Tempting a cat to eat?

[fiwen30]

A couple of days ago I noticed my normally rather plump 7.5 year old male, Oscar felt unsually boney. I can feel his spine, and he's lost weight though his thick fur makes it difficult to tell.

He's an indoor cat, along with my 3 year old male, and is off his food. He's still drinking and weeing in their litter box, but I don't think he's pooing much if at all.

I can't get him into the vets until Saturday, but is there anything I can do in the meantime to encourage him to eat? He normally gets Iams biscuits and a Whiskas pouch, but isn't interested in either apart from picking at them a little. :(

[Shelley123]

sorry to hear about Oscar and hope the vet can provide some answers on sat.
I always used to find warm chicken pieces useful for tempting appetites. How about whiskas milk, pilchards ? Sometimes slightly warming the food helps

[Elaine]

Oh dear, is there no way you can get him to the vet sooner?
http://felinecrf.org/persuading_cat_to_eat.htm
~I am not suggesting your cat has crf but it does have a good section on getting cats to eat.

[fiwen30]

Thanks for the link Elaine. I am worried about him, I've got our shop keys so I have to drop them in tomorrow morning, but will try to swap my day off from Saturday to tomorrow to get him in sooner.

[pookyandjo]

sorry to hear Oscar is not wanting to eat... maybe try some kitten food wet or dry or both if you like..... the added bonus with foods formulated for kittens is they are high in calories and have extra nutrients to cater for their growing little bodies... so even if he only eats a little he will be getting extra calories... let us know how he
goes..

[Velvet]

Try a wee bit of tuna perhaps?

[angieh]

I hope that you can tempt Oscar and that you can get him to the vet. I found that finger feeding raw beef mince (prev. frozen) always worked with my old boy Merlin. Fingers crossed, do let us know.

[Shelley123]

hope Oscar is ok

[Velvet]

Any news?

.

.

[fiwen30]

Hi everyone. We got to the vet on Friday evening - the vet couldn't feel any blockages, though Oscar's breath was a particular sort of smelly (can't remember the name, sorry!). Oscar has been drinking and urinating more than usual, so the vet thought it might be a kidney infection. He got 2 shots of steriods which the vet said should've boosted/returned his appetite by tonight, and antibiotics to give twice daily from Sunday to Wednesday.

I'm still concerned, as Oscar has only eaten a couple of small mouthfuls today, and has been uninterested in any tasty things I've offered, instead turning his nose up in favour of drinking more water :/

Our vet said to come back on Monday if there's been no change, or to wait till the anitbiotics are finished on Wednesday.

Any thoughts?

[Velvet]

If no better i would go back on Monday x

[Elaine]

I would have expected my vet to run a full blood test. One of the dangers of cats not eating for a while is liver disease.
Keep tempting him with anything and everything, better he eats something little and often than nothing at all. Warm chicken, tuna, sardines, prawns anything. Try mushing the food and mixing with a little cooled, boiled water so that he can lap it rather than chew.
I'd get him back to the vet as soon as you can tbh.

[Kazz]

Hello
Sorry to hear about Oscar's health.
I would say back to the vets but keep a foo/health diary and try to calculate how much water he is drinking by measuring it before it goes in his bowl and how much is still there when you change it in a 24 hour timescale. Then
you can see if he is drinking more or you are noticing he is drinking whereas before you really didn't. When we worry we do tend to go OTT.

What sort of food does he eat? I noticed you said whiskas pouch have you tried adding a little water to his meal making it like a gravy so he can lap rather than eat/chew and maybe even adding boiled cooled water to any meal he has so its warm when he eats it the smell I think is different when warm. I found when my old lad did not eat strong smelling things got his attention - pilchards - sardines - chicken - ham etc. He adored roast lamb. I always added water to his wet food and tried to make sure he little and often rather than a full dish a couple of pieces of fingernail sized pieces of ham every three hours is a lot to a cats size tummy.

Hope he improves and let us know how the vet visit goes.

[fiwen30]

Thanks all.

Elaine - the vet said the next step would be blood work, if the antibiotics didn't help, but I'd have to go to the main surgery rather than the smaller clinic we were at.

Kazz - I wish I could accurately measure how much he's drinking, but he plumbs most of his water from the tap! It's very noticable though, as I'll offer him food and he'll turn away in favour of drinking from the tap instead.

He showed no improvement last night, despite the appetite-stimulating injections, though I was able to get the first antibiotic into him this morning. The vet gave me Ceporex to give twice daily, Sunday - Wednesday. I'll be staying at home with him today to try and persuade him to eat, and if not then it'll be back to the main surgery tomorrow.

