I don't think I can care for my 10 year old girl anymore

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louisstools

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Heh, I stumbled upon the old wet to dry transition plan I made back in Feb with the vet and based on what she's been eating consistently for the last month she's at the 50-50 phase in terms of calorie source. Technically she's eating a bit too much wet food. Not changing anything today but definitely in a few days will start to drop the amount of wet offered (not that she's eating all of it anyway!) and see if she eats more kibble.

Also it's crazy how calorie dense dry food is or how calorie lacking wet food is compared to each other!
 

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Technically she's eating a bit too much wet food. Not changing anything today but definitely in a few days will start to drop the amount of wet offered (not that she's eating all of it anyway!) and see if she eats more kibble... Also it's crazy how calorie dense dry food is or how calorie lacking wet food is compared to each other!
If she is really not eating all the wet food you put out, then technically she can't be eating too much wet food!!!!

The reason for the difference in calories between dry and wet is that dry is more carbohydrate loaded than wet - carbs contain a lot of calories. Wet generally has less carbohydrates, and more protein content, hence the lower caloric value. So that is the basic reason for the difference. Dry tends to also lead to weight gain easier than wet because of this.
 
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louisstools

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Took two different offerings at breakfast to get her to eat anything but she ate well enough (I call 1oz a victory). Then threw it all up.
Dinner was more difficult and took 3 offerings and the winner was one of the limited supply of a discontinued food that so far is the only one she really likes.

She was eating small amounts of kibble today, 0.3oz before dinner too. I think had she not threw up -- technically she threw up three times in a five minute period -- she would have eaten more kibble today. She is drinking good today, perhaps a bit more than usual...I think I've seen 4 fountain drinks...but I don't always catch her drinking.

Not sure if she's not wanting microwaved food from the fridge...usually only zap for 10, stir, then another 5-10. Or if it's a flavor preference or what.

Just not sure how to troubleshoot this bizarre behavior. Maybe it's tough love time. To say dealing with this constantly ruins my day is an understatement. I did notice I am starting to just not care if she eats or not...she's being provided multiple forms of food that she has demonstrated a liking in the past...that should be sufficient.
 

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When you say “she doesn’t eat it” how long are you giving her? Or if she doesnt walk right up and eat, do you consider that “not eating”?
 
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louisstools

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When you say “she doesn’t eat it” how long are you giving her? Or if she doesnt walk right up and eat, do you consider that “not eating”?
Great question! Specifically, I'll put food down, she'll walk over, sniff and walk away. Sometime she'll go straight into hiding for a few minutes. If she doesn't, I'll then dab a bit on my finger, walk over to her to see if she'll lick it, and she'll walk away. And then usually goes into a hiding spot for a few minutes.

I consider that "not eating"

Edit: I will add that frequently after eating she'll go into hiding. AFAIK this has not been something she's done historically or at least consistently.
 

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I know this is not nutritionally complete, but will she eat a cooked chicken or ground meat with no flavoring or spices added? I used to use ez complete mixed in for total nutrition
 

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I would stop trying to do that. Put the food down and walk away. Don’t follow her, don’t try to force her to eat.

my cats take a few hours to eat their wet food. Sometimes they go up, take a few bites and walk away. They always come back Always.

There was only one time they didn’t, and that’s when I fed them lamb and they hated it! But I didn’t determine that til after 3 hours when nothing was ate.
 

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I wonder if she is somehow getting a “negative” impression of eating time because she’s knows you’re going to follow her into her safe hiding space.
 

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Took two different offerings at breakfast to get her to eat anything but she ate well enough (I call 1oz a victory). Then threw it all up.
Were you also offering her the kibble at the same time? Last I knew, you were offering her both wet and dry and she was ignoring the wet and heading for the dry.

Frustration is common - I have it every day with Feeby. You just have to remind yourself she is not doing anything she does deliberately. And yes there are times I have walked away from a frustrating session with Feeby sometimes thinking 'man, I have had it" - always to turn around and remember that is so 'human-like' of me, and then I come back into my senses.
 
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louisstools

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I wonder if she is somehow getting a “negative” impression of eating time because she’s knows you’re going to follow her into her safe hiding space.
Could be. My concern with just putting it down walking away is for the past six months...since death of her brother...I've Sat with her at all meals.
 
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louisstools

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Were you also offering her the kibble at the same time? Last I knew, you were offering her both wet and dry and she was ignoring the wet and heading for the dry.
Yeah rx kibble is always available to keep her uti at bay. Today though she wasn't interested in the kibble as much...though she did have 3 pukes
 

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Could be. My concern with just putting it down walking away is for the past six months...since death of her brother...I've Sat with her at all meals.
And that could be why she’s having eating issues now. Try it and see what happens. Read a book, do yoga, take a walk. Something to keep your mind off her when you put the food down
 
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louisstools

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And that could be why she’s having eating issues now. Try it and see what happens. Read a book, do yoga, take a walk. Something to keep your mind off her when you put the food down
It's like she either wants the food or not bc if I offer something else she'll just scarf it. But I can try that tomorrow and see what happens. Guessing this is a behavior knot we need to untie.
 

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It's like she either wants the food or not bc if I offer something else she'll just scarf it. But I can try that tomorrow and see what happens. Guessing this is a behavior knot we need to untie.
Cats can be finicky. But if she doesn’t eat it within 5 min you can’t really consider that not eating because you aren’t even giving her a chance.
 
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louisstools

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Tomorrow morning I'll wake and greet her and then portion out the kibble and then the wet.

And then just let her be a cat. If she eats then she eats. If not...oh well. I she comes to get me to sit with her I'll do that since she asked but not unless she asked.

I guess I've been holding on too much since her brother died to try and get control over something I really have no control over. I need to let go and trust my cat. I have to let go of the past to get something new.
 
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louisstools

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You’re welcome. Good luck!! She is lucky to have such a great parent as you
She's trained me well.

Now to just let go and let her be a cat... Luckily we got new rx kibble today and she went crazy for it when I got home from errands. She sat and immediately ate 0.2oz of it.
 
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louisstools

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Breakfast went well, gave her kibble and she sat and ate it pretty good (about .2oz), did a fountain drink, then sat like she wanted wet food. Gave her leftovers from last night's can of the discontinued homerun food she loves and she ate about .6oz then walked away. I scooped it into a mound and she ate a bit more before deciding she was done (total .8oz). I put the bowl near her kibble.

After morning play she wanted to eat and had me go with her to her bowl area, she sniffed the wet and ignored it for the kibble. A bit later she did the same and ignored the wet. If she won't eat this food she won't eat any food that we've brought into the house.

Perhaps she just wants to go back to kibble and have the wet food as a snack. That would be glorious. Just a minor update.
 

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Sounds positive. Out of curiosity how do you know the amount she’s eating? Are you weighing it before and after she eats?
 
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