I only weigh him once a week, so as not to make myself insane with worry. So on Monday, our last weigh-in day, my heart sank when I saw he had lost 2/10ths of pound. Which may not sound like a lot, but keep in mind he only weighs 10 pounds total. Now, the vet said not to panic if he lost a little, that what we are looking for is a weight gain trend over time, blah blah blah. All I know is that you are not supposed to be able to feel your cat's spine and hip bones when you pet him. Again, the vet said that this is normal with aging, that cats lose muscle as they grow older, blah blah blah. Whatevs. It's just not right. And the weird thing? When I feed him, he goes right for the bowl, and eats and eats and eats and eats. But when I check the bowl after, not that much food is gone. It's like when a little kid pushes the food around on his plate to make it look like more is missing. Oh, and I'm the food fluffer. Because both his (canine? incisor?) big teeth on top are now gone, once the food gets pushed down into the bowl he is unable to scarf it up. So I fluff it for him. I can't believe I just wrote that sentence. And in the meantime, I have decided to stop freaking the fuck out over the whole situation. It's not doing either of us any good.
Oh, and vitamin gravy? Just for cats?
Do you believe that I am actually buying this stuff? Oh, and Fancy Feast! Those twee little cans of cat food that I have always despised? I now have a cupboard full, folks. I have turned into one of those middle-aged single women in the grocery store with a cart half full of *shiver* Fancy Feast.
In my defense, the rest of the cart is usually full of beer.
As you can see in the picture above, his front end looks pretty good, but that back half needs some help. So, if anybody has any ideas of how to fatten up a cat, or has any suggestions for foods that their cats really love, I'm all ears. Amazing discovery: Rocky loves Sweet Chili Lime tortilla chips. Loves them. Crunches them up and scarfs them down. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that tortilla chips do not meet all of his nutritional requirements. On the other hand, if he will eat them, who cares?
7 comments:
So you can't afford to buy a house, but you buy prescription cat food because your cