Trying to give 23 year old Simba variety of foods

[les26]

We've created a monster, now he constantly comes into the kitchen trying to push us for something to eat! It is very challenging, because we want him to eat IF he is hungry, but a lot times we think he's just playing us, trying to see what we will give him and it is becoming more difficult; what he ate and liked yesterday isn't what he will like and eat today, so we are trying to mix it up for him but also have to watch as a mish mosh of things make him vomit, ugh...but it is tough to say no to him when he is in the kitchen staring at you, and at times screaming at you, like when we go to the refridgerator and he knows the lunch meat and cheese are in there lol!!

We're just trying to keep him happy and be the best he can be. He DOES look better, looks like he has gained some weight, and we are not just trying to keep him around for our sake, he certainly has not reached that point, and is still active and engaged with us. It's a struggle and a balancing act, when he is gone I don't want to think back and regret not feeding him some times but I know we can't feed him 20 hours a day; again, he has dry food out all the time that he eats, so he won't starve, but he likes to "push" us as much as he can to see what we have and what we will give him.

And he's magical; we can walk by him sleeping on a sofa and somehow it seems like he appears almost before you do in the kitchen lol!!

 

[Furballsmom]

There's probably some attention seeking in his behavior too. Have you tried grooming him during his kitchen forays?

 

[les26]

There's probably some attention seeking in his behavior too. Have you tried grooming him during his kitchen forays?

No, but we pet his little head and talk to him a lot!

 

[les26]

There's probably some attention seeking in his behavior too. Have you tried grooming him during his kitchen forays?

I told Deb this and she says she does sit on the sofa a lot with him and pets him, rubs his little paws and kisses his head lol! I think he likes the extra attention!

He was just in the kitchen again and I have read many places where older cats like to eat smaller but more frequent meals, so I gave him some Tastefuls cat food, he does seem to like to eat that one and Deb said at times he will eat some other wet cat foods, so I can't say that he totally is off of them, just doesn't eat them like he used to. But of course he pushed me a bit more so I gave him some pieces of cheese, he likes that!!

And of course I had to put a small bowl of Tastefuls down for Sylvester so he leaves Simba alone, he loves this "arrangement"

 

[Furballsmom]

They are so lucky to have the both of you

 

[les26]

They are so lucky to have the both of you

Thanks, but it's a 2 way street!!

 

[les26]

Deb was making some Lasagna today and I am off from work because of the weather and I noticed him just hanging out with her in the kitchen, watching her, at times yelling at her, just hanging out seeing what we have and will give him. We gave him some treats and he ate some, ate some baked chicken, ate some cheese, turned his nose up at some new dry food, he does what he wants to do and eat when he wants to and when we attend to him, but we are sure he eats the dry food that is out 24/7, and he seems to also eat some wet food here and there, he hadn't done that for awhile but is now. I asked Deb again what she thinks about this all, and she still thinks this is just "him being Mr. Sims", doesn't think he is sick, knows he is old and thin but said "if I thought he was sick I'd say so", so we just give him things whenever he wants to eat, take care of him the best that we can, and at 23 we don't want to take him to the vet and put him through anything, but he's still here, hanging out, and when he lays on the sofa that has a nice blanket on it he looks so so cute and relaxed, looks so comfortable and at times lays with his paws curled up while he is sort of on his back, so he must be okay.

We know the day will come someday as it will for us all, but we hope it will be down the line yet, that will be a very dark day and hard to take, and we've had more than enough loss and bad these last few years...

 

[les26]

He just ate some hamburger lol!!