Cat food help - Gracie's still very sick

[lizziegrace]

She won't eat anything but her dry food.

My youngest cat Gracie has had an ear infection since early August. I've been trying to grab her long enough to shove a pill down her every day for the last 3 weeks (this is the 4th treatment tried). Problem is, there is no evidence of a polyp in her ear canal, so the general opinion is that she's allergic to something in her food. I had her on Science Diet Oral Care when the infection started and switched her back to ProPlan (food she'd been on for the last 5 years.) I've been trying to get her off the dry food but she won't eat anything else. I've tried ground chicken (raw), cooked chicken and rice, beef, you name it. I'm going out at lunch to get some strained meat baby food as a last resort.

Do any of you have any suggestions at all? I know she's miserable because her ear hurts and I can't find anything she'll eat that will help break this cycle.

I'll check in later, I have to get some work done.

Thanks...

:(

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear lizziegrace...

I wish to God that I had some suggestions.......Alas....

Hope someone here can help, sweetie.......:hug:

[cwydro]

2. I just discovered something yesterday

that EVERY one of my three cats went crazy over. Kippered herring. Only one of my cats ever is a kitchen beggar, but OMG, they came flying when I opened that tin...you could try it. It's in the specialty section of the store I think.

[reyd reid reed]

3. Poor Gracie...

Still no better? All I can think of, Sweetie, is the baby food. Maybe lamb? I've heard that lamb and rice is easy for them to eat and digest and doesn't disagree with them.

I think...I THINK...that they make a lamb and rice kibble, too. My oldest cat won't eat anything but dry food, either.

I'm sorry. How're YOU feeling?

:loveya::hug::loveya::hug::loveya:

[LynneSin]

4. Perhaps mix the food you want her to eat in with the food she does eat

My Evita use to only eat the wet food so I just started mixing her dry with a bit of wet. She now eats all of it

[jobycom]

5. My cat nearly starved herself to death over a food change

Actually, it was the result of several things at once. She had an infection, so I switched her to a special diet, which she refused to eat. I tried not feeding her anything else, figuring she wouldn't starve herself. i was wrong, and it took me a while to realize it because my other cat was eating her food. After about a week she went into fatty liver syndrome, where her liver began over-producing bile because her body was digesting her own fat. I had to force liquid food down her throat for about two months to save her, and could have bought a decent used car with the amount of money I spent on her.

Point being, don't traumatize her too much with the food. Cats do weird things.

One trick I've heard but never tried is to mix the food she likes with the food you want her to eat, about three to one, then, assuming she eats it, gradually reduce the ratio. Some cats will just pick the food they like out of the bowl, miraculously leaving the new brand in the bottom. Others will acquire a taste for the new food.

It's probably not about taste at this point. It's probably about your cat being upset with all the sudden changes, and not feeling well to boot. Something which reduces the stress on her would have the best results.

Just some guesses. I'm not a pro at this, or I wouldn't have starved my poor cat in the first place.

[flamingyouth]

6. Trying the baby food is a great idea.

I've taken care of a lot of sick cats in my day, and I've never had one turn down baby food. I'd try turkey or chicken, though, as they are lighter than lamb. Best of luck to you. :)

[Connonym]

7. Are you looking for something to disguise the pill? or for regular feedings?

Both my mom's cats require daily thyroid meds and my mom coats the pills with liverwurst and they take it readily.

I feed my cats Felidae http://www.canidae.com/cats/chicken_and_rice/dry.html It's all natural so maybe there would be less likelihood of an allergy? I formerly fed Science Diet -- Felidae is a little bit more expensive but I like that it doesn't have mystery ingredients.

I hope your kitty gets better soon.

[lizziegrace]

9. Regular feedings.

There's something in the dry that she's allergic to and it's caused the ear infection. :(

[Kali]

8. When you say she won't eat, what exactly does that mean?

How long have you let her fast? A cat can go quite a waile without food and no real harm done.

It can be hard to be firm with a pet that knows how to manipulate and beg, but like a child you have to do what is best for them.

Why is it so important to get her off dry food? Have you tried Eukanuba? (not sure of the spelling, but it is one of the highest quality dry foods out there)

Not sure if I have ever responded to your particular problem but my standard reply to pet dietary issues for those willing to go the distance is "Dr Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats". http://www.amazon.com/Pitcairns-Complete-Guide-Natural-Health/dp/157954973X

Changed my views on pet food completely. Most allergies are FOOD allergies. Try this guy's basic diet for a month and see what happens. You will be amazed. No more skin, eye, ear problems.

