Your Pets Count

pet information that caters to your special friend

Archives

Calendar

March 2024
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

When Your Cat Won’t Eat

Saturday, December 9, 2017
posted by Jim Murphy

Sometimes getting my cat Molly to eat can be a challenge. Some of her medication is mixed with her food so she needs to eat. Her age coupled with advanced kidney disease can decrease her appetite. The key for older cats with kidney disease is keeping them hydrated and keeping them eating.

In order to keep your cat eating, you must become very proactive. You cannot fill her bowl, leave it on the floor and assume that she’ll eat. The first thing you need to do is find out what kinds of foods entice your cat. With Molly, it’s cheese and tuna fish. This morning, I mixed the medicine with a small amount of food and at first she turned her nose and refused to eat. I sprinkled a little parmesan cheese on it and “voila” she began to eat.  I will sometimes offer a little tuna mixed in and she usually begins eating.

When mixing medication in with food, only give a very small portion at first. You must make sure that your cat is getting the full dosage of the medication so she needs to eat all of the food. After the initial feeding, I continue to give her small portions throughout the day. Moist food tends to dry out fast and cats prefer the food when it’s moist. You can add some chicken or beef broth to her food to keep it moist.

I realize that this can be a lot of work and I don’t mind. I am very glad that I am available to make sure that Molly is eating and drinking. Another very important aspect of taking care of an elderly cat is that you really need to develop a deep bond. Your cat has to trust you. You need to know her as well as she knows you.

I believe that all of these additional steps and the constant attention that I provide to Molly is keeping her alive and sustaining a pretty good quality of life at this point.

Remember, your pets count!

A snowy day on Delmarva so keep the oldies, standards and holiday music playing all day and enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate! EDGEWATER GOLD RADIO plays em all! Download the free Edgewater Gold Radio app and listen on our website, The Edgewater Internet Radio Network!

 



Comments are closed.