Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > General Forum for cats and dogs

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old April 16th, 2011, 04:24 AM
macdebbie macdebbie is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 2
Please Help - Going out of my mind with a picky eater cat who is losing weight

I have a 7 year old cat who was diagnosed long ago with a sensitive stomach. She does not have IBS. No diarrhea, just certain foods don't make her feel very well...

Long story short, she had been on Eukaneuba/Iams Low Residue Vet food until the recall for Salmonella. When the recall happened, the vet took her off of it and substituted with Purina EN. She was on Purina EN for a month or so when they changed the formula. After feeding her one feeding of the "new" EN, she had violent vomiting - 10 times within an hour.

I rushed her to the vet, they did tests, and said she was fine. But I refused to feed her that food again.

Since then it has been a nightmare of trial and error. She has tried every food in the pet store, I think! So far we have tried Life's Abundance (she likes this, but I think it is too rich for her), California Natural, Innova Cat and Kitten (she liked the canned, but again, I think it may have been too rich), Halo (until I found out it has garlic in it - didn't like it anyway), Addiction, Fromm, Newman's Own, Honest Kitchen.

She has started to lose weight, which is freaking me out. She is now down to 9.8 pounds, and a good weight for her is 11.

In desperation, to try and get her to eat and get her weight stable, I bought some "junk food" cat food at the grocery store last night, but I think that also upsets her tummy.

I also bought some baby food which we fed our 18 year old when she had kidney disease, and Cailie won't touch it. Very picky.

Can anyone suggest a food to try for a sensitive stomach cat? I know that canned is supposed to be better for cats, but is canned too rich? (She seems to have upset tummy after eating canned).

I even tried some cooked natural food - very expensive, but cost is not an issue here, her health comes first. She wouldn't touch it.

To compound matters, we are going away Easter weekend for a couple of days, but worse we are going to Italy May 5 - 14th so we don't have alot of time to find something that works. I think all this switching of food also isn't helping the issue.

When we get back from Italy, I may be willing to try raw if this is something people think would help. Right now I just want to get a food that she will eat while we are away - preferably dry for the time being, then we will reintroduce canned.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old April 16th, 2011, 05:30 AM
Love4himies's Avatar
Love4himies Love4himies is offline
Rescue is my fav. breed
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Boating in the 1000 Islands
Posts: 17,769
I am so sorry you are going through that with your kitty. I assume by tests, the vet did a full blood panel and urinalysis? Did the vet suggest an appetite stimulant? How are her teeth, did the vet do a thorough check of all of them?

Yup, anything Iam/Purina is pretty much junk in my opinion and I wouldn't feed that to my cat, and canned is better for your kitty than any kibble.

Have you tried Fancy Feast, the pate type? I don't normally recommend that food, but it is one food that cats seem to just love. Is your kitty a fishy eater? You could try sprinkling some pulverized freeze dried salmon over her canned to get her to eat some. I've done that with Puddles when I was trying to get her off junk kibble.

My cat's favourite non fish food is: Nature's Variety Instinct, Venison Flavour, followed by the Lamb one. Their favourite treat is Almo Nature, which is NOT nutritionally complete, but you can mix with their canned food for extra flavour. These foods can be purchased at quality pet food stores.


Good luck ! and please keep us posted.
__________________
Cat maid to:


Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs)

Jasper RIP (2001-2018)
Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014)
Puddles RIP (1996-2014)
Snowball RIP (1991-2005)

In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb

“While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old April 16th, 2011, 07:43 AM
doggy lover's Avatar
doggy lover doggy lover is offline
owned by Tucker
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Scarborough or Berkeley On
Posts: 2,143
I have the same problem with my 12 year old, that only weighs 6lbs she finds a food that she likes then all of a sudden she goes off of it. Nothing wrong with her just a fussy fart, but then your hunting around again looking for a food that she will likesometimes we can go back to a food that she went off of but it doesn't always work. I don't know all my other cats over the years were fine with one type of food their whole lives.
__________________
A man who looks into a collie's eye to receive an icy stare is but a fool. Be at one with man's best friend and through his eyes you will see his very soul.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old April 16th, 2011, 02:08 PM
macdebbie macdebbie is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 2
Eating some...

No, the vet didn't do bloodwork. My regular vet was off and the covering vet is afraid of my cat. The poor cat gets so nervous she cries out and people think she is a mean cat. The vet said all her vitals were fine, so there was no need to do bloodwork. But if she continues down this road of not eating right, I'll bring her back.

She IS eating (today anyway) the Fancy Feast gross kibbles that I bought last night, mixed in with her "good" food "Life's Abundance". However, I am afraid I might be compounding the problem feeding her "bad" food that might be further irritating her little tummy.

A couple things I was wondering about:

1) I have read that slippery elm can be helpful. Is this safe to use? How much and how?

2) Does anyone know of a quality food that is mild on the stomach? I read somewhere I think about Natural Balance Duck and Pea. I find that vets don't seem to know alot about foods - they stick to Iams and Science Diet vet diets.