Here is the basic Cat recipe, but GET THE BOOK and READ IT. (lots more recipes)

2 cups water
1/2 cup of GRAIN (polenta, rice, oat, or mixed human cereal)
1 TBS oil or butter
1 egg
1 lb of fresh meat (2 cups ground turkey, lamb, chicken, beef)
2 TBS Health Powder*
scant tsp egg shell (dried, baked at 300 degrees for 10 minutes and ground)
5,000 IU vitamin A (cod liver oil - don't get it on you it stinks)
(tsp of grated fresh veg - carrot, spinach whatever)

Boil water, cook cereal - while still hot stir in egg and meat so it gets heated but not cooked to death add rest except fresh veg. This will keep in fridge for a few days - and is about 3 or 4 servings. Add the fresh veg when feeding. May take a few days for cat to eat it. The book explains about animal fasting. This does NOT hurt the pet. Predators in the wild often go days without eating. again read this book you may even change your own diet!

*Healthy Powder

2 cups nutritional (torula) yeast
1 cup lecithin granules
1/4 cup kelp powder
1/4 cup bonemeal (or 9,000 mg calcium, or 5 teaspoons ground eggshell)
1,000 mgs vit c (grind up a regular vitamin or two)

[lizziegrace]

10. I've tried making her food

she'll eat a couple bits if it's on a plate I'm holding (pretending to eat it) but after that, she turns away.

I also have a 15 pound male who will eat anything. This complicates things.

I'm sure I haven't been as agressive as I should about this. It takes hours to pin her down to get the antibiotic in her and after that, anthing that's put before her is suspect.

Also, the fact that I am gone 12 hours a day (minimum) at work compounds the problems. I'm not there to oversee.

[Kali]

17. Lock her in one room with food water and litterbox?

[lizziegrace]

30. She was a stray and lived on the street the first year of her life

if she's confined in any way, she becomes a maniac. Clawing, scratching, throwing herself into the door...

[Kali]

37. One of the easist ways to check the health of animals is to measure

food and water intake, and examine "output. If you can not confine her for a few days can you confine the other cat?

[lizziegrace]

38. That's an option

Widget is much more docile than Grace.

Thanks for the advice. ;)

[CAcyclist]

20. I beg to differ

Cats are very susceptible to fatty liver syndrome if they are not eating or forced to fast, so fasting a cat is highly dangerous. They are not like dogs.

[Kali]

26. ...

From what I understand the cause is unknown and risk seems highest in obese indoor cats. It makes little sense from and evolutionary standpoint if you think about how predators normally do not have regular "feedings" - fasting between meal is much more normal.

[ganeshji]

33. I absolutely agree on this method.

It takes a while for many cats to get used to but it will eliminate any allergies or propensity towards infection. In addition, keep her OFF science diet food. It is among the worst mass market pet foods out there, in my opinion, as far as overall nutrition. I hope your baby is feeling better soon.

[Haole Girl]

11. Try this:

IVD, Innovative Veterinary Diets, Green Peas & Duck Formula. It's the only food my Tabby cat can eat (and, believe me, we'd tried them all...including Science Diet!). You have to by it at a vet's office, though.

Good luck...I hope she recovers soon! :hug: :hug: :hug:

[lizziegrace]

14. Is that in a dry form

or is it canned? My problem is she won't anything canned or wet.

[Haole Girl]

16. It's dry food...

..that's all my cats eat.

It's the "Limited Ingredient Diets" dried food. :hi:

[BarenakedLady]

12. I'm sorry

your kitty is sick. I hope she feels better soon. :hug:

[crim son]

13. Is she still on the antibiotics?

I wonder if they're making her feel sick on top of everything else. Poor little kitty. I'm sure you're getting pretty worried about her.

[lizziegrace]

15. She is

one more week on a 30 day dosing. :(

[China_cat]

22. That is more than likely the cause of her being

inappetent. Antibiotics will do that. If it gets too bad, you can syringe feed her until the meds are done. Not fun, but better than her not getting anything at all.

[lizziegrace]

31. I wish that were the case

She cries and dances around the food dish when she can see the bottom of the bowl. She eats like she's starving.

[grasswire]

18. organic grocery stores....

...carry some excellent canned cat foods. I had to coax my old tabby to eat while he was suffering from renal failure, and I tried EVERYTHING.

Tinned sardines do work with some cats, even the sardines in tomato sauce.

But the organic brands of canned cat food are excellent, too. Made of real ingredients with none of the nasty stuff in regular store brands. And apparently tasty.

There is another item that people use to get some calories into the animal. It's a high-protein paste that comes in a tube. I've forgotten the name of it. You squeeze a dab on your finger and the cat licks it off. Maybe someone else here has the name for it. I got that at a pet store.

