What's the yummiest, smelliest cat food ever?

[spinbaby]

Our senior cat--17 years old--has a "cold." He's on antibiotics. According to the vet, it's a minor infection, but at his recheck this morning, he was down a full pound since Tuesday. The problem seems to be that he can't smell and won't eat what he can't smell. We've had a bit of luck with tuna, but he's mostly not eating. So what's really smelly and yummy and totally irresistible to cats?

[Haole Girl]

1. I wish I could help you, but my cats have to eat...

...IVD, Green Peas and Duck formula (even though it's dried food, it is a little smelly) which I have to buy at the vet's office. I don't know if your kitty can eat dried food...I guess it might be worth a try. It seemed like the 100th kind of food we tried, and our last hope, to help our Tabby cat from a skin condition. Thank God it worked! Good luck...

I hope your senior cat improves soon!

[yewberry]

2. When my dog is sick

we have to resort to baby food. Lamb baby food.

Shit reeks to high heaven.

[kedrys]

3. Plato had a killer cold last year

We found that if we spoon-fed him standing up, i.e. if he didn't have to bend down to eat, he could smell his food much better and ate just fine. Feeding him that way helped keep all the gunk out of his face, just like a biped person.

Of course, he wanted to be spoon-fed for *weeks* after he got better, but that's another story. :rofl:

I hope your kitty feels better soon! :hi:

[LostinVA]

4. Turkey and gravy baby food -- that's what always works with my sick kitties

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Something even smellier than tuna - sardines or mackerel.

He might be able to smell that. I guess cats won't eat stuff they can't smell.

[Catshrink]

6. My cats go apeshit when I open a can of

Fancy Feast Ocean whitefish and tuna feast (it makes me gag). They also love any kind of FF chicken. They don't get it very often.

[bullwinkle428]

7. Solid Gold Blended Tuna - ours would go totally nuts when that

can was opened, and it's such a high-quality, literally human-grade product, that it won't smell repulsive unless you have a particular distaste for tuna in general. It almost looks like sushi-grade tuna when you open up the can!

[AirmensMom]

8. Maybe the problem isn't with his smeller.

My cat went totally anorexic on Clavamox. It's a side-effect of some of these antibiotics that they neglect to mention. He wouldn't even eat his favorite treat, chicken baby food. Once he went off the Clav, his appetite came back within 24 hours. I hope your kitty gets better.

[spinbaby]

10. Uh oh

He's on Clavomox for another week--he could disappear if he doesn't eat for a week. He goes up to the food, sniffs, and then has a drink of water instead. We've tried many flavors of Fancy Feast, tuna, chicken baby food, minced leftover turkey, and steamed shrimp. I may make a run out to Long John Silvers today--he always goes nuts then that comes into the house.

[Rhiannon12866]

13. My friend used lamb or beef baby food as a treat to get his cat to take his meds.

He really loved that. The only problem is that he now demands it, loudly and early in the morning, everyday. He's 16. Good luck with this. Let us know what works for you.:D

[AirmensMom]

18. Well, we had to take Satchmo off it.

We consulted a new vet. He told us that being so dehydrated (he wouldn't even drink water, but most of his liquid comes from his food) was far more dangerous than whatever the infection was that they were treating. FWIW, he got better on his own without the Clavamox once we changed his food ... but that's a whole different discussion that I've already been flamed for. It will be interesting to see if your kitty gets his appetite back once he goes off the Clavamox. It took almost exactly 24 hours, as if someone had flipped a switch.

Please keep us updated. :hug:

[femmocrat]

9. How about a can of sardines?

Or a nice fresh mouse? (sorry, that was just stoopid, but I couldn't help myself!)

