by even lower temps than what we have had...

The River is frozen.. I cannot remember the last time I saw that.. this is incredible..

Artie is going to have to fend for himself today. I am not going to play or brush him today.. too busy.. have a ton to do and the stores will be mobbed..

just drinking my coffee now..
 

tarasgirl06

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Artie refused the W/D prescription food, which is: Pork and believe it or not, chicken.. but mostly pork..
But he did eat more than a 1/3 cup of the dry prescription Fiber Response food during the night.

I did find a plain pork cat food for him; he was eating that last year, but suddenly got tired of it..

I cannot feed him the Gravy Lovers food.. anything with gravy, he will gobble up the gravy, leaving the food morsels...

Artie pooped this morning, in the box, as soon as I got up: 7 x 1 inches.. Yes, it is now on the harder side of normal.. I do not want it to get any harder.. I will restart the miralax, at the lower dose and the colace today.

OMG.. just looked out the balcony window! The Sunrise is absolutely gorgeous!! All different shades of orange/red.... You know the saying: "Red sky at night sailors delight, Red Sky in morning, sailors take warning"
Yup, We are having a Blizzard tomorrow... somewhere between 10-15 inches of snow with severe winds, being followed by even lower temps than what we have had...

The River is frozen.. I cannot remember the last time I saw that.. this is incredible..

Artie is going to have to fend for himself today. I am not going to play or brush him today.. too busy.. have a ton to do and the stores will be mobbed..

just drinking my coffee now..
Wishing all the BEST for you and Artie. Hoping he will enjoy his food and that what follows will be just right!
 

dustydiamond1

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Artie refused the W/D prescription food, which is: Pork and believe it or not, chicken.. but mostly pork..
But he did eat more than a 1/3 cup of the dry prescription Fiber Response food during the night.

I did find a plain pork cat food for him; he was eating that last year, but suddenly got tired of it..

I cannot feed him the Gravy Lovers food.. anything with gravy, he will gobble up the gravy, leaving the food morsels...

Artie pooped this morning, in the box, as soon as I got up: 7 x 1 inches.. Yes, it is now on the harder side of normal.. I do not want it to get any harder.. I will restart the miralax, at the lower dose and the colace today.

OMG.. just looked out the balcony window! The Sunrise is absolutely gorgeous!! All different shades of orange/red.... You know the saying: "Red sky at night sailors delight, Red Sky in morning, sailors take warning"
Yup, We are having a Blizzard tomorrow... somewhere between 10-15 inches of snow with severe winds, being followed by even lower temps than what we have had...

The River is frozen.. I cannot remember the last time I saw that.. this is incredible..

Artie is going to have to fend for himself today. I am not going to play or brush him today.. too busy.. have a ton to do and the stores will be mobbed..

just drinking my coffee now..
Stay warm and stay safe. FF Gravy Lovers is the only wet Gypsy will eat. She does lick off all of the gravy first then I crumble a couple of treats over what's left & she eventuality eats most of the rest...always leaving and wasting a bit.
 

inkysmom

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Yes my guys had been eating Science Diet cans for a while then just stopped. They both lost weight. My twelve pound Maine Coon went down to 9 pounds way to thin he also got a blockage from eating stuffing that was out when my dog chewed up a toy. My little cat is only 7 pounds but looks skinny. They also suck up all the gravy and waste some but my big guy is back up to 11 or 12 pounds on my scale hard to tell if accurate and looks much better and not constantly shedding anymore, just since late summer.

Who cares if they waste some, much better that they look and feel better and don't risk liver failure from not eating enough which can happen quickly.
Good idea with crumbling treats I'm going to try that!
I'll try anything to get them to eat more and doesn't trigger my little guy's food allergies. I like to learn new ideas and tips.
 

dustydiamond1

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Yes my guys had been eating Science Diet cans for a while then just stopped. They both lost weight. My twelve pound Maine Coon went down to 9 pounds way to thin he also got a blockage from eating stuffing that was out when my dog chewed up a toy. My little cat is only 7 pounds but looks skinny. They also suck up all the gravy and waste some but my big guy is back up to 11 or 12 pounds on my scale hard to tell if accurate and looks much better and not constantly shedding anymore, just since late summer.

Who cares if they waste some, much better that they look and feel better and don't risk liver failure from not eating enough which can happen quickly.
Good idea with crumbling treats I'm going to try that!
I'll try anything to get them to eat more and doesn't trigger my little guy's food allergies. I like to learn new ideas and tips.
Agree, sad to waste but glad they eat. When she was a stray and still outside part time she first ate HyVee cheap kibble & Friskies (first time we ever saw her was jumping out of our apartments dumpster) later we found out she had been getting food at some of the neighbors too. Once she was staying inside more she started turning her nose up the Friskies, so next she was eating Sheba until I went ahead and bought a case then she stopped eating it! After much waste of food and money she finally decided on FF but only the gravy lovers. She free feeds on Purina One kibble, she doesn't over eat. Are your kids eating the FF?
 

inkysmom

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Dustydiamond yes they eat it pretty well. Some days they slurp out the gravy and leave a lot of the solid food. Those days I don't give them a second can until they eat more of the first can that day. Boy do they get pissed lol. My little cat with all the allergies will go to the dog's food and eat from his bowl lol. Not good because they both are allergic to different things. The dog gets bad diarrhea from chicken but can eat salmon, pork and potatoes which the cat is allergic to. So I'm always yelling at the cat to go eat his own food and at the dog to go eat his food before the cat does. The dog gets very concerned when the cat eats his food bilut just looks at me and won't mess with the cat because he's scared of him lol.

For dry food I found a kind of iams sensitive stomach and skin kind that they'll eat and doesn't have anything my little allergy cat is allergic to in it. The two of them eat about one cup per day plus one to two small cans of the Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers meat cans. That helped my big skinny guy gain some weight back. Plus I give them treats every night when I can find some they'll eat and my little cat isn't allergic to.
 

tarasgirl06

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Dustydiamond yes they eat it pretty well. Some days they slurp out the gravy and leave a lot of the solid food. Those days I don't give them a second can until they eat more of the first can that day. Boy do they get pissed lol. My little cat with all the allergies will go to the dog's food and eat from his bowl lol. Not good because they both are allergic to different things. The dog gets bad diarrhea from chicken but can eat salmon, pork and potatoes which the cat is allergic to. So I'm always yelling at the cat to go eat his own food and at the dog to go eat his food before the cat does. The dog gets very concerned when the cat eats his food bilut just looks at me and won't mess with the cat because he's scared of him lol.

For dry food I found a kind of iams sensitive stomach and skin kind that they'll eat and doesn't have anything my little allergy cat is allergic to in it. The two of them eat about one cup per day plus one to two small cans of the Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers meat cans. That helped my big skinny guy gain some weight back. Plus I give them treats every night when I can find some they'll eat and my little cat isn't allergic to.
inkysmom inkysmom have you ever looked at the selection of treats available through DrsFosterSmith.com? We like their Daily Dental Treats. There are quite a wide variety. They ship directly to you and have great incentives and prices. Check them out!
 
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