Conference misery::feline

    I don't know if this helps, but...
    
    Last year we got my father-in-law a kitten (name: Caesar).  When Caesar
    first moved in, he wouldn't eat ANYTHING.  My FIL finally got him to
    eat by mixing canned (9-Lives) and dry (same).
    
    That was over a year ago, and Caesar is now big, sleek, healthy,
    strong, and eats just about anything.
    
    K.C.

Do you feed both cats together?  If FM is a 'hearty eater' the new one may be
too intimidated to eat nearby.  

Try adding some water to the wet food. I have done this for all my cats, since
if they eat the wet food, I *know* they are getting lots of water to help keep
those kidneys working ;^)  Try feeding her in a separate room, giving her a
half hour or so at least to work on the food.  

I leave my current kitten in my bedroom while I'm gone, along with his food 
selection and a litter box - if I let him run loose, I'm almost guaranteed to 
come home to wanton destruction!! My bedroom is relatively kitten proof. This 
gives Hanna, my older cat, a chance to eat without being bulldozed over by a 
stampeding kitten - the reverse situation.  

The kitten may still be adjusting to the new living situation.  It's had a lot
of changes in it's life in the last week.

Congratulations on your new addition.

Hi again.

   Well, I went home at lunch today to make sure that the kitten hadn't fully
terrorized FM (or vice versa).

   She still hadn't eaten anything, so while I warmed some chicken soup for
myself, a pulled out a small piece of chicken and offered it to the kitten.  I
figured that if she refused that, there really was a problem.  Well, she ate it.
So I opened up a can of turkey flavored kitten food, and gave that to her.  She
did eat it.  So it looks like I've got a picky little girl on my hands.  She
had her choice of seafood, liver, beef, egg, and "original kitten formula" 
flavored foods, but NOOOOOOOOOO.  She has to have *poultry*.  Oh well.  When
she gets bigger, I'll try to wean her into some different flavors.  She'll
probably end up being a fat load, since FM is tiny (weighed ~6 lbs over the
summer at age 2 1/2), and eats like a horse, and will eat anything.

   They're still having fun playing.  The kitten is getting braver, and FM is
getting a little less serious.

:-) :-) :-)

Dave 

    I (sort of) had the same problem when I brought my kitten home from (a
    pretty dirty) shelter last year. They had her eating ADULT canned
    garbage which she was only used to, so when I brought her home to Iams
    she either refused to eat or threw it up. I brought her to the vet the
    next day to discover she had worms. The vet gave me a sample of Purina
    Kitten Chow which she took to immediately with no side affects.
    
    I learned very quickly not to introduce too many *different* brands of
    kitten food at once. This resulted in vomiting or diahrrea. If you can
    find out what the kitten was eating *before* you brought her home and
    mix in some new food, she may want it (because she'll recognize it).
    
    I was told *not* to give her any type of "fish" flavored food because
    of the high oil content. Sure enough, even as an 18 month old, she
    still can't tolerate any type of fish-flavored food.  Good luck!

Well, Dave, old buddy, this 12 week old kitten should be called Genius, cause
she's training you very well!!  Actually, in her defense, I'd suspect she's
just not used to having all that food around her, and not all different
varieties.  Cats have this built-in defense mechanism that means they won't
go hungry unless something's wrong.  I'd suspect The Kitten has worms--in fact,
I'd bet cash American dollars on it.  Has she seen your vet yet??  A good dose
of roundworm medication might help.  When I took in Biff, he was the same way,
but when he got rid of those worms, he ate like a pig.  And, now that I think
about it, I'd bet that throwing up could have been cause by worms, too.  Off
to the vet with her!!

But first of all, she needs a name!!!!!

Mary

Hi again.

> lots of food at once.

I tried 1 at a time, and then we she ignored all of them, I left them all out.
That's pretty much academic now, though.

> worms.

According to the shelter, she had her first worming on Jan, 2 and she was
negative.  So I'm not planning on bring her to the vet for her 2nd shots/worming
for a couple weeks.  If the throwing up continues, though, to the vet we go.

Thanks everyone.

