How do you get a cat to eat?

[momofkhm]

The cat who peed on my bed has both an infection and crystals in his urine. (Glad I took him in!) So he's on both antibiotics and a different diet. But he won't eat the food.

 

He's been on dry food for most of his life. But the new diet for the crystals is canned food. I've never seen a cat turn their nose at canned food before! I put some of the dry in/on the canned but no dice. He and his food have been together for 2 1/2 hours now. I did warm it up for 10 seconds in the micro.

 

Any ideas?

[Lawana]

Try mixing it with some chicken broth.

[ktgrok]

They make the special diets in dry too. Canned is better, but only if he actually eats it. If a cat goes 48 hours with out eating they can go into a type of liver failure. So if he won't eat the special diet, don't stress too much. Also, how old is the cat? If he is middle aged and never had crystals before the special diet is probably a lot less needed. If the infection came first it will cause crystals, that will go away as soon as the infection is gone.

[Ria]

Sometimes a jar of meat baby food will do the trick. I think you can buy pureed chicken or veal. When our kitten was very little we used that to get her to eat when she was sick. Get all the dry food out of the house so kitty doesn't smell it. Leave the canned food somewhere quiet. It might take until tonight, but the cat will eat in his own time (usually).

[SailorMom]

My cat absolutely refuses to eat wet food of any kind.

If it is Science Diet - it does come in dried - we've had to use it before.

Just make sure the cat drinks a lot with it.

[TrixieB]

Ask your vet if there is a choice of flavors for the canned food.

 

My cat ate the Hills prescription diet food for years, first for the crystal problem and later in life for kidney failure. The canned food was available in two flavors, chicken and something else (pork? can't remember) -- I don't know if this is still the case. My cat would eat only the chicken flavor. He also ate the prescription diet dry food.

[Bassoonaroo]

PPs have great ideas. Here are a few more:

 

1) Water down the food to a thin paste consistency and force in with a syringe. I think there's some sort of trick about rubbing a cat's neck, under the chin, to force a swallow.

 

2) Smear the paste on his upper lip so he'll groom it off and swallow it. Of course, you'll need to do this often to get a decent amount in.

 

3) Talk to the vet about getting a steroid shot to jump-start the appetite. If his appetite is already dull, then a new food won't be appealling. But if you can make him get really hungry, then perhaps he'll eat the new stuff. I don't know how long the shot lasts and if you have to repeat it every few days (ask...).

[momofkhm]

I just checked the website - it is available in dry. I think the vet gave me canned because we're trying to increase fluids to help him as well.

 

He's between 18 months and 2 years. He had canned food before when he was brand new to the house and had a cold but not since then.

 

I'll try the broth and then baby food. I'm pretty sure I have broth in the house already. If he doesn't eat by tomorrow morning, I'll give him the regular and then call the vet on Monday and see if they actually have the dry there and I'll go get some. It would be really weird for him not to eat - he usually downs his food in now time flat.

 

Thanks!

[Jennifer3141]

A squirt of slamon oil or mixing it with a little tuna might help. call the vet back and tell him what's going on. He should be able to give you a sample of the dry stuff.

[Truscifi]

I used to add the juice from a can of tuna to get my cat to eat. Then I made tuna salad for myself. Win-win.

[Grover]

Sorry, I Can't help with any more advice, but I just had to say I skimmed this title as "How do you get to eat a cat" and had a moment of WHAT? before I read it properly.

 

I hope you can get him eating soon.

[bcnlvr]

That happened here (even down to the peeing on my bed!). He started to eat the canned stuff after about a week (no kidding....refused to eat it until finally he was hungry enough). I gave him lots of love, pets, and encouragement. I love cats, but they can be finicky!!

 

bcn

[Firefly]

I used to add the juice from a can of tuna to get my cat to eat. Then I made tuna salad for myself. Win-win.

 

:iagree: I haven't met a cat yet who could resist the taste of tuna.

[Critterfixer]

I haven't met a cat yet who could resist the taste of tuna.

 

I have. Many, many cats.

