- Joined
- Apr 5, 2019
- Messages
- 14
- Purraise
- 15
Hey guys, I'm in a bit of a pickle here and I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing, but I figured I'd come to ya'll and see if I can't get another few set of eyes on this: essentially, my cat, Newnie, 2 years - 3 in August, won't eat wet cat food anymore. Initially we thought she had a sensitivity to chicken as whenever she ate any cat food with chicken or a chicken by product in it she'd be vomiting a few moments later and it'd just be a mess each time...so we changed proteins, changed formulas, figured it wasn't just chicken, but poultry in general...all these things were vetted by the, well, Vet lol so we weren't just doing this out our ass and had advice from someone who's been treating her since she was 8 months old.
At one point she was so ill, vomiting anything we gave her, that she was losing weight rapidly and getting lethargic. I was afraid my little girl was going to cross the rainbow bridge before she turned 2, but then the Vet suggested 'baby food'. Just pureed one ingredient baby food: water and a protein, maybe a little cornstarch, but no artificial anything added to it; Gerber's 2nd Sitter Baby Food. My husband actually left work to pick up a few bottles and brought them home to see if she'd eat it and, lo and behold, she scarfed it down happily!
We had her on the baby food initially for maybe a week, slowly transitioned her back to wet cat food, and dry, she eats a mixed diet throughout the day, and she started gaining again/was back to her normal self in no time. For a while it was fine like that, we had no more issues, just stayed away from poultry as a protein and focused on exotic proteins or fish (rabbit is her current favorite for dry food), but it's reached a point where she just won't eat wet cat food, no matter what the protein or brand is. She still loves her dry food (feeding her Instinct Limited Ingredient Rabbit Formula) and eats about one and a half cups throughout the day, but when it's time for breakfast and dinner, which is when they get wet (we have three cats), she snuffs the food in her dish and goes to her hidey holes to pout.
She started really losing weight again a few weeks ago, early March. Of course I was worried again so we got her a bottle of her favorite baby food and there she was eating it up without a second thought. It's been almost two weeks now that she's been exclusively rotating between chicken, turkey, ham and beef flavored baby food. I'll provide an attachment to the brand nutrition labels, but they're all pretty much the same where ingredients are concerned: protein, water, and occasionally cornstarch.
She's still eating her dry food regularly and hasn't thrown up, even a hairball (okay, maybe one hairball), in all this time which is pretty dang rare considering she was the one guilty of tossing her kibble all over the house whenever the mood struck her. At this point, we're pretty sure she doesn't have a sensitivity to proteins (no other signs of allergy) and that it was more a preference over anything else...but I just want to know if I'm doing the right thing?
Newnie eats one bottle per day like her brothers eat one can of wet per day. We split it between morning and night and she licks the bowl clean each time with no ill effects afterwards, same as her brothers who have never had the issue of vomiting after they eat. Speed was never an issue as she eats at her own pace and has her own location to eat where she doesn't feel rushed or disturbed by her brothers being little chonkers and wanting to eat everything in sight, so that's not an issue either. My concern now is whether or not she's going to be getting all the vitamins and minerals she needs to live a long healthy life by just eating baby food and dry cat food.
Do I need to provide supplements and if so which ones?
cat tax:
At one point she was so ill, vomiting anything we gave her, that she was losing weight rapidly and getting lethargic. I was afraid my little girl was going to cross the rainbow bridge before she turned 2, but then the Vet suggested 'baby food'. Just pureed one ingredient baby food: water and a protein, maybe a little cornstarch, but no artificial anything added to it; Gerber's 2nd Sitter Baby Food. My husband actually left work to pick up a few bottles and brought them home to see if she'd eat it and, lo and behold, she scarfed it down happily!
We had her on the baby food initially for maybe a week, slowly transitioned her back to wet cat food, and dry, she eats a mixed diet throughout the day, and she started gaining again/was back to her normal self in no time. For a while it was fine like that, we had no more issues, just stayed away from poultry as a protein and focused on exotic proteins or fish (rabbit is her current favorite for dry food), but it's reached a point where she just won't eat wet cat food, no matter what the protein or brand is. She still loves her dry food (feeding her Instinct Limited Ingredient Rabbit Formula) and eats about one and a half cups throughout the day, but when it's time for breakfast and dinner, which is when they get wet (we have three cats), she snuffs the food in her dish and goes to her hidey holes to pout.
She started really losing weight again a few weeks ago, early March. Of course I was worried again so we got her a bottle of her favorite baby food and there she was eating it up without a second thought. It's been almost two weeks now that she's been exclusively rotating between chicken, turkey, ham and beef flavored baby food. I'll provide an attachment to the brand nutrition labels, but they're all pretty much the same where ingredients are concerned: protein, water, and occasionally cornstarch.
She's still eating her dry food regularly and hasn't thrown up, even a hairball (okay, maybe one hairball), in all this time which is pretty dang rare considering she was the one guilty of tossing her kibble all over the house whenever the mood struck her. At this point, we're pretty sure she doesn't have a sensitivity to proteins (no other signs of allergy) and that it was more a preference over anything else...but I just want to know if I'm doing the right thing?
Newnie eats one bottle per day like her brothers eat one can of wet per day. We split it between morning and night and she licks the bowl clean each time with no ill effects afterwards, same as her brothers who have never had the issue of vomiting after they eat. Speed was never an issue as she eats at her own pace and has her own location to eat where she doesn't feel rushed or disturbed by her brothers being little chonkers and wanting to eat everything in sight, so that's not an issue either. My concern now is whether or not she's going to be getting all the vitamins and minerals she needs to live a long healthy life by just eating baby food and dry cat food.
Do I need to provide supplements and if so which ones?
cat tax: