Prescription diet - cat being difficult

wannabe_sybil

Hello, I don't usually post on here, so please be kind to me.

I have a fourteen year old small tabby known as evil cat who the vet has found to be in the early stages of kidney failure at the beginning of December. She has a prescription diet. She was given a fairly large bag of dried food (and I am keeping the water replenished by fresh regularly) which was supposed to last three months. It is nearly finished after a month.

Evil cat doesn't care if food is in the dish, she just begs and begs and begs relentlessly until you put some down. Then she walks away. She does this at regular intervals throughout the day (I am a stay-at-home-mum). She does not do 'puppy eyes'. She does 'begging with menaces' - she bullies me and makes my life absolutely miserable until I put some more down. Then she will walk away from it.

She is not very well padded, in fact she is just malice and bone in a fur coat, so I am nervous about doing anything that will make her lose weight. She has also no feline friends as she has been a house cat for most of her life and we lost the other cat that possessed us last year. She is appalled and horrified by my little boy (two) who is actually quite gentle but the shrieks of delight he gives when he sees her make me jump so must drive her nuts. So she is not really the happiest cat. She takes this out on me.

Sorry for the long post, but has anyone any suggestions about how to eke out her rations or make them last a little longer. If anything she is eating less than she should, but demanding so much be put down. I do appreciate any replies. She is appalling to me but I have been responsible for her care for over fourteen years, so I am not going to just abandon her now.

Also, she has recently been begging to go out (despite four strange cats next door and a half dog half bear that also patrols street) and as she (unlike the last cat that possessed us) does not wander, I have let her go out. However she has been going out, eating greenery and coming in to be sick on the carpet. I suspect her tummy is not right, and when she lies across my throat I can hear her tummy rumbling and she gives off, well, vapours shall I say! Could this be a factor? We will be taking her back to the vet soon, but any advice on the feed would be desperately welcome.

Sagz_2

wannabe_sybil wrote: »

Sorry for the long post, but has anyone any suggestions about how to eke out her rations or make them last a little longer. If anything she is eating less than she should, but demanding so much be put down. I do appreciate any replies.

Sorry, not clear, has she eaten 3 months ration in a month? or are you throwing it away if she doesn't eat it?

wannabe_sybil

At the beginning of the day I throw away all the food left from the day before, as I don't think she is going to eat it. Sometimes when I put fresh food down she tucks in, even though there had been loads down before. Sometimes she doesn't seem to be bothered.

The problem is that she has always been a monster, when we first were possessed by her she used to gorge herself and then be sick. Now she just seems to be intent on getting food put down. Sometimes she devours it, sometimes she doesn't bother, but she always begs and begs and begs and begs and begs for the food.

I think it works out that despite going through the food faster than we should, she is actually eating less than she should, which is an achievement of sorts.

Do you think regular changes of flavour would help?

lowis

i measure out the exact amount of food my cats should have each day. i feed them in the morning and at night. i would suggest that you strictly measure out the day's ration (my two have about 60grams a day each). divide the ration into about 4 or 5 meals, or however many times a day you anticipate her begging, and then place down for her as needed. lift the food when she has finished or if she walks away, and then next time she begs, place the same food down again - it is dry food so won't go off in a day, like wet food.

if she is only being sick after going outside and eating grass then don't worry too much, this is a natural thing for a cat to do. the sick should look like clear phlegm and have regurgitated grass in it. i buy my indoor cats Kitty Grass and let them ravage it once in a while - and then follow them around with a newspaper ready to shove under their face when they start heaving up the grass!

you could also try playing with her on some of the occasions when she begs...sometimes cats just want attention and stimulation and we decode that as wanting food. increased activity will also require a greater calorie intake so this could help with stabilising her appetite.

good luck!

WeirdoMagnet

lowis wrote: »

i would suggest that you strictly measure out the day's ration (my two have about 60grams a day each). divide the ration into about 4 or 5 meals, or however many times a day you anticipate her begging, and then place down for her as needed. lift the food when she has finished or if she walks away, and then next time she begs, place the same food down again - it is dry food so won't go off in a day, like wet food.

Good idea lowis. Alternatively, you could weigh the amount you put down each time, and weigh what gets left,, so you get a true reflection of what she is eating - I'm sure the vet will want/need to know.

Our neighbours cat - used to visit us - had kidney failure. Once he was diagnosed he was given a prescription diet, but he hated it. Our neighbour decided that instead of spending his last few months eating (or not as the case was) food he hated (and subsequently losing weight), he could have what he wanted (within reason!) and be happy. NB. I hope no-one misinterprets this as her not caring properly for her cat - she just didn't want to prolong his life at the expense of his quality of life IYSWIM.