 

Cats are funny about their food. They have a bad tendency to become what I call "dry-food junkies" and will refuse anything canned. This kind of cat is very, very difficult to transition to wet food. (Ironically, this is often a very fat animal, with dry skin, often with urinary issues--don't know why, but it often is. The very cat who needs to be eating a canned food.)

 

If a cat refuses to eat (most especially if it is the fat cat with a dry food obsession who also has a medical condition that would result in a decreased appetite) there is a problem called hepatic lipidosis that results from prolonged anorexia. I don't like to see a cat refuse food for greater than 48 hours.

 

I am assuming that your cat is on either S/D or C/D for crystals. C/D is alright, taste-wise on the canned stuff. S/D--not so much. Also, the dry food actually is supposed to increase water consumption; so you may get the added water he needs that way.

 

I agree with your veterinarian. Canned food is the best food for his condition. The question is, is it the best food for this cat? If he won't eat it, then it isn't. Get the dry. Be sure that you are going out of your way to have lots of ways for him to increase his water consumption. Some cats prefer very cold water. Some like filtered water. Many a cat enjoys drinking from a running water source, like a small fountain.

 

Best of luck.

[Firefly]

I still think you should try the tuna. :D

[fatfishes]

Sorry, I Can't help with any more advice, but I just had to say I skimmed this title as "How do you get to eat a cat" and had a moment of WHAT? before I read it properly.

 

I hope you can get him eating soon.

 

Me too.

[tntgoodwin]

It depends. Do you want to eat a feral cat, or one that has been specifically bred for its nutritional value?

 

I recommend not doing it this way:

 

 

You will want to take the fur off. Luckily, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

[ktgrok]

If he is that young and already having bladder problems I would definitely keep him on a special diet for it. The dry is better than nothing, just encourage him to drink by having fresh water out, or adding water to the dry food. (some cats will eat it that way, some won't). But the dry prescription food would be better than baby food or tuna or whatnot. It needs to be very specific for preventing the crystals. Also, the dry food has stuff in it to make him want to drink more, so it shouldn't be a problem. You can also get those electric kitty fountains, that keep the water moving and fresh. Most cats LOVE them and will drink much more from them.

[bzymom]

It depends. Do you want to eat a feral cat, or one that has been specifically bred for its nutritional value?

 

I recommend not doing it this way:

 

 

You will want to take the fur off. Luckily, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

 

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

The title did make me wonder...

 

Hope your kitty feels better quickly!

[Amy in NH]

I was wondering why you would want to eat a cat!

 

I have read somewhere (maybe here?) that dyes in dry cat food can cause urinary problems...

Edited August 7, 2011 by Amy in NH

[momofkhm]

You can also get those electric kitty fountains, that keep the water moving and fresh. Most cats LOVE them and will drink much more from them.

 

Maybe after we recover from buying school books... :tongue_smilie:

[momofkhm]

Between just giving him time and mixing in some chicken broth, he did finally eat overnight.

 

Oh and someone hit the nail on the head with him

 

very fat animal, with dry skin, often with urinary issues

 

I don't know about the dry skin. And this is the first urinary issue.

 

But then his brother isn't liking canned food either. I thought for sure they would be fighting over the canned food so I bought Pip some regular canned food. Neither one will eat it. I finally broke down and gave Pip dry. But Merry ate it overnight when no one was looking. (I know it was Merry cause he was locked in a bathroom with the food overnight.)

[CalicoKat]

My method for getting a cat to take pills,

1. Wrap the cat in a towel

2. Hold him under your arm,

4. Pry open his mouth and shove that pill wall down his throat

5. Hold his mouth shut and rub his throat until he swallows.

 

:D Effective. Helps to have two adults. One to hold the cat. One to shove the pill down it's throat.

 

Cat's can smell the whole put it in the food routine.

Edited August 7, 2011 by CalicoKat

[Teachin'Mine]

Another way to increase the amount of water they drink is to get a pet fountain - there's something about running water. :)

[Critterfixer]

I don't know about the dry skin. And this is the first urinary issue.

 

It probably wont' be the last either.:glare: How old is this cat? Typically I see the fat animal with dry skin (tail base mostly, because they have trouble grooming there), eating dry food, a young to middle aged male cat (peak incidence seems to be between 3-5 years of age). I suspect there's a Chinese Medicine designation for that animal, but I often call them "balls of damp heat." Usually there are multiple animals in the household as well, often additional cats.