Dave

p.s. I'll introduce her and FM when she gets a name...

    Same thing happened when I got Pippin.  She was eating the day we took
    her home and then she started vomitng that night.  Next day she ate
    nothing but was still up-chucking - off to the vet to find out she had
    a good case of worms.  She actually didn't start eating for another
    couple of days - but then very early one morning we heard her screeming
    at the frig and the rest is history.
    
    Giudi

    Cats under stress will usually not eat.  Moving to a new home, and
    staying at a shelter for a few days is stressful.  So is being
    introduced to a resident cat.  She should start eating fine in a day or
    so.  She can go several days without eating without you having to worry
    about her health.  As long as she is drinking water you shouldn't
    worry.  Are you absolutely certain that she hasn't eaten when you
    weren't watching her?  
    
    Be careful not to fall into the trap of *creating* a picky eater.  Put 
    down what you wish to feed her.  If she doesn't eat it after an hour, 
    throw it away but don't put anything else down until the next feeding 
    time.  My philosophy is that when the cats starting buying the cat food 
    themselves (and paying for it!), then they can choose what they think 
    they would like to eat.  In the meantime, I will choose it for them. :')
    
    Jo
    

Dave,

I would try all meat baby food, beef, turkey, chicken.  Gerber's lamb 
is very easily digestable.  I wean my kittens with that.   Haven't met 
one yet that wouldn't eat it.

I also give it to my adults every once in a while as a treat.  Beau 
allows me to bring him to the shows and promises to be a good boy if I 
promise to bring the baby food.

Hope this helps

Valerie

Hi All.

  Well the kitten (who still has no name...) is eating fine now.  In fact, she
doesn't even seem to want the canned food anymore.  Is now eating plain old adult
dry food.  Doesn't like the stuff for kittens.

Cheap and easy...The way I like it!!! :-)

Dave

p.s.  She gets table scraps, too, so she won't get 'malnutrition' from eating
*only* supermarket dry...

    Hi Dave,
    
    You might want to try either ether Purina Kitten Chow dairy formula
    or Friskies kitten formula.  My kitten likes both over adult food.
    The Kitten really needs the extra nutrition that the kitten foods
    will afford her.  But, I know how it always went in my house...the
    adults eat the kitten food, the kitten eats the adult 'lite' food...
    don't they know what's good for them?????
    
    Poor T.K....no name yet.  Just don't name her DECcat V2.0...
    
    Mary
    

    Table scraps (too much of them) are a no-no!
    
    Its funny...when we first got Rico, we bought him some kitten food, and
    he wouldn't go near it, but would go after Tiki's adult food.  Now that
    we have bought kitten food for Alex, Alex won't touch the stuff...but
    Rico loves it!
    
    K.C.

> Table scraps (too much of them) are a no-no!

Yup, I know.  They just get them as 'treats', never as whole meals.  Kinda like
kids playing "I get to lick the pot..."

> Poor T.K....no name yet.  Just don't name her DECcat V2.0...

Well, right now, it looks like her name with either be...

"Hamster", "Raspberry Wine", or "Zinfandel".  Just gotta see which one she likes
best... :-)

Thanks for all the help...

Dave

    That reminds me of something that happened this weekend.  I was tearing
    down my cage at the show and Reste was still in it.  I accidently
    spilled a glass of Chardonnay that I was drinking, and the quilted
    bottom of Reste's cage absorbed most of the wine.  Well, naturally,
    while I was frantically trying to sop it up with paper towels, Reste
    was doing his best to walk all through it.  About that time I realized
    that Reste was on second call for a final!  So, I had to pull him out
    of the wet cage, try to dry his feet with a towel and then rush him up
    to Betty Denny's ring.
    
    I took Betty aside and explained what had happened, so that she
    wouldn't think that his feet were wet from urine or something.  Course,
    she made a big joke out of it, telling everyone that I was trying to
    get my cat drunk, while I sat there very red-faced.  Next thing I know
    the crowd is roaring with laughter and I look up and Reste is licking
    his paws very intensely and then making funny faces to the audience.
    What a clown!!  He licked every drop of chardonnay off of those little
    white toes.
    
    Jo

    I am fostering a cat right now who I can't seem to get interested in
    food.  I have tried baby food, canned chicken and beef broth, tuna
    fish, and various kinds of cat food.  (I don't eat meat myself, so I
    don't have any beef or chicken in the house, and never buy it or cook
    it). 
    
    The only thing he even nibbles at is the tuna (sometimes mixed with a
    little fishy cat food).  He licks it a lot, but never eats very much.
    I tried what someone put here earlier - I put water in his tuna/canned
    fishy food and he laps the water up.
    
    His story is he was surrendered to a shelter with his wife, his wife
    got adopted and he didn't.  He got very stressed out, and stopped
    eating.  He's a big guy, and I'd estimate that he lost about 1/3 of his
    body weight (probably went from 14-15 lbs to his current approx 10 lbs).
    This has all happened over the last month.  He's sooo skinny!
    
    Duke has a home, but will be staying with me a couple more weeks.
    
    Any ideas?  I am giving him nutrical supplement every other day or so,
    but I cut back on that hoping he would be interested in food again.  We
    think he's healthy except for not eating.  One thing that ocurred to me
    is maybe with all the stress, his teeth are not right and are giving
    him pain. 
    
    His normal diet was Iams dry free-fed, but he won't touch that (or any
    hard food for that matter).
    
    He's had a couple bowel movements, but hasn't had one since Saturday.
    
    He's been with me for almost a week now.  I keep him separate from my 3
    cats at night and when I'm not home, so he can free feed, and so they 
    don't stress him too much.  When they are together, it's been no big
    deal - a very slight amount of hissing, etc.
    
    He's just very unhappy and uninterested.  Can anybody help?  Do I just
    need more patience?
    
    Sue B (frustrated)

    
    Sue, I know what you mean by the frustration, as I'm going through this
    right now with C.C.  Has he been seen by a vet lately?  I have a bag of
    KD here, and it says that if a cat refuses to eat for two consecutive
    days, he should probably be checked out.
    
    Sandy
    
    Btw, where did you get the Nutrical supplement?
    

    I would certainly take him to a vet;  imagine what condition a human
    would be in if they'd lost a third of their body weight.

    A cat that loses that much weight that fast is a prime candidate for
    hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease).  I would get him vet checked
    right away.
    
    Jo

    Thanks, everybody....Duke has an appointment tomorrow morning.
    
    As I mentioned before, he seems healthy enough, just skinny and 
    depressed.  And he does nibble a little.  
    
    Jo, is he a prime candidate for fatty liver disease because he lost the
    weight?  Or is that rapid a weight loss a symptom of it?  I.e. which
    one comes first?  
    
    And I got the Nutrical at the shelter where I volunteer (and where Duke
    was before I brought him home).
    
    Keeping my fingers crossed for the guy...
    
    Sue B.

    It is a vicious cycle.  The rapid weight loss can put him into trouble
    with his liver, but also the not eating will mean that the liver starts
    trying to digest his fat stores.  Check with the vet for more info.  I
    haven't read up on this in a while.  Last year my vet was treating a
    male cat for this and it was really awful.  They managed to pull him
    through but he had to be fed by stomach tube through his nose for
    weeks.
    
    Jo

    Duke went to the vet today.  His gums around his front lower teeth are 
    inflamed, meaning it probably hurts him to eat.  He's getting Antirobe
    (25 mg 2x/d) for that.  Also, his fecal showed coccidia, so he's going
    on Albon for that.  I read that that usually doesn't cause disease
    symptoms in adult cats, but poor Duke's had such a rough time lately I
    would think anything could get to him.  He doesn't have diarrhea or
    anything, but the vet said these things are variable, and felt that it 
    could be part of his problem too.
    
    We are also getting a CBC and full blood chemistry.
    
    If that comes back ok, and if the Albon and Antirobe don't do the job,
    we'll carefully try an appetite stimulant.  We want to rule out any
    underlying causes first.
    
    Also, it turns out he doesn't even weigh 10 pounds - only 8.7.  And
    he's a big, tall cat (easily a third taller than Trouble, who probably
    weighs about the same as or a little more than Duke).
    
    He seems a little more settled this afternoon - maybe it's because he
    got put in a carrier, taken somewhere, but not left there like has
    happened to him too much lately.
    
    Sue B. + resident monsters + Duke

    Poor Duke.  Please let us know how he's doing.  Sounds like he
    needs all the cuddles you can give him....
    

    Hopefully they can diagnose the problem for poor Duke.  Believe
    me Duke knows you are trying to help him...and he is probably
    very grateful.
    
    Keep us posted please...
    
    Sandy
    

    Duke's doing better, I think.
    
    His blood test results were normal except a couple enzymes just
    slightly above normal.  The vet said if he didn't gain some weight, he
    wanted to rerun that portion of the test.
    
    He's started to eat some, and he's now eating almost exclusively hard
    food, which is what his diet was before all this started.  We think his
    teeth must have bothering him - when he started eating hard food, he
    only gently mouthed it; now he's starting to crunch it a little.  He
    hasn't really gained much if any weight yet, but he's perkier and more
    playful.  I'm hoping the weight gain will follow.
    
    He gave me a scare Saturday am - threw up a LOT!  I talked to the vet,
    and we think that he did that because he probably ate more than his
    shrunken stomach could handle.  No problems since then.  
    
    He goes to his new home this coming Sunday.  Hopefully by then he'll
    have gained a little and continues to improve, and that yet another
    change won't set him back again.  Any ideas on how to make this next
    change easier on him?
    
    The funny thing is I have tried all sorts of food on him (about 8 open
    cans in the frig) - the only thing so far he'll eat is my cats' Feline RD 
    (for fat cats).  It's not supposed to taste good, but he likes it best.  
    I'm also mixing in some CD to get him more nutrition, but he gets mad
    at me when I do that.... 
    
    Funny things, these felines.....
    
    Sue B. + Duke

	I don't know if this will help Duke, but fwiw, I saw something at
	my vet's this morning that I thought I should share.  Hill's puts
	it out, and it's called "Mixit".  It's a product designed to get
	cats to eat a new food.  It sounds like a sort of a gravy that you
	can mix into canned or pour over dry food.  It can even be mixed
	with water to get cats to drink more.

	Sandy

    I'm glad Duke seems to be doing better; will you (us too?) be getting
    feedback from his new home?
    
    When Holly eats in a hurry it all comes back up too.
    

    I use the Mixit to help wean kittens onto dry food.  I  mixit with the
    Max kitten dry.  It isn't nutritionally sound on it's own, but will
    help tempt a cat to eat.
    
    Jo

    Well, I am happy to report that Duke went to his new home yesterday
    (where his new name will be Bailey, after the guy in "It's a Wonderful
    Life".  Appropriate, I think....)
    
    He had definitely perked up, and perhaps had gained a little weight
    (hard to tell on my scales).  He was eating a mixture of Hills Feline
    RD and Feline Maintenance, and had finished his medication.
    
    I took his blanket, stuffed puppy, Marty Mouse, toys and towel to his new 
    home with him so he could have familiar smells.  When I left, he was
    exploring his huge new home (3 times the size of mine!) with big eyes.
    
    His new dad works in my office, so hopefully I'll get some updates
    every now and then.  His new parents are very nice.
    
    Ahh, a happy ending!  I love them!
    
    Sue B. + back to the normal 3 monsters....

	We are currently "foster parents" for a mom cat and her two kittens
	from the Pat Brody Shelter, and I need a little advice from
	all you kitten experts.  This is only the second litter we've 
	fostered and we still have lots of learning to do.

	The two kittens are healthy and happy and well-fed, courtesy of
	mom cat.  But they have ABSOLUTELY no interest in canned cat
	food -- they are now six weeks old with lots of teeth for chewing
	(as my fingers demonstrate).  I have tried putting little bits of
	the canned kitten food in their mouth (thinned with chicken broth
	and nuked) and all they do is spit it out at me!

