Need Some Help with Feeding Cat Who Hadn't Been Eating

[chris87]

I have a 16 year old cat who has generally been very healthy. I've fed her a raw diet for many years (used to buy from Hare-Today but have had to use Stella & Chewy's due to work/time constraints). On Wednesday, I noticed that my cat had not eaten any of her morning food. I gave her new food that evening and noticed that she still wasn't eating. I didn't think much of it, as she sometimes will go back a bit later and eat. On Thursday, she was still being finicky, and I was starting to get concerned. That night, I ended up giving her a lot of Purebites, just so she wasn't completely starving. On Friday morning, she vomited bile. I couldn't get her to eat anything (not even treats). I ended up buying various Tiki canned foods and a couple of the supplemental chicken/broth packets, as I was pretty much desperate. Nothing worked. I ended up calling the vet early Friday and they took her that afternoon. I was afraid with the weekend approaching that I would be stuck going to an emergency vet. When I was going to get her prior to leaving, I realized that she had eaten the chicken/broth. I had left 3 different bowls out in the hopes that something would work.

The vet said that she was a bit dehydrated and gave her subcutaneous fluids, Cerenia for nausea, and Elura as an appetite stimulant. The bloodwork won't be back until Monday, but he said that he wanted her to be in a good position to make it through the weekend. He took an x-ray and didn't see anything concerning.

That night, she ate another pouch of the supplemental chicken/broth. I put out 2 different Tiki cans on the off chance she would eat them. This morning, I realized that she had eaten both of them, so I was very happy. She seems to be doing better. My problem is that I'm confused about how to property feed her and what to do moving forward (I haven't used canned food in many years). The larger Tiki cans (10 oz) say something like 1 1/4 cans per 7 lbs of weight. Since she's about 9 lbs, that would be about 1 1/2 cans. I'm just confused if I should feed her extra since she hadn't eaten for a couple of days and how to go about transitioning her back to her regular food. I'm stressed out about her not feeling well and worried about overfeeding or underfeeding her. If her bloodwork comes back okay, I was thinking that maybe I'll try the Hare-Today food again, and see if she'll eat it. I know cats can sometimes develop a food aversion, and maybe that's happened. If anyone could give me some advice about how to feed her during this period, I would really appreciate it. I just want to make sure I'm doing everything correctly and don't want to jeopardize her recovery by messing up her nutrition.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. IMO, I wouldn't worry so much about the actual 'quantity' of what she is eating right now, just whatever she will eat. You need to wait until the blood work comes back and see what that shows. She is old enough that there is likely a health reason for the change in her, and hopefully that will show up in the bloodwork, with easy solutions. Once you know more, then you can work on transitioning her.

For now, revel in the fact that the sub-Q fluids, the Cerenia and the Elura are working for her. Fingers crossed that they 'tide her over' until Monday.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Cans of food usually say to feed much more than is really necessary. I would say for a 9 pound cat 5 or 6 oz should be plenty, but of course that really depends on the caloric content of the food. Assuming at her age she's not all that active anymore, she can probably get by on about 180 calories per day, so check out the calories in a can and go from there.

As far as trying to transition back, I would say do it the same way you did years ago. Be aware that she may or may not want to eat raw again. I fed raw to my senior girl and when she stopped eating it I could never get her to go back to it. She had developed kidney disease though, and that was probably the issue. Kidney cats just don't seem to have much appetite, period.

 

[maggie101]

Canned food like weruva or tiki. I feed my cat weruva because It's shredded chicken in chicken broth. Because she is senior it may be because she no longer likes raw and her sense of smell isn't as good. Weruva the first or second ingredient is chicken broth so that is more appetizing. Also churu or tiki sticks, almost 90%water. Fortiflora,advita,even hills science diet a/d-kitty crack and it has good ingredients

 

[chris87]

Thank you, everyone! She did really well today and seems to be liking the Tiki. I know at one time she liked Weruva also, so I could try that one too. I should hear about her blood work tomorrow, which I’m very nervous about. I’ll report back once I hear something.

 

[maggie101]

Cans of food usually say to feed much more than is really necessary. I would say for a 9 pound cat 5 or 6 oz should be plenty, but of course that really depends on the caloric content of the food. Assuming at her age she's not all that active anymore, she can probably get by on about 180 calories per day, so check out the calories in a can and go from there.

