Cat advice

maureen mclaughlin · Post by **maureen mclaughlin** » 25 May 2005, 23:27

IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve noticed that there are a lot off cat owners and cat lovers in the forum, so I was wondering if any of you could help me. I have two 13 yr old moggies called Tides and Inn, only joking! Brodie and Bettie both hail and hearty. However, they appear to be going off there food even there favourite food. They have had a clean bill of health from vet; he thinks they just need to find a food that they prefer. They wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t eat dry food. So instead of spending a fortune on a variety of brands in the hope they eat it. I thought it would be helpful if I could have any suggestions from cat owners re what to try.
Maureen

Dadaist · Post by **Dadaist** » 25 May 2005, 23:38

I can only speak from my experience.

1. Has the vet checked renal (kidney) function? I'm sure he knows what he's talking about, it's just that was what was wrong with our old cat. He ended up needing steroid injections to stimulate his appetite.

2. I assume you've tried lots of different tins and sachets? Make sure it's not too cold, is very fresh, and is well mushed - otherwise they might just lick off the gravy/jelly.

3. Try plain boiled chicken or fish.

4. As well as the dried food and renal (low protein/potassium) food, vets will also sell these small tins called dietetic food - it's gentle on the stomach and contains rice, I think, but our old cat absolutely adored it. It was very smooth, almost like pate.

5. have you tried those small treat pate things? the ones that come with the foil?

6. if all else fails, bernard matthews' Wafer Thin Turkey Ham. if they don't eat that, i will eat my hat.

the best of sporting luck

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 25 May 2005, 23:46

Cats eat mice, right? Why then do their owners feed them rabbit, chicken and other animals that they couldn't possibly kill? And why don't pet food manufacturers offer recipes such as mousakka, ratatouille (with real rat) and Jerry Trifle?

maureen mclaughlin · Post by **maureen mclaughlin** » 25 May 2005, 23:49

Ta very much, thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s really helpful, believe it or not Brodie has went of chicken, salmon and tuna his all time favourites and Bettie who odours cheese although given in moderation, has stopped eating it.

Nothing quite as strange as cats.
Fab animals.

Maureen

Dadaist · Post by **Dadaist** » 25 May 2005, 23:55

maureen mclaughlin wrote:Ta very much, thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s really helpful, believe it or not Brodie has went of chicken, salmon and tuna his all time favourites and Bettie who odours cheese although given in moderation, has stopped eating it.

Nothing quite as strange as cats.
Fab animals.

Maureen

Weird. Have you ever grown them some catnip - cat "grass" - for them to have a nibble at?

My old cat also used to go nuts for condensed milk. Just learn from my mistake and don't give them too much, or they will have, well, what tourists get when they go to Egypt.

CatzVP · Post by **CatzVP** » 26 May 2005, 04:57

Bob Jefferson wrote:Cats eat mice, right? Why then do their owners feed them rabbit, chicken and other animals that they couldn't possibly kill?

As I mentioned earlier.... "Wanna Bet?"

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 26 May 2005, 06:45

You bad, bad cat!

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 26 May 2005, 09:25

Oops!

I just clicked on your link while at work Bob. Now my 2nd years want to know "What on earth was that?"

DG · Post by DG » 26 May 2005, 09:25

I am having a similar problem with my eldest cat, Sara. She's gone through stages like this before but this time it's lasted nearly 2 months. What does work for her is raw egg mixed up with a bit of milk, raw minced beef (that seems to work for both my cats when they are recovering from illness), boiled chicken and wafer thin sliced ham. But it can be difficult. We were away for the weekend and my neighbour was kind enough to feed them. Made me a bit worried about how much Sara actually ate due to her picky stage.

Good luck.

Oh, just another thought. Sara is quite a fluffy cat and often gets a bit off her food at this time of the year when she's molting. I have to brush her even more just now and some times get the grass Dada mentioned to help her with the fir balls. All these things can knock cats off their routines a bit.

DG

Epykat · Post by **Epykat** » 26 May 2005, 22:29

Funnily enough our wee angel (

) has been a bit picky lately too, although tonight she did eat a bit of mashed potato

Robin! · Post by **Robin!** » 27 May 2005, 21:51

Its not uncommon for cats to go off their food. good luck in finding a new brand!

Have you considered Science Diet?

Dadaist · Post by **Dadaist** » 28 May 2005, 07:55

Robin! wrote:Its not uncommon for cats to go off their food. good luck in finding a new brand!

Have you considered Science Diet?

Robin! · Post by **Robin!** » 28 May 2005, 10:56

Dadaist wrote:
Robin! wrote:Its not uncommon for cats to go off their food. good luck in finding a new brand!

Have you considered Science Diet?

Not quite what I had in mind!

susanscott · Post by **susanscott** » 29 May 2005, 20:35

my cat's a bit picky, but luckily eats dry food most of the time. In terms of wet food, unfortunately the ones which get eaten completely are quite expensive. They are Gourmet Pearl sachets and Felix As Good As it Looks sachets - both are available in packs of 4. Not a solution for every day, but a treat every now and again. The other thing to try is tuna flakes / chunks.
good luck!

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 29 May 2005, 23:13

my mum's cat loved chicken or tuna from the tin.

Dadaist · Post by **Dadaist** » 29 May 2005, 23:31

I really love the smell of cat food. Never tasted it though.

When you open a tin of Fray Bentos, before you cook it, it smells almost exactly like Supermeat.

Makes you think.

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 05 Jun 2005, 11:29

I meant to warn cat owners after reading about this in last Sunday's Torygraph but hadn't got around to it. Many popular species of lillies sold in our shops are extremely toxic to cats and can result in renal failure and death.
Having just got into a panic myself when my cat decided to investigate some dropped pollen from the large bunch that adorned my mantleplace I thought I'd better post this pronto.