hot weather, no A/C, do you force feed cat who wont' eat?

this is about my 19yr old girl Mickie, who has CRF, IBD and possibly cancer:


yesterday it was 80 degrees out, which means it reached 90 or so in here
(i am on the 3rd floor, w/next to no insulation in the attic)

and my old girl would not eat, until it finally cooled down to about 80

Tomorrow and into mid week its supposed to be 90+

that means it will hit 100+ in my apt, and will not cool down much below 85 during the night

what do i do if Mickie will not eat?

i will be giving her fluids,

but do i have to worry about fatty liver disease with a cat who only weighs about 8 1/2 lbs (probably less, she has been losing wt slowly but steadily)

what are the consequences for a cat who will not eat?
esp an elderly and ill cat?


should i force feed her, and if so, how much?
i am afraid she would just vomit it up, and then she would be in worse shape...


(i have a couple of fans but all they do is blow the hot air around- i also do have an A/C but cant use it yet- long story)

i dont' want to lose her!!
i am so worried that this heat will do her in!

Yes, you do assist-feed her. Ask you vet about using a/d for a short time period..it is the easiest food to syringe feed, and is very high cal. Not for long time use, but you are talking just a few days or week until it cools a bit, correct?

She really can't go for a few days without eating w/out you risking additional health issues. You could also consider upping her phos binders if you use them, and just feeding her *anything* canned she'll eat. Fancy Feast will usually work when nothing else does, or plain baby food. I like the a/d in an emergency - if your vet agrees - due to how high calorie it is.
Your vet can give you a feeding syringe and tell you how to safely syringe feed. Until you can get to your vet, for tonight, take her wet food, and smear tiny amounts just under her lips against her teeth so she'll have to chew it.

You can place tubs of ice in front of your fans to help with the heat as well.

Also place ice in the water... Maybe a big bowl with cool water in it to sit a little in for her... Eating at night should be no trouble... In CA my babies ate at night also because during the day it was 115+

Yes and if you have low sodium tuna, drain it, and either see if she will eat/drink the juice - whihc has protein/fat in it - or take small fibers of the tuna and smear them on her gums if you can. Also, take chicken broth if you have it, don't strain in, just let her have that for the calories.
She is regulating her body temp by avoiding food when so hot.

She does have to eat a little bit every day. It doesn't have to be much or frequent. A tablespoon every 24 hours is plenty. It should cool off enough in the evening that she will have at least some appetite.

I would be concerned about the effects of the heat on an elderly longhaired cat with chronic health problems, though. Perhaps you could talk with the staff at your vet's office about the possibility of day boarding her on days when the weather will be particularly hot.

I have to disagree. A tablespoon of food every 24 hours is no where near what my vet said was the minimum my almost 19 year old cat with crf/ibd and ?lymphoma was to have to maintain his weight. It is not adequate to forestall developing hepatic lipidosis.

Please...with any advice you get here, always remember your best bet is to ask your vet. I would contact them and ask what the minimum amount of ood they want you to feed your cat to maintain your cat's current weight.

I can also give you the url for a great support group for those assist-feeding their cats,where one topic is minimum amount of calories needed per day.

thanks everyone for your input, we got a break, there is a cold front coming in so it will not be as hot as they had previously forecast (and at each new report, the high temp for each day has been reduced- woo hooo!)

Pat i would like the link for that assisted feeding group, please

i have syringe fed another cat before (diabetic in CRF) but it did not take much to turn him around.

this old girl is very stubborn, so i can use any advice, tips, etc that i can get.

and also how many calories she will need- i think her vet will have to figure that because right now, just maintain her weight, she consumes three times the usual amount of calories for a cat her size (due to malabsorption and possibly cancer)

i googled fatty liver disease and it seems to happen to over weight cats-
she is under weight,
she was a good 11+ lbs most of her life

Originally Posted by catnapt

Pat i would like the link for that assisted feeding group, please

<snip>

i googled fatty liver disease and it seems to happen to over weight cats-
she is under weight,
she was a good 11+ lbs most of her life

Click to expand...

Seinding you that info now. Unfortunately, any cat fasting is in danger of Hepatic Lipidosis...it is why I was working so hard to adjust my assist feeding of Patrick when he began losing instead of maintaining, despite the fact I'd already been assist feeding him for months

Great advice, Pat & Alix. And I agree, a tablespoon of food every 24 hours is not enough! Even a very small cat needs much more than that.

Catnapt, see this site for help on assist-feeding: www.assistfeed.com
I'm assist feeding my older girl, and this site was a tremendous help.
The A/D is a good food to try for syringe feeding. Another one to consider that is also available from the vet is Maximum Calorie by Eukanuba. Though I'm not happy with two of the ingredients in this food, by-products and ethoxyquin, which is a preservative, it has twice the calories of A/D. In an emergency, and on a short term basis, you may want to try it.

Though hepatic lipidosis is a condition that overweight cats can be prone to, it can certainly occur in thin cats. It can happen when a cat doesn't eat, or doesn't eat enough.

You may want to add Prozyme to whatever food you feed Mickie. It's digestive enzymes to help cats absorb nutrients from their food. Prozyme is a powder that you mix into the food - you only need to use about 1/4 teaspoon per meal.
www.entirelypets.com carries Prozyme.

Glad the weather is cooling off some - that should help make Mickie feel better. All the best to you and your special girl

Window AC units have come down in price. I see window units on sale for $70 at the store. My neighbor told me he sees them at garage sales for $35.

The summer is just starting, would be a good idea to have at least one cool room.