Been a month, not eating wet food but reeeeaally needs to. Help!

Hi guys!

I've been browsing through the archives here for the past few days, trying to find any and all tips to help our situation at home. I'm really out of ideas though.

One of our cats needs to go off of his delicious Orijen crunch particles, and eat wet food. We've had several trips to the emergency vet now for urinary problems. Everyone agrees, wet food only. Awesome I thought, this will be difficult but I can persevere.

I've tried I think every possible brand (high end stuff, low end stuff), every "texture" of food, every protein type, every temperature, every kind of material for feeding dishes, every topper (fortiflora, sprinkled parmesan, low sodium broth, tuna water, etc. etc.) and the kitty will not eat more than 3oz a day, tops. He's 14lb and needs to go down to about 12, but this is clearly not enough food for the guy. It's been a month now, and at the end of the day I've had to give in and feed him Orijen dry just to make up the calories. Right before bed, I should add, so I hold out as long as I possibly could.

Except this is bad and he's having problems again. Back to the emergency vet this Monday, picked up more meds, reconfirmed that wet food is vital and was told to keep trying.

At this point, would it be alright to resort to assist feeding with a syringe? I've got it in my head that this is something you do only for cats who are sick, not really for cats to transition to wet food, but this kitty seems to need some extra help. At the same time I'm worried about this turning him off of wet food entirely if I try it. Damned if you do, damned if you don't?

What do you think? Thanks a ton in advance!

Hi and welcome to TCS! Sorry to hear of your cat's urinary woes. Have you tried crushing his kibble and putting that on top of his wet food? You might need a lot of it at first, but then you can gradually reduce the amount of crushed kibble. How often are you feeding him? If he was free fed before, he may need smaller, more frequent meals as he is not used to eating a lot at once.

I'm not sure I would recommend syringe feeding at this point. I too would be concerned about putting him off the wet food. As long as he is getting enough food (both wet and dry), I would just keep transitioning him to wet.

What is the specific cause of his urinary issues? Struvite crystals? What are the meds he is on? There may be other things you can do to address them other than wet food.

We've always been on scheduled meal times (3 times a day, increased to 4 times with wet food to get some more into him). And yep, we've tried crushing Orijen on top. He'll eat the kibble layer and leave the rest, or pick them out of the wet food if it's mixed in. What an ass!

The latest incident revealed struvite crystals, though this is the first time they've showed up. Previous trips to the vet involved inflammation more than anything else, and stress might be a factor (neighbor's cat has been spotted outside). He's on fluoxetine to help with that. Always been just a little bit high-strung anyway. On a limb I placed an order for Carpon this morning, seeing it mentioned as a possible aid to balance urinary ph levels.

I'm worried about further flare-ups if we keep giving him dry food. Three vet visits about urinary issues in two months is taking its toll on human and cat alike.

You may want to consider adding methionine to his food. Methionine is an amino acid that works as an urine acidifier. It's the active ingredient in Hill's c/d and s/d. If you do decide to try that however, you will need to monitor his urine pH at home to ensure it doesn't drop too low. Struvite crystals usually form when the urine pH is too high (alkaline).

I would also try a Feliway pheromone diffuser in case stress is an issue, which is often the case for sterile bladder inflammation (cystitis).

Feliway diffusers already plugged in everywhere around the house, in addition to kitty wearing a pheromone-infused collar. 

Methionine isn't an avenue we pursued yet, though. I'm going to do a bit more reading up on it. Thanks!

From what I'm reading, it doesn't sound like you are actually CRUSHING up his Orijen kibble, it sounds more like you may be crumbling it to use as a topper, if he is able to pick out the pieces   Is there any way you can actually crush it up, like in a coffee grinder or magic bullet or something to make it an actual powder?  That way you can just sprinkle a teeny bit on his wet food, then when it stops eating the wet, sprinkle a teeny bit more, and so on.  I finally got one of my cats transitioned by making her food into a soupy glop.  She refuses to chew anything now.  If she can't lap it up, she won't eat it, so I dump whatever I'm serving up in the magic bullet with some water and some egg whites (to help hold it together) , her probiotics, digestive enzymes, krill oil, and whir away.  Then any portion that she doesn't eat right then and there I have to warm on the defrost cycle in the microwave for a few seconds until it's soupy again, stirring afterward, of course, to blend for same temp throughout.  Oh, what a DIVA!!  Plus I'm trying to get her to eat more, so we're up to 4 + meals per day, 'cause she sometimes won't even eat 1 oz per meal

Have you tried warming it up?  That might help.  Just a few seconds in the microwave or a couple of minutes in a water bath might help.  You can also try adding plain meat baby food or a bit of tuna juice on top of the wet food.  Don't do the tuna juice too often as it's not good for kitties with urinary problems, but as an enticement, it might work.  Also, you can try bonito flakes on top.

