Cat food for Myelodysplasia

Hi, this is my first thread and am praying for an answer as I have been very worried. About 6 months ago, my cat was diagnosed with Myelodysplasia. She is only 2, I rescued her from outside because she was shot. Her whole family was killed She is very friendly and sweet but lately she isnt eating much. She also throws up because she eats non-clumping liter due to the anemia and she is now 7.5 pounds. Granted she is a small cat but 2 weeks ago she was 8.5 Can anyone recommend a food for her to eat? She doesn't like wet food that much.

I'm really sorry to hear your cat is so sick.   She certainly has had a difficult life, poor little thing.  It really sounds like she needs to go to the vet , since her appetite is so poor and she has taken to eating litter.     I'm wondering if she needs a blood transfusion or a change in medication.  

In terms of a food that is recommended for cats with myelodysplasia, hopefully someone who is knowledgeable about nutrition will pipe in.  At this point, however, I think it's important to encourage her to eat, period.   There are several ways to do this.  

1.  Warm up her food.  The enhanced aroma will make her food more tempting.  You might have to wet the food with a gravy, perhaps tuna water.  Don't leave it out longer than 30 minutes, though, as bacteria do build up quickly in moistened kibble.

2.  Feed her when she first wakes up - sometimes they eat automatically while still sleepy.

3.  Try tempting her with chicken or turkey baby food (no onions or garlic.)

4.  Try tempting her with tuna water or tuna

5.  Hand feed her.  You might even have to resort to a needless syringe (available at pharmacies.)

6.  Sprinkle tasty treats on top of her food:  crumbled cheese, bonito flakes and fortiflora are examples 

7.  Bake or boil chicken for her and mash it up - no spices.  If you boil the chicken, the water can be poured over the kibble.

8.  Try a high calorie food like Nutri-Cal.  
Note:  before adding anything to your cat's diet, check with the vet to make sure it isn't counter-indicated.

Below are some articles that should help:
[article="32998"]Why Has My Cat Stopped Eating And Is It Dangerous  [/article][article="33011"]How To Get Your Cat To Start Eating Again  [/article]
I wish you had joined TCS under better circumstances but....Welcome!     Please tell us your girl's name and show pictures.  We love pictures!  And let us know how she does.  

Her name is Tohru I have an appointment Wednesday because I am a poor college student and will get my tax refund then. I called them asking for a food suggestion and they haven't called back..Tohru loves canned tuna though, my worry is how much is too much? I gave her a can yesterday, I am wondering if its ok to give it to her today.

Aw, Tohru is such a pretty girl.  What a sweet look she is giving you!  

I wouldn't think that a second can of tuna would hurt her.  The main thing is to keep her eating.  However, it's much better if she's eating canned tuna cat food, which has all the vitamins and minerals she needs, than human canned tuna, which doesn't.  You might even try one of the tuna/chicken combinations to see if she'll eat that.  That way maybe you can wean her off the tuna.  

Calling the vet was a good idea and I hope you hear back soon.     You can ask them about the tuna at the same time.  While you have the vet on the phone, consider asking them if they'll accept a post-dated payment for next Wednesday.  (You are talking about 10 days from now, right?  Not the day after tomorrow?)   My old vet did this for me.  Unfortunately I had to move and my new vet doesn't do this, but it is worth asking if it means you can get Tohru in a little sooner.  

Did your Vet say certain foods were better than others based on her diagnosis.  I would think ANY food would be ok, honestly.  ANY cat food, that is.  As Margd pointed out, human food is not nutritionally complete for cats, and  with her condition, you don't want to skimp on any vitamins, etc. 

I did manage to find this thread about another cat with the same issue, and different foods were mentioned, albeit they are all canned foods:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/250143/spoiling-my-kitten-with-myelodysplasia

What all foods have you tried with her, both wet and dry?  Have you tried Fancy Feast CLASSICS?  Most cats love those, and they really aren't too bad...low carb, at least.  'course, i don't know what the Vet advised.

