Hello, First off let me start by saying that I know a lot about cats, I worked at a cat only vet clinic for 4 years and volunteered at a large city animal shelter for 10 years. I have also had cats my entire life. But this one has me stumped.
OK so the history:
I currently have 5 cats and the one in question I have had since he was a kitten, I actually had to bottle feed him for the first 3 weeks we had him. He has always been an excellent eater, too good in fact he used to be around 5 pounds over weight. We put him, and his 2 overweight brothers, on a diet and he did loose some weight but always stayed about 1-2 pounds above where he should be. Now all of this has been going on for over 6 years. Well in the past 2.5 years he stopped eating as much as he used to and lost the last 2 pounds, well his decrease in appetite continued and he lost some more weight (not quickly over about a year maybe a little less) so we took him into the vet. She did the complete work-up, blood test the whole nine yards and found nothing wrong with him except his teeth. So we brought him back to have his teeth cleaned, she had to pull 3 teeth, but everything else is fine. I should also mention here that he is 13 (will be 14 this March) and the problems started a few months before he turned 11. OK so we feed him wet food for around a week then weaned him back to dry (per vet instructions). He was fine, but still not eating the way he used to. Even with wet food that he used to gobble up like there was no tomorrow he didn't eat as well as before. So I called the vet back, she seemed to think it might be due to his age, but I have 3 other cats the same age (one of which is still overweight) and they eat fine. But each cat is different so we waited another couple of weeks, as the vet suggested, then brought him back to the vet. She did more blood work (including diabetes testing - blood at fast then blood 1 hour after given food), still nothing wrong with him. So the vet gave us some appetite stimulants, and it worked for about a day or 2, but then he was right back to not eating as well. Now let me be very very clear here he IS eating, but only about half of what he used to. We feed the over weight cats 1/4 cup a day (split over 2 meals) and the others 1/2 cup a day (split over 2 meals) and I feed him 1 cup per day (split over two meals) and he eats a total of about 1/4 cup per day. Now during his obese days that was fine, but now he really needs to eat at least 1/2 cup per day. It should also be mentioned that we do feed each cat in a separate room and don't let any of them out until they are all finished. So there is no chance that he is eating from one of the other's bowls.
So what I have tried:
So far I have tried all the tricks I know to get him to eat more: wet food, cat nip on the food, heating the food (wet food for this), gravy over the dry food (room temperature and heated), tuna, salmon, hot dogs and boiled egg.
The vet said he is fine, he could stand to gain 1/2 a pound, but for his age he is fine. Other than his eating, he is a perfectly healthy cat. He has occasional bouts of vomiting - well not vomiting food but bringing up hairballs which is normal especially since we do have a Persian and a German Sheppard in the house. But nothing else unusual about him. Despite his age he does not suffer from arthritis, unlike his litter mate, he does not have diabetes or any other health problem.
Now this might truly just be a sign of his age, but I still would like to try to get him to eat more. Is there anything anyone can suggest that I haven't already tried? We still have appetite stimulates, of which we usually give him 1/2 tab every couple of weeks, and have a standing prescription at the vet if we need more.
Thanks
OK so the history:
I currently have 5 cats and the one in question I have had since he was a kitten, I actually had to bottle feed him for the first 3 weeks we had him. He has always been an excellent eater, too good in fact he used to be around 5 pounds over weight. We put him, and his 2 overweight brothers, on a diet and he did loose some weight but always stayed about 1-2 pounds above where he should be. Now all of this has been going on for over 6 years. Well in the past 2.5 years he stopped eating as much as he used to and lost the last 2 pounds, well his decrease in appetite continued and he lost some more weight (not quickly over about a year maybe a little less) so we took him into the vet. She did the complete work-up, blood test the whole nine yards and found nothing wrong with him except his teeth. So we brought him back to have his teeth cleaned, she had to pull 3 teeth, but everything else is fine. I should also mention here that he is 13 (will be 14 this March) and the problems started a few months before he turned 11. OK so we feed him wet food for around a week then weaned him back to dry (per vet instructions). He was fine, but still not eating the way he used to. Even with wet food that he used to gobble up like there was no tomorrow he didn't eat as well as before. So I called the vet back, she seemed to think it might be due to his age, but I have 3 other cats the same age (one of which is still overweight) and they eat fine. But each cat is different so we waited another couple of weeks, as the vet suggested, then brought him back to the vet. She did more blood work (including diabetes testing - blood at fast then blood 1 hour after given food), still nothing wrong with him. So the vet gave us some appetite stimulants, and it worked for about a day or 2, but then he was right back to not eating as well. Now let me be very very clear here he IS eating, but only about half of what he used to. We feed the over weight cats 1/4 cup a day (split over 2 meals) and the others 1/2 cup a day (split over 2 meals) and I feed him 1 cup per day (split over two meals) and he eats a total of about 1/4 cup per day. Now during his obese days that was fine, but now he really needs to eat at least 1/2 cup per day. It should also be mentioned that we do feed each cat in a separate room and don't let any of them out until they are all finished. So there is no chance that he is eating from one of the other's bowls.
So what I have tried:
So far I have tried all the tricks I know to get him to eat more: wet food, cat nip on the food, heating the food (wet food for this), gravy over the dry food (room temperature and heated), tuna, salmon, hot dogs and boiled egg.
The vet said he is fine, he could stand to gain 1/2 a pound, but for his age he is fine. Other than his eating, he is a perfectly healthy cat. He has occasional bouts of vomiting - well not vomiting food but bringing up hairballs which is normal especially since we do have a Persian and a German Sheppard in the house. But nothing else unusual about him. Despite his age he does not suffer from arthritis, unlike his litter mate, he does not have diabetes or any other health problem.
Now this might truly just be a sign of his age, but I still would like to try to get him to eat more. Is there anything anyone can suggest that I haven't already tried? We still have appetite stimulates, of which we usually give him 1/2 tab every couple of weeks, and have a standing prescription at the vet if we need more.
Thanks
And well he is almost 14 years old, so I guess if this is the only thing wrong with him after 14 years I really don't have anything to complain about. It is just hard to think that this might be the beginning of the end. I have had him and his litter mate sice they were 2 weeks old, so I guess you can say I am a little attached and I am not ready to throw in the towel just yet.
. I have taken to sitting in the room with him as he eats (he is fed in the bathroom) he seems to do better that way, but still not as good as he used to eat. I find that generally no matter how much food I give him he will only ever eat half (this never used to be the case), so I have also started giving him 1/2 cup twice a day knowing that at most he will only eat 1/4 cup twice a day, which gives him is 1/2 cup daily food that he should be getting, so far that, along with me sitting with him while he eats seems to be doing the trick. I guess it is just is age, which is sad, because I am dreading the day that he will no longer be here. I must say I am a little more attached to him and his litter mate, I guess because we have had them since they were a little under 3 weeks (about 2-1/2 weeks when we got them from the shelter) and we were literally there life line, we bottle fed them, cleaned them, all the things that mamma cat would do. The other 3 cats were older and weaned when we got them so we were never really "mamma cat" to them, not that I don't love the others just as much, but I guess Storm and Thor are special since I was/am really thier Mom.
