Senior cats with health issues - coping with stress of weak(er) appetites

I could put this thread in Nutrition section, but these issues are as much tied up in my senior cat's health issues, so I am putting it here. Also, people on this section of the board are most familiar with the multitude of serious senior cat health issues that I am facing - all diagnosed in a short time frame giving me no time to gradually adapt to each cat's issues and new eating habits.

My life is a blur of vet visits (my vet bills in 4 months are too embarrassingly high to even mention here), cat medications and now I have to face an eating fiasco at every mealtime. For years, my cats have had 3 wet food meals per day and free-fed dry food (latter no longer happening). I now know that wet is best, but at any rate this is what my cats have been used to for 15 years. For various reasons, I am trying to increase the sizes of their wet food meals as I know that it is better for them, and I am only leaving out rationed dry food at night (I count out the calories of what I leave out and it is gone by morning). I am not going to eliminate the dry food at this stage as I choose not put my senior darlings (with several ill cats) through a tricky mentally difficult transition for them - they have enough on their plate physically and mentally. So as a compromise, I am beginning with this first transition to increased wet food and rationed dry food at night. TBH, even the transition to 3 larger wet food meals and dry-only-at-night is proving tricky and I feel ready to give up.

Given that I am keeping the same overall routine - 3 soft meals with the rationed dry at night, I have some questions. Each cat has various issues, and the wet food make is tailored to each cat's issues. With the cats who randomly reject one or even two wet meals during the day, should I just let them miss the meal as they will likely eat more at the next wet meal?? These are cats with health issues, and I don't like the idea of them missing meals - how much do I chase after them with dozens of flavours in desperation to get them to eat at each wet food mealtime and is it best just to get any wet food into them if they reject the one that is best for them at a particular mealtime? Should I decrease the size of soft food meals to what they used to be, and perhaps gradually build up to larger soft meals (I did a sudden increase in amount that I put on their plate). These are cats that really need to eat as they are either losing weight or barely holding weight and it is a big deal for them to miss a meal. I am getting mentally drained as mealtimes take ages now (and I do 3 per day) and this is affecting my own state of mind - it is time consuming to even find a food that each cat will accept at each mealtime and some of them need me to individually watch them or they lose focus and walk away!! Even if more wet food is better for their health, maybe it is better to not make them (and me) suffer through these dietary changes that seem difficult for them to accept and I should give up?? Their mental health and their happiness also matters to me. But I don't want to free-feed the dry food again as my young kitten's weight may explode and more wet food is better for the seniors (if they would just eat more!!).

List of cat eating issues

Murchie: Diagnosed with pancreatitis in December. He eats wet food ok-ish but I just cannot get more than a certain amount of wet food into him per meal no matter what I try (I've tried every trick). Will probably start anti-nausea meds to see if this helps.

Rexy: She has bile duct/liver/pancreas issues. She has always been a grazer/nibbler and a delicate painfully slow eater of wet good. I am lucky if I can get her take a tablespoon of soft food at a time, no matter how hungry she is or how long it is between wet food meals. She has triaditis so all sorts of reasons to be inappetant in addition to a delicate appetite. Some meds for appetite and nausea are contraindicated for chronic use by her liver issues.

Liam: Bladder infection (now resolved) and possible painful tooth issue now. Like Rexy, he has never been that into soft food and is a painfully slow eater. I can get bits and pieces of wet food into him but not particularly notable amounts. He may have a resorptive lesion now (being looked at by vet tomorrow) so this is not helping matters, but he was already tricky to get eating wet food.

Toffee: He had a nasty dry socket (very painful tooth issue) that happened in the aftermath of dental surgery (no one's fault, just bad luck). So he has had intense pain in mouth until recently that we controlled as best as we could, but eating was difficult. It is now healing, but Toffee is not back to eating wet food the way he used to in the good ole days - maybe the memory of the pain is still with him, or maybe he still has some lower-level pain as this tooth issue resolves. Either way, he will gobble up wet food at some meals, then entirely reject a wet meal for no apparent reason. Erratic eating of wet food.

