Chaz 9/23/02

Hi,I'm new at this. My 2 babies are stripped tabby's and inside cats only.I named them Chello & Chaz. I've had them since there mommy had them in 02. When she had the first kitten (Chello) she didn't want anything to do with him.( he was a runt) so I had to clean him off n get him to breath.when she had the 2nd 1,(Chaz)she cleaned him off an let him start nursing, but she totally ignored the 1st kitten. I finally had to force her to take care of him. After awhile she did.

Hi, my name is Dave, I have 2 tabby cats named Chello & Chaz. They were both born 9-23-2002 in the evening. Chello was born 1st, then Chaz.. there 12 yrs old. I've had them both since birth. They were like my kids. Chello & Chaz were lifetime siblings. They were best of friends.they did everything together. On Thursday Oct 23 2014 @ 6:15pm Chaz suddenly Died.I think it's odd that Chaz died 12 yrs & 1 month to the day.. I had chaz cremated an he is back with us today. Ever since chaz died, chello doesn't eat his food anymore. I've tried can food, but he still won't eat. The only thing he will eat is his treats. I know chello is grieving, but I need to get him to eat his food. Don't think I can handle another Death right now. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you. Sad Dad & Heartbroken Chello...

I just want to send my condolences.  I know the hurt you must be feeling.   I have never had a grieving kitty so I don`t know what to recommend other than mood enhancers like feliway or in worst case kitty-valium prescribed by a vet.  I am sure someone wiser than I will be along shortly to help you.   

Again, RIP Chaz and I hope Chello comes around soon.   

Peace

wow, I'm so sorry. My two shared a birthday with your two. But they are 10. We lost Minnie 2 months ago and Mikki has been grieving as well, but her grieving is consisting of howling in the night , being very verbal basically anytime of the day... she didnt do that before Min died.... and being very "on edge", always looking out into the other room... she also will go lay on the chair that only Minnie would lay on... so I know it's all about grieving. I feel so bad for you and your other kitty that is grieving. Fortunately Mikki's diet hasn't changed or her litterbox patterns. You definitely have to stay on top of making sure your kitty keeps eating...gosh, that's so hard. I've never had to syringe feed but have read a bit on here about it...hopefully someone will give you good advice. I totally get it though, as I dropped 10 pounds immediately after Min was diagnosed... tried to eat and just couldn't. I am thinking maybe you'll need an appetite stimulant from the vet? I did put out an off brand of feliway... but I didn't notice anything different...should have bought the real deal maybe. You may want to call your vet to get advice as well.

How is Chello doing? The treats could be a problem. Cats will hold out for the treats especially if they can smell them. I would put them out of the house for now in a storage shed if you have one. Next thing to try is some really stinky food warmed up to entice him. Dark Tuna is usually good for this.

Worse comes to worse you should read up on syringe feeding something like pure turkey baby food.

Please accept my condolences, I know what a hole it can leave in your heart. It's not unusual at all for a sibling to mourn the loss of their brother. It may take weeks before they can begin to get back to normal. You just have to give the survivor lots of attention and love to help fill the void, maybe some new toys too. You might want to try some meat baby food in those little jars, cats really seem to not be able to resist it's taste. How about tuna, or bologna? Now is not the time to worry about nutrition, you just have to get him to eat. My heart goes out to you, you are both in mourning and now you have something else to worry about.I'll say a prayer for you both, please take care of yourselves. Bless you for loving those two sweet babies so much. RIP beautiful Chaz, you will never be forgotten!

I'm very sorry for your loss. Have you talked to your vet about Chello? di and bob is right - at the moment getting him to eat is more important than what he eats. Your vet might be able to give him an appetite stimulant.

Thanks y'all, I have tried different foods. Chello used to like ppl food. Whatever I was eating he would eat some of it, but that has changed. He won't touch anything I eat anymore.I gave him some tunafish in water, he ate it, but it came back up.He does drink his water, an has a healthy litter box.. I haven't heard bout the baby food, but I will try it. Thanks for the suggestions. God Bless..

