Senior Cat is Hunger Striking

[boobookitty0104]

My childhood cat is 16 years old and still lives with my parents. Recently, I came for a visit and noticed that she was much, much skinnier than when I saw her last at Christmas. My mom explained that in recent months, she'd started feeding the cat wet food as a special treat for her. (For context, previously the cat had eaten only dry food from a bowl which was available at all hours and topped off when nearing empty. She received Temptations treats once or twice and day.) However, in doing so, my mom inadvertently created a monster. The cat only licks the juice out of her wet food and eats very few, if any, of the meat. Some days she'll take one look at the wet food put down for her and will refuse to eat any of it, despite having happily lapped all the juice out a few days previous. She has completely stopped eating her dry food, and shows no interest in the Temptations she used to clamor for. On top of this, she's developed some behavioral problems, i.e. meowing and following people for more food as soon as she's finished lapping the juice up and, more importantly, peeing on rugs and things around the house. My mom's tried different things, like getting her wet food that advertises more cream/juice, but she continues to refuse food and pee where she shouldn't be. She shows no other signs of feeling ill.

Because I have no idea what's gotten into her, I'll also explain some background info on this cat in case it's relevant. She used to be the youngest, smallest and meekest of three cats (a male and two females, including her). The other female wasn't overtly aggressive, but glared and shouldered our now 16 year-old cat away from the dry food bowl until she'd finished eating. Our cat used to have a problem with eating too quickly and making herself throw up for that reason, but the other two cats have been dead for a few years now, so she's stopped doing that. When our cat was a kitten, she had a problem of peeing all over the house, but she grew out of it and has only started peeing in the house in the last few months. Now she's doing it almost everyday - my mom's thrown out two chairs and all the rugs in the house as a result. The dry food is still in the same place it's always been and my parents are still refreshing it every few days, but she hasn't touched it in months.

Any advice on what's going on and what to do?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Your cat needs to be taken to a vet as soon as possible.

Obtain furniture protectors and unscented puppy pee pads, and contain her in one room if possible until things get squared away.

 

[susanm9006]

Yes, your cat needs an immediate vet visit. It is likely not about food but some other medical thing going on that is putting this cats life in grave danger. Please talk with your mom and urge her to make the appointment.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Some real similarities between your parents' cat and my Feeby! She is 16+ yo. Went from a dry only free feed diet to a now only canned food diet. Stopped eating dry at all once she was being fed canned (but she was always just a grazer on the dry). She LOVES Fancy Feast pates - so, you could try that with your cat. Feeby will not eat anything type of canned food except for pate, she only licks the gravy off of other kinds.

Meowing and following people around, especially related to food, is indicative of a possible thyroid condition. So, that should be checked out. However, I am going to guess it is because she doesn't like the food, and is not eating enough. Feeby will not eat if all that is offered to her is dry, or non-pate canned.

But, the peeing outside of the litterbox only happened with Feeby when she has had a urinary tract infection. So, you definitely need to have a urinalysis/urine culture done for an infection. Feeby did not show any other signs of illness either.

We can talk later about the peeing on stuff and how to clean that stuff. But, for now, a geriatric vet visit is in order.

 

[boobookitty0104]

Thanks everyone. My mom says she did take the cat to the vet two months ago (the issues with not eating/peeing everywhere) had already started then. The peeing issue has gotten a bit worse since, but my mom's reluctant to risk covid exposure by taking her again when she just got a clean bill of health two months ago.

The reason we're inclined to think it's behavioral rather than medical are a) some days she seems to refuse food not because she isn't hungry, but because she wasn't given what she wanted. She'll look at the wet food bowl, turn her back, and immediately start begging for food again. Even though she'd just happily lapped up the food we'd served her a few days prior. She won't touch the food no matter how long we leave it sit until she's served a new bowl of a different flavor.

b) The peeing only happens on certain types of furniture, and doesn't happen if we hide those types of furniture. It started when my mom purchased two used stuffed chairs. She peed on both. Then she peed on a stuffed chair my parents already had. Then a rug. Then another rug. We've since put all of our rugs behind closed doors, and the peeing only happens when someone forgets to close a door. She also peed on my suitcase one morning after I'd been up a few hours without feeding her. The fact that she doesn't pee on anything when we've hidden all the things she 'likes' from her makes me think it isn't medical.

I'm still open to suggestions though, if you guys really do still think it's medical.

 

[cataholic07]

Were the chairs used before? Like by previous owners?

Have you added extra litter boxes with cat attract litter?

With wet food cats get bored of the same flavor over and over. Mix it up with different brands. You can even add some freeze dried to it for extra yum factor.

 

[FeebysOwner]

What were the results - and, the tests that were done - when she did go to the vets? You can get copies of all the results of what was done with the vet' visit. That is crucial to know.

Most of these incidents are really not behavioral. The peeing on soft surfaces can mean a host of things. From not liking the litter or the litterbox, to liking soft surfaces to pee on, to aversion to the litterbox size/shape/cleanliness, to no longer wanting to pee and poop in the same place. First thing about these changes is health, and then environmental changes that would affect the cat. There are also just changes in preference, just like humans experience. So, you removed her 'desired' places to pee just means that she goes when she needs to in the 'proper' place.

The food can be a simple matter of what you are feeding her. And, be mindful, not any food is a guarantee. I played around with food with Feeby for months. She ate what she ate when she wanted to eat what she wanted to eat. The end result is feeding her Fancy Feast pates, but I charted all of what has gone on with her eating in order to find some pattern/logic to what she was doing.

 

[susanm9006]

Check with your mom to see if they did a senior bloodwork panel. Sometimes vets don’t do these and they tell you a great deal about what might be going on with a senior cat.

 

[ArtNJ]

Both of these things, increased pickyness and peeing on certain items, have a lot of causes. However, in a 16 year old cat, its hard to not suspect a possible medical cause for the changes in appettite, especially if the cat is losing weight. Senior blood panel is quite costly, but without it, they can't really tell very much.

 

[MissClouseau]

If your mother doesn't have the copies of the tests done and the results, could you give the a a call and ask them? THey can email them to you (even if they don't have it saved on computer, they can take a picture of the records and email the pictures.)

If all the necessary tests are really done and she's OK, including her teeth are OK, try pate texture, high calorie wet food and add a bit extra water to make it smoother, and a softer dry food. Like I feed my cat with gingivitis Acana Wild Prairie and it's quite soft compare to most other dry foods I know and higher in calories.

And put fresh food daily. Forget picky eaters even some "eats everything" cats don't want to eat food that was outside longer than a day.

 

[di and bob]

You might try the pouched foods, they contain more juice. I also recommend Hartz Lickable treats in the stew, not the bisque. I put all my cat's medicines in it and it has never been refused, it might help her put a little weight back on. I give it to sick cats too to get something in them.
Get a good enzyme cat urine destroyer for her accidents, I would bet the chairs that were brought in were peed on by another cat and got her started.