Duncan: My only cat who thoroughly enjoys and eats whatever type and amount of soft food that you give him. No major health issues at this point.

Gryffin: My only non-senior cat. He sometimes turns his nose up at wet meals - one second he likes a flavor, the next he snubs it. One meal he eats the wet food, the next despite going over 8 hours with no food, he just walks away from a food that he liked at the last meal. I wonder if he has seen me offering the others a variety of flavours to the sick cats and also wants the same treatment. This behavior has increased as my other cats have become more difficult at mealtime. Maybe I will shut him in a room with his own wet food, so he can no longer watch the mealtime ordeal with the other cats?? Might that help stop this new habit of his??

I know you have a lot on your plate, have you ever considered feeding raw?  DeeJay was so picky I have TONS of different kinds of canned food in my pantry from trying to find something she likes and now she's on raw, she eats her entire portion (2 & 1/4 oz) per meal with gusto.  She never leaves anything on her plate.  Other than that you could try feeding more frequently smaller amounts to the ones who only like eating smaller amounts at a time.  My dry food hold out is a grazer so I just feed her whenever she yells at me for food.

cprcheetah said:

 
I know you have a lot on your plate, have you ever considered feeding raw?  DeeJay was so picky I have TONS of different kinds of canned food in my pantry from trying to find something she likes and now she's on raw, she eats her entire portion (2 & 1/4 oz) per meal with gusto.  She never leaves anything on her plate.  Other than that you could try feeding more frequently smaller amounts to the ones who only like eating smaller amounts at a time.  My dry food hold out is a grazer so I just feed her whenever she yells at me for food.

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I thought about it. I could not deal with it for all 6 cats right now. I have a really high stress professional career (60+ hours per week) and I just don't think that I can take that on right now without having a near nervous breakdown - it sounds like a lot of work from what I read. And I assume it is expensive - tbh the vet bills alone are draining me (all I will say is my vet bills are much much greater than $10,000 in 4 months). This week alone I may end up with another dental surgery ($1000 or so) plus vet visit and followup bloodwork for another cat (hundreds of dollars).

I could try doing the smaller amounts - and shoving dry at the holdouts like you do. Meals just feel so confusing right now, my head is ready to explode.

It literally costs me a little more than $5 a week to feed my 2 kitties their raw.  I mix it up 2 weeks at a time.  It takes maybe 30 min to mix up.  While I don't think dry is the best option sometimes it's the only option.  My Mini Dee is the most stubborn cat I have ever seen about canned food, I honestly think she hates getting her face wet in it, she has Cerebral Hypoplasia so bobs her head like a chicken when she eats.  I know I've spent quite a bit in the last few months but not as much as you.  I feel for ya.  It's killing me having such a high bill at the vet.  I hate that.  I do know that raw has helped Munchie's asthma immensely, he hasn't had an asthma attack in over a month.  He was weekly before that.  We were considering switching his inhaler to a different kind. 

You have me thinking. Maybe what I have to do is reevaluate as this plan is clearly not working for everyone. I will keep the rationed dry out at night. But reevaluate the meals during the daytime. If Liam won't eat enough soft, he can have a mixed soft/hard for his meals, maybe the raw might work for one cat and then something else for another, and maybe someone else needs 5 smaller soft meals. I had this idea that they would all just LOVE to have 3 soft meals a day. But clearly for some reason, this plan is not working. I'd sooner Liam and Rexy eat more even if I have to resort to some dry. BTW, which dry are you feeding your one cat?

I feel your pain.  I had three healthy 4 year olds, eating happily away and all eating the same thing.  Then we took in the four elderly cats our deceased friend left and whammo, there went our easy routine.  They all four had different health issues, all four losing weight--well, I could go on and on.  I spent so much more time feeding and keeping track of meds I, like you, felt my head was about to explode.  This was on top of working two part time jobs and taking care of my hubby, who had been through three back surgeries and two hip replacements in the past two years.  It was insane.  