Tigana, My cat was off food (both dry and wet) for more than a month and was force feed. Then after medicines he started eating only dry and not wet. Few times he ate wet when crushed kibbles were sprinkled on wet food (thanks to Vball 91) but after few days he again stopped and was back to total dry. Then vet advised me to boil liver of goat and add chicken soup to it and mash the liver a bit making a gravy. You won't believe he just wanted more and licked all the plate. Now he eats liver as wet food. I don't know  if goat liver is good for urinary problem or not. But you can try. It would be good your cat starts to eat wet that too home made and fresh.

winkie said:

 
Tigana, My cat was off food (both dry and wet) for more than a month and was force feed. Then after medicines he started eating only dry and not wet. Few times he ate wet when crushed kibbles were sprinkled on wet food (thanks to Vball 91) but after few days he again stopped and was back to total dry. Then vet advised me to boil liver of goat and add chicken soup to it and mash the liver a bit making a gravy. You won't believe he just wanted more and licked all the plate. Now he eats liver as wet food. I don't know  if goat liver is good for urinary problem or not. But you can try. It would be good your cat starts to eat wet that too home made and fresh.

Click to expand...

Too much liver is not good, but certainly using freeze dried liver as a topper is ok, I do use it sometimes, and it works pretty well as an enticement to get my pickies to eat their food.

But eating only liver as their meal day in and day out is not nutritionally balanced and can cause many problems in the long run.  Winkie, please check out this thread for nutritional information:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263955/helpful-resources-raw-home-cooked-cat-food-forum

It took a couple years for me to get one of my cats to convert to eating wet food. After trying everything conceivable (like you) I found that she would eat a small amount of wet food if I hand fed her - via my fingers or if I put one bite size piece directly in front of her on the floor.  If they were separated by bite on the plate, she wouldn't go near them.  I wondered if she thought the wet food didn't belong on the plate since that was where dry food was supposed to go?  (My son, when being weaned from a bottle refused to drink milk in a cup.  He would drink anything else from a cup, but milk didn't belong in a cup!)

What ultimately made her transition was offering her RadCat raw turkey.  The rest of my cats were transitioning to raw, and I offered her a bite.  She ate it from the plate and looked for more. It still took a month or so for a complete transition, but she hasn't had dry food for many months now.  A while ago I found an old opened bag of dry food in the cupboard.   I was in the process of throwing it away, she heard the rattle and came running.  I guess it never leaves their system. 

I have a cat who has cystitis and has had several urinary blockages over the years.  The inflammation build-up in his bladder has led to cancer (TCC).  His food/diet process has been a varied one, but he now eats a home prepared raw and cooked diet.  I have no idea what caused his initial bladder/health problems - food or stress... (his brother does not have any urinary problems at all), but I wish I had started on this diet regimen sooner.  His urine pH is perfect and he looks great.  Something to think about as you examine all your cat food options.

These urinary issues are scary (and expensive).  I wish you both good luck. 

Oh, going along with what mrsgreenjeans says, the one topper that I do use now if my girl decides to not eat her full meal is the Etta Says Freeze Dried Liver.  Mix in a little sprinkle and she finishes the plate. 

Thanks mrsgreenjeens for the link and advise. Evening meal I give him liver with chicken soup and morning meal I give chicken, egg and a bit tuna. All mixed together. Sometimes I give him goat milk mixed with infant formula as doctor advised so that he starts eating again like before. I introduced liver as a new food for my cat as he had not eaten for more than a month and has lost weight. Now as he is gradually picking up his weight has improved slightly. He is still on medicines. Thanks so much for the good info on nutrition.