 

The condition is a combination of a few things. Diet is helpful in resolving some of them.

 

Did you mention before, or can I assume this cat was using the carpet as his bathroom? I'm sure your vet mentioned it, but this disease is very painful for the cat. They have a habit of avoiding their catbox once they have had a painful urination or two in it. They try to go somewhere else. The trouble is, sometimes they discover that they like the carpet better!

If he has been using the carpet (check all your corners, because cats like to use the corners to urinate in) you will need to use a good enzymatic cleaner to deal with the urine smell. If there's a trace of it, a cat can detect it.

If you have multiple cats, I would highly recommend the use of a cat pheromone spray or diffuser (don't use the diffuser if have birds!). This can be helpful in reducing household stress for cats. Detecting stress in a cat can be difficult if it is a low-level aggression. However, stress is a major factor in this disease process. Some cats may need anti-anxiety medications as well. I've had a lot more luck with drugs like Clomicalm, but there are others.

 

My method for getting a cat to take pills,

1. Wrap the cat in a towel

2. Hold him under your arm,

4. Pry open his mouth and shove that pill wall down his throat

5. Hold his mouth shut and rub his throat until he swallows.

 

:D Effective. Helps to have two adults. One to hold the cat. One to shove the pill down it's throat.

 

Cat's can smell the whole put it in the food routine.

 

:rolleyes: 90% of cats are quite easy to pill. For the remaining 10% there's always injections or transdermal preps.

[fourcatmom]

I hope that your cat feels better soon. I have a 5 yo cat that started having urinary problems last summer. He started out being blocked and it was very painful. He would go very small, tiny amounts all over the house and just whine because he was in so much pain. Within days he had to have the blocked removed at the vet, another very painful experience. He was so blocked it took several doctors to get the catheter in and unblock him. He was at the vet for days and it was well over $500. They put him on special food - Royal Canin Urinary dry food. He came home with medicine and an IV. I had to give him twice daily IV injections for two weeks so that it would help him urinate and not block again. This was July. By August, he was blocking again. You could tell by his behavior. They told me he was a ticking time bomb and it wasn't a matter of IF he was going to re-block it was a matter of when. It was recommended at that point that I give him the PU surgery. This is where they basically turn your male cat into a female cat so that they can't block again. I was very lucky in contacting a very special agency that did some fundraising for him and actually ended up paying for the whole surgery. He was also diagnosed with FLUTD - Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease. He did well in the surgery, over 100 stitches. His recovery went pretty well but by October I thought he would be able to handle some different food. I was out of town and didn't have his prescription with me to buy his special food. I picked up something that I considered very healthy and started him on that. Within a week, he was urinating blood and in great pain again. Took him back in and he had another infection but no blockage. This cat continued to have litter box issues after his surgery. In fact, we just moved out the apartment where we had been when this happened and they had to replace the whole carpet, charging me over $700 for a new one. This had never happened before. In our new apartment, he had tried a few times to pee on the carpet but most of the time he will pee right next to the cat box on the floor, even if it's clean. He had always had his bowel movements in the cat box though. I don't know how to fix that problem but I know he will be on this diet for the rest of his life. This food also has a high content of sodium in it, so it encourages them to drink more. Hopefully, keeping his system flowing smoothly. I think when it was said and done, I paid out well over $1,000 and the group that helped payed out $1400.00 You can read his story at imom Without them, he would not have survived because there would have been no way for me to pay for this.

 

I really hope your cat does do well and I would afraid of trying to many new foods because of the reaction that can have on his body.

 

Good Luck:grouphug:

[2cents]

Oh my! Poor kitty! My boy cat had a urinary obstruction a couple years ago and he almost had emergency surgury. As it was, he spent a night in emergency with a catheter. We were VERY lucky that he recovered without the surgery to shorten his urethra.

 

The vet said that the boy cats especially should not have dry food. For some reason it leads to the crystals. We only feed Fancy Feast Classic now and no fish flavors. No gravy canned either.

