Older Cat Anorexia issues

Hi there everyone! I have a 20 year old male raggamuffin/lynx mix named Siren that has started to decline over the last few months. Health-wise he is actually doing remarkably well, but its been getting harder and harder to get him to eat. I was wondering if you might have any suggestions for me? Any help would be greatly appreciated, this cat has been my baby since I was 5 years old.


Things I have tried:
1. Switching canned foods (only marginal success)
2. Adding Neutri-cal to his food (Nope, he hates it. Seriously. It ends poorly)
3. Feeding him next to me (most consistent improvement seen)

4. Adding dry kitten food (worked for a bit, then he seemed to lose interest)

5. Giving boiled chicken breast (no real interest.)

6. Offering raw food (a terrible idea, he has too few teeth for it really. It was stupid for me to try it, and he just looked at me with distain)

7. Grinding dry kitten food in a coffee grinder to mix with wet food (Oh dear lord does it stink, but its showing good preliminary results)

8. Putting clam juice on his food (He flipped the dish over and stalked away like a drama queen)

9. Begging (no result. Go figure)

10. Crying (Surprising amount of success actually, I am beginning to believe he likes the taste of my misery) 

I believe that is all I have tried, though I might have left something out. Thank you all in advance for any suggestions you have

Welcome to the forum, SirensCall !

When was he last seen by the Vet ?

You said that he's "started to decline"......what changes are you seeing?

Nothing too serious really, just a bit of decreased appetite and energy. He's always been a lazy cat, but he has become even more sedentary over the last few months. He's still capable of running and jumping, it just seems he has less inclination towards it. 

Oh and sorry I forgot to put this in the reply, the last time he was at the vets was 3 months ago. He had a clear bill of health

Have you tried warming his food up?

Cats typically wont eat what they can't smell and warming the food up will make it more aromatic for his elderly sniffer. 

(Just make sure you don't heat it up too much... you want warm, not hot)

ProCat said:

 
Have you tried warming his food up?

Cats typically wont eat what they can't smell and warming the food up will make it more aromatic for his elderly sniffer. 

(Just make sure you don't heat it up too much... you want warm, not hot)

Click to expand...

I've tried nuking his food for a few seconds and adding warm water, it didn't seem to hurt anything but he also wasn't terribly interested. 

what about adding warm water to canned food and smushing it up?  This is how I got my picky kitten to finally decide that she does like wet food after all. Prior to that she wouldn't touch it. Might be easier for him to eat too if he is missing lots of teeth. 

I also second warming it up.

Good luck!

just saw your last reply that you've tried that. Bummer.

What about broth instead? chicken broth? Probably not the best nutrition wise but better than not eating at all. 

ChaseTheBLUE said:

 
just saw your last reply that you've tried that. Bummer.

What about broth instead? chicken broth? Probably not the best nutrition wise but better than not eating at all. 

Click to expand...

Broth worked for about 3 days, and then he inexplicably lost interest in it as well. Even switching up flavors didn't work, he has gotten quite finicky in old age hahaha. The longer I sit here the more I remember leaving things off my "tried" list >.< 

So far adding ground up kitten food to his wet food is working the best, I have decided to call this the "Dorito Dust Method". Is there anything I should be worried about with this plan? I heard that dried and wet food have different digestive times associated with them, but I figured that might be negated by grinding it up? At this point I'm just desperate to get my cat to eat on his own and put on a little weight, so I hoping there is nothing wrong with what I am doing. 

What you are doing is fine. I would agree that getting him to eat enough is what is most important right now.

Have you tried meat only baby food? Most kitties love that.

vball91 said:

What you are doing is fine. I would agree that getting him to eat enough is what is most important right now.

Have you tried meat only baby food? Most kitties love that.

Click to expand...

Huh, I never even thought of baby food! I'll run out to the store later and see if I can find any without onions or veggies in it. Thank you so much for the tip!

Just to give you guys an update, I think I found the answer! I mix the powdered kitten food with kmr powder and warm broth, add 1/2 a jar of baby food, then throw all of that on top of fancy feast wet food. So far yesterday and today he been devouring all his food and begging for more. Thank you all so much for your suggestions, it was a really big help and I can't thank you enough.