Old Cat with Tummy Issues

[Kay5188]

Hey Guys. So this is a little lengthy to explain, please bare with me…

my girl, Pebbles, just turned 13 in May.. since she was a kitten she ate dry cat food.. She was my first real pet and Is literally MY BEST FRIEND…

a couple months ago, she began getting sick(vomiting) everytime she ate…

now small side story: I just recently brought my sick guinea pig to the BEST vet in my area and they got me for every dollar they could ($600) sent us home with medicine and hope and he passed away 12hrs later, SO needless to say I’m scared to take her to the vet…

back to Pebbles… I changed her diet after a few weeks of the sickness, to wet food only and she stopped getting sick but is like ALWAYS hungry now.. i now mix her food with rice and she eats and goes to sleep… but wakes up freaking out Like she’s starving… other than these issues she’s still playful and loving and “normal”…
Any advice on what I can try to help suppress her hunger???

 

[verna davies]

She's lovely. Is she drinking a lot, losing weight? It could be several things but I think she may need to see a vet and possibly have blood tests. If you have lost confidence in your vet can you take her to see another or maybe ask beforehand for an estimate for check and bloods.

 

[Kay5188]

Aw thank you! She really is a beautiful, sweet girl.. not drinking more than usual and is actually the biggest I’ve ever seen her in her 13yrs (her weight has fluctuated so much over the years)… I will call around tomorrow.

 

[verna davies]

Keep us updated.

 

[di and bob]

I would just feed her as much as she wants. Get those blood tests done to rule out any problems and then you would feel better. It could be her thyroid, which can be managed. Ask about that. You could feed her wet food two to three times a day and leave dry out for her to graze on. My older boy had the opposite problem, he didn't want to eat.

 

[maggie101]

Aw thank you! She really is a beautiful, sweet girl.. not drinking more than usual and is actually the biggest I’ve ever seen her in her 13yrs (her weight has fluctuated so much over the years)… I will call around tomorrow.

Part of the reason she's not drinking as much is the canned food. I feed my cats 3x a day only wet and set a timer at night. Dry food is more filling because of all the fillers. She eats one 5.5 oz can a day depending on the food. She loves earthborn,low in cals so she eats more than one can
Since she is senior I have bowls scattered around but she mostly likes the fountain

 

[daftcat75]

I wouldn't add rice to her food. She's not getting any nutritional benefit from it. And carbs are poorly digested by cats. If you want her to feel fuller, look for higher fat foods. You can also add a little pumpkin puree to her diet for the extra fiber. Or simply feed her an extra meal or two. You can use timed feeders to feed her when you're not around like the daytime or overnight.

She does need to be seen by a vet. There are a number of illnesses that affect senior cats more frequently that result in an increased appetite. It would be good to rule those out before upping her meals and possibly masking early symptoms of manageable conditions.