As far as trying to transition back, I would say do it the same way you did years ago. Be aware that she may or may not want to eat raw again. I fed raw to my senior girl sand when she stopped eating it I could never get her to go back to it. She had developed kidney disease though, and that was probably the issue. Kidney cats just don't seem to have much appetite, period.

My cat is 9 pds and eats 5-6 oz can. I would start with a variety of 3 oz cans then bigger once you decide what she likes. Any chicken my cats crave. I avoid fish

 

[tabbytom]

Thank you, everyone! She did really well today and seems to be liking the Tiki. I know at one time she liked Weruva also, so I could try that one too. I should hear about her blood work tomorrow, which I’m very nervous about. I’ll report back once I hear something.

There are further tips here to get your cat eating again :-

Any Good Tips To Get Your Cats To Eat? Share Them Here!

 

[chris87]

My vet called last night and said that everything looked great, except that her creatinine was elevated. I believe he said it was around 3. He said that he wants to retest it in 3-4 weeks, because he thinks it may be a blip. He said that her other kidney markers (phosphorus, BUN, etc) were all perfect. I believe he said the GI issues and dehydration could possibly have caused it to be elevated. I hope that's the case. She seems to be doing really well thankfully.

 

[meowsville]

Glad she's had fairly good results from the vet, nothing really scary. I've been cooking chicken stock (just water and chicken - nothing else) and adding a packet of gelatine for my cat. It's pretty similar to preparing "jello" - which is not for cats. ;-) I soften the powdered gelatine in 1/4 cup of cold water for a minute. Then I dump that into 2 cups of hot chicken stock that just boiled. Stir 2 minutes to dissolve. Put bowl of gelatine/stock in fridge. It will be very thick quickly. I cut it into portions and freeze them. I thaw as needed, I cook it actually, and mix with whatever I'm feeding. It's so easily digested - lots of beneficials for a wonky gut - lots of beneficials for joints. Hope that helps.

 

[lisahe]

Glad she's had fairly good results from the vet, nothing really scary. I've been cooking chicken stock (just water and chicken - nothing else) and adding a packet of gelatine for my cat. It's pretty similar to preparing "jello" - which is not for cats. ;-) I soften the powdered gelatine in 1/4 cup of cold water for a minute. Then I dump that into 2 cups of hot chicken stock that just boiled. Stir 2 minutes to dissolve. Put bowl of gelatine/stock in fridge. It will be very thick quickly. I cut it into portions and freeze them. I thaw as needed, I cook it actually, and mix with whatever I'm feeding. It's so easily digested - lots of beneficials for a wonky gut - lots of beneficials for joints. Hope that helps.

This is a great idea! I used to make "chicken water" for our cats but never wanted to freeze it in ice cube trays. Blocks with gelatin sound like the perfect solution, particularly since, as you mention, gelatin can have so many benefits for cats.

 

[maggie101]

My vet called last night and said that everything looked great, except that her creatinine was elevated. I believe he said it was around 3. He said that he wants to retest it in 3-4 weeks, because he thinks it may be a blip. He said that her other kidney markers (phosphorus, BUN, etc) were all perfect. I believe he said the GI issues and dehydration could possibly have caused it to be elevated. I hope that's the case. She seems to be doing really well thankfully.

The range for creatine is .6 - 2.4
Maggie's was 2.3 so ok but not high enough to be concerned. I can understand why your vet wants to retest it

 

[mysterylover]

In reading this thread, it reminded me of the journey I am on with my female (I have 3 cats, siblings - 2 boys and a girl). She is now 13, and about 6-8 months ago, she started having significant GI issues (gurgling, soft stool/diarrhea) with food she had been eating for years. I believe that they formula changed due to sourcing issues without any info, though the label had not changed. Eventually, all three of my cats developed issues with the pate, but the girl apparently did associate her discomfort with another food I was feeding instead (even though that pate was the culprit). That meant I could not use either of those foods. In her case, I had to find a food that she would eat that did not cause digestive upset.

I also have a cat who is prone to throwing up his first meal of the day (all wet food) if I get interrupted when prepping the food and take too long while he anticipates. If the throwing up is bad enough, his tummy will be "not right" all day, and subsequently, his appetite will be reduced. Of course, if he does not eat, then there is a cycle of too much acid forming. I often have to feed him a different food or at least a different flavor of the "offending" food to replace the lost meal he threw up.

Anyway, I am glad to hear that your kitty started eating and is doing better!!! This pandemic and all of the sourcing issues has caused so much stress or pet parents!