Hi cat lovers!

[angieh]

I have found this site because I have been searching for tips to tempt a poorly cat to eat. Hello to all fellow cat lovers! I'm so worried about my dear old cat Merlin. He is 21 and suffered "staggers" last Wednesday. Of course I took him straight away to our vet. His opinion is that Merlin may have had a small stroke. By the time he was walking around at the surgery, he seemed fine again. But he doesn't want to eat. He did manage some tinned tuna, but not much but is drinking both milk and water though not excessively. Back to the vet the following day for a steroid injection to try to stimulate his appetite but he has not eaten that much since. He has had some raw beef mince and a very small amount of his normal food. He follows us around and seems to want to eat however. He is certainly not himself. I did read a post about CRF and that has got me wondering. I guess it will be back to the vet tomorrow. I don't know what to do in his best interest. He looks so forlorn. Any advice welcome. Angieh

[Kay]

Welcome to Catsey although I wish it was under different circumstances. First of all don't feed raw mince unless it has been previously frozen to kill a certain bacteria on it. Try and get some Science Hill AD food from your vet. I am surprised he didn't suggest it anyway. It is for sick cats. They don't need to eat a great deal of it so is ideal to feed little but often. It can heated up in the microwave to bring out the flavour a bit and tempt Merlin to eat.
Has the vet run any sort of tests on him yet?
I do hope he picks up. You would probably be better posting a thread in the health section as well.

[Fran]

Warm welcome! Merlin is a grand age and sounds such a lovely boy. I had a similar situation myself with my 18 year old girl Lucky, who's now at the bridge. She went off her food and although I knew she was hungry nothing would tempt her. I used to try really smelly foods like sardines, tuna etc, I'd also warm her cat food up a little in the microwave to try and tempt her, I tried watering food down so that she could lap at it. One food that I have found that always seems to tempt a cat with a poor appetite is Applaws.

www.applaws.co.uk

Good luck and do let us know how Merlin gets on

[Grete]

I don't have anything to add that hasn't been mentioned already but wanted to say welcome to Catsey and I hope Merlin picks up soon.

[Elaine]

I am so very sorry to read that your cat is poorly. Has your vet taken a blood/urine sample to try to determine whats going on?
My old boy one morning fell off the bed, lost the use of his hind legs for what felt like an eternity but was only a minute or so in reality. Later that day he was diagnosed with CRF. That doesnt mean that this is what may be wrong with your cat but may be an idea to confirm or eliminate it.
There are many ways to try to help encourage your cat to eat. Raising food bowls often helps as does heating the food up a little either by popping it in the micro for a few seconds or adding a little boiled water to it. Heating the food enhances the smell. Sardines, I think some already mentioned that can also be good coz of the strong smell. Sometimes adding a little gravey helps too. Cooked eggs can also be good as they are easy to swallow, cooked is better coz the egg white contains an enzyme which stops the cat being able to absorb the B vitamins, once the egg white is cooked the enzyme is destroyed.

http://www.catsey.com/showthread.php...instons+legacy

[dandysmom]

Angieh, sorry to hear your old boy Merlin isn't doing well; can't add anything to the excellent advice already given, except maybe try some human tuna or cooked prawns; that worked when one of mine went off his feed due to illness years ago. Sorry your intro to Catsey was on such a sad note.....
Please let us know how he's doing.....

[Amber]

Here is a link to a post I did a while back, hopefully some of it will be helpful to you

http://www.catsey.com/showpost.php?p=406337&postcount=8

[angieh]

Thank you all for your kind wishes for Merlin and good advice and tips. Some I have already tried but some I haven't. As Merlin has had urinary problems for many years, he has been constantly monitored via blood tests etc over the years but probably need retesting. He has had some food today and is taking fluids.

I am also new to this posting lark - so not sure what I'm doing yet!

[Moli]

Hi, warm welcome to Catsey, sorry to hear about Merlin...

[Mags]

Originally Posted by angieh

Thank you all for your kind wishes for Merlin and good advice and tips. Some I have already tried but some I haven't. As Merlin has had urinary problems for many years, he has been constantly monitored via blood tests etc over the years but probably need retesting. He has had some food today and is taking fluids.

I am also new to this posting lark - so not sure what I'm doing yet!

You are doing fine ....... if you need any help about anything on the forum, just ask away, there will always be someone here to help you