Kitten won't eat her prescription food?

Hey guys.

Delilah's been very good about eating since we've gotten her, with a very healthy appetite. However the vet noticed she was having some stomach bloating and gas problems so encouraged us to put her on prescription food for that, just to make sure everything's under control. We were told to start her on it ASAP, and to follow the instructions on the package about how much to give her. We have done that.

She wandered to her dish, excited about food, then stopped. She sniffed it. Paused. Sniffed it again. Then promptly started to dig at the floor in an attempt to bury it and walked away. She's done this about four times now this morning alone, and will not take a single bite of it. I know she's hungry, she's pacing the floor in front of the cabinet we keep the food in, but she does need to eat this prescription food for her tummy.

Is there a way to ease her into this, or encourage her to eat it? I've never had a cat just blatantly reject food like this (lucky, I know), so I'm at a loss about what to do.

In my experience, perscription food is pretty crummy.  My vet tried to put my cats on a hypoallergenic food (turns out, they didn't actually need it, and were quite fine being switched over to a raw food diet instead), and neither of them would touch it, even after I switched brands a couple times.  If she continues to not eat it, I'd return it and ask the vet if there's any alternatives. 

Envy said:

In my experience, perscription food is pretty crummy.

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I quite agree.

Is it wet food or dry food? So what is the cause of her stomach bloating and gas? Was this determined from a physical exam? Did she have blood work done? Does the vet suspect a food intolerance or allergy? Does Delilah have diarrhea? Is she vomiting?

I refuse to give my cats prescription diets unless it is for critical care, such as syringe feeding Hill's A/D.

You could always try a hypoallergenic, limited ingredient diet - a grain free, novel protein source - to see if it helps. My cats like the Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet. The dry comes in Turkey Formula or Duck Formula and several wet varieties. My one cat likes the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet wet food, Duck and Green Pea and Chicken and Green Pea. I'm know there are others, but I'm having trouble thinking of them right now. Of course, there is raw, which people swear by for clearing up every feline gastrointestinal problem.

It's dry food, as the wet variety isn't available yet, and it's special food for her stomach. We took her in and the vet noticed some severe swelling of her stomach, and they did both an exam and bloodwork on her. It was determined to be severe gas, along with an intolerance, but she was pretty miserable anytime anyone got near her stomach during that time, the poor thing.

An update though. I actually got fed up with trying to encourage her to at least TRY it (especially since the gas was giving her so much pain), so I sat down next to her food bowl and ate my own meal against the kitchen wall. She watched me for a few minutes, then actually went over and took a few bites of her food. Not sure what changed her mind exactly, and she still scratches around the bowl whenever she walks by it, but it's good news imo. I really just want her to not be in any more physical pain.
 

GoHolistic said:

You could always try a hypoallergenic, limited ingredient diet - a grain free, novel protein source - to see if it helps. My cats like the Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet. The dry comes in Turkey Formula or Duck Formula and several wet varieties. My one cat likes the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet wet food, Duck and Green Pea and Chicken and Green Pea. I'm know there are others, but I'm having trouble thinking of them right now. Of course, there is raw, which people swear by for clearing up every feline gastrointestinal problem.

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And, if your Vet isn't concerned that she's not eating.......first, I wouldn't be surprised and, second, I'd really recommend you hunt down a cat-only clinic.

You certainly won't want her to be in pain, but, you need her to eat the appropriate amount of an appropriate food.

Yeah, we put about 1/2 of a cup of the food in her dish in the morning to let her graze throughout the day (as the vet recommended, also works at a cat-only clinic), and I've been watching her to see if she eats it, and she's eaten a little over half. It's just hard to tell if she's going to finish it all. Even with other foods that she really liked, she's always just ate a little, then walked away to play, and came back later.

I called the vet and asked what to do about this, and he was actually pretty worried about it. He made an appointment with me to call in tomorrow so we could talk over the phone about things. He instantly recommended looking into a raw diet for her, and said we'd talk about the options tomorrow if she still didn't finish off her food by the end of the night.

Thank you for all your suggestions, I'm taking notes on them.

ArellaMarie said:

...He instantly recommended looking into a raw diet for her...

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OMG.........that is BREAKING MEWS!!!!!!!!

CHERISH that Vet!

White Shadow said:

OMG.........that is BREAKING MEWS!!!!!!!!

CHERISH that Vet!

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White Shadow said:

OMG.........that is BREAKING MEWS!!!!!!!!

CHERISH that Vet!

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Hahaha I am! He came HIGHLY recommended to me by nearly everyone we know, and he's very sweet, and always puts a pet's health before profits. He's given me the name of a fantastic pet store in town that sells a full range of raw food that he recommends - he even suggested I get her the duck variety since she seemed to like duck-flavored food at the office.

ArellaMarie said:

He came HIGHLY recommended to me by nearly everyone we know

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'Sounds like you'd probably know... this TCS member, too!