Fur Babies

[Tortuga]

We have an older cat that has a thyroid issue and I have been giving her medication every 12 hours for a couple of years. One of the symptoms is she is always thirsty, unfortunately we have never been able to get her to regularly drink from a bowl, she insists on jumping on the bath sink to drink from the faucet. I believe that it's something she learned as a kitten I've tried to break her of the habit, but alas I have conceded to her vocal demands too many times...

 

The Vet recently examined her and recommended that we give her a little salmon oil in her food, since I was feeding her twice a day it was easy to add salmon oil with her medication. We decided to use salmon oil capsules and squeeze it on her food, it was more than the vet recommended but the vet said she would metabolize it and it shouldn't be a problem.

 

 Au Contraire, lets just say that we had to watch where she sat for several days until we got the problem rectumfied.

 

I did discover that she loves salmon oil, so I experimented and put a couple of drops in a small bowl of water. Eureka! (it does smell like fish) she loved it. Now I use a capsule of salmon oil and squeeze a few drops (the recommended amount for a slick free cat) in a small bowl of water several times a day and she hasn't serenaded the sink since...

 

So if you have a fur baby that refuses to drink her water out of a bowl, try a couple drops of salmon oil...

 

[Ahuvah]

I will certainly do that thank you. I've tried adding spirulina to her food (she hates that), and a half a capfull of coloidal silver just as a general tonic. So far we have avoided anything major.

[Katty]

I can imagine. Cats love anything that smells like fish

[Tortuga]

1 minute ago, Katty said:

I can imagine. Cats love anything that smells like fish

Our Russian Blue decided he didn't like the salmon oil on his food..

[Katty]

1 minute ago, Tortuga said:

Our Russian Blue decided he didn't like the salmon oil on his food..

Russian blues are beautiful.

I always wanted one so I can name him/her koshka. Which is just cat in Russian lol

[Tortuga]

His name is Bobbie, his tail was damaged when we found him and we had to have it bobbed...

[hatcheckgirl]

Any hints for fussy eaters? 

Mine prefers only dry food, which is not good for her deteriorating kidneys.  But if I didn't give her a small bit per day, she would prefer to starve.  Tried all sorts of cons to help her eat wet food, but she just licks it. A bit.  Then walks away.  Mince is her preferred meal after dry food.  I don't think she likes fish much.  I waste a lot of cat food on her.  No idea how she keeps living with the small amount she eats.

[Sylv]

How about green tripe? It stinks, but I haven't seen any dog turn its nose up at it. I'm sure cats will love it as well. Do make sure it's green tripe. The stuff from the grocery stores is bleached and has all the nutrients washed away. 

[dove]

5 hours ago, hatcheckgirl said:

Any hints for fussy eaters? 

Mine prefers only dry food, which is not good for her deteriorating kidneys.  But if I didn't give her a small bit per day, she would prefer to starve.  Tried all sorts of cons to help her eat wet food, but she just licks it. A bit.  Then walks away.  Mince is her preferred meal after dry food.  I don't think she likes fish much.  I waste a lot of cat food on her.  No idea how she keeps living with the small amount she eats.

Is she indoor or outdoor..could she be eating mice outside? Wet food would pale beside that..

[Tortuga]

Our Bobbie loves cat grass, he gets more excited about eating grass than cat food. Once a week I'll start a new pot of grass for him, I usually have 2 or 3 pots at a time and I'll rotate them and discard the oldest on when it starts dying off...

[Myew]

13 hours ago, Katty said:

 

I always wanted one so I can name him/her koshka. Which is just cat in Russian lol

Kattunge is Norwegian for kitten. :3
 

10 hours ago, hatcheckgirl said:

Any hints for fussy eaters? 

My mom's had similar trouble trying to get her cat to eat some raw meat. Yet this same cat is perfectly fine hunting birds and rabbits without batting an eye if they're available... Its one of those things where once the habit is established when young, if they don't have enough variety, it takes a very strict routine to break. Establish set scheduled meal times with dry food first, no free feeding. Then try mixing dry and wet, and gradually switching to wet only. Try putting some on her paw to get her to lick it off to get used to it. They hate drastic changes, it requires patience. This transition can affect their digestion at first with changes in the microbiome, they might vomit or have softer stools, but its important to their health. Stick with it unless they have diarrhea, then slow down the changes. Make sure that she eats at least about 200 calories once per day. It can take weeks or more if she is really stubborn, you basically have to use her hunger to help her. You can try using wet food as a reward in play or games. Sprinkle bits of what she does like into what she doesn't. There are a lot of guides on google and youtube which most of this is learned from. Dry food is pretty addictive to cats. In the same way, many humans go on temporary fasts to change their taste buds and eating habits. Just be careful of potential liver detox issues if she's been eating the dry food for a length of time, which is why she needs to be eating at least some every day.

Edited July 12, 2018 by Myew

[hatcheckgirl]

Bit more background regarding Stella - she's 13 yrs old, has been an indoor cat only for 7 years now, is fragile psychologically (she was a dumped kitten from a feral mother and I rescued her). I have to be super gentle with this one, and she is very affectionate with me only, scared to death of everything and everyone else.

