Hi and thank you for asking!!! Well he's been eating chicken baby food and turkey baby food all day yesterday (with some high calorie vitamin gel in between) He has had 2 perfectly tiny firm bowel movements with almost no smell which would be the first time in over 3 weeks. Only problem is he's out of control starving and I'm trying to just give him very small meals literally every hour it seems. I've never seen his appetite like this so obviously it's very concerning because he's not satisfied even though the baby food alone is providing him with more calories than he ever consumed. If we go back a month or two ago he had very little appetite and just picked on his meals all throughout the day.To get back to the OP and Meeko...
tracy1213 , how is Meeko doing? I hope he's improving and able to keep some food down!
This is great to hear, tracy1213 , I'm glad he's not only eating and keeping the food down but also hungry! The "no smell" to the bowel movements is a good sign, too.Hi and thank you for asking!!! Well he's been eating chicken baby food and turkey baby food all day yesterday (with some high calorie vitamin gel in between) He has had 2 perfectly tiny firm bowel movements with almost no smell which would be the first time in over 3 weeks. Only problem is he's out of control starving and I'm trying to just give him very small meals literally every hour it seems. I've never seen his appetite like this so obviously it's very concerning because he's not satisfied even though the baby food alone is providing him with more calories than he ever consumed. If we go back a month or two ago he had very little appetite and just picked on his meals all throughout the day.
He has 1300.00 worth of testing this Monday. An ultrasound and I'm going to make sure they test his thyroid again though it was fairly normal 2 months ago. Not sure what other testing I should ask for as I can barely afford the cost of the ultrasound alone but if it helps me to figure out what's going on I'll deal with some debt!!
I can't thank you enough for all your help and kind words!!This is great to hear, tracy1213 , I'm glad he's not only eating and keeping the food down but also hungry! The "no smell" to the bowel movements is a good sign, too.
I wonder if he's now so hungry because he's finally enjoying his food again after something in his food had been bothering him. (We see this with our cat who gets a little constipated sometimes... she'll eat lightly for a day or two but then get absolutely ravenous for another day or two but then start eating normally again.)
Anyway! I don't remember/know what you'd been feeding him but do recall that you'd been concerned about gums and thickeners. It's wholly possible that one of those additives might have been the problem.
I'm glad to hear the baby food helped. It can be a great option in situations like Meeko's. Fingers crossed that he'll keep eating well!
I hope the blend of food is still working well. I think you're doing the right thing to keep it very simple.I can't thank you enough for all your help and kind words!!
He's definitely acting beyond starving but I'm getting some more solid food in him now to see how that goes. Just boiled chicken and a tiny bit of rice all blended up and mixed with the baby food. This seems to be making him feel a little fuller.
I'm totally overwhelmed looking at all the wet food I have here as almost all of it has guar gum but a few have all 3 of the gums. So I'm curious as to how I'm gonna figure this out. I have 2 other cats too and I want to change things around just incase they develop this same issue down the road!!
Thank you again for thinking of us!!
Thank you so much for all the suggestions!!! I did try the stella and chewy with him awhile ago. He liked it dry and hated it wet but maybe now that he's extra hungry I could try it again. I'm so nervous to take him off bland food and start adding in things now because it's been so wonderful not to have to clean him and the entire house after he runs through it covered in diarrhea!!tracy1213 Excellent news! We definitely noticed that when we stopped giving Magnus his allergies he finally got an appetite. For awhile we couldn't satisfy it.
You may want to look in to freeze dried food. You add water to rehydrate it. It's a great option for gum free foods and can be somewhat cost effective. Lily liked Stella and Chewys.
I prefer not to feed Cal beef or cheese as well in case Magnus tests it out and gets a reaction.
Some foods I know without gums are:
- Pure Bites pates (you may need to give a vitamin supplement from the vet)
- Orijen pates
- has agar-agar instead but Dr. elsey's (a cat who reacts to gum may or may not react to agar-agar)
Here's some other threads with some other ideas: Wet food with no gums besides Tiki Cat or Whole Hearted?
Yes, it's totally nerve-wracking to take them off bland food! I went through this after Edwina's surgery, too. (That was when guar gum came back, for Sheba pates... They were perfect and she still eats them, though I don't like the tapioca...)Thank you so much for all the suggestions!!! I did try the stella and chewy with him awhile ago. He liked it dry and hated it wet but maybe now that he's extra hungry I could try it again. I'm so nervous to take him off bland food and start adding in things now because it's been so wonderful not to have to clean him and the entire house after he runs through it covered in diarrhea!!
I will check out all the food labels going forward and start writing things down as I go!!
That's all you can do really!Thank you so much for all the suggestions!!! I did try the stella and chewy with him awhile ago. He liked it dry and hated it wet but maybe now that he's extra hungry I could try it again. I'm so nervous to take him off bland food and start adding in things now because it's been so wonderful not to have to clean him and the entire house after he runs through it covered in diarrhea!!
I will check out all the food labels going forward and start writing things down as I go!!
Yeah I'm totally not ready to do it yet! He's got a bunch of tests and bloodwork Monday so I'm going to wait until after that to start messing with him!!Yes, it's totally nerve-wracking to take them off bland food! I went through this after Edwina's surgery, too. (That was when guar gum came back, for Sheba pates... They were perfect and she still eats them, though I don't like the tapioca...)
Just take it slowly and feed small amounts. Fingers crossed!
You're so welcome! It's hard when cats aren't feeling right.Yeah I'm totally not ready to do it yet! He's got a bunch of tests and bloodwork Monday so I'm going to wait until after that to start messing with him!!
Thank you again!!
I'm not sure if I'll get all the results Monday as he needs to do a more sensitive thyroid test which he needs to send out to a different lab. As long as I don't get horrible news and I'm emotionally functioning I will try and remember to update you!!You're so welcome! It's hard when cats aren't feeling right.
I hope the tests and bloodwork go well on Monday -- I'm very curious to hear what you find out if you post about the results.