that’s the one! that’s the med ChiliDog’s vet prescribed.
thank you so much!
oh, and she would kill for Publix rotisserie chicken to the point we can not even buy one for ourselves - she will act out like a drug-addled fiend at the moment one comes into the house! i guess we will have to buy one just for her!
i will seek out the Churu INABA treats. thank you for the link!
as always - all my love and scritches to the most stately of old men, Old Man! he captured my heart and i don’t know why. he is just so handsomme!
I second @tcg550 ’s recommendation of Churu. That stuff is magic.
There is also a high calorie paste called Nutrical that some cats love, others hate. It has the texture of hairball prevention gel and from my experience as a foster auxiliary can have a laxative effect. I’d go with the Churu first.
@tcg550 mentioned an appetite stimulant. It’s called mirtazapine. We got some for the Old Man there at the end, when he didn’t want to eat. Used a half-dose every other day because of his kidney disease. It really made him eat but we were glad we did the half-dose, it can also make cats feel a anxious or overstimulated. One of us had to sit with him for an hour or two after dosing or he would freak out.
It did halt the crashing weight loss. I think it is used as a temporary thing in most cases. A two week stint to get a kitty back on track. Or like us, something for a cat who is dying from cancer and doesn’t have long even if the weight loss is stopped.
Hyperthyroidism plus chronic kidney disease (CKD) often go together in aging cats, with the hyperthyroidism sometimes masking the early signs of kidney failure. The vet may recommend checking kidney function after ChiliDog Cat has been on the felimazole for a month or so. Out of an abundance of caution, you might want to consider giving her poached instead of rotisserie chicken because of the high salt content in the seasoning until you know if her kidneys are impaired.
Bonus Cat is on felimazole for life too, as was Alpha Cat (RIP ). Bonus Cat has simple hyperthyroidism, but his kidneys are fine. Luckily he’s super easy to pill. Alpha Cat wasn’t so lucky. With her kidney impairment her diet was limited, and prescription diets are not very tasty (and absurdly expensive). Not great when trying to get a finicky fur ball to eat.
Just to bring a little ray of sunshine (see what I did there?) to your current stressful situation with regard to her health, there is an actual word for that: aprication.
it is the go-to name for all three - ChiliDog Cat, BuddyCat and BabyCat. they are all “boo-boo kitties” everyday.
what a trio - - - Baby’s got three legs, Buddy is just fat and Chili is the disappearing princesa, always above it all in her rarefied airspace of feline “first adoptee” privilege.
i love them all, derilects they may be, it’s a pirate’s way.
Two days ago, it reached 38 degrees Celsius here (100+F, I think) and I went shopping for a couple of hours, leaving the evaporative air con on and windows open for the animals. A change came through while I was out, bringing rain, strong winds and power blackouts affecting 500,000 households across Victoria (the state I’m in) including where I’m staying with the animals. So I came back to this and nearly had a heart attack as I fair dinkum thought she was dead:
Think she was heat stunned because she didn’t move even when I called her several times and went over to her. The house was very hot so I opened the doors and windows wide. She’s ok.
To add to your already great list of recommendations, we’ve had good luck with Tomlyn nutritional paste when fostering kitties that need extra calories. Sometimes we have to rub it on their mouth but usually they like it on their food.
And when our departed kitty got sick and stopped eating, the vet gave us a few options to try. One was meat-based baby food, that was kind of hit or miss.
And finally, white rice cooked with low-sodium chicken stock and then with cooked chicken mixed in. She liked that.
Good luck!
Old Man jumped onto the table and knocked over a big cup of tea because he decided he wanted mashed potatoes. He got a big plate of potatoes and butter.
Then he went back to sleep.
We’re just happy he jumped up and knocked something over.
.
i brought home 1/2lb Texas style brisket and some hot link sausages from the bbq truck at the north end of the island (really good, too!). ChiliDog went bonkers until i gave her a nice, fatty chunk. she has followed me all around the house since.
she also ate most of a small fancy feast. the Churu pops come tomorrow, i hope she starts to put some weight on. she has always been a small girl, but the rapid loss of 1.5lb was hard. she’ll see the vet next month. looking for some good news.
edit: tyop. “news” not “nees”.
at least he’s having something, eh?
on your advice, we bought ChiliDog those Churu pops and she loves them! we’ll see if she gains weight, but she has been playful and active since starting the felimizole and those “churros” (as i call them). she even has had several bouts of “zoomies”. i love it when she gets all silly and playful. even following us out to the shop to hang out in the upstairs loft while we work.
If that’s what it takes then that’s what it takes. I’m looking at recommendations to improve a cat’s appetite but I’m sure you’ve tried all sorts of things, hope his appetite comes back
). Bonus Cat has simple hyperthyroidism, but his kidneys are fine. Luckily he’s super easy to pill. Alpha Cat wasn’t so lucky. With her kidney impairment her diet was limited, and prescription diets are not very tasty (and absurdly expensive). Not great when trying to get a finicky fur ball to eat.