I'm so sorry for your loss.  My family was faced with the same situation long ago, when the mother cat was killed by dogs, leaving two newborns.  I wish you so much luck.  

Question, can someone please tell me how I can add a pic to the box where the kitty is in ?? Thank you

I have an ipad and cannot change it on the ipad version of the site, so I have to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click "desktop", then go to my profile and am able to change it there...

Thank you, I will try that.

I want to add my condolences on the loss of your kitty.  I lost my Cindy about a month ago, and still hard to believe and every day I think of her and often cry.  I think one thing that helped Swanie was letting him see and sniff Cindy right after she passed.  He did grieve, but now we have a new 7 month old kitten and she seems to have helped perk him up.  Have you asked the vet to prescribe some mirtazapine?  I don't know if I spelled that right, but it can work wonders in stimulating the appetite and getting Chaz started eating again. 

Misty8723 said:

I want to add my condolences on the loss of your kitty.  I lost my Cindy about a month ago, and still hard to believe and every day I think of her and often cry.  I think one thing that helped Swanie was letting him see and sniff Cindy right after she passed.  He did grieve, but now we have a new 7 month old kitten and she seems to have helped perk him up.  Have you asked the vet to prescribe some mirtazapine?  I don't know if I spelled that right, but it can work wonders in stimulating the appetite and getting Chaz started eating again. 

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Cindy, Mikki went up to Minnie after she passed and sniffed her, then gave her a lick on her forehead (talk about tears) but I was hoping that helped her process everything as well but I don't think she understood. She was ok for several days then BAM, it hit her and she cries mostly in the middle of the night..sometimes we notice it's after she eats... they always ate together so maybe she thinks more of it then... not sure. I was just wondering if she's "stable" enough to get another kitty... I'm just afraid to stress her out more...

@mnm - you raise a really interesting point. That is, do cats conceptually understand what death is? I don't know. Somehow I instinctively think they understand sickness. It is said that we give off a different scent when we are sick and animals with their keen sense of smell can detect this.

Something to ponder.

well I know many times when I have not felt well Mikki will snuggle up against my tummy... and she wasn't the one that would sleep with me! And tonight hubby was "talking to her lol" saying...why have you been laying up against my right leg at night Mikki...and I told hubby...ummm...cuz that's your leg you've been trying to work out the muscle knot in so maybe she KNOWS it's bothering you!!

I think so too. When I was suffering a severe bout of depression, max would stay with me the whole time. If he weren't there for me I shudder to think how much worse I would have felt.

nods

MnM said:

Cindy, Mikki went up to Minnie after she passed and sniffed her, then gave her a lick on her forehead (talk about tears) but I was hoping that helped her process everything as well but I don't think she understood. She was ok for several days then BAM, it hit her and she cries mostly in the middle of the night..sometimes we notice it's after she eats... they always ate together so maybe she thinks more of it then... not sure. I was just wondering if she's "stable" enough to get another kitty... I'm just afraid to stress her out more...

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Oh my gosh, that's sad.  Swanie went up to Cindy and sniffed her, then he went up to her sniffed again, then sat down beside her.  I got the feeling that he knew she was gone.  Still, he did mope around for awhile, but since he was eating okay, we let him grieve for a while, then got him another cat to hopefully be friends with.  So far that is going well, he gave her a little lick today, but I know one time he sniffed her and made little meowy noises, so I was wondering if he was hoping she was Cindy.  I may just be reading too much into that.  I don't know in your case if you should get another cat, because your Mikki is still so stressed.  It may be she did process it, but that it hits her again and she cries (like I still do about Cindy).  One minute I'll be okay, then something triggers a memory and the waterworks start.  I hope things get better

zoneout said:

@mnm - you raise a really interesting point. That is, do cats conceptually understand what death is? I don't know. Somehow I instinctively think they understand sickness. It is said that we give off a different scent when we are sick and animals with their keen sense of smell can detect this.

Something to ponder.

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I think they do understand it. But I also thing they see and sense things that we don't, and I think sometimes the cat who is gone will come back and communicate.