[Kazz]

Hope he improves. Do continue to keep us updated if you can.

[angieh]

Fingers crossed for Oscar. Can't add anything to what's already been said food-wise.

[Shelley123]

Hope the vets visit goes well tomorrow and that Oscar improves soon

[fiwen30]

Oscar has definitely got worse today, he's been less active, drinking and urinating less and showing no sign at all of wanting to eat by himself. As he's had so little to eat for so long now, I've been syringing various liquid foods into him, just so he has something. We're going to the vet first thing tomorrow.

[Kazz]

I am so sorry to hear about this decline. I hope he feels a bit better - look after yourself.

[angieh]

Very sorry to hear this .......... bless him.

[fiwen30]

It's not good news, I'm afraid.

The vet said he was severly dehydrated, and did blood work to test his kidney function. Unfortunately, the 2 things he was tested for (Urea and something else) came back very high, and he's in the stages of kidney failure.

The vet advised to take it on a day-by-day basis, so Oscar is in the clinic on a drip and antibiotics, and I'm to phone in the morning.

I feel so helpless, my last cat to have an overnight vet stay never came back, and I just don't know what to do.

[yoshi8]

At least he is in the right place and getting the best treatment hopefully. Hope he responds to treatment for you and his sake.

[Kazz]

I am so sorry its turned out like this, but its one of the basic facts of having animals they have shorter lifespans than we do. The only thing you can do is cry a lot and do whats best for your cat.

I am so sorry Oscar is poorly, but you never know he could surprise you all.

[Shelley123]

I'm sorry to hear this about Oscar , you are doing all you can.
Like Karen says he may rally round, you never know. He is being given the best chance

[angieh]

So very sorry to hear this. He's in the best place. Try to keep strong for him. (((HUGS)))

[Shelley123]

any news on Oscar today ?

[fiwen30]

Hey Shelley.

The vet did another blood test this morning, and while his urea and cretinine levels have dropped, they've not gone down as much as expected and he's still not got much appetite.

His first test was urea - 89, cretinine 1300, and the second was urea - 77, cretinine 1100.

He's being kept in on the IV drip today and overnight, and hopefully there'll have been more improvement tomorrow. The vet wanted to make me aware that he's still very sick, and his levels are still very high, but the fact that he's no more than 8 years old rather than being an *elderly* cat stands in his favour. I'm still incredibly nervous for him.

[TiggerMoon]

So sorry to hear about Oscar, I really hope that his youth will work in his favour and he will bounce back from this. There is alot of information on the internet about feline kidney failure/disease and I can recommend www.felinecrf.org if you haven't already found it!

Keeping our fingers and paws crossed for both of you xxx

[Elaine]

Had he been sick prior to this? Its unusual for such a young cat to have CRF, Acute Renal Failure is usually caused by the cat ingesting something poisonous, anti freeze, plant matter etc.

http://felinecrf.org/acute_kidney_injury.htm

This particular page will give you all the info on ARF.

I sincerely hope that Oscar pulls through, best wishes to you both xxx

[fiwen30]

Thanks for the links, I've actually been combing that website over the last couple of days.

Elaine - The only other health concern we've had with him was when our previous vet in England detected a mild heart murmer when we took him to have some matts removed. That was maybe 4 or 5 years ago, and he's had no problems before or since, until now. I doubt he's ingested anything poisonous, both of our cats have been indoors for 3 months since our house move, and there's nothing lying around that they could get into.

[Elaine]

I pretty much know that site back to front so if you struggle to find what you are looking for just yell.
Does he chew on your house plants? ~If you have any. Does he go out~?
Although the important thing now is fluids, it can take several days for the urea and creatinine levels to come down.

[fiwen30]

Thanks, that's really appreciated.

We do have house plants, but he has no interest in them. He hasn't been out in 3 months since we moved house, before that he would go outside reluctantly and not for long periods, since we moved to Northern Ireland in May 2011. In England he was an active indoor/outdoor cat.

I will be wanting him on the IV for more than a couple of days, if he's showing signs of improvement.

[Shelley123]

hope Oscar is feeling better soon, poor boy.
One thing when he does show signs of being hungry, maybe you could take some of his own food in for him. I don't know whether he's a fussy eater or not but years ago when Jerry was in the vets he wouldn't touch their food. He also benefited from me visiting him.

[fiwen30]

Hi again.

Oscar had another blood test this morning, and his levels have come down again, although still not by much or very quickly.

