Picky old cats (17 and 12 yrs)

Hello,

This is my first post but I'm ooking for some advice on older cats. I've had these two since they were kittens and over the years we tried many foods, but we settled on Science Diet dry food mainly because they are so picky. This worked for many years..

Well recently the older one Isie (17 yrs) has stopped eating dry food completely. When I first noticed this the first thing I did was give her a can of tuna (in water) because it was what I had and because she had lost some weight. I felt like a bad mommy because I didn't notice it sooner. Since then I've been trying to find wet canned food she will eat, and haven't been too successful. Most of the time I have to mix it with canned tuna to get her to eat it. If its not shredded (like tuna) she wont touch it also. This was true when she was a kitten too so we ended up settling for dry food because she wont eat 90% of canned wet food.

I'm just looking on suggestions on brands, or perhaps human food I can try to give her. I read that canned pumpkin is good for cats so maybe a little bit of that (teaspoon?) would help. I'm looking for a longer term solution then tuna. Obviously that got her eating again but I need to transition into something more healthy now. She's got a vet appointment tomorrow as well.

I'm also slowly transitioning the EG (12 yrs) off the dry food, but he seems to be taking that fine. Which is amazing because he will only eat certain brands of dry food. It seems he likes the wet food so much he doesn't seem to care much about the brand(?). Once I run out of the dry food I wont buy it again for sure..

Any suggestions on what to feed Isie would be great. I do realize shes super old now but she still enjoys her life so I'm just trying to find something for her to eat that is nutritious.

Please ask the vet to do a senior blood panel including all organs and glands .... The signs your writing about are possible early idicator of senior illnesses like kindey or thyroid disease...

meow mix wet is mostly shredded
sheba in the gold tin is shredded
some friskies are shredded
Wuerua (sp?) is shredded
BFF is shredded

WET food is very good for cats

Pumpkin is fine for most cats in small amounts I start with a half teaspoon

Thanks I will definitely ask the vet to do that. I'm kind of new to this whole sick and old cat thing... for the most part she's been completely content and healthy for the past 17 years.

This is just scary.

Originally Posted by sharky

Please ask the vet to do a senior blood panel including all organs and glands .... The signs your writing about are possible early idicator of senior illnesses like kindey or thyroid disease..

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Totally agree. Also make sure the vet checks for dental problems and things like ulcers/tumours in the mouth.
Lots of shredded food out there. Mine like those Fancy Feast appetizers.
Hope you get good news from the vet.

Originally Posted by LisaR

Thanks I will definitely ask the vet to do that. I'm kind of new to this whole sick and old cat thing... for the most part she's been completely content and healthy for the past 17 years.

This is just scary.

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It could be her teeth, also. As was said, there are many things that can make a senior kitty go off her food. Definitely get her in as soon as possible for a complete check up including blood work.

Welcome to the forum, and please keep us posted on Isie!

Just got back form the vet with good news so far. I ended up bringing them both in for the annual rabies shot (its a law here in my city) and blood work/check up for Isie.

So far the vet said her teeth and gums are sore, but they looked very good for her age. We did get blood pulled from her but since she was in very good condition we will get those results back in a few days. There is no obvious physical problems with Isie according to the vet, nothing to feel or hear. So we are just waiting on those test results to see if her organs are holding up.

He said I should probably put both cats on a diet specialized for healthy liver/kidneys because of their age. So I've been looking into that, he did say the pumpkin probably isn't necessary because both of them are eating wet cat food. The vet also said he wouldn't have guessed them at 17 and 12 because they are in very good shape in general. EG had a couple of fleas so I bought some treatment for them. It's been awhile since we've had flea problems but we recently moved back into Texas and the bugs here are terrible.

So good news so far! I will keep y'all posted on the blood results.

Thanks for the update! Good job getting them seen.

Did your vet recommend a dental for Isie? If her teeth are sore, she is not going to feel her best, ever. And teeth and gum problems lead to other problems, including kidney disease.

Yes we will having a visit to the kitty dentist to have her looked at again. Actually its the same place just that vet wasn't there today. There is no major infections so they are just prescribing cleaning her teeth and doing some polishing. Her gums are sore because she lost a tooth recently but the vet said it looked like it was healing up good. No infection. Shes only got 2 canines (think thats what they are called? the fang looking teeth) left and they don't line up so we are going to stick with soft food for sure.

Okay we got the results back to her senior wellness panel. We now believe we have caught CRF at an extremely early stage. According to the tests her kidneys are working at 90%. We probably wouldn't have caught it had that tooth not fallen out. The vet recommended some prescription cat food for her. I did buy some prescription food from the vet (4 cans) to see if I can get her to eat it. The vet said the food can help slow down damage to her kidneys. I know this is probably true but I'm just scared... is this true? I've been starting to read the posts about CRF but right now I'm kind of in shock and its really not sinking in. I probably need a few days.

She also has a urinary tract infection, and I've got her antibiotic shot that works for 14 days. In 14 days we are going back to the vet to see if that clears up.

Kidney disease can be managed very well for many years by diet (if she'll eat it) and home care maintenance such as a sub q fluid regimen.

If she won't eat the kidney diet.....it's more important that she EAT, rather than what.

Getting her teeth done is still a priority, after the UTI is all cleared up. That will give her a better appetite, and reduce the risk of kidney infection and the risk of accelerating the kidney disease. Good job getting her in so quickly!

My dear Ootay (rb 5/09) was maintained for three years on sub q, and I'm sure I could have had her much longer if she had been able to take either the high blood pressure meds OR the hyperthyroid meds, but she could not tolerate either.

It was her third stroke, not kidney disease that sent her to the Bridge.

I know another kitty who is 22 years old and has been in kidney failure for 7 years!

here is an excellent resource:

http://www.felinecrf.com/

I learned a lot on this site, including the tip to get my lactated ringers through my local pharmacy rather than the vet. It saved me hundreds every month. My vet wrote the prescription and I took it to my own pharmacy.