Feeding an ill cat.

Prudent

One of my cats was injured on Friday eve. I found him on the back door step and he literally dragged himself into the house. I phoned the vet and took him down. The vet treated two deep leg cuts (one has staples in) and gave him three injections. One was a painkiller, one was an antibiotic and not sure about the other. The vet told me the signs of internal damage and told me to keep on eye on him. We think he has possibly been hit by a car.

The cat has been in a bad way all weekend and I have not been too confident he will pull through. By last night he hadn't drunk and I began giving him a little water through a straw into the side of his mouth. This morning he is brighter - but very grumpy! We gave him a little more water and he went to the litter tray.


He still wont eat any of his favourite cat food/ treats.

What can I use to tempt him. We are vegetarian, so I am looking for suggestions as to what to go out and buy.

Thanks

I hope this doesn't break the board rules. I have taken him to the vet and will take him again if needed.

Browntoa

maybe its just all his insides are a bit bruised and sore , thats why he does not want to eat ?

mine always wolfs down tuna flakes from a "human" tin , or maybe try one of those kitten milk bottles that may provide some nutrition

this sort of stuff

http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/cimicat_1_18478.html

lowis

aw, sory to hear your little fellow is under the weather.

i recently had a cat with cancer whose appetite needed kick-starting from time to time. Strangely, my cat used to prefer the "McDonald's" of cat foods when she was under the weather...i normally fed her high-quality dry food but when she was sick she just wanted tinned Whiskers, Felix and the suchlike. I don't know what your cat normally eats but try to stimulate him with foods he may not be used to?

When cats get ill or feel under the weather they can be VERY fussy about their food. Somedays i would have to try about 4 or 5 different things before she would decide "Yes, actually THAT food is OK and I will eat that particular one" - she would turn her nose up at chicken-flavoured Felix cat food but decide that chicken-flavoured Whiskers was OK

So, here are a few foods that I always had around to try and tempt my girl:

Waitrose own-brand Tuna flakes in Gravy (rarely failed)
Any gravy-based cat food (sometimes they just want the gravy)
Royal Canin convalescence cat food
Hills Science Diet (tinned; she ate the dried food normally, but she wouldn't when she felt unwell)
Boiled chicken (give them the water the chicken was boiled in too)
Tuna, Sardines, Pilchards (for humans)
Ham (off the bone)
Roast chicken with gravy (gravy is not ideal, but if the cat won't eat it is better than nothing in the short term)

Another trick is to slightly heat the food so that it makes it smellier - cats don't have such a great sense of smell as say dogs so the smellier the food the better.

I know this sounds disgusting (especially to a vegetarian) but my cat also liked the horrid off-white fat that is to be found around the cavity of a chicken's breast. Worth a try?

You could also try dabbing some food on his lips with your fingers, to get his taste buds going again. My cat used to like yoghurt and cream dabbed on her lips. Again, cream is not ideal but it is important your cat eats.

Good luck, keeping my fingers crossed that he is OK x

Prudent

Mnay thanks to both of you. I am off to buy cat milk (which we could give him through a straw) and some tuna. I have offered about 6 kinds of tinned cat food with no interest.

eira

our cats have always relished those horrible Bernard Mathews 'turkey ham'. go round to the supermarket reduced stand and get a range of reduced human quality 'delicacies' eg chicken breast/ham.Tiny tins of very expensive cat food eg Sheba seem to go down ok.ASome cat breeders reckon pilchards in tomato sauce are good for sickly cats but mine don't want to know.It's hit and miss really.Sometimes kitten food goes down well

Prudent

I have tried all of these suggetsions and some fresh salmon, but he really doesn't want to eat. I will take him back to the vet tomorrow as his breathing is now very laboured.

Milford_Cubicle

If he seems to be struggling with breathing, then I'd be getting him seen to ASAP. Hopefully he'll be ok but I'd prepare yourself for the worst

lowis

just checking in to see how you are, hope your kitty has improved since your last post x

lowis

any news about your kitty yet? hope all is well x

UKTigerlily

Waiting for news too & hoping he's ok x

Mutter_2

So hope it's good news.