This cat simply Will. Not. Eat.
I bought a tube of Nutri-Cal. I put it on her paw. She tucked her paw underneath her, ignoring the sticky stuff all over it. I washed it off, then went for the bigger guns. I opened the can of salmon Fancy Feast. She was still interested in the smell, but did not eat. She started making those retching motions and licking her lips, which the vet said means she’s still nauseous, so I let her be. I called some friends, who urged me to try the Nutri-Cal again. I put a little bit on my finger and rubbed it inside her mouth, which forced her to eat it. She made the retching moves, but she also ate it. And kept it down. So I started giving her a small bit every half hour or so. Then I brought out the next big gun: The tuna Fancy Feast. She seemed REALLY interested in that, I held it up to her, and she actuallly licked it once or twice. But didn’t eat. More Nutri-Cal. Then final big gun: Real tunafish. Tig went nuts. She came over while I was opening the can. But she wouldn’t eat it. I put some in her mouth. She ate that, but then walked away offended. So. One last glob of Nutri-Cal, and now I’m going to bed, because they had me up at five a.m. and I never did get back to sleep.
Tig’s still hissing at her, but he isn’t trying to attack her. And she’s walking away. She goes up and down the stairs with impunity. I never found her hiding place, but I shut the door to the guest room so she can’t hide in there again. She was on the sofa when I got home. She jumps up and down with no apparent problems. In fact, I just followed her upstairs and found her trying to hide in my closet again. So I got her to jump on my bed again, and we stopped for a petting and purring break.
So here’s the problem: It’s as if Gracie has utterly forgotten how to eat. How do I get her to remember? And please believe me when I tell you she will NOT eat any of the foods your cats eat. She is one of the world’s pickiest cats. She likes dry food of almost any brand, some wet foods, tunafish, and that is it. She doesn’t eat table scraps. If I give her chicken broth, it’s going to be with a syringe and squirted down her throat. I tried pouring tuna water on her dry food. No luck.
The good news is she’s drinking on her own, and I see her use the litterbox regularly (only to pee, of course, not having eaten anything in nearly two weeks). She’s lost about half a pound. But she’s not at death’s door yet, and I don’t think that -osis thing that’s supposed to affect her liver has set in. (Like I’m going to remember medical terms. All I know is that all the vets are scaring me to death with visions of Gracie’s liver suddenly going “Chug… chug… kaff… kaff… kek.”)
Anyway. For now, putting Nutri-Cal glop down her throat is the way I’m going, and I’m thinking chicken broth via syringe tomorrow if I can’t get her to eat anything else. Any other ideas? Anyone else have the pickiest cat eater in the world?
OK, here’s my best shot:
Metoclopramide for nausea. It’s an 8-12 hour pill, so you need to give it 2-3 times per day. Pretty inexpensive. Once that has taken effect, re-apply the various foods you have on hand, or preferentially, try Hill’s Prescription Diet A/D formulation (for animals with minimal appetite). Available from your vet, should be about $1.79 per can.
Good luck.
Have you talked to your vet about anti-nausea medication? Two years ago, my cat had a serious allergic reaction to hyperthyroid medication and was vomiting every 20 minutes. Due to the vomiting she refused to eat. We started giving her anti-nausea meds (from the vet) and after a while (I think a day or so) she started eating again. It was VERY VERY little at first and I had to be sure to give her the pill on time or she started vomiting again. I think it was about a week before she was off the medicine and eating fairly normal. I think still have the receipts around here if you need the name of the medicine.
I think that the medicine HT said Metoclopramide is what Gabi was on. Sounds right.
You mentioned tuna, but have you tried raw tuna?
My wife and I had a cat years ago who became ill. We took him to the vet, who kept him for the day for testing. When we returned the next day we were shown an xray that was full of tumors. Literally FULL of them. The vet encouraged us to consider putting our cat to sleep.
It was a Friday afternoon, and we thought that we would take him home for a last weekend together, because he did not seem to be in pain (just weak.)
We wanted to make it a special weekend for our cat (name too embarassing to include), so we bought him some raw tuna from a sushi restaurant close to our apartment.
