Yet another case of not eating - seems improved today

Squeak's suddenly decided that she doesn't want to eat much and, of course, we're heading into a three day weekend here in some parts of Canada, so I'm taking her into the vet this afternoon. Normally I'd let it ride for a day and see if she settles, but I'd rather avoid an out-of-hours call out over the weekend.

I'm annoyed because I have a sneaking suspicion that the new food I'm trying to transition her on to has upset her system. She'd been doing well on Tiki Cat chicken, but there's been some sort of supply issue lately and I haven't been able to get it reliably, so I figured it was time to switch to something that I can find. If it isn't the new food, it's a pretty big coincidence, since we started a slow transition last Friday night and here we are a week later with a cat that's eating about 1/4 of her normal amount.

I've tried a few tricks, but it's tough when kitty has a potentially sensitive tummy and very little food motivation. I went back to her old food mix (we're only halfway through the transition), but she wasn't interested. Adding Fortiflora and tuna water results in her licking up that part of the food and stopping as soon as the topper is gone. I even tried some Whiskas and Fancy Feast I had on hand - a couple of mouthfuls and she walked away. I did get some venison pate and plain chicken breast into her at lunchtime, but only half the size of what her normal meal would be. Since last night, she's eaten about 1/4 of what she'd have eaten normally.

She seems off - lots of sprawling on her side and tail flicking, both of which are signs that she's not feeling the best. Interestingly, she's not vomited, which is usually her go-to when food is upsetting her. She might be nauseated given that she's sniffing (and sometimes trying) the food and walking away from it.

Hopefully the vet will have some suggestions when I make my way over there in a bit. Glad they could fit us in this afternoon!

In the meantime, I'm pretty much ready to rage quit commercial cat food and start making my own.

I guess I'm not really looking for advice (although if anyone has any input, I'd love to hear it) - just complaining to people who understand what I'm saying.

 

I am lucky now. Except for two of my cats, my cats will eat anything. Two (non-diabetic) of my eat most dry since they do not each much canned.
In the past I have had to syringe feed some of my cats. At one time I was syringe feeding three of them. Some for over a year.

 

I can SO relate to what you are saying!!! Seems to happen with at least one of my four on a real regular basis, very frustrating and worrisome. I hope your vet can help, and that Squeak is back to eating normally again soon!

 

I made my own cat food for a while when Gizmo was having digestive problems. This was before grain free were popular. Once a month I would mix up all the meats, eggs and supplements. Then I would freeze them in ice cube trays and store in ziploc bags in the freezer.

 

We made out trip to the vet this afternoon. Not much to report - physical exam was good, she doesn't seem to be in any pain and she doesn't have a fever. Not dehydrated either. She got an injection of Cerenia and I have some Mirtazapine on hand now, if necessary. The good news is, we've been home for about 5.5 hours now and I've gotten three half-size meals into her. She needs a little coaxing for that last mouthful, but she's eating (anti-jinx x1000)!

After a flurry of phone calls, I did manage to track down a couple of shops that actually had the Tiki Cat food on hand, so my wonderful DH braved the traffic to pick it up for me. At least now we can go back to the last thing that worked and make plans from there.

You're definitely lucky! It's tough having a kitty that has a sensitive stomach - I'm always concerned that anything I add to her food to get her to eat is going to make her issues worse. At least nothing ends up going to waste here - my civvie is like a garbage disposal and was very happy to get the Fancy Feast that Squeak turned her nose up at!

I feel for you. This is the first time one of mine has gone totally off their food and it's definitely frustrating! Thanks for the hugs.

I'm thinking of going that route. Did you cook yours or do raw? I'd like to feed raw ultimately, but might have to settle for cooked to start out with, just to ease Squeak into it. I'm going to order a supplement pre-mix ASAP because the city's Tiki Cat supply is only going to last so long before I've got it cleared out!

 

Good luck with Squeak. What a cute kitty. When all fails here, they get diced baked chicken. They think it is the very best!

 

I can relate. Neko needs to have low carb, low phosphorus, low salt food, and very finely ground or pate style, with no gums or carageenan. Not a large selection of canned food that meets those criteria available in Canada. So I've been making her food at home for quite a while as well as buying commercial raw which has much better selection. There are several premixes you can buy. In Canada you can get TC Feline, their Special Formula is low phosphorus. Other product you can get are Alnutrin can be mixed with either cooked or raw, as can FoodFurLife. I have used TC Feline and FoodFurLife. My kitties were used to raw so I haven't made the cooked version. Not sure you'd have to do the cooked first.

Have you tried the usual Tips to Stimulate a Kitties Appetite?

 

So far, so good. Squeak ate the majority of her regular overnight meal last night, as well as her breakfast and midmorning meals (I feed her about 5 times a day). She still needs a bit of coaxing on those last couple of mouthfuls, but at least she's not flat-out refusing anymore (anti-jinx).

I ended up baking a chicken breast for her yesterday, which she didn't seem to mind. I've been slowly reducing the amount with each meal she gets and we're pretty much back to business as usual here.

That's a tall order for food needs - I can't blame you for switching to raw! I'm suspicious that Squeak has an issue with gums as well, given that the main difference between the Tiki and the Weruva I was trying to switch her to was the addition of various gums. Thanks so much for the links for the premixes - I'd seen you mention TC Feline before and was planning on ordering a sample pack or two of the low phosphorus formula. I see it has xanthan gum in it, but I figure it's worth a try. I'm interested in the other companies you mentioned as well - any trouble with customs when you bought the FoodFurLife? Thanks also for the link on appetite tips - I tried a few things yesterday and she ate a little bit as a result, but it seems like the Cerenia injection she got finally tipped the scales in our favour. Guess we'll see how things go as the day goes on.

 

Hi Elle, I'm so sorry to hear that you're going through this with Squeak. It can be SO worrying and frustrating when our kitties don't eat.
Please do let us know how you get on at the vets.


Eliz

 

None - just took about a week to get here. If you have problems getting the TC Feline Special sample, let me know, I can send you a small bag, which is enough for 8 days of food. I'm moving over to FoodFurLife to remove the xanthum gum factor.

 

Thanks for the offer, Wendy - I really appreciate it. The more I think about it though, the more I'm hesitating due to the xanthan gum in the TC Feline. I'm thinking FoodFurLife may be the better option. At this point, I'd just like to find something I can get reliably so we can get into a routine - the Weruva is the fifth food since January, so I'm kind of ready to tear my hair out!