His urea is now 69, from 77 yesterday, and his cretinine is 1000, from 1100 yesterday.

The vet's suggestion was to continue with the IV today and tonight, taking it day by day. Although he said that *some* people would consider PTS if their cat hasnt shown considerably improvement by now, and considering the cost aspect, which seems rather...extreme. Though I'm not sure if that's a reasonable opinion or not?

The cost isn't an issue for now, so I'm more than happy to carry on with the IV if it could be beneficial, and I'm going to see him tonight. The vet sounded rather surprised but pleased when I asked if I could visit, as if not many people ask to do that?

[Shelley123]

thanks for the update, he is going in the right direction albeit slowly.
You are right to visit him and yes i don't think many people think to do this but as i have said i did and i felt it helped.

[Elaine]

I too think you are absolutely right to visit him, I know I would.
As for the fluids, I have known cats to be on fluids for a week before seeing a significant improvement. The point here is that the levels are coming down, I'd be more concerned if they were sticking. Such high levels will be making him feel nausious but maybe when you visit you could try tempting him with something nice.
I have everything crossed that he will pull through this.
Just a thought but do you have insurance for him?

[fiwen30]

Thanks you two.

He seemed really pleased to see me, poor pet, and he's definitely looking perkier than he did on Monday when I took him in. He's still not interested in the renal-specific food, but they're trying him with different food tonight so I took one of his usual Whiskas pouches down to see if he'd take that.

He's still a very sick boy, but will be having another blood test tomorrow. I'll be at work tomorrow, so I'm rather nervous about having to field that call at work :/

Elaine - No he doesn't have insurance, and I don't think I could take any out for him now?

[angieh]

I am sending huge healing vibes for Oscar - glad the levels are decreasing albeit slowly.

[Shelley123]

glad you managed to visit Oscar, i don't think the renal diets are the most tempting of foods, unfortunately. Did he eat any of the whiskas ?
I hope the blood test results are ok tomorrow

[fiwen30]

Thanks angieh, really means a lot to know people are thinking of us.

Just back from work now, and had the results of today's blood test this morning.

His levels have come down yet again, by quite a large drop today. His urea is 51 from 69 yesterday, and his cretinine is 800 from 1000 yesterday. Again, he'll spend the night in and on the IV, with more blood work tomorrow. He still hasn't got much of an appetite, bar licking a little jelly off the Whiskas wet food I took in last night.

I assume he'll be getting the nutrients he needs from other methods than conventional solid food while he's in there? Might be a silly question, but I hope the vets are finding a way of him not-starving!

[Shelley123]

good to hear his levels are going down and that he ate a little of the jelly . I could be wrong but i think he will be getting what he needs from the drip.

[TiggerMoon]

So glad to hear he's improving. I bet he was glad to see you!

[fiwen30]

Hi all, more better news this morning.

Oscar's urea is 43 from 51, and cretinine is 767 from 800. He also ate some food! Not his medicated renal food, but food all the same.

He's going to be staying in over the weekend, but wont have any more blood tests untill Monday. The vet didn't think they'd be necessary, as his treatment would be the same no matter what his levels. We're hoping that if they fall at the rate shown over this past week, his urea should be around 20 on Monday and we can discuss whether or not he can come home :)

I'll be calling for updates over the weekend, will hopefully get over to visit him tonight or tomorrow, and will continue to update this thread.

Thanks to everyone for your positive thoughts, as we've quite a way to go yet!

[angieh]

That's good news for Oscar - hope his levels continue to fall and that he can come home very soon. Loads more healing vibes from me, please give Oscar a wee chin tickle from me when you see him.

[Shelley123]

great news, may Oscar continue to improve

[Elaine]

Its a long road to travel but all going in the right direction. Always better that he eats something than nothing at all.
Continuing good wishes xxx

[Kazz]

Thats great and whats the sayin every journey starts with one step (or something) and you and Oz have started.....and we are with you - want us or not.

[fiwen30]

Hi everyone, just an update for the weekend.

Oscar's been eating with some persuasion and coaxing, but he hasn't been as bright today as he has been. Hopefully it'll just be a down day for him, but there'll be another blood test tomorrow and I'll be over to visit him again tomorrow night.

I'm really missing him, and my other cat and dog havn't known what to do with themselves. Have to take it a day at a time I suppose.

[Shelley123]

good news that Oscar is eating a bit, he's probably confused and missing you all too. I'm sure he will benefit from seeing you tomorrow and i hope the blood test is ok,poor boy

[angieh]

Fingers crossed here ......... more healing vibes being sent x

[Shelley123]

Hoping for good test results for Oscar today

[fiwen30]

Hi everyone, I could really do with some advice today...