He ate it. Slowly at first, but he did eat it. He’d been eating very sporadicaly for the better part of a month, but ther lure of the sashimi was too strong.
By Monday morning he was much more energetic, so we kept him home. At first we thought that we had another week with him. Then two. Then a month. He ended up regaining his health for the most part and lived another 4 years. He never regained all of his vigor, but he was not in pain and was a functional, happy cat.
I don’t think that it was due to the raw tuna, but it helped him be interested in eating at a crucial time which could only have helped. It might be worth a try for you. (Be certain there’s no wasabi on it if you do…)
Good luck to you, and good health to Gracie!
Syringe with chicken broth or whatever in it down throat is best idea, I think. All the best, and hope you get some sleep.
Will she drink sugary drinks? I would have thought the re-hydration fluid mixtures you give to people would be better than water if she would take them. They have salts such as sodium and potassium as well as a ton of sugar.
Brian
I’m reminded of a human anti-nausea remedy, but I’m not sure the side effects would be worth it.
It’s bad enough for your cats to wake you up at all hours. It would be worse if they wanted to have inane conversations.
“Have you ever really looked at your paw?”
Do you have canned tuna in oil, or sardines in oil? If you have, try pouring the oil over the dried food, or even just giving her some of the oil to lap from her bowl. How about a little/butter margerine on your finger just to start her off? These are all things with which I’ve been successful. I have my fingers crossed, and the cat-loving La Fluffita has crossed her paws.
Just got off the phone with the vet. We’re going to try the OTC nausea medications in kitty dosages, and she wants me to get Ensure as well. Gracie WANTS to eat. But she can’t.
I don’t think raw tuna will do it, either. Tunafish in the can is her favorite food, and she wants it, very much. But the nausea is stopping her from eating.
Breakfast first, then the drugstore. Late for work again.
Which was the OTC anti-nausea medication I was supposed to give to Edloe? Can’t remember… prevacid? prilosec? pepcid? Something with P.
If she’s not going for solid or gel but she’s drinking, time to use chicken broth and/or kitty milk replacement. Nourishment first, solids second. Baby steps.
Two thoughts:
– A cat that is really interested in food but then won’t eat it may have mouth or throat pain. Perhaps talk to your vet about that. Just one possibility: If she’s thrown up enough, she may by now have esophagitis from all the gastric acid that’s been washing by.
– Is it just that Gracie seems to have “forgotten how to eat”? Ask your vet about the valium trick I told you about before.
I was going to suggest what Chairwoment suggested, the oil from tuna. My friend’s cat won’t eat any people food but she loves a dish with the tuna oil on it. The other cat, the 19-year-old, never turned down the tuna oil, even when she was looking very close to death.
We had one cat that was uninterested in people-food unless it had tomato sauce on it, but I wouldn’t recommend that at this point.
Same cat was uninterested in poultry until – my mother accidentally shut her in the laundry room overnight where my Thanksgiving turkey (Empire – you figure the cost) was defrosting (it was cold in there, and the cats could be kept out if you paid attention). She shredded the turkey through the plastic, never touched the pumpkin pie sitting next to it, and was forever after interested in poultry. We had pot roast that Thanksgiving, but I did defrost another Empire turkey that I had in the freezer (kept my mom OUT OF THERE) and we had it that weekend. Raw poultry is not to be recommended, but it might be worth trying a little cooked chicken – no aroma to trigger the gag reflex.
Did you try the baby food? Another source of calories could be the several brands of “cat milk” you can find in stores now. Gosh this sounds upsetting. I really hope she (and you) feel better soon.
Please continue to keep us updated on Gracie– Hugs and prayers again from the kitties and me.
No suggestions, just another person trying to be supportive – Hang in there! You’re doing a great job and Gracie and Tig know they are loved.
Ok, statements (not suggestions:-): Bonnie won’t eat any people food except salmon. She goes goo-goo for salmon. Victor is crazy about Temptations treats. Pregnant women are told to sniff lemon scent to stop their nausea. Tried peanut butter? Vanilla ice cream? Never mind – the nutri-cal is probably the best thing right now.
I forgot about the valium thing, but it wasn’t necessary. Something did the trick today.
I may stop by the vet’s tomorrow to get the same shots again, just in case.