I went through so many kinds of foods, so many routines.  One has a sensitive stomach; one needs soft food because of dental issues; one wants to eat constantly.  It's taken a year to get it down--and still of course it changes but it's getting easier.  In the end--I do what I can.  

Finally, after much trial and error, I have found wet foods all four of the newbies will eat (mostly).  But I have let them keep some of their old habits--they still have a feeder of dry food out (though I'd like to eliminate dry food) because it keeps them eating when one or more of them won't eat wet.  I now and then skip mixing meds in their foods and just let them enjoy a meal (and give myself a break!) 

I have learned to sit with them for 5-10 minutes while they're eating because some of them are like yours, they'll stop eating if they think I'm leaving or something.  So I get my iPhone, check emails and wait while I watch them eat out of the corner of my eye.  If one wanders from his/her bowl, I'll go stir it up with a fork and pretend I've added something new and delicious LOL and physically put them in front of their bowl again--usually that will get them to eat another couple of bites.  

As time goes on, I leave out less and less dry food.  A couple of them were real dry food addicts but now they're eating mostly wet.  I still let them have some dry and even some kitty crack (Friskies treats--party time or whatever it's called) because it keeps them interested in eating.  These cats range in age from 11 to 18 and I'm not going to kill myself or them trying to change all their ways....

I guess my point is, I do the best I can.   I'm not going to turn them young and healthy again!  but they're eating better and are healthier than when I got them, and their medical issues are stabilizing.  

I would say please give yourself a break--they're probably not all going to get the optimal meals or optimal amounts every day but overall you are probably doing a really good job of taking care of them.  It's better to expect a little less than give up altogether.  

Frankly, you know your cats best. You have to weigh the benefits vs the risks. When Grey (RIP) went on a Fancy Feast classics strike, I tried literally every canned in the store. No dice, and this went on for days. Took her to the vet, he couldn't find anything wrong with her. He grabbed a piece of dry kibble and put it on the exam table. She inhaled it. He put down another, she inhaled it again. She ended up eating a full meal right there in the exam room. I broke down and put my diabetic with stage 2 or 3 CKD on Evo chicken and turkey kibble. I'd rather her eat wet or at least some wet, but she decided kibble or nothing.

Good luck, I know how trying this can be.

Scarlett 001 said:

 
You have me thinking. Maybe what I have to do is reevaluate as this plan is clearly not working for everyone. I will keep the rationed dry out at night. But reevaluate the meals during the daytime. If Liam won't eat enough soft, he can have a mixed soft/hard for his meals, maybe the raw might work for one cat and then something else for another, and maybe someone else needs 5 smaller soft meals. I had this idea that they would all just LOVE to have 3 soft meals a day. But clearly for some reason, this plan is not working. I'd sooner Liam and Rexy eat more even if I have to resort to some dry. BTW, which dry are you feeding your one cat?

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I have her on rotation.  She gets grain free only, I use Wellness Core, Blue Wilderness and Solid Gold Indigo Moon. 

Thank you. Your stories are really making me feel better. I was feeling so guilty that I was not finding a way to hang in there patiently. There are lots of threads in Cat Nutrition telling people to keep trying and not give up - but then again these are probably threads about younger healthy kitties struggling to adapt to the switch. I am rather pleased and proud that my five 15-year old cats have all made it to this age!! 

If it were not for Gryffin kitten, I'd be tempted to revert to free-feeding dry or set out several rationed dry bowl a few times a day - tbh they seemed to be eating more wet food when I was free-feeding dry!! My experiment is really feeling like one giant flop. Not sure how to handle Gryffin kitten in this. So far he is not fat at all, HUGE and muscular, but not fat. Maybe I am worrying too much about how he will handle more dry food assuming he will gorge on it when maybe he won't. Maybe the novelty of having it out a night only might make him eat more than if I spread out a few rationed portions throughout the day (??). I could put dry food on my timer feeder perhaps.