 

The wet food and mince is usually tasted, and then rejected. Sometimes she'll even eat it, so I get excited and buy her more of that brand, only to have it left on the plate.  She is happy eating dry,  it doesn’t want to be out of her comfort zone (my bedroom) for too long, so eats a bit and then retreats back to her “bunker”. That is why I feed her wet food at night when the house is quiet.

 

Thanks for your comments. They’ve been helpful. I’ve been slack with the cat grass since it died off. Best get another pot or two.

[Tortuga]

13 minutes ago, hatcheckgirl said:

They’ve been helpful. I’ve been slack with the cat grass since it died off. Best get another pot or two.

I grow my own. I buy cat grass seed and use 4" pots. I start a new pot every week or so.

 

Yup, I grow grass...😀

 

Our older female would do the same thing with her wet food. I'd give the left over experiments to the neighbors cat.

We finally tried Iams Tempt Me Tuna and she eats it everytime. Now I buy it by the case.

Edited July 12, 2018 by Tortuga

[dove]

15 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

I grow my own. I buy cat grass seed and use 4" pots. I start a new pot every week or so.

 

Yup, I grow grass...😀

 

Our older female would do the same thing with her wet food. I'd give the left over experiments to the neighbors cat.

We finally tried Iams Tempt Me Tuna and she eats it everytime. Now I buy it by the case.

We did the same thing..experimented. When we found one they seem to like we bought a case of it..they changed their minds....😄

[dove]

They don't call cats fickle for nothing..😁

 

 

Excuse the two negatives in one sentence....😒

Edited July 12, 2018 by Dove

[GeordieGirl]

21 hours ago, Tortuga said:

Our Russian Blue decided he didn't like the salmon oil on his food..

Yep.  I have a Russian Blue.  They are in a class by themselves. But I love him. 

 

Just found your next post. Guess what?  Mine is named Bob ... and sometimes called Bobcat.  And Bobnoxious when he exerting his alpha maleness in the family. 

 

And he loves cat grass and catnip and mint and lemon balm and ... most herbs actually.  But he'll go the extra mile for his cat grass.

Edited July 13, 2018 by GeordieGirl

[GeordieGirl]

21 hours ago, hatcheckgirl said:

Any hints for fussy eaters? 

Mine prefers only dry food, which is not good for her deteriorating kidneys.  But if I didn't give her a small bit per day, she would prefer to starve.  Tried all sorts of cons to help her eat wet food, but she just licks it. A bit.  Then walks away.  Mince is her preferred meal after dry food.  I don't think she likes fish much.  I waste a lot of cat food on her.  No idea how she keeps living with the small amount she eats.

If she only want to eat biscuits then you would be better off spending your hard earned $$$$ on buying really high quality urinary biscuits from City farmers/Pet barn .. though you are possibly already doing this as well as buying unwanted wet food.

 

[hatcheckgirl]

52 minutes ago, GeordieGirl said:

though you are possibly already doing this

I know I should be doing this...... naughty me 😪.

[GeordieGirl]

4 hours ago, hatcheckgirl said:

I know I should be doing this...... naughty me 😪.

It would probably save you money in the long run and possibly vet bills in the future. 

[hatcheckgirl]

@GeordieGirl I’ll buy them next time I’m in Cannington. Chances are, she'll balk at the good stuff too 😹. So then I can at least pass it on to you with your less fussy moggies 😻😸.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

[Good-O]

12 hours ago, Tortuga said:

I grow my own. I buy cat grass seed and use 4" pots. I start a new pot every week or so.

 

Yup, I grow grass...😀

Good Morning.  I am having cat problems as well.  Where do you buy your seeds?  Any feed/seed store?  

[GeordieGirl]

1 hour ago, hatcheckgirl said:

@GeordieGirl I’ll buy them next time I’m in Cannington. Chances are, she'll balk at the good stuff too 😹. So then I can at least pass it on to you with your less fussy moggies 😻😸.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Hahaha!!!  You think mine aren't fussy? I have one that will only eat one particular food ..... and she won't even eat that unless I feed her in a cupboard!! I kid you not. At least you only have one to deal with.  

[Tortuga]

2 hours ago, Good-O said:

Good Morning.  I am having cat problems as well.  Where do you buy your seeds?  Any feed/seed store?  

I buy a small pack of Cat Grass seed from local pet supply stores. It's a mixture of grass seeds. One pkg will last for months because I use 1/2 Tablespoon of seed per pot.

[Good-O]

My cat, Tipper, is not near as picky as those of you two.  He only wants dry food; seldom will he eat wet cat food but he DOES like to lick the juice out of the canned DOG food before they get it.  He does not like red meat, tuna, vienna, weiners or even steak much less wet canned food.  Enjoyed your comments.  Thx.  

[Tortuga]

1 hour ago, Good-O said:

he DOES like to lick the juice out of the canned DOG food before they get it. 

I remember reading something about dog food being bad for cats. Do you remember what it was?