Preferably, I would like something that has NOT had recalls.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old April 16th, 2011, 02:31 PM
rainbow's Avatar
rainbow rainbow is offline
-
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Beautiful BC's Kootenay Country
Posts: 34,757
Glad to hear she is eating some today. It is best to try and get her to eat canned food though. Here is a website with great information .....

http://www.catinfo.org/


Love4Himies, 14+kitties, sugarcatmom and growler are the cat gurus here and I'm sure one of them will be along soon to give you their advice.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old April 16th, 2011, 10:59 PM
kathryn's Avatar
kathryn kathryn is offline
chronically insane.
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: South Jersey!
Posts: 2,016
http://fussiecat.com/ That food works WONDERS as well, but isn't available in many places yet. Very popular at the pet store I work at for these types of situations.

http://www.petfooddirect.com/Brand/F...anned-Cat-Food
__________________
My cat is smarter than your honor student.
Stop Dog Fighting ~ Neuter Mike Vick!

~ RIP Timmy ~ May 2009 - November 6th 2009
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old April 17th, 2011, 06:41 AM
Love4himies's Avatar
Love4himies Love4himies is offline
Rescue is my fav. breed
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Boating in the 1000 Islands
Posts: 17,769
I HIGHLY recommend a full blood panel and urinalysis, there is NO way a vet can give a clean bill of health by just looking at a cat.

I am so glad your kitty is eating something, and you are right, some vets don't seem to know a whole lot about cat nutrition. I highly doubt they have even read the ingredients on what they sell. It just doesn't seem right that a carnivore would be fed a corn based food , call me stupid, but that just doesn't make sense

Give that website that Rainbow posted a read, it is has a wealth of info and a real eye opener.
__________________
Cat maid to:


Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs)

Jasper RIP (2001-2018)
Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014)
Puddles RIP (1996-2014)
Snowball RIP (1991-2005)

In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb

“While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old April 17th, 2011, 08:38 AM
Khari's Avatar
Khari Khari is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Posts: 198
Is she nauseous? One way you can tell is if she wants to eat, she goes to eat but sniffs the food and licks her lips and walks away. I never knew this sign until my one cat became very ill. Now I have picked up on it on several occasions with the cats.

I too think blood work is in order for your cat. You need to rule out illnesses, etc. But the one thing with digestive upset is the tummy hurts so it makes the cat not want to eat. Sounds to me like she has IBD (one of my cats has this and also the new kitty is exhibiting symptoms) and your kitty may need something for inflammation. I am consulting with a really good holistic/homeopathic vet. We are using homeopathic remedies, NAET and JMT. It sounds like your kitty may have severe allergies and until you find out what allergies she has she will continue to have reactions to the food you feed her. NAET is a form of allergy elimination that I do at home. We have found out what my cat is allergic to and I treat him at home. If you want to know more about it please ask

I took in a cat in mid-January that ate her food fine at first but started going off it. So, I used some grain, soy and gluten free fancy feast as bribe food (it was the only food she would actually eat) and now we are dealing with soft stool with blood. Before she came to me she was eating mostly dry crappy grocery store food with a tsp of wet food a day. But when she broke her tooth on the dry food I took her off of it (which was my plan anyways) and feed her strictly wet. I went back to feeding her the crappy wet food. She too is VERY picky and she still has loose stool with blood. I have tried everything to get her onto a higher quality wet food but like I said she is really picky. The crappy brand of wet food has the same flavour but different forms (pate and chunked). I have to switch between the two types often because she too will stop eating the one form all the time. I am finally getting her to eat some better quality food....I have been adding a sliver of the new wet food at the bottom of the crappy wet food and sprinkling crushed up dry food (I use a pill crusher) on top. She's been eating this nicely lately. I am very slowly increasing the new and decreasing the old.

Other things I have to do is warm her food up or else she won't eat it. When I feed her the pate style I have to make it a really mushy consistancy (I also like to add a bit of water for hydration) or else she won't eat it. I also have to feed it on a plate and not a bowl or else she won't eat it. For all my cats I feed them wherever they will eat (does not have to be in the kitchen only). Whatever spot they want to eat I will put the food down there for them (may even be on the couch)....I gave up on the kitchen only thing when I was switching my cats over to a raw food diet. They wouldn't eat in the kitchen but if I put it where they were they would chow down....

Some other foods you may want to try that are fairly simple are:

By Nature canned http://www.bynaturepetfoods.com/retailer_locator/
EVO 95% canned meat http://www.evopet.com/where-to-buy/
Natural Planet Organcis canned http://www.nutrisourcedogfood.com//n...s/where_to_buy
Wellness "Grain Free" canned http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/store-locator.aspx

Some other bribes to add to her food is parmesan, sprinkle some dehydrated or freeze dried 100% meat/fish on her food (like Halo Liv-A-Littles or Whole LIfe pet), boil some meat only and use the broth in her food, Bonito flakes, there's also catnip, Rosie's various "dusts" http://www.rosiesrewards.com/products.php#rosedust
__________________
Khari
Mom to Libby (4 Month Old Kitten) 🐈
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:56 PM.