 

We had to force feed our sick cat for awhile because he didn't want to drink enough to keep the urine flowing after the catheter was removed. We also wanted to dilute so it wouldn't sting. We had to have dh roll him in a towel and I used a syringe (without a needle) to put water and pureed cat food in his mouth. Don't do this with them on their backs though or they can choke. Just little by little squeeze from the syringe into the side of the mouth. You won't need to physically open their mouth because when they feel the wet on the side of their mouth they will generally open up and you can get some more in. It takes awhile but it is what we had to do when my guy wouldn't eat.

 

It is vital that they get enough fluids to flush the crystals and heal. No more dry food. They love the stuff but it isn't good for the boys. Hope this helps and your furbaby feels better.

[fourcatmom]

Oh my! Poor kitty! My boy cat had a urinary obstruction a couple years ago and he almost had emergency surgury. As it was, he spent a night in emergency with a catheter. We were VERY lucky that he recovered without the surgery to shorten his urethra.

 

The vet said that the boy cats especially should not have dry food. For some reason it leads to the crystals. We only feed Fancy Feast Classic now and no fish flavors. No gravy canned either.

 

We had to force feed our sick cat for awhile because he didn't want to drink enough to keep the urine flowing after the catheter was removed. We also wanted to dilute so it wouldn't sting. We had to have dh roll him in a towel and I used a syringe (without a needle) to put water and pureed cat food in his mouth. Don't do this with them on their backs though or they can choke. Just little by little squeeze from the syringe into the side of the mouth. You won't need to physically open their mouth because when they feel the wet on the side of their mouth they will generally open up and you can get some more in. It takes awhile but it is what we had to do when my guy wouldn't eat.

 

It is vital that they get enough fluids to flush the crystals and heal. No more dry food. They love the stuff but it isn't good for the boys. Hope this helps and your furbaby feels better.

 

I have never heard that about the dry. We were never even offered a wet option but I don't think he would have eaten it either. This dry bag is about $50 a bag so it's not cheap either. I eventually put all my cats on it though since I couldn't control what he ate and it wasn't worth the risk of him getting something that would make him sick. He does crave things with salt now though, like Popcorn and String cheese. :tongue_smilie:

[momofkhm]

My method for getting a cat to take pills,

1. Wrap the cat in a towel

2. Hold him under your arm,

4. Pry open his mouth and shove that pill wall down his throat

5. Hold his mouth shut and rub his throat until he swallows.

 

:D Effective. Helps to have two adults. One to hold the cat. One to shove the pill down it's throat.

 

Cat's can smell the whole put it in the food routine.

 

I have no issues giving him pills. Cats have a flip-top head if you know how to pry their mouths open. No towel needed.

 

It's getting him to eat that's the issue. :)

[momofkhm]

It probably wont' be the last either.:glare: How old is this cat? Typically I see the fat animal with dry skin (tail base mostly, because they have trouble grooming there), eating dry food, a young to middle aged male cat (peak incidence seems to be between 3-5 years of age). I suspect there's a Chinese Medicine designation for that animal, but I often call them "balls of damp heat." Usually there are multiple animals in the household as well, often additional cats.

 

The condition is a combination of a few things. Diet is helpful in resolving some of them.

 

Did you mention before, or can I assume this cat was using the carpet as his bathroom? I'm sure your vet mentioned it, but this disease is very painful for the cat. They have a habit of avoiding their catbox once they have had a painful urination or two in it. They try to go somewhere else. The trouble is, sometimes they discover that they like the carpet better!

If he has been using the carpet (check all your corners, because cats like to use the corners to urinate in) you will need to use a good enzymatic cleaner to deal with the urine smell. If there's a trace of it, a cat can detect it.

If you have multiple cats, I would highly recommend the use of a cat pheromone spray or diffuser (don't use the diffuser if have birds!). This can be helpful in reducing household stress for cats. Detecting stress in a cat can be difficult if it is a low-level aggression. However, stress is a major factor in this disease process. Some cats may need anti-anxiety medications as well. I've had a lot more luck with drugs like Clomicalm, but there are others.

