Eating Habits

I don't know if I'm being ultra paranoid because of her recent
illness, or if there's still a problem.

Natasha isn't really eating again. Last week, a few days after I
brought her home from the emergency vet's she'd finally started to eat
a little - as long as it was tuna people-food. She was only nibbling a
very little at her usual food, K/D.

Friday afternoon I took her to her regular vet for a second opinion,
and he took her temperature (she was actually *clenching* to keep that
thing out of her backside!). Since then she seems to be eating less.
Scarier, today was the first day since Friday that I'd noticed she'd
been drinking from her water bowls in any noticable amount.

I've been trying to tempt her with various kinds of canned cat food,
but she hasn't been "chowing down" - a few nibbles at a time, over the
entire evening is the best I can get from her. Tonight she even got a
fish flavor, but she's not going at it.

Bear in mind, she's not being lethargic, she's just not really eating.

SO.... does anyone else's kitties have this kind of eating behavior?
Or is she maybe still po'd, this time over having yet another
indignity done to her on Friday? Or maybe she's trying to hold me
hostage to a new taste treat and I just need to wait her out? Or
maybe she's just getting tired of it all?

Thoughts?



Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha

============
http://www.jhedge.com

You could try microwaving her food (for about 10 seconds) to heat it up
slightly. The smell from the warmed up food can entice a cat to eat
when they have lost their appetite. I saw this trick on a pet
programme. I've tried it many times on my cats, with varying success
rates.

If the vet said she is okay, she could just be in a bad mood. However,
could she have teeth problems or other mouth problems, preventing her
from eating? I'm sure the vet would have checked for this, but maybe
you could have a look, just in case.

If she was a good eater prior to her illness, I'd be a little
concerned, as something must be up. Is it okay to give Natasha milk
with eggs mixed in? When Tommy had really bad mouth problems, that was
the only thing that kept him going. Fortunately the antibiotics worked
on him and he's on solids again.

Hope Tasha's appetite returns.

Dewi.

Dewi wrote:

You could try microwaving her food (for about 10 seconds) to heat it up
slightly. The smell from the warmed up food can entice a cat to eat
when they have lost their appetite. I saw this trick on a pet
programme. I've tried it many times on my cats, with varying success
rates.

I second this suggestion! Roxy has no problems with her appetite, but she
is a very finicky eater, and she doesn't like cold (ie, refrigerated) food.
When I give her her morning dose of Lysine, I always mix it up with a
teaspoon of warmed-up meat baby food. And I warm it up by microwaving it
for 10 seconds. She scarfs that right down.

Joyce

Jeanne Hedge wrote:
I don't know if I'm being ultra paranoid because of her recent
illness, or if there's still a problem.

Natasha isn't really eating again. Last week, a few days after I
brought her home from the emergency vet's she'd finally started to eat
a little - as long as it was tuna people-food. She was only nibbling a
very little at her usual food, K/D.
snip

Thoughts?


She's still on antibiotics, isn't she? Sometimes they lose their
appetite when they are on antibiotics. Better not give her too much
people tuna. Have you tried poached chicken/turkey or fish? Those are my
cats' favourite foods. They'd be easy on the tummy, too, if it's at all
upset.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.
Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

wrote:
Dewi wrote:

You could try microwaving her food (for about 10 seconds) to heat it up
slightly. The smell from the warmed up food can entice a cat to eat
when they have lost their appetite. I saw this trick on a pet
programme. I've tried it many times on my cats, with varying success
rates.

I second this suggestion! Roxy has no problems with her appetite, but she
is a very finicky eater, and she doesn't like cold (ie, refrigerated) food.
When I give her her morning dose of Lysine, I always mix it up with a
teaspoon of warmed-up meat baby food. And I warm it up by microwaving it
for 10 seconds. She scarfs that right down.

Joyce

Dewi and Joyce, thanks for the suggestion warming the food. I'll
give it a try this evening.

