08/15/18 Squallie AMPS 121, +5.30/76

Yesterday

Squallie is still the same today. He ate his dry food, wouldn't touch the tiny bit of wet with his meds in it. He hates it when I keep pushing him to eat it, and is starting to avoid me because of this, and because he has to be pilled twice a day now. Not much purring for the last two days but I think it's because of the above, not because he feels bad. I feel bad that he's avoiding me.

Thanks again to all for your love and support. It really does help. ❤️

 

Here is what I found about Piroxicam.

 

Good news that he is eating He knows you love him , Lucy and that you are doing your best to help him ❤️ Continued prayers to you both , that dearest Squallie returns to purrs and understanding that Momma is on his side . You are both on my heart every day , all day

 

Glad he is eating. Can you put meds in anything yummy and fun like cream cheese or sour cream? Either of these and my Rosie will come running.

 

I have tried everything, and just end up with soggy pills that I have to throw away. Sadly, he won't accept any treats at all anymore, I do not know why. I used to be able to put his meds in almost anything and he would eat it, now he won't even look at his old favorites.

 

I'm glad Squallie is eating for you. Sorry he is avoiding you. Try to spend some time with him just loving on him and nothing else. Sending prayers.

 

I am glad he is eating! That is good, I hope you succeed in tricking him with the pills, keep looking for that food, maybe some of the human foie gras pates, my boy goes crazy when he senses the smell... Sending the warmest of hugs

 

Hhmm. Reads like his sense of smell, taste and texture has altogether altered for some reason. Mine has when I've been ill and my Dad's diet became very bland when he was elderly. He was more about texture than taste.

Can you make a dried treat of some sort to help hide the pills. I dunno wot mind you.

 

Lucy, sending you everything I got

 

I think M may be on to something , Lucy ..possibly the texture , smell of the food . My 95 year old Mom complains of loss of taste often . Praying there is something stinky and dry but usable to mix meds with comes to mind . I’ll be asking my HV about it ❤️❤️ Extra scritches to Super Senior Squallie ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

 

Hi Lucy, I hope that you can find something that Squallie will eat with pills. Rusty would never take any meds by mouth, only by injection. I'm so sorry that he is avoiding you. Perhaps he will come around when he thinks things over.
Sending lots of hugs and scritches,

 

Lucy,could the meds be injected ? Is that even a possibility ???

 

I came to this same conclusion last night, after I gave him a toy sprayed with his beloved catnip. He could not smell the catnip. He has liked the Squeeze Ups tremendously, but if I squeeze it out into a dish he will not eat it - I think he can't smell it. He'll eat it out of the tube because he recognizes the container and knows what it is. If I put it in a dish he can't smell it and so doesn't recognize it. Something's up with his sniffer, I'm convinced. Guess it's back to the vet. *sigh* He and I are both getting tired of spending so much time at the vet's, especially when no one lately seems to have any defined answers!

 

I believe the sense of smell lessens with age. My seniors needed food warmed rather than straight from the fridge. My two girls aged almost two now would likely eat their food frozen, lol. Nausea caused Max to switch to dry when he first got pancreatitis. I’m not so sure I would go back to the vet for this but you know him best.

 

I wondered if it was connected somehow to his dental surgery. It seems to have happened pretty suddenly. It broke my heart when I realized he couldn't smell the catnip, he loves it so much. He watched with excitement as I sprayed the toy - he knows the spray bottle - but when I gave him the toy, he gave it a cursory lick and just walked away from it

 

This might be so. People sometimes lose a sense of smell and taste after dental extractions. It's about the nerves.

It may be worth logging this with your vet via a phone call. They may be able to say if they have known this before and how long for the nerves to restore.

If it is this , it may mean that the dry food contains something 'more' for certain areas of his taste buds that the wet food doesn't.

One way to test this would be to somehow find & use much more potent concentrated catnip and watch for a reaction.

 

If you haven't gone to the vet yet or get this before you go.. see if the will give him a Cerenia shot. I think they are ~$30 and, if he is dealing with any nausea, the shot works much, much better than the pills.