 

So I guess I'll keep him on wet food. Even if it's not this one. It's the one someone else mentioned: Royal Canin Urinary. $1.58 a can! But so far he's only eating when he's starving and so he hasn't even had a whole can yet. (6 oz)

 

We do have one other cat - a litter mate and another boy. We also have a dog. Merry (sick cat) is 19 lbs. And I feed them both indoor food, only 3/4 cup each a day. (1/4 cup 3 times a day)

 

He has peed on the carpet. The one that got our attention was my bed though. So far we keep him in the small bathroom with a litter box, water and now his food for several hours a day and overnight.

 

With a 2 story house, where do you put the diffuser? I already have one. Near the small bathroom? near the old litterbox? In the main room? In my room (he peed on the bed)? Or in ds's room (he peed in front of the bookcase)?

[Critterfixer]

So I guess I'll keep him on wet food. Even if it's not this one. It's the one someone else mentioned: Royal Canin Urinary. $1.58 a can! But so far he's only eating when he's starving and so he hasn't even had a whole can yet. (6 oz)

 

Again, he needs to eat it. There are other options than Hills. To break a cat of eating dry food can be a challenge.

 

We do have one other cat - a litter mate and another boy. We also have a dog. Merry (sick cat) is 19 lbs. And I feed them both indoor food, only 3/4 cup each a day. (1/4 cup 3 times a day)

 

How much should Merry weigh? The average cat should be about ten pounds, but a large cat might need to be closer to twelve, and a small boned cat closer to eight. You want to feed him for a fifteen pound cat, and when he gets to fifteen pounds, feed for a ten pound. One thing about S/D and C/D--those foods are fattening. They have to be made delicious to get cats to eat them, and many cats have a tendency to overeat on the dry. If he will eat the canned it will be easier to monitor his amounts.

Cats are sort of funny when it comes to the way they lose weight. You have to take it slow to avoid hepatic lipidosis. They often respond better to the "Catkin's diet" than high-fiber diets. (The Catkin's diet is high-protein, low-carb, of course!)

 

He has peed on the carpet. The one that got our attention was my bed though. So far we keep him in the small bathroom with a litter box, water and now his food for several hours a day and overnight.

 

 

One thing that will be important is odor removal. This sounds funny, but I really like Anti-Icky-Poo when it comes to getting cat urine out of just about anything. It's wonderful.

For his litter box, I would probably use a soft substrate since he has demonstrated his seeking of soft material to use. A sand-type litter usually works best, and I would avoid using one with a lot of fragrance. In the bathroom where he is located be sure that no one leaves towels, bathmats, etc on the floor where he would be able to continue his litter box aversion habit.

 

With a 2 story house, where do you put the diffuser? I already have one. Near the small bathroom? near the old litterbox? In the main room? In my room (he peed on the bed)? Or in ds's room (he peed in front of the bookcase)?

 

Depending on the square footage I'd put one upstairs and down. I've 2,000 here and use one on each end of the house. I like to keep it located some distance away from the litterboxes. The pheromone is facial pheromone, so I put it where the urine marking previously occurred: corners, bedrooms, anywhere the cat urinated in the wrong spot. It also comes as a spot spray that I like to use as well.

However, in your case I would be recommending it more to relieve stress than deal with urine marking. What you have to worry about if it has been a long-standing problem (greater than three weeks) would be what we call substrate-aversion, that is, he was using the soft carpet and the bed because it hurt to urinate in his box, and decides that he likes soft things better than cat litter. Not all cats do this, thankfully. But it helps to sort of retrain them to the litterbox before allowing him full run of the place.

[fourcatmom]

So I guess I'll keep him on wet food. Even if it's not this one. It's the one someone else mentioned: Royal Canin Urinary. $1.58 a can! But so far he's only eating when he's starving and so he hasn't even had a whole can yet. (6 oz)

 

We do have one other cat - a litter mate and another boy. We also have a dog. Merry (sick cat) is 19 lbs. And I feed them both indoor food, only 3/4 cup each a day. (1/4 cup 3 times a day)

 

He has peed on the carpet. The one that got our attention was my bed though. So far we keep him in the small bathroom with a litter box, water and now his food for several hours a day and overnight.