I don't think she's got a problem with her mouth, as her vet did look
at it, and she will munch greenies (I give her one or two a night).
It's just that she's refusing to eat much else. I'm not sure what to
think at this point.


Jeanne Hedge, paranoid slave of Natasha

Marina wrote:
She's still on antibiotics, isn't she? Sometimes they lose their
appetite when they are on antibiotics. Better not give her too much
people tuna. Have you tried poached chicken/turkey or fish? Those are my
cats' favourite foods. They'd be easy on the tummy, too, if it's at all
upset.

Yes, she's taking clavamox (I think that's the one), and won't be
finished until Friday. I didn't realize there was a connection between
antibiotics and appetite, though. It's something I'll keep in mind.

I'm wary about giving any animal people food. As for poaching, I think
the only thing I know how to poach is an egg, and I don't have the
special pan that's needed to do that.

I'm a terrible mommy, I know... (one who should really improve her
cooking skills) ^.^

I mentioned in another post that she's still interested when I give her
one or two greenie snacks at night, and crunches them right down. I was
sincerely hoping she's just irritated and will come out of it soon (if
I can wait her out), but if antibiotics depress appetite, that would
explain things a bit better too.


Jeanne Hedge, Natasha's paranoid slave

"Jeanne" wrote:
Marina wrote:
She's still on antibiotics, isn't she? Sometimes they lose their
appetite when they are on antibiotics. Better not give her too much
people tuna. Have you tried poached chicken/turkey or fish? Those are my
cats' favourite foods. They'd be easy on the tummy, too, if it's at all
upset.

Yes, she's taking clavamox (I think that's the one), and won't be
finished until Friday. I didn't realize there was a connection between
antibiotics and appetite, though. It's something I'll keep in mind.

I'm wary about giving any animal people food. As for poaching, I think
the only thing I know how to poach is an egg, and I don't have the
special pan that's needed to do that.

You don't need a special pan to poach an egg, just use a small sauce pot or
small frying pan. I have done it many times in a small frying pan.

Randy

http://picasaweb.google.com/crmartin1

http://kittenwar.com/kittens/74045/

Jeanne wrote:

I didn't realize there was a connection between
antibiotics and appetite, though. It's something I'll keep in mind.

I think they can sometimes upset a cat's stomach a bit. Maybe not enough
to throw up, but enough to put them off eating for a while.

Joyce

wrote:

Jeanne wrote:

I didn't realize there was a connection between antibiotics and
appetite, though. It's something I'll keep in mind.

I think they can sometimes upset a cat's stomach a bit. Maybe
not enough to throw up, but enough to put them off eating for a
while.

Depends on the antibiotic in question as well as the dosage. And
the cat, of course.

I know for a fact that 2.5 ml of cephalexin given three times a
day, after a few days, caused a certain 10-pound cat to lose
her appetite and eventually start vomiting less than an hour
after a dosage. Cut back, and her appetite came back with a
vengeance...only to go away again as we ramped the dosage back up
to what it took to clear out her lungs.

It seemed to help if I spent an awful lot of time distracting her,
before and afterwards, with lots and lots and lots of playing and
petting and what-not. If nothing else, it helped her forgive me,
even though she really hated the medicine. It meant that a
``simple'' two-minute procedure took at least ten times as long,
often longer...but what choice did we have?

And it did wonders to clear out the bacterial infection in
her lungs, too! It's just that...well, it was an opportunistic
infection....

Anyway, neither amoxicillin nor enroflaxin upset her stomach nor
her appetite, at least not noticeably. They also didn't knock out
the pneumonia, though they /did/ help at first. Or, at least, they
sure seemed to.

I'm sure different cats have different reactions to different
drugs, but an upset stomach isn't any more surprising in a cat on
antibiotics than in a person on antibiotics.

