STRONG Smelly Appetizing Cat food?

[Baz84]

Good Day,

Long story short: Father left garage door open, cat 12 pounds left - was absolutely devasted. Found almost 2 months later - at 5 pounds at shelter. Extremely emaciated, wounds, elevated white count, extremely anemic (possibly due to flea infestation or another reason? We'll find out cat received Capstar) etc etc

Took him to 2 vets, 1 overnight urgent clinic stay, 1 day clinic stay etc etc. $$$

Currently:
1-Giant Hip wounds healing nicely not infected - I've been cleaning them and applying SSD cream on my own

2- Awaiting Anemia Blood Panel - to see if he has mycoplasma, FIV, other causes.
Was switched from Veraflox -> Metronidazole -> Azithromycin
(different vets... different opinions. This scares me!!)

3- The ONLY thing all vets agree on is giving him foods and fluids - Well even the fluid rates aren't agreed on. We did have him on IV hydration anywhere between 8-13 ml/hr. Anyway - He had insane diarrhea - 2 days after arriving (improving... from water to paste today). Refuses to eat/drink - we have to FORCE feed him. Anyhow - he will ONY eat cat lickable snacks on his own - Churro and Irresistables without fighting us. I don't like them because they aren't exactly healthy... but all vets agree if that's the only thing he will "willfully" eat - give it. First vet tried Hills Rx Feline I/D - no! Last vettried Royal Canin Recovery (high calorie + appetizing = smell smell.. nah! Then force feed him!).

Any recommendations on any STRONG smelling... somewhat appetizing cat food that isn't "cat crack"? I bought cat bone broth, baby cat food, kitten food... etc. Want to add the cat bone broth to the cat crack or royal canin recovery and shove it in... Vet said if you have to force feed him do it until he realizes he needs to eat...

 

[maggie101]

Hill's prescription ad,it's like kittycrack,high cal,orijen canned,any weruva. Cats love shredded chicken,fish(very addicting so include other proteins)fancy feast

 

[Furballsmom]

I agree with maggie101, the hills ad could work well along with the other ones mentioned.

When I had to handfeed Poppycat several times daily, my vet recommended using a popsicle stick. It seemed to work better and get more food in than syringing.

 

[louisstools]

hills a/d wet food is the ONLY canned food my extremely picky and fussy princess cat would eat "voluntarily." most other wet food she wouldn't even sniff.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I hate to be a naysayer, but if you've already tried the Royal Canin Recovery and it was smelly and he didn't like it, I seriously doubt he will go for the Hills A/D. It's prescription too, in case you don't already know that. If I were you, I wouldn't purchase too many cans up front, since he might not like that one either. Neither of my cats will eat it on their own, and they fight me when I try to force feed it to them.

Have you tried any of the Fancy Feasts? Supposedly most cats like those, and the pates aren't too unhealthy. If you are looking for smelly, try anything fishy. One food that is so smelly it about runs us out of the house, and is very healthy is Feline Natural Hoki and Beef in the pouch. OMG it is so smelly I have to rinse out the pouch many, many times before putting it in the trash, and can barely be in the room until the boys finish eating. It's a strange consistency, but you can always add water and mush it up.

Let us know what you find out about that Anemia panel.

 

[Furballsmom]

Along with the Feline Natural that mrsgreenjeens mentioned, there's Royal Canin Mother and babycat mousse - I was using it for extra calories for my angel Poppycat last year. Not so smelly that I noticed, but no prescription required.

 

[Mac and Cats]

Good Day,

Long story short: Father left garage door open, cat 12 pounds left - was absolutely devasted. Found almost 2 months later - at 5 pounds at shelter. Extremely emaciated, wounds, elevated white count, extremely anemic (possibly due to flea infestation or another reason? We'll find out cat received Capstar) etc etc

Took him to 2 vets, 1 overnight urgent clinic stay, 1 day clinic stay etc etc. $$$

Currently:
1-Giant Hip wounds healing nicely not infected - I've been cleaning them and applying SSD cream on my own

2- Awaiting Anemia Blood Panel - to see if he has mycoplasma, FIV, other causes.
Was switched from Veraflox -> Metronidazole -> Azithromycin
(different vets... different opinions. This scares me!!)

3- The ONLY thing all vets agree on is giving him foods and fluids - Well even the fluid rates aren't agreed on. We did have him on IV hydration anywhere between 8-13 ml/hr. Anyway - He had insane diarrhea - 2 days after arriving (improving... from water to paste today). Refuses to eat/drink - we have to FORCE feed him. Anyhow - he will ONY eat cat lickable snacks on his own - Churro and Irresistables without fighting us. I don't like them because they aren't exactly healthy... but all vets agree if that's the only thing he will "willfully" eat - give it. First vet tried Hills Rx Feline I/D - no! Last vettried Royal Canin Recovery (high calorie + appetizing = smell smell.. nah! Then force feed him!).

Any recommendations on any STRONG smelling... somewhat appetizing cat food that isn't "cat crack"? I bought cat bone broth, baby cat food, kitten food... etc. Want to add the cat bone broth to the cat crack or royal canin recovery and shove it in... Vet said if you have to force feed him do it until he realizes he needs to eat...

You wouldn't want to feed this to him long term, but I had success with it at one point when I needed it: Royal Canin Mother and Baby Cat. All of our cats would try to eat it, including the dry food. And holy moly, the price has gone way up! So you might try various kitten foods. As others have suggested, the Hills A/D may help too. Royal Canin also has a version that I've sometimes had success with. I'll be trying the A/D next time I need it! You could try any using a small scoop of any of these foods and putting whatever lickable treat he is eating on top of it to see if that gets his appetite going? I'd probably also grab some Fancy Feast, Sheba and Friskies to see if any of that entices him. When I needed to, out of desperation, I've traded for a few cans with various neighbors just because it was too late to go to the store. You could also try human baby food (meat only and make sure there are no spices like onion or garlic), I sometimes have success with that. As a last resort, you could also mix the A/D or something in with some warm water and use a syringe to force feed him. Good luck!

 

[Furballsmom]

And holy moly, the price has gone way up!

The case of 24 3-oz cans has gone up about $8.00 since mid July 2022.

 

[Mac and Cats]

The case of 24 3-oz cans has gone up about $8.00 since mid July 2022.

That is still a crazy amount in my opinion! I bought it first back in 2020 and I just looked back at my invoice and I paid $34.34 for a 24 pack of 3oz cans, which is a $13.31 price hike going by the Chewy autoship price. In the same vein, I paid $42.99 for a case of Royal Canin Renal wet food back in 2020. I just started buying it again for our other cat and it's now $59.05 (autoship price), which is a $16.06 increase. I realize that this is a 3 year span, but ugh! No wonder I always feel like I am hemorrhaging money.

 

[Furballsmom]

I bought it first back in 2020

It's just awful.

 

[louisstools]

No wonder I always feel like I am hemorrhaging money.

Yeah...and in the covid supply chains era the quality for a lot of food has been hit or miss. And so many have had to re-formula too. Ugh.