Carcinoma, Neoplasm

[mazie]

My cat has recently been diagnosed with carcinoma neoplasm, cancer of her mammary glands. She of course is under the care of her vet. My specific purpose for posting this in a forum is that I am having trouble getting her to eat. She thumbs her nose at all of her favorite canned cat foods, and even her favorite human foods such as chicken and beef. To stimulate her appetite, her vet had prescribed her an appetite stimulant, Mirtazapine tablets, 15mg. The tablets stopped working starting with her second dose. In its place, he prescribed a compound transdermal medication, Mirtazapine 3.75mg/click, administrated inside her ear, and rubbed in. My question is that I am running out of ideas to get her interested in eating. Her one "go-to" food seems to be sardines. I have tried all kinds of wet foods, dry, you name it. She is not even interested in chicken or beef. She does like Churus and Delectibles Squeeze Ups, but that does not provide enough sustenance. Baby food is a "hit-and-miss" thing. Her veterinarian says to let her eat what she wants. Please, does anyone have any suggestions in the food department. Oh, and I would be amiss if I do not add, she always has been a picky, finicky eater.

 

[neely]

I'm sorry to hear about your cat's recent diagnosis. Our vet had said the same thing as yours when his appetite decreased and he started losing weight, i.e. "let him eat whatever he wants." Since he loves dry food because that's all he was fed prior to us adopting him that's what I gave him along with his wet food. I hope this TCS Article will have some helpful tips and information for you:
How To Get Your Cat To Start Eating Again - TheCatSite
Best wishes and I'm sure other members will come along that may have some other suggestions.

 

[mazie]

I'm sorry to hear about your cat's recent diagnosis. Our vet had said the same thing as yours when his appetite decreased and he started losing weight, i.e. "let him eat whatever he wants." Since he loves dry food because that's all he was fed prior to us adopting him that's what I gave him along with his wet food. I hope this TCS Article will have some helpful tips and information for you:
How To Get Your Cat To Start Eating Again - TheCatSite
Best wishes and I'm sure other members will come along that may have some other suggestions.

Thank you Neely for your response. I am glad to say I am not at the point where I need to syringe feed her, though I have done some spoon-feeding of baby food. The Hills Prescription Diet Critical/Restoration Care is something I have not known to try. I will be sure and get a can today and try her out on it. Thank you again!! It gets so frustrating as a cat parent when they stop eating and you know they must eat. I even tell her at the age of 70 I will stand on my head if she would just eat!!! Thank you again, I must keep up the good fight!!

 

[Furrywurrypurry]

So sorry about the diagnosis, hoping she makes a speedy recovery.
I second the suggestion of dry food if you haven’t already tried it.
Having had two cats with cancerous growths just this year I introduced dry food to back into both of their diets, I hadn’t allowed them it in many many years. But they both tended to slowly eat more of that than their wet food. I even got my boy on kitten dry food as his condition progressed because of the extra calories it contained.
Both my boy and now my girl were prescribed steroids and so it’s very possible that they played a part in stimulating their appetite. But they did both seem to gradually prefer the dry food and the crunchy dry treats.
wishing you and your girl well

 

[silent meowlook]

You might want to check with the vet regarding Cerenia for nausea. Often cats that won’t eat are nauseous.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Have you tried using toppers? With my very picky eater, I use an assortment of toppers, things like freeze dried salmon, freeze dried chicken, bonito flakes (a fave), and even the Delectible Stews as toppers. Since your cat still likes Churu's and Delectible Squeeze-Ups, maybe you could use those as toppers, or mix-ins.

 

[mazie]

So sorry about the diagnosis, hoping she makes a speedy recovery.
I second the suggestion of dry food if you haven’t already tried it.
Having had two cats with cancerous growths just this year I introduced dry food to back into both of their diets, I hadn’t allowed them it in many many years. But they both tended to slowly eat more of that than their wet food. I even got my boy on kitten dry food as his condition progressed because of the extra calories it contained.
Both my boy and now my girl was prescribed steroids and so it’s very possible that they played a part in stimulating their appetite. But they did both seem to gradually prefer the dry food and the crunchy dry treats.
wishing you and your girl well

Thank you for your kind reply. Katy too does seem to respond better to dry food than wet anymore, and as both of our vets have said, let them eat what they want. What I have found interesting is that she really goes for sardines and trout, (both from the can), but not so much salmon in the. Katy's vet also gave her a steroid shot and right after the shot I noticed her appetite was better, but sadly that did not last long. Even her transdermal which I administered every 3 days does not work great, but she will eat a little bit of the canned cat food. Wishing you the best with your fur babies as well.

 

[mazie]

You might want to check with the vet regarding Cerenia for nausea. Often cats that won’t eat are nauseous.

We're not at that point yet, but I will keep a mental note of your suggestion, thank you.

 

[mazie]

Have you tried using toppers? With my very picky eater, I use an assortment of toppers, things like freeze dried salmon, freeze dried chicken, bonito flakes (a fave), and even the Delectible Stews as toppers. Since your cat still likes Churu's and Delectible Squeeze-Ups, maybe you could use those as toppers, or mix-ins.

No, I have not tried toppers, but I will now. That makes a lot of sense, I thank you for another good suggestion.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi,
this thread has some unique tips that might be helpful;
Any Good Tips To Get Your Cats To Eat? Share Them Here!

 

[mazie]

So sorry about the diagnosis, hoping she makes a speedy recovery.
I second the suggestion of dry food if you haven’t already tried it.
Having had two cats with cancerous growths just this year I introduced dry food to back into both of their diets, I hadn’t allowed them it in many many years. But they both tended to slowly eat more of that than their wet food. I even got my boy on kitten dry food as his condition progressed because of the extra calories it contained.
Both my boy and now my girl were prescribed steroids and so it’s very possible that they played a part in stimulating their appetite. But they did both seem to gradually prefer the dry food and the crunchy dry treats.
wishing you and your girl well

Have you tried using toppers? With my very picky eater, I use an assortment of toppers, things like freeze dried salmon, freeze dried chicken, bonito flakes (a fave), and even the Delectible Stews as toppers. Since your cat still likes Churu's and Delectible Squeeze-Ups, maybe you could use those as toppers, or mix-ins.

I did try using a toppers, I crunched up some temptations and Greenies then sprinkled them on top of some wet, and even dry Kitten Chow. She did go for it, which of course made me happy!!

 

[neely]

I did try using a toppers, I crunched up some temptations and Greenies then sprinkled them on top of some wet, and even dry Kitten Chow. She did go for it, which of course made me happy!!

Glad she went for the toppers and it stimulated her appetite.
Another one I've found to be helpful are Stella & Chewy's freeze dried morsels. Their small and easy to crumble:
Freeze-Dried Dinner Morsels Archives

 

[Furrywurrypurry]

I did try using a toppers, I crunched up some temptations and Greenies then sprinkled them on top of some wet, and even dry Kitten Chow. She did go for it, which of course made me happy!!

Aw this is amazing!!! Long may it continue