He also used to drink out of the toilet, he was so thirsty, and a friends cat used to love drinking from dripping taps - they used to leave the bath tap dripping for him. Could evil cat be wanting water instead of food?

Hope you find a way to help her - maybe your vet will have further advice.

Badger_Lady

Hia! My cat acts exactly like this when he's on dry food (except less menacing, from the sounds of it :eek:). He basically just doesn't like it, so won't eat it until he's desperate... and in the meantime he's actually begging me for something different. The best method I've found is just taking the food away and putting it back again, but he will still undereat and lose weight unless I can get him some Whiskas

Just a side-point, does Evil Cat tend to drink the water? Mine will never drink in the same area as he eats (I've read this is common) so I set him up a Cat-It fountain in my basement hallway, which worked OK. Although he still prefers to jump in the bath and drink from the plughole! So now I just leave the plug in with a small puddle of cold water for him...

wannabe_sybil

Thank you so much for your replies!

Evil cat is drinking quite a lot (compared to previously). So I think she is getting enough water. I am trying to pay attention to what she is asking, putting yet more food down as the last resort.

I think weighing out what she should have and dividing by, for example, five, may be the way to go. She is just so relentless. Fortunately her claws are a little bit soft so the digs and swipes don't leave marks, but the intent is definitely there.

She doesn't really do cuddles or play unless on her terms. She was a rescue from a cruel situation, really a bit to young to be taken away from her mother (who I suspect was feral) when we got her and she has just made up her own rules ever since. My experience is that she will only stop demanding attention when she is fed. Sigh. I have been entangled in long third degree cuddles until she hissed, spat and ran next to her feeding dish. Sigh.

I think that she would prefer different stuff, but unfortunately she has always been a bit like this and I was always throwing away 'wet' food. I shall ask the vet about how to vary the diet.

According to the vet she is in the extremely early stages of kidney failure, so giving her the right food now will make a significant difference to the quality and length of life. Later on I do agree that if she is miserable she should have what she wants (within reason) but I just want to do my best for her. It is always a hard decision to make, how to best treat an elderly cat who cannot tell you what is wrong, especially as cats don't always tell you if they are suffering. I will look after her as long as she has some quality of life, then I will make the hard decision when she no longer has that quality.

I really appreciate the replies and advice. I think I will be measuring out the food. That will be a good start. Also I will let you know how I get on.

suegoo

I don't know if this applies to your cat but mine will eat the food in the centre of the dish and then ask for more even though there is still food around the perimeter.
I just make it into a nice pile in the middle again and he is happy.
Now I have no idea why he will only eat from the centre but I have a theory it is something to do with whiskers touching the edge of the bowl.

lowis

i know you said your cat isn't very playful but i urge you to buy a toy called 'Da Bird'. i have recommended this on other threads - no, i promise i am not the inventor!

i have two elderly siamese cats and Da Bird drives them mental - they LOVE it. it is basically a toy that mimics a bird, with real pheasant feathers...it also makes a fluttering sound as you whip it through the air. you can buy it from here:

Best Cat Toy Ever!

read the reviews for further assurances.

i had a cat that wasn't playful who sadly passed away this year, but she too went crazy for this toy. i have other toys with real feathers but they just don't have the same effect as Da Bird.

as for the prescription diet, the cat who i mention above, she was put on a prescription diet and at first she wouldn't eat very much of it...but cats won't starve themselves and survival instincts kick in and they will eat in the end...she ended up enjoying the food once she had got used to the new taste (catfish and tapioca dry food). perhaps ask your vet if you can try another flavour of the food she is on?

foreign_correspondent

I a sorry i have no advice, but I had to say how much I loved your description of your cat...

She is not very well padded, in fact she is just malice and bone in a fur coat

bless her, she sounds like quite a character!!:rotfl:

wannabe_sybil

Well, I have held out today and not put extra food down, which has made her almost unbearable. She has been sitting across my throat, on my chest so I can't read or knit, standing on the arm of the chair graking at me (she has never managed meow - she always sounds like she is swearing) and no matter how many times you put her on the floor, she can get up one more time...

And there is plenty of dried food put down only today. The water has been changed twice.

I shall ring the vet next week and ask about the food. Hopefully they can give advice on varying the food. I am sincerely grateful for the advice.

I am going to look further into purchasing 'Da Bird' but evil cat only plays on her terms. She will curl up next to you and look irresistibly adorable. She has lovely thick soft fur. But if you try and stroke her then the battle ears come out, the tail thrashes and then she attacks, swears and runs off. She is a very odd little cat, with a will of absolute iron and her own way of looking at the world.