Building up strength in an older cat?

[profcat]

Some of you might have seen last Friday our oldest girl, Rosie (nearly 16), had an episode where she got extremely dehydrated and acted very out of it and unstable on her feet. We brought her to the vet and they had her on fluids overnight and she perked up by morning. Bloodwork was fine, save for showing a bit of the beginnings of CKD. We brought her home Saturday and she's been a bit better every day, but still seems weak. She's more like herself, following me around for food, BUT she still isn't 100% herself.

We are now giving her subq fluids every other day, adding water to her food, and making sure she eats whenever she wants (we can't keep food out because our other cats would become gigantic). We have 2 fountains and glasses and bowls of water all around for her.

Any ideas on food that might help her feel better and build her strength up more? Or should we just wait for her to improve? She's a pretty good eater, and likes weruva special cans of food, and our cats get Wellness wet 2x a day, but she never finishes an entire bowl of anything.

 

[katmaz77]

Hills a/d is meant for kitties in recovery, your vet may carry it! My 16 year old guy has just had a series of health problems including dehydration requiring subq. I am syringe feeding him about 1/4 a can per day to supplement his kibble. I have also just purchased a product called Under the Weather high cal cat supplement. Its basically a tasty vitamin/omega paste. Its hard to tell whats helping at this point but he is perking up again slowly. I have also read that subq fluids can make them a bit lethargic, so maybe she just needs a bit more time

 

[profcat]

The Under the Weather stuff looks good. I'll check with our vet about the Hills a/d. Thanks!