Please don't feel guilty!  In my experience, it's trial and error.  I'd love it if I could get them all on grain-free, wet, high quality foods....but you know what I ended up finding out I could get them to eat?  Fancy Feast gravy lover's food.  Now I know there are all sorts of things wrong with that food but it was WET (step up from dry food!) and they would all eat it!  So I got a few ounces added to the kitties who were losing weight, they were eating, and I leave out a grain-free dry food to supplement it.  Now that they're all eating, I'm slowly adding better quality wet food (right now it's Weruva pumpkin jack or something, I forget the name) to the Fancy Feast.  If I can transition them to a good quality food altogether, great.  If I can't, I'll keep feeding them Fancy Feast if that's what keeps them eating.  

Hang in there and again, please don't feel guilty.  You HAVE done a great job getting your kitties to the age they are--five 15 year olds, that's impressive!  

Thank you for that too.

It is hard enough accepting that my cats now have some serious health issues and things are changing. We've all been together for 15 years and it is devastating to me to imagine them not all being with me forever. I want to enjoy my time with them - and not pass the time we do have together in constant worry on my part (they will sense my stress) and shoving things they don't want to eat in their face. I need to re-evaluate the entire quality of time together for all of us. Yes, healthy food is good but what they are eating cannot be that bad or not all five cats would have made it to their age. I think what has kept them going to this age is the carefree happy energy in our home - between the health issues and now the eating stress, things are not as carefree or happy as they once were. Time to remember what matters most and stop obsessing quite so much about what they eat. Do my best and leave it at that.  

Yep!  I totally agree.  I think that's a great thing to see and realize.  

My first cat Skittles was my 'soul cat', best friend--I tell people she was my only biological child.     She was diagnosed at the age of 16 with kidney disease and I was told she wouldn't have long to live.  I was so stunned to realize that was happening.  Of course I went crazy trying to change that reality, frankly.  A holistic vet suggested raw food.  Okay--there's nothing wrong with that of course.  But in our case, she was the queen of the house and pretty set in her ways and....for heaven's sake, I'm a vegetarian!  Trying to prepare the food, and trying to get her to eat it, was torture for both of us. In the end, I gave her subq fluids, did all I could do, but I also decided she could eat whatever she wanted.  She ended up living another year and a half and the quality of life for both of us was as good as it could have been.  

That's my philosophy now with these four elder cats.  I went overboard at the beginning trying to do everything "right".  But after a  year--now I of course give them meds, I am still trying to transition them to better food, I am constantly looking at supplements that will help, etc.  But quality of life for all of us is paramount.  

Thank you for your thoughts. Reassuring to read.

Oh, boy, how I can relate. I have three senior males with health issues. Meal times take a minimum of three hours in my house.

I feed them in the kitchen/dining room area about three feet apart from each other in their respective "stations". They are trained and wait patiently at their assigned stations.

Boo has a tendency to regurgitate due to eating too fast, so I feed him in small increments with 10-15 minutes in between each feeding. I do the same for Sebastian to prevent regurgitation, which can aggravate his IBD/pancreatitis, but also because he does better eating small amounts at a time. If I give him too much, he won't finish it all, and when he's ready to go back, it's been sitting out and no longer "fresh" in his mind. I feed him 1/8 of a 5.5-6 oz. can at a time. Sebastian also needs lots of encouragement, so I'm constantly praising him, sitting with him, showing him his food, stirring it up, etc., etc. Caesar can be fussy with wet food (prior kibble addict), has anxiety, and gets easily distracted. Many times he eats a small amount downstairs, but will finish eating upstairs later on top of my high bureau where he is "safe". Whatever he doesn't eat of wet food, I let him make up in dry food. He's super skinny and needs to gain weight, so that's just the way it's going to be. Even with Sebastian's issues and sporadic anorexia, I recently decided to eliminate kibble from his diet because I think an all-wet diet will be easier for him to digest and take some strain off his system. These decisions are all so individual.

