Extremely fussy with food, but wants to eat

BigBurgers

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I posted a few days back about getting my CKD cat with a UTI to eat. The good news is that the antibiotics have *knock on wood* done the trick and she's been getting back to her old self. The bad news is that she's developed an extremely fussy taste for food. She follows me around the house meowing "feed me feed me feed me," but then I put food in front of her and she walks away. She's always been like this to a point, but now she's much worse. I have maybe 10 different types of wet foods in the house, 3 different dry foods, and she barely touches any of them, and I've cracked open so many different cans for her that it's just becoming wasteful. I've tried tuna juice as a topper, which she does eat, but once she gets through the tuna she walks away.

I admit, it's my fault she's so fussy for offering her so much variety, but since she's recovering from her UTI she's lost quite a bit of weight, so I can't let her go for too long without eating. Also, I do have her on an appetite stimulant which does work, but it doesn't make her eat (it just makes her more hungry).

Because of her kidney issues I can't really afford to try some of the unhealthier methods of getting a cat to eat, but does anybody have any suggestions of how to break this bad habit and get her to eat?
 

verna davies

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Try feeding her by hand.. sitting talking to her when you feed her...put her food on a paper plate...if she has a favourite treat, mix it in with her food...mix those creamy treats in with the food. Only do small portions incase she doesn't like the mix of the last two suggestions.
 
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BigBurgers

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Thanks for the tips. She's always loved Greenies up until now but I'd be interested in trying a creamy treat that I can mix in. What would you recommend? Since posting, I've been able to get her to eat a bit by literally holding her in place and putting the food right under her nose. After some coaxing she eventually eats. I suspect that this is temporary.......but time will tell. Just last week she was going crazy for her new Royal Canin CKD dry food, now she won't go near it. The good news again is that she at least has an appetite. It might take some work but I think I can get her eating again.
 
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BigBurgers

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Ahhh yes, we have similar treats like that here in the States. I picked up a pack at the pet store today and spread it on her food. It definitely got her interested, at least for awhile. I've been paying attention to her behavior, and I can't help but wonder if she's just recovering from weakness brought on by the UTI. She had a really bad one a couple years ago that weakened her terribly, so much in fact that the vet thought she was in advanced stages of renal failure (she just had a really bad UTI). She drinks on her own with some coaxing, and if I make the food appetizing enough she'll eat it, so I can't do much more at this point than just monitor her, keep feeding her so she can build up her strength, and make sure she eats.
 

verna davies

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Try feeding her smaller portions than usual and more often until she's better. Let us know how she's doing.
 
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BigBurgers

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Just an update. I took her in for fluids again today, and the vet wants to give her another round on Wednesday and Friday (she'll also receive a second antibiotic dose Fri). I'm in a tossup on her condition. I inquired about doing another blood panel but the vet was insistent we wait and see how this week goes. He's confident in her kidney panel from a few weeks ago and I trust his opinion, but I'm scratching my head a bit. Just two weeks ago she was obsessing over a new Royal Canin Kidney dry food I gave her, she jumped for her toy, and dove 4 feet from my bed to the chair. So this has all happened fairly fast.

She's alert and attentive, albeit a bit more sleepy, and she walks around with her tail up in the air. She does have a weak stumble to her walk which I'm hoping is only from the UTI. Last night I was worried that maybe her kidneys disease had advanced quickly and we're now entering failure, but the vet didn't seem concerned.

I still have to coax her to eat by shoving it under her nose, but she does eat. I have yet to see her walk to her food dish on her own, but *fingers crossed* it'll just take some time.
 

verna davies

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Thanks for the update. I wonder if it's something as simple as her sense of smell that is a bit off. How is she with smelly food such as tuna? How old is she?
You are doing a good job of coaxing her, it's important that she eats so for the time being keep doing what you are and put the food Infront of her.
 
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