Oscar had his first blood test since Friday today, and his levels seem to have hit a plateau over the weekend. He's eating a little, though he's been acting rather flat today and yesterday.

His urea is 42 from 43 on Firday, and his cretinine is 717 from 767 on Friday.

Unfortunately I can't visit him tonight, but I'm going over tomorrow as the vet thinks it's time to take him off the IV and bring him home under observation for 24-48 hours and see how he gets on.

I've looked all over http://felinecrf.org/index.htm, and while I've read that cats can continue on with very limited kidney function, I couldn't find anything pertaining to less-than-normal blood levels. Any help?

I'm not sure quite what to do next :/

[Shelley123]

Hi, i'm sure someone will be along to give you some advice, i can't realy advise you about his levels. However maybe his flatness is due to being away from you and home.

[angieh]

I seem to remember Elaine saying a good while ago that Tanya can be contacted and is very helpful ..... you could try contacting her support group on the website and asking the question.

[Kazz]

Hmmm I am loathe to write this however you asked for advice I cannot give advice he is your cat.
My thoughts would be quality is better than quantity of life - bring him home. See how he is. Just because we can lengthen life soes not mean at all costs in my mind however not saying that is the case with Oscar maybe he is bored and fed up bring him home see how he is. Sustaining him purely on IV is not in anyones best interest is it?

[TiggerMoon]

If Oscar were my cat, I would bring him home. It sounds like the IV has done a good job of getting him back on his feet again, and he probably misses you and his family. I was lucky with my cat Speedy, she didn't have to stay at the vets for treatment as she never had a severe crisis like Oscar, hers was a slow decline over three and a half years with many highs and lows. I never kept track of her levels, just went on the advice of the vet and how she was in herself, so I can't help in that department, but I know in your situation I would be missing him like crazy!

[fiwen30]

Hi everyone.

I brought Oscar home this afternoon, my darling fluffy boy is so thin now :( We've a tentative appointment booked at the vets for Saturday morning, but if he crashes before then there wont be much else we can do for him.

I've got some renal food for him, as well as Fortekor tablets to be given once a day. I'm now back to my original question; 'how to tempt a cat to eat?'... He's been drinking, though not excessively, and came out of his carrier straight away and did a wee and a poo in the litter tray. Havn't been able to persuade him to eat anything yet though.

He's had a bit of a potter around the house, though he couldn't jump up onto the table where he usually sleeps :/ It's good to have him home though, even if it might not be for long.

[Shelley123]

I'd buy a hot chicken and try to tempt him with tiny pieces of that. Glad you have him home

[Kazz]

I'd buy a hot chicken and try to tempt him with tiny pieces of that. Glad you have him home

Echo that or a chicken portion. Something with a strong smell - pilchards? salmon (tinned) chicken, tinned sardines in tomatosauce, roast lamb, cheese even or squirty cream..... fish paste on your finger? Boiled ham? tinned tuna?and it may sound weird but the cheapest tin of catfood you can find (strong smells is what you are after)

What does he like> give it to him. Eating something is better than nothing.

Add a little warm water to wet food....this will help anyhow more liquid.

Is he able to tolerate milk? if so a little blood heat milk? runny scrambled egg with bits of fried bacon in?

Hope it works...........

[fiwen30]

Thanks you two.

He still perks when you call or stroke him, but he's so weak and only getting worse. He drinks if I carry to him the tap, and eats a few small pieces of ham or chicken if I open his mouth and pop them in, but his spark has gone.

He treated me to a lovely long purr last night, but I'm coming to terms with the fact we have to let him go soon.

[angieh]

Bless you, I know how you are feeling ..... I'd also try a bit of beef mince, raw - previously frozen and well thawed, try a little bit at a time, dangle it in front of his nose .... let him play with it. That always worked for my Merlin.

[Shelley123]

thinking of you and Oscar at this difficult time x

[fiwen30]

We helped Oscar pass quietly and peacefully this morning, I couldn't have managed it without my fiance's arm around me.

He looked no different in death than he did in his final few hours, so I know I made the right decision.

Thank you all so much for your advice, support and kind words, it means so much to me. If a moderator could lock or delete this thread so I don't get any more notifications, that'd be much apprciated.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e102/capricorn30/DSC01228_zps094586e5.jpg

[angieh]

So terribly sorry ......... RIP sweet Oscar. Run free with all the Catsey cats that have passed over before. ((((HUGS))))