Like betsygee, I can't leave the kitchen while they are eating. They get all stressed if they think I am leaving and will follow me or stop eating to see what I am doing or where I am going. Any loud noise will distract them. I can do things in between feeding increments, like empty the dishwasher, make my own dinner, or watch TV, but I can't venture too far. If I go upstairs, they will follow and may not come back down. So, I basically hang out downstairs, rather quietly, let them clean their faces, and feed them in small amounts until we've reach the desired amount. I like Sebastian to eat at least 1/2 of a can at each meal, so this means I feed him four times during a three-hour meal time. If he's feeling good, he will sometimes eat another 1/8. If he's been eating well for several days, but then doesn't want to eat as much one morning, then I don't worry too much about it. However, it's when it goes on for more than a day or two that I'll start to get concerned about caloric intake.

I do have to watch them carefully since Sebastian is on a completely different diet than the other two, and he will try to wander to another bowl if I'm not there to supervise. I switched Boo from "premium" brands of wet food to the cheaper stuff to encourage him to eat more. This worked and he's been eating what I give him like a champ. Boo and Caesar basically eat the same rotation of foods.

My night isn't over after dinner. I then proceed to give meds, administer sub-q fluids, scoop litter boxes, brush Sebastian, etc. When I am home, I am a full-time cat nurse and nanny.    I also work full-time.

With five cats, you're situation is definitely more of a challenge. I don't know what the solution is. My cats would not want to be shut in a room. They don't like when doors are closed and they can't get in or out of a room.

  I wish there was more I could offer. 

I fed some rationed dry yesterday during the day - and at night, I put out half of dry ration at bedtime and the other half on timer half way through night. The morning wet food was almost a regular feeding without all the rejection of wet food and weirdness - they all just ate their wet food (except for Rexy how was ill and is recovering, but that is a different issue). Not sure how to explain it other than they like the feeding routine the way that it was and too much change too soon (although really it was not that drastic) was not making them happy. Who knows.

Scarlett 001 said:

 
I fed some rationed dry yesterday during the day - and at night, I put out half of dry ration at bedtime and the other half on timer half way through night. The morning wet food was almost a regular feeding without all the rejection of wet food and weirdness - they all just ate their wet food (except for Rexy how was ill and is recovering, but that is a different issue). Not sure how to explain it other than they like the feeding routine the way that it was and too much change too soon (although really it was not that drastic) was not making them happy. Who knows.

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  Take the small victories where you can get them.  :-)

betsygee said:

 

  Take the small victories where you can get them.  :-)

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I will do that!! It was a huge release of mental stress for me to just put down some wet food and have them eat. Probably much less stressful for them to, vs. having me running around shoving bowls in their face and all worried. They won't get such a high proportion of wet food as part of the total diet this way, but they will take in a better amount of food overall than when I attempted that switch, and with a bunch of senior cats having difficulty holding weight, this is important.  

How are things going?  

Thank you for asking!!

Most of the kitties are eating their soft food at meals. The occasional cat misses maybe 1 of the 3 meals but when I am feeding reasonable amounts of dry on a regular feeding schedule, I feel less panicky as I know at least they are getting some food at other times - any food is better than not enough food to sustain themselves. I know that the dry is not as good for them, but they all just seem so much happier now.  

Cute story. Last night, I had some dry food in the bowls that I put out at about 10pm in the kitchen. I also set up the timer to release some dry food at about 4am - I put it in my bedroom so kitties have easy access to food from the bed where they sleep. At midnight, my one kitty Murchie was pawing and touching the timer feeder in the bedroom wondering how to make it open up early for him!! I lifted him up and took him to the kitchen so he could eat the food that was still there for him. But after a few bites, he marched right back to the bedroom, playing with the timer feeder again, and then curled up in a ball to sleep beside the timer feeder - he was so excited to see it pop open that he slept beside it!! How cute is that?!! 

Good news!!  

That is funny about Murchie, sleeping next to the timer.      I'm so happy things are going okay, that's got to be a relief for you, and kitties will be happier knowing you're less stressed.