They just said science diet for sensitive stomachs, which i feel is sort of a generic vet answer :/

cloudsofsand said:

They just said science diet for sensitive stomachs, which i feel is sort of a generic vet answer :/

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Oh yeah....VERY generic Vet answer

So....does she have a sensitive stomach?  Is that why you took her in to the Vet in the first place?  One of my guys had a tendency toward throwing up his food, and I put him on a Purina One  sensitive stomach food, which DID help, until I transitioned them all to canned food, and now he doesn't have a sensitive tummy anymore, although he IS extremely picky.  But no more tummy issues.  I think he just had issues with whatever was in most kibble.  (I used Soulistic to transition him, which is Petco's brand of wet food)

Anyway, if there are no dietary restrictions, you might try any and all different kinds of foods, including pates, shreds, flakes, etc.   The reason she may not like wet food could  simply be that you haven't discovered what she really likes. ( OR, it may be that she simply doesn't feel well )   But with cats, it really is finding the right wet foods.  I have three cats, and all three eat different wet foods.  One hates beef, two love it, one loves chicken, one likes it, one is "meh" about it.  None like rabbit or turkey.  One loves fish, another loves fish SOMETIMES...;you get the picture.  And even different brands will either be liked or not, even if they are beef .  It's a juggling act, that's for sure.  That's where topper's come in handy.  Crushed Temptatons even work great as toppers. 

Ohh that's a great idea! And no, our other cat does because he had a crystal (he is also 2 ;_; ) and he has special food to make him thirsty but she doesn't. I just went to the store and got this;
I got this because its liver and that is high protein and I read she needs that for red blood cells. Her syndrome basically means her RBC is low because some cells, for some reason, will not release them into the blood stream

Yes, I read up on Myelodysplasia, think it has something to do with the bone marrow not doing what it needs to do  with producing red blood cells. 

Is she on any meds for her anemia?  Any added vitamins or supplements? 

No :/ He said try vitamin k12 which i did for 60 days and it didn't do much

I took her to the vet today and now she has Icterus. They had to do blood tests and I won't know until 24-48 hours anything and (of course) it has to be while I am out of town. I'm a photographer so there is no way I can reschedule. It's very disheartening. But they also gave me pills to make her eat and some special canned food, hills A/D.

I thoughtI might update, she had a rbc of 8 so we rushed her to the emergency room and she had a blood transfusion. Her RBC is now 20! And dhe has eaten 2 bowls of food! She is on steroids, some type of medicine, and an appetite stimulate

How's she doing now? 

3 days later it fell back to 11..she is in antibiotics, steroids and an appetite stimulate but they still think it's Myelodysplasia..My sister and I think its her immune system killing them or cancer but they wont give us auto immune blockers until she gets another blood transfusion, xray and ultra sound which is $3000. I am keeping a journal on her, she is so up and down during the day like the pinkness of her nose..but yeah I am at the point where I can't do anything till we pay them $3000 and I am a student so it's stressful. I already maxed my care credit to pay for her last blood transfusion :/

cloudsofsand said:

3 days later it fell back to 11..she is in antibiotics, steroids and an appetite stimulate but they still think it's Myelodysplasia..My sister and I think its her immune system killing them or cancer but they wont give us auto immune blockers until she gets another blood transfusion, xray and ultra sound which is $3000. I am keeping a journal on her, she is so up and down during the day like the pinkness of her nose..but yeah I am at the point where I can't do anything till we pay them $3000 and I am a student so it's stressful. I already maxed my care credit to pay for her last blood transfusion :/

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Oh gosh, I'm sorry to hear this.  Have you thought about starting up a gofundme?  Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't.  I guess it really depends on how you write it to gain peoples sympathies

I did I have raised $150 thanks to friends, I did post it on the one thread of the forum as well :3 i am taking her friday and that alone is $195