	Shouldn't they be showing interest by now?  Should I find a different
	food, or should I just wait them out?  I don't want to raise
	finicky eaters and they aren't starving by any means so my
	inclination is to just wait until they are ready.  They do seem
	to be somewhat behind developmentally, having been found abandoned
	mom cat was not getting proper nutrition until the Shelter got her.
	
	The first litter we fostered dove headfirst into kitten food just
	after 4 weeks of age, loved it from the moment I put a little in
	their mouths to give them the idea.  They taught themselves to drink
	water and eat crunchies all by themselves, we just had to put it
	in the dishes.  Did we just luck out and have incredibly cooperative
	kittens vs. the current batch?

	Jan   who_loves_getting_new_kittens_to_play_with_but_not_keep

    What a wonderful Foster Mom and Dad!!!!   I know most kittens
    at the shelter start to "chow down" on some type of wet food
    at about the age of 4-5 weeks!!   
    
    I bet you just have a "slower" litter...and sooner or later they
    will realize what food is all about!!   If your nervous you can
    call Priscilla who makes this "kitty recipe" using (I think)
    liver and KMR.   The kittens love it.....but it looks yucky!!
    
    Sandy 

    Another "Priscilla Recipe for Cats who Won't Eat":
    
    	1 jar baby food (strained chicken, beef, etc.)
    	2 tbsp. dry Gerber rice cereal
    	KMR or evap. milk to make the mixture soupy
    
    Try this on the kittens - maybe they're stomachs aren't
    ready for the kitten food yet, and need "real" baby food.
    Good luck!
    
    Pam

    A co-worker recently adopted a kitten from the PBSFC (Pat Brody
    Shelter) and he's been having trouble getting it to eat.  He's brought
    it to the vets and nothing major is wrong, but they think it was taken 
    from the mother too soon (not from the shelter, but as a drop off)
    and never learned to eat.  He also dosen't know how to clean up after
    himself, so I guess he's pretty dirty by now. 
    
    The kitten is being force KMR fed w/ a dropper w/ baby food (chicken)
    mixed in.
    
    Any ideas on how to get this little kritter to eat, and clean up after
    himself?  The resident elder cat is not too thrilled with the addition,
    but could he be employed as a sort of foster parent?
    
    Thanks folks .......Michele

    Hi Michele,
    
    One suggestion would be to have your friend call priscilla at the PB
    shelter and find out if any of the littermates to this new baby had
    a similar problem and how she got it to eat.   I do know she has made
    this special food for some of the kittens that had to be force fed
    because something happened to the Mom...so maybe she could share
    her recipe.
    
    How old is the kitten?  Does it play like a kitten should?  Does
    it drink water?  Will it lap the KMR if it is in a bowl?  Will it
    lap food from a finger?
    
    Kitty prayers for the little baby!!!!

    Would it help to have it temporarily "adopted" by another mother cat
    with a litter at the shelter?  or would it feel abandoned at being back
    there temporarily?
    

    kitten is about 6-7 weeks old.  He says the little guy dosen't do much 
    of anything.  I really hope it pulls thru because they are just getting
    over the loss of their first cat.
    
    I hope you don't mind if I forward you notes to him.
    
    thanks-
    
    	Michele

    Maybe the kitten needs a lot of being held?  Please let us know how he is
    doing.  Thanks.
    

    I'm sure the shelter took good care of this kitten but maybe a vet
    check is in order.  
    
    Going to a new home can be very stressful and the little guy may not 
    be feeling too well.  Jo Ann had a kitten that wouldn't eat and it 
    turned out that its intestine had folded over on itself.  I'm afraid 
    I don't know the technical term for the condition.  I don't want to 
    scare anyone unnecessarily, I'm just suggesting that the kitten be 
    checked by a vet to rule out this being caused by a health problem.
    
    Jan

>>>>>I don't know the technical term for the condition.
    
    It was called intestinal intussusception and it proved fatal for her.
    :'(
    
    Jo

    kitten has been to the vet.  vet perscribed KMR for force feeding 5
    times a day.  also suggested offering baby food.  resident elder cat
    appears to tolerate kitten.  called shelter for suggestions.  suggested
    taking another littermate.  (and we all know the littermate will end up 
    with a new home ;^).
    
