Hi all, about 3 weeks ago Coco had dentistry and 1 tooth extracted, for the first 3 days or so after that she was eating canned food just fine and actually ate more than usual. She seemed to be getting tired of Wellness so I tried a LOT of different brands with very little success. Last week she had a follow-up appointment and the vet tech said her mouth looked great, no problems there. She had lost an additional 2 ounces between the dentistry & the follow-up, but the tech mentioned that was "normal" because of the antibiotic. I can feel just about every rib & vertebrae and her hip bones
For the last few days she has presented me with a now-recurring problem, though. She is barely eating ANYTHING I give her. I have prepared the food (Pro Plan, Wellness, or Fancy Feast, including Kitten varieties) every possible way and given it to her on every kind of dish/bowl/plate, raised it, held it up to her, put some on my finger, etc. I honestly hope that she wouldn't be picky to the point of starving herself, but every time she's fed (2 or 3 times a day), she eats maybe 2 mouthfuls of whatever it is and then "digs" around it and leaves it for the rest of the day. She's more interested in licking than chewing (she kind of grinds her teeth on one side of her mouth when she does chew, that seems odd but I think she's done it her whole life).
She's not supposed to be on dry food anymore, but I've been giving her some RC Kitten (the only thing she nibbles on besides treats) but that's only a little more successful than the canned food.
I realize that I'm probably going to need to take her to the vet again (stressful for both of us), but before I make that appointment I have a few questions for anyone who may have gone through this too.
1) What exactly is the vet going to do for her? She's already had every test possible (senior blood panel, urinalysis, full body x-ray, fecal analysis) and nothing showed except arthritis in her spine and early kidney disease (I would have expected that because of her age anyway). I don't want them to send us home without fixing it, because she NEEDS to eat more. I'm on the verge of making Wellness soup and syringing it into her mouth, which she would hate with her entire being.
2) I have read about various appetite stimulants the vet can prescribe, if she gets one and it works and she eats, what happens when the stimulant is gone? Will she return to not eating?
3) I'm sure the arthritis is bothering her (it's pretty severe on x-ray), but she won't eat the Cosequin mixed with her food, so it seems that can't get better unless she eats more, and she won't eat more til she feels better...oye.
Sorry this is so long...she's really stressing me out though, I'm running out of things that I can do for her. I can't afford to go buy more food that she won't eat, and more trips to the vet are just putting me further into debt. I feel like I am running out of options
For the last few days she has presented me with a now-recurring problem, though. She is barely eating ANYTHING I give her. I have prepared the food (Pro Plan, Wellness, or Fancy Feast, including Kitten varieties) every possible way and given it to her on every kind of dish/bowl/plate, raised it, held it up to her, put some on my finger, etc. I honestly hope that she wouldn't be picky to the point of starving herself, but every time she's fed (2 or 3 times a day), she eats maybe 2 mouthfuls of whatever it is and then "digs" around it and leaves it for the rest of the day. She's more interested in licking than chewing (she kind of grinds her teeth on one side of her mouth when she does chew, that seems odd but I think she's done it her whole life).
She's not supposed to be on dry food anymore, but I've been giving her some RC Kitten (the only thing she nibbles on besides treats) but that's only a little more successful than the canned food.
I realize that I'm probably going to need to take her to the vet again (stressful for both of us), but before I make that appointment I have a few questions for anyone who may have gone through this too.
1) What exactly is the vet going to do for her? She's already had every test possible (senior blood panel, urinalysis, full body x-ray, fecal analysis) and nothing showed except arthritis in her spine and early kidney disease (I would have expected that because of her age anyway). I don't want them to send us home without fixing it, because she NEEDS to eat more. I'm on the verge of making Wellness soup and syringing it into her mouth, which she would hate with her entire being.
2) I have read about various appetite stimulants the vet can prescribe, if she gets one and it works and she eats, what happens when the stimulant is gone? Will she return to not eating?
3) I'm sure the arthritis is bothering her (it's pretty severe on x-ray), but she won't eat the Cosequin mixed with her food, so it seems that can't get better unless she eats more, and she won't eat more til she feels better...oye.
Sorry this is so long...she's really stressing me out though, I'm running out of things that I can do for her. I can't afford to go buy more food that she won't eat, and more trips to the vet are just putting me further into debt. I feel like I am running out of options