Ideas to coax my anxious cat to eat?

[lissalouie]

Hi everyone, long time no post.

You may remember that I have a lovely 5-year-old cat named Rory. We used to share our home with my senior cat, Lou, but he passed away in September. Rory grieved hard for him. We had a failed adoption of a 2-year-old cat in November (the rescue gave us the wrong information and he ended up needing a much different home) and since then Rory has been on his own.

My local SPCA had a call for emergency fosters recently, so I took in a beautiful 4-year-old girl I am calling Maisie on Tuesday. We've been doing a slow introduction, but it has been going very well for the most part; both cats have lived with cats their entire lives, give or take a few months, and are known to be cat-friendly. I am hoping to adopt Maisie once the foster period ends. She is sweet, respectful, and kind, with the sort of quiet confidence Rory usually responds well to.

Rory, however, is a somewhat neurotic boy and is prone to having herpes flareups when he's stressed. Oddly, I think he is more stressed out about a door being closed than Maisie being around; he is constantly trilling and chirping at her, and there's been zero hissing or signs of aggression. Our apartment doesn't have any extra rooms, so she's in my mother's room for now--which has a window he really loves in it.

Long story short, he's having a flareup now. I know how to handle this, but... he's also having a hard time eating. I can't tell if he's nauseous, is having mouth pain, or something else. He had a full dental done last month and his mouth has since healed. He seems to WANT food--he will follow me into the kitchen, he will try to lick at treats--but when I provide him food, he just walks away.

He normally eats only wet food, so I've tried a few different flavors and brands. No dice. Warmed it up. No dice. Extra Fortiflora on top for that liver flavor? No dice! I bought a rotisserie chicken, which he ate eagerly yesterday--but now will only try to mouth at some of the pieces before pawing at the ground and walking away. (Normally he will beg for more and more and more, making it a rare treat.) I even opened a can of high quality tuna (just tuna and water) and he happily drank the water... but left the chunks. I offered him some hard treats, broken in half, and he licked them... but left them on the floor. He normally goes nuts for Churu, but he only had a few licks before walking off today.

He's gotten enough in him that I'm not super worried about hepatic lipidosis, and I wrote an email to my vet that they'll see tomorrow looking for ideas.

In the meantime, does anybody have any other ideas on how I can help encourage him to eat? I don't know if the flare up is making his mouth sore or if he's just feeling under the weather, but it makes me sad to see him like this. I did manage to get some L-lysine in him by sprinkling it on top of some cut up chicken he was lapping at, but I just want my boy to feel better. He also did eat a bit of cat food from my hand, but only a few bites.

I currently have a same-day delivery coming of some kitten milk and foods to see if that helps encourage him to eat, but any other ideas are hugely appreciated.

 

[wingwalker]

You could try Hill's a/d. It is a critical care food, but highly palatable. My cats would commit crimes to get a bite. It is also high in calories, so a small portion will be fine. It is Rx, but I think most vets would sell a can if you are an established client. I would consider trading spots (e.g. him in the room with the window, her outside). For introduction this is recommended anyway. Another option would be to set up a large wire dog crate for her.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I've been reading more and more about a direct correlation between dental issues/stomatitis and herpes. When you say Rory had a full dental done - what did that entail and what did they vet have to say about it?

A lot of people find lysine to be less than effective in immune support than once thought. There are folks who use DMG. I am not saying it would alleviate flare ups, but it can't hurt to try.

You could also try baby food meat (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut Stage 1) and see if Rory would eat that while his flare up is going on. You also need to consider letting him have some time at the window that he loves to be in - if that means placing Maisie elsewhere, then so be it.
Vetri DMG™ Liquid for Dogs and Cats - VetriScience

 

[louisstools]

Depending on the severity of the dental it might take longer for it to heal than the vet suggested. They've always told me 2 weeks but I found it was closer to 6-8 before my cats were back to normal.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I have a 15 year old who is as picky an eater as they come. He sounds like your boy at the moment, only I go through this ALL THE TIME! Mine even hates Churus, so some days getting enough calories into him is a real chore. But enough about me...hopefully there will be something in this thread that you might find helpful: Any Good Tips To Get Your Cats To Eat? Share Them Here!

 

[Alldara]

I have posted a few tips in the link mrsgreenjeens posted above.

For my older cats I really found an antacid best. When they don't eat, tummy acid builds and then they feel nausea and then they don't want to eat...it's a bad cycle. My former vet had told me to get an over the counter human medicine. So I'm not sure what prescriptions are available if you talk to your vet.

For my younger cats I've found elevation is key and add some hot water.

I had a cat sitter microwave and then mix up the cat food before.

I've also hand-fed my cats before. That works really well when Magnus's gingivitis gets him.

 

[stephanietx]

First of all, do you use any calming agents in your home? I highly recommend Comfort Zone or Feliway diffusers in every room of your house, or at least the ones they frequent.

Have you tried Fancy Feast classic pates? That usually helps get them to eat. Add some warm water to the food in the bowl to help enhance the aroma. Also, try steaming Rory in the bathroom to help open up nasal passages and clear any congestion.

If you can do it, try to put up a screen door between the kitties so they can see each other, but not get to each other. This helped us tremendously when introducing our kitty to the residents.

 

[lisahe]

First of all, do you use any calming agents in your home? I highly recommend Comfort Zone or Feliway diffusers in every room of your house, or at least the ones they frequent.

Have you tried Fancy Feast classic pates? That usually helps get them to eat. Add some warm water to the food in the bowl to help enhance the aroma. Also, try steaming Rory in the bathroom to help open up nasal passages and clear any congestion.

If you can do it, try to put up a screen door between the kitties so they can see each other, but not get to each other. This helped us tremendously when introducing our kitty to the residents.

I agree with all the ideas in this thread but want to single out the screen idea for helping cats get familiar with each other. It's helped us tremendously, too, after nonrecognition problems after one cat had surgery and the other stayed at home. I can't recommend it enough.

 

[lissalouie]

Just wanted to update everyone--Rory started eating again yesterday, and his appetite seems to be back to normal!

In an odd twist of fate, it seems to have had little to do with the new arrival, but rather that my mom bought cheap off-brand dishwasher pods that were leaving a film on the dishes. I only noticed when I took out a darker dish and saw it on it. When I hand-washed his dish, he ate from it without issue. We got some of the better ones and ran all the dishes through and there is no more dusty film--and no more refusal to eat.

I did call the poison control center and read them the ingredients, and thankfully nothing toxic was in the ones my mom bought--but there were a few ingredients that can cause nausea and diarrhea in cats. I also contacted my vet and was told to monitor him, but as he is eating again, it will likely just pass through his system without any major issue.

 

[lisahe]

Just wanted to update everyone--Rory started eating again yesterday, and his appetite seems to be back to normal!

In an odd twist of fate, it seems to have had little to do with the new arrival, but rather that my mom bought cheap off-brand dishwasher pods that were leaving a film on the dishes. I only noticed when I took out a darker dish and saw it on it. When I hand-washed his dish, he ate from it without issue. We got some of the better ones and ran all the dishes through and there is no more dusty film--and no more refusal to eat.

I did call the poison control center and read them the ingredients, and thankfully nothing toxic was in the ones my mom bought--but there were a few ingredients that can cause nausea and diarrhea in cats. I also contacted my vet and was told to monitor him, but as he is eating again, it will likely just pass through his system without any major issue.

I'm glad to hear that Rory is eating again, that's very good news.

But wow -- and yuck! -- about the dishwasher pods. I've often wondered about things like this, given how sensitive cats' noses are.