I know this has been discussed at length to varying degrees. I'm just a bit troubled everytime I use this, which is quite infrequent - about a month apart roughly. Still, every time I do it I have to wonder a few things. First of all, the reason I use it is that without it I sometimes get to the point where I have to frequently add some sort of crumbled dry treat on top of her canned food in order to get her to start eating. Otherwise, she'll walk up to it, take a sniff, and promptly walk away. Other times, though, she'll eat without any treat topper. Same food, so that's just weird. I gave Mirtaz last night and so far so good, as expected. Pretty much cleaning her bowl, where before she started to leave quite a bit that just winds up in the trash. So what I grapple with is: by giving her a stimulant am I sort of forcing her to eat in a situation where otherwise she probably, for whatever reason, would prefer not to? Thing is, she always ACTS hungry, but then - as described - often walks away unless I get creative with some sort of dry, crumbled up topper. And, the whole idea of making her hungrier far more often than is normally the case sort of bothers me also. I fully understand that many here use it to maintain an otherwise declining weight and for those cats that simply don't want to eat anymore. In my case, I really believe it has become more of a fussiness issue. So far I have used it once in late November, once in January, and now yesterday. So I guess I probably shouldn't be all that concerned since I know some here use it regularly. I think what nags at me is the situation I went through with my previous hyperthyroid cat, where we got to the point that she was getting a stimulant constantly, ultimately to only keep losing weight anyway. My cat, so far anyway, holds her weight fine.
All the above said, WHY it seems I only need to use this as infrequently as I thus far have is a puzzle also. Surely the stuff doesn't stay in their systems for days / weeks. I can't imagine there is a longterm residual effect, but if I didn't know better I'd almost say that's the case. Thanks for any thoughts. I do believe that I'm unecessarily beating myself up a bit due to what I went through with my other cat. It all takes me right back to some painful memories. Had you asked me a year ago if I'd be willing to again use an appetite stimulant on a cat that's not eating well, I've have probably said no. In my case, it might be more of her simply getting tired of a specific food more frequently than has been the case the past 13 years, being that she literally ate the same food all that time, until just the past half-year or so. Guess I was "spoiled"! And, admittedly, sometimes I feel I just need a timeout from struggling a bit to get her to eat.
All the above said, WHY it seems I only need to use this as infrequently as I thus far have is a puzzle also. Surely the stuff doesn't stay in their systems for days / weeks. I can't imagine there is a longterm residual effect, but if I didn't know better I'd almost say that's the case. Thanks for any thoughts. I do believe that I'm unecessarily beating myself up a bit due to what I went through with my other cat. It all takes me right back to some painful memories. Had you asked me a year ago if I'd be willing to again use an appetite stimulant on a cat that's not eating well, I've have probably said no. In my case, it might be more of her simply getting tired of a specific food more frequently than has been the case the past 13 years, being that she literally ate the same food all that time, until just the past half-year or so. Guess I was "spoiled"! And, admittedly, sometimes I feel I just need a timeout from struggling a bit to get her to eat.
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