 

With a 2 story house, where do you put the diffuser? I already have one. Near the small bathroom? near the old litterbox? In the main room? In my room (he peed on the bed)? Or in ds's room (he peed in front of the bookcase)?

 

They do sell the Royal Canin dry food. The large bag is expensive about $55 but we buy one a month and feed all our cats on it. My cat or any of the other cats had no problem transitioning to this dry diet. They do drink a lot though! That being said, since they are on a better diet they don't have quite so many bowel movements during the day. It overall has been a good diet and hopefully be feeding the other males on it it will help avoid any blockages in the others as it is prone to happening in males. My male has peed in some strange places, even plants! He avoids the litter box at all costs (to me). I hope he gets better soon. These are bad memories for us and I hope your gets better soon.

[Ria]

Cheryl,

If it helps any, we went from spending $125/mo to feed 3 cats (Natural Balance canned food only) to spending $30/mo for 4 cats. We make our own raw food for the kitties now. Not only are they incredibly healthy, we have a lot more money to spend on human food. LOL. If you are interested I'll be glad to tell you what we are doing.

 

When one of our cats developed a urinary issue I did a lot of reading about cat diets and decided to feed wet food only. The raw diet is an economical solution for us.

[2cents]

I have never heard that about the dry. We were never even offered a wet option but I don't think he would have eaten it either. This dry bag is about $50 a bag so it's not cheap either. I eventually put all my cats on it though since I couldn't control what he ate and it wasn't worth the risk of him getting something that would make him sick. He does crave things with salt now though, like Popcorn and String cheese. :tongue_smilie:

 

I hadn't heard about the dry food thing either until our boy cat had his crystals drama. I was feeding a really good dry too. Since then, I've heard our vet telling others to put their cats on wet too because of the crystals. Our vet is a cat only vet so she sees a lot of urinary crystal cases. Apparently it mostly affects males because they have a longer urethra. The girl cats don't have the same problems as much. I personally like the dry better (easier) but since we've done the wet our crystals cat has had clear urine samples. It was such an awful experience that I just keep them on wet. We were very lucky and dodged a HUGE vet bill by not having to have surgery. Now I'm a little neurotic about his potty habits. :)

 

Adding: Our vet recommended Fancy Feast or Friskies. Mine only like FF. Vet also said NO fish flavors and NO gravy types. She said the gravy has ingrediants that the cats don't need and don't process well. I can't remember what the ban on fish flavors was about.

Edited August 7, 2011 by 2cents

[momofkhm]

Cheryl,

If it helps any, we went from spending $125/mo to feed 3 cats (Natural Balance canned food only) to spending $30/mo for 4 cats. We make our own raw food for the kitties now. Not only are they incredibly healthy, we have a lot more money to spend on human food. LOL. If you are interested I'll be glad to tell you what we are doing.

 

When one of our cats developed a urinary issue I did a lot of reading about cat diets and decided to feed wet food only. The raw diet is an economical solution for us.

 

I would be interested. I don't see how it can cost so little! I love my kitties but dh doesn't. If it costs a lot dh isn't going to be a happy camper.

 

Thanks!

[fiddledeedee]

Cheryl,

If it helps any, we went from spending $125/mo to feed 3 cats (Natural Balance canned food only) to spending $30/mo for 4 cats. We make our own raw food for the kitties now. Not only are they incredibly healthy, we have a lot more money to spend on human food. LOL. If you are interested I'll be glad to tell you what we are doing.

 

When one of our cats developed a urinary issue I did a lot of reading about cat diets and decided to feed wet food only. The raw diet is an economical solution for us.

 

 

I'm interested too, lots of cats, little money. Wish I could feed my family on $30 too :D

[Carol in Cal.]

I have heard that cats' hunger is triggered by smelling food. So you need something really stinky, especially if they are congested. Kitty Queen is the grossest, smelliest cat food I know of. Canned tuna is also an option, just to get them started again.

[myfunnybunch]

When my cat was very ill (bladder infection and a respiratory infection) the vet told us to make sure he got enough to drink. We bought a cat water fountain b/c she said the running water entices cats to drink. ETA: Hope your kitty is feeling better!

 

Cat