    I'll get more info when coworker comes in today.
    
    Thanks guyes.....Michele

    
    
    	okay, here is the latest.....kitten is going back to the PBS to see
    	if hanging out with the litter mates will help him decide to
    	eat again.  For those of you who might stop by there this
    	weekend, it is a little balck and white guy.  PLease give him a pat
    	for me.
            
    	Thanks-
    
    	Michele

    Michele...I'll most likely stop by this weekend...so I'll give him
    a big hug and kiss!!!     Do you know if he is going to Priscilla's
    house (semi-shelter) or the real shelter?????
    
    Sandy

    Sandy,
    
    I saw a little black and white kitten in the kitten room when there
    Monday night.  Wonder if it's the littermate to the one who won't eat?
    That little one seemed to be doing okay though.
    
    Maybe I'll see you at the shelter tomorrow afternoon.
    
    Pat
    

    I just got word that Mittens didn't make it.  :^(
    
    Poor little guy...at least he won't be suffering now......
    
    Michele
    
    p.s.
    The people are going to look for another, but they want a gray tiger
    male.

    :-(
    
    

    I'd like to ask for your good thoughts and prayers for my new kitten
    Cleo, (originally introduced as Die Hard in the adoption notice -
    nobody called and I couldn't let her go to the Humane Society, could
    I?)  Anyway, Cleo is almost ten weeks old and I've had her at my
    apartment for about two weeks. (Shadow and Sammi are adjusting.) She's 
    been eating Healthy Blend wet food, and Purina Kitten Chow dry (moistened 
    with water) - really eating well and then day before yesterday she just
    stopped eating. She purrs a lot, and when you put food in front of her
    (and I've been trying all different things, just to get her to eat) she
    sniffs it and her purr revs up, but she turns and walks away. She
    weighed two pounds two weeks ago when I brought her in for her first
    checkup, round of shots, and deworming, and today she weighed the same
    :-(.
    
    She's at the vet now - she's not running a fever, her coat and eyes
    look good, she's playful, her stool doesn't look good. The vet is going
    to try some different things to see if he can get her to eat and may
    force feed her. I'm very worried. If anyone has any ideas, please share 
    - and thanks for listening.
    
    Rebecca  

    My cats haven't been wanting to eat their usual quantities lately; I
    think that the hot weather is the casuse. If kitty doesn't want to eat
    for a day or two, don't worry too much as long as the cat is drinkning
    water. To bribe her into eating, you might want to offer her some baby
    food (a reluctant cat can offen be tempted to eat when offered the
    chicken noodle variety)
    
    A another possibility is that the kitten could be constipated. Has she
    left any stool in the box? And if she has, did it seem hard and dry?
    Some cats are prone to constipation, and adding bulk (like bran) to
    their diet will help that problem.
    
    good  luck,
    Deb

    I do agree that my cats aren't eating as much as normal...but I
    would be concerned if a 10 week old kitten wasn't eating because
    this weather does NOT bother kittens as much as adults and they
    can dehydrate alot quicker too.  I'm glad she's at the vet and
    hopefully it will be nothing serious!!
    
    Congrats on your new kitty....and I do agree "how could you give 
    him up"!!! (giggle giggle...that's how I ended up with SO many)
    
    Sandy 

    ...in taking the kitten to the vet right away.  Not eating at such
    a young age is unusual and can be a sign of something wrong.  I
    hope it's nothing serious and that your kitten will be back to
    normal eating habits in short order.
    
    Everything crossed here, fingers, toes, and paws for a speedy and
    positive conclusion.
    
    Carl and Les Six

    Thanks for your encouragement - I just got off the phone with the vet.
    He gave her an injection of valium to stimulate her appetite and she
    did eat some. He's prescribing something similar to help with her
    appetite and recommends that I give her really smelly, tasty food for
    right now. He's not too worried - doesn't feel it's a serious medical
    problem, but if she stops eating again, we'll do blood work and x-rays
    then. 
    
    Thanks again for your support - let's hope she keeps eating!
    
    Rebecca