[haf216]

19. I'm sorry that Gracie is still sick.

I can't help with the food issues, but I will send good thoughts your and Gracie's way.

[CAcyclist]

21. There are "hypoallergenic" diets that come in dry form

They don't make as good a trial as feeding ground up meat, but you could ask your vet about trying one of the diets - she/he can special order them for you. Or you could see if your vet can refer you to a veterinary dermatologist - they are usually the specialists that handle the food allergies.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

23. cats really like baby food...you know the chicken in chicken broth variety?

or beef etc...also adult cats like kitten food...so you can try these...

best of luck

[lizziegrace]

32. I'm trying that tonght.

Wish me luck. ;)

[lizziegrace]

39. She absolutely refused the baby food

Little snot. :(

[lizziegrace]

24. Update

Step one, find out exactly what's going on in her ear. There's no evidence of a polyp, but the infection could be in her middle ear. She goes in on Thursday to be "put under" and have her ear thorougly cleaned and checked. If it's her middle ear, they can puncture the ear drum and flush the infection out. So she'll be there all day on Thursday.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

25. That SHOULD work........

Sometimes it takes aggressive measures to find out just what's happening...

Good luck with it! And...keep us informed, OK? :hug:

[Kali]

27. I'm sort of curious about how and why they are so sure there is an

actual INFECTION? Has there been a culture done? How long has she been on antibiotics? - that would certainly be a possibility for anorexia problems!

[lizziegrace]

29. Yes, they cultured her ear

She's been on antibiotics for two months. Unfortunately, the same thing happened with Lelapin as a child. The infection was so thick behind her eardrum that no amount of antibiotics would have cleared it out.

[speedoo]

28. I hope she's better soon....

Sounds like you have things under control.:hug:

[begin_within]

34. Oddly, many cats like canned pumpkin. And they like the lactose-free milk called Cat Sip.

[lizziegrace]

35. I got some Cat Sip

to have on hand. :)

[Kali]

36. After the mention of Fatty Liver disease above, I had to look into it some more

and you might want to be aware of the info, in terms of when you talk to the vet. Here is a pretty good over view, you might even want to print it out and show your vet if you suspect this could be a problem. (is Kitty having diahrea or any other "digestive" problems besides lack of appetite?

from http://www.theveterinarian.com.au/clinicalreview/article502.asp under the heading "Hepatic lipidosis" about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way down the page.

Clinical signs

Cats have a history of illness that has usually been preceded by anorexia for a prolonged period. Progressive onset of anorexia and depression ensues, with intermittent vomiting, diarrhoea and constipation.

Hepatic lipidosis -affected cats usually develop jaundice. On rare occasions there may be other signs associated with hepatic encephalopathy including seizures, ptyalism and behavioural changes. Generalised weakness from electrolyte imbalance, particularly low serum potassium, can occur.

Physical examination consistently detects jaundice, smooth hepatomegaly and changes consistent with underlying disease. Although cats were obese at time of disease onset, when presented they are often in poor body condition and are usually severely dehydrated. Most cats have lost more than 25 per cent of their body weight by the time of diagnosis.

Prognosis

Hepatic lipidosis has a reasonable prognosis if aggressive treatment is initiated, but is largely dependent on the underlying disease.

Long-term nutritional support may be needed and animals are often discharged with a feeding tube still in place for home care for up to six weeks.

Recurrence is rare once there is a complete recovery. The mortality rate is estimated to be between 10 to 40 per cent in treated cats and up to 90 per cent if cats are untreated.

[astral]

40. You just want to get her to eat some variety of something?

Some people only feed their cats dry food, and yours could be rejecting eating much because when animals are not well that's what they do. Just some ideas from what my cat likes (he doesn't usually GET anything but dry cat food with brewers yeast on it and a bit of canned food 2-3 times a day.)

-- raw salmon (not farmed/pen raised, but wild caught-- there is a big dif!)
-- shrimp or prawns
-- canned asparagus (no kidding --- I have had a couple previous cats crazy for this)
-- canned green beans (not as big a hit as asparagus, but he likes it)

I chop the stuff up small, and with the raw fish or shrimp (the shrimp can be raw or slightly cooked), I am very careful to limit how much he gets, like say, no more than a heaping teaspoon-fulls worth.

He always gets nutritional yeast (the bulk kind, not the rancid stuff in a can) sprinkled on his cat food, the dry cat food.

Personally, I think adding some yeast to his food and making sure he has clean water always available --- maybe switch him to spring water for awhile but not distilled (distilled water in excess is bad for humans too).

Does he get any kind of nutritional supplements? (The yeast would fall into this cagetory, and cats love it, and it's good to repel fleas too.)