Senior Kitty, fussy eater

[catdoc]

Hi there, my senior kitty, Luna (age 15) is less and less interested in food each day. She has become so fussy, all she wants to eat are crappy kitty treats and butter. Not exactly a wholesome diet! What can I do to stimulate her diet? She is not a chicken fan, and when she does decide to eat, it would be only tuna or salmon. Even the latter 2 items do not seem to attract her interest these days. She does eat grass and subsequently vomits and while she has ready access to water, I have not seen her drink very much either. I did treat her a year ago for pancreatitis and the Homeopathic remedy Phos worked very well. Three days ago, I gave her a dose of Phos 200C and seemed to perk her up a bit. However, we are back to not wanting to eat. I expect a vet visit with blood work is probably in order, but that does create a lot of stress for her. A dose of Rescue remedy would help, I am sure.

 

[aruna]

@catdoc Hi, sorry to hear about Luna's struggles to eat. How is she feeling besides her appetite? What's her BEAM (behavior, energy, appetite, mood)? When did her struggles to eat start? Are there any other symptoms she is experiencing other than appetite loss?
Before any of the doctors pitch in, I wanted to refer you to our Hospice courses - Gail Pope gives a lot of great tips in there on how to care for elderly pets, maybe you can find some inspiration there. You can find all the aging resources here: Non member login - Holistic Actions!

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Recently, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that (even crappy) Friskies treats are actually balanced to serve as the sole diet. Not that I would recommend it long term, but if she'll eat those, at least she's getting a full complement of nutrients. Butter is great for the fat. When I was a kid I would raid the fridge and eat a whole stick of butter. I turned out okay! So until the other docs get into other things to do, I just wanted to reassure you that her chosen diet's not so bad! ?

 

[catdoc]

Hi Aruna and Dr Jean. Sorry for my slow response. Income Tax prep has consumed my time for the past several days! Other than her currently picky appetite, Luna appears to be feeling ok (she was chasing flies earlier today) Luna's BEAM is really unchanged. She is somewhat shy by nature and always has been. She was never a super active kitty and she spends a lot of her time "catnapping". Her appetite has decreased since we relocated to Mexico 4 years ago. I think she found the heat rather hard to deal with. In the beginning, that was ok as she was quite overweight and I guess adjusting to different kitty food (there is not a great deal of choice here in Merida, Mexico, although, it is getting better since Petco arrived) She hates homemade food and does not like chicken. I guess her real struggles to eat appeared in the summer of 2019 when she developed pancreatitis. She lost her sister and soul mate in May of 2019 to pancreatic cancer and I almost felt she was grieving so much she began to develop similar symptoms. Fortunately, she responded to the Homeopathic remedy Phos. As for other symptoms, she does eat grass and subsequently barfs. Some days she will clean her plate then we go for 3-4 days where she hardly eats at all. She has to share the house and property (as well as my bed) with 13 other kitties which does not thrill her. FYI, all 14 cats do not sleep on the bed, only 3 or 4 including Luna

Dr Jean, thank you for your encouragement. She is interested in certain foods but makes it a guessing game for me what exactly that is (beyond the crappy kitty treats and butter, that is) I will check out what Gail Pope suggests for care for fussy elders. Overall, she does not act like a sick kitty as she enjoys walks by the pool, and snoozing in the carport under my car.