[carlydenise]

11. Fancy Feast Chicken florentine is what my cats go mad over nt

Carly

[Rhiannon12866]

12. When I was attempting to trap my cat, who I brought in from outside,

a woman who works with ferals advised me to use tuna, sardines or "human chicken," as she put it, because these were the most odoriferous and would attract the kitty. Tuna was what finally worked for me, but I'd think sardines would have the the strongest smell.:shrug:

When my dogs have been sick and weren't eating, my vet had me saute liver for them. They really liked that and I'd think a cat would, as well. I sauteed beef liver quickly in canola oil (no flavor, high smoking point) over high heat, leaving it pink in the middle, per his instructions. I'd think chicken livers would work, too.:-)

Here's hoping that he's on the mend very soon...O8)

[cwydro]

14. My cats hate tuna

which I find weird. But they do like mackerel; they LOVE deli ham and canadian bacon...and apparently they're pretty happy with Thanksgiving turkey.

[bertha katzenengel]

15. meat baby food is the only thing I've ever seen a really sick cat eat

I've had the best luck with lamb and veal.

Good luck to kitty. :hug:

[dorkulon]

16. Salmon?

My cats love it, and I can smell it clear across the house.

[hedgehog]

17. This is going to sound weird - but all our animals go nuts for the

special kidney diet food for cats. It's high fat, low protein and you can only buy it from the vet. I wouldn't serve it for very long to a cat that's otherwise healthy because it's probably lacking in nutrition and very high calorie, but you say your cat's not eating , so...

[Mz Pip]

19. Fresh warm KFC

We use it to trap very wary feral cats. They'll go into the traps for warm greasy KFC.

You could always try to force feed him with a plastic syringe. I nursed a cat back to health using baby food and some cat formula in a syringe. Held him and put the tip of the syringe donw the side of his mouth. He got some nourishment until he was interested in food again.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[jmowreader]

20. They quit making it, Spinbaby

The vilest cat food that has ever been made, by anyone, anywhere, was Purina Unique. I called it "fish heads and rice" because that's what it looked like--fish heads in gelatin. Cats loved this shit. Cats would learn to run the can opener to get into P.U.. Cats that didn't like canned food liked P.U. Dead cats would eat this. Oh God this stuff stank. I was at the fourteen-cat level when P.U. was on the market, and three of them would touch no other canned food. It was dry food, P.U. and whatever they could filch off my plate while I was eating.

It came in three flavors and all of them were fish. Huge hunks of smallish fish, complete with the bones and eyeballs. (When you pressure cook fish bones, they become completely harmless. I think fish eyeballs are safe even raw. Disgusting, like everything else about P.U., but safe.) They just cut fish into square chunks, threw it in a can, dumped aspic over it, put on the lid and autoclaved it. They took the shit off the market because most people wouldn't buy anything that looks this fucking disgusting. Cats were of a different mindset: they thought it was five-star cuisine in a six-ounce can. So what should have been the most successful cat food ever was a Bush-level failure simply because they put the fucking heads and guts in the can. (OTOH, you know this shit provided your cat with his full day's requirement of calcium.)

I think the current winner in the "vilest cat food" contest is Whiskas Kitty's Stew. No eyeballs, but all of the delicate bouquet (okay, a stench that was even worse than a burning clutch lining) that made P.U. such a family favorite. Six of my current cat horde wholeheartedly approve.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

23. "P.U." -- how very aptly named.

Cats seem to like their dinner kinda aromatic, as long as it's not actually rotten. A cat ownee who has a strong stomach and access to a fish processing plant could probably make some very tasty cat food at home, although the house would stink unbearably during the cooking process, and would soon be surrounded by every cat, raccoon and osprey within 20 miles.

[hickman]

21. If the medication is suppressing his appetite, you may have to

eyedropper it down his throat. I did it with a dog once, but I have no idea how with a cat. Ask the vet. He may need an IV feed for a few days. Vet puts the IV in and shows you how to hook up the feed bag maybe. All I know is that they do it for humans, so probably for cats too.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

22. mouse

[carlydenise]

24. LOL nt

Carly