What I had to start doing with Joanie was to syringe-feed her
a/d. She didn't care much for that, either, but she only put up
token resistance to it, too. And, believe me, she knew the
difference! She could be asleep in the other room while I was
making dinner. If I even picked up the bottle of antibiotics to
reach behind for something else, she'd vanish underneath the
bed. On the other hand, she could be sitting on a chair in the
kitchen, I'd get the a/d out of the refrigerator, stuff the
syringe full while she watched, and she'd only get off the chair
to head in the other direction when I started to approach her.

All-too-soon after we finally got the pneumonia almost all cleared
up, she had another asthmatic attack that we finally recognized as
such. The prednisone injection brought her breathing back to
normal reasonably quickly, but it took lasix to clear out her
lungs...she probably had some heart failure from the beating her
lungs had taken by this point.

She was doing really well for several days, when she caught a
cold. (Classic feline herpes, a textbook case.) She even did well
enough through that; her appetite vanished, as one would expect in
a cat who can't smell her food, but she did just fine with the
syringe feeding, even put on a few ounces.

And then, a few Fridays ago, she had another asthma attack, a
couple weeks before the prednisone injection should have worn
off. The attack wasn't as severe as the previous two, but it
really, really wiped her out...and she didn't really respond to
medication. I'd open up the oxygen cage to pet her. She'd perk up
a bit, but not much and not for long. When her breathing started
to get worse, I'd close the cage and just sit in front until they
kicked me out. Did that a lot that weekend....

We thought the various drugs (steriods, oral and inhaled, some
injected antibiotics...I don't remember what all) might have
actually started to do some good by that Monday afternoon. She had
been off oxygen since the morning and, though she was rather
weak, her breathing was not-horrible and she wasn't overly
depressed. And it was the decision day, too...Dr. Hummel was ready
to let Joanie come home, provided she showed signs of improvement,
though she didn't think we had much more than a month left. If
not...we had both agreed on Sunday that Monday would still be her
last day at the hospital. We had crossed the line from treatment
to torture sometime that weekend, and neither she nor I could
countenance continuing that without cause.

I spent...oh, I don't know...a couple hours? More? Less?...with
Joanie while the doctor finished up surgery on a dog and saw to
some other patients. Joanie put on such an amazing act...she was
obviously tired, but seemed most ready and eager to come home with
me. She demanded a near non-stop face massage, and climbed in my
lap to see around the edge of the cage. She even wanted to go
exploring, too, which wasn't so much her thing.

And then...the asthmatic breathing kicked back in, and even
lifting her head was hard work....

Ah, my sweetheart....

b&

--
EAC Memographer
BAAWA Knight of Blasphemy
``All but God can prove this sentence true.''

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"Jeanne Hedge" wrote in message
...
I don't know if I'm being ultra paranoid because of her recent
illness, or if there's still a problem.

Natasha isn't really eating again. Last week, a few days after I
brought her home from the emergency vet's she'd finally started to eat
a little - as long as it was tuna people-food. She was only nibbling a
very little at her usual food, K/D.

Friday afternoon I took her to her regular vet for a second opinion,
and he took her temperature (she was actually *clenching* to keep that
thing out of her backside!). Since then she seems to be eating less.
Scarier, today was the first day since Friday that I'd noticed she'd
been drinking from her water bowls in any noticable amount.

I've been trying to tempt her with various kinds of canned cat food,
but she hasn't been "chowing down" - a few nibbles at a time, over the
entire evening is the best I can get from her. Tonight she even got a
fish flavor, but she's not going at it.

Bear in mind, she's not being lethargic, she's just not really eating.

SO.... does anyone else's kitties have this kind of eating behavior?
Or is she maybe still po'd, this time over having yet another
indignity done to her on Friday? Or maybe she's trying to hold me
hostage to a new taste treat and I just need to wait her out? Or
maybe she's just getting tired of it all?

Thoughts?


Get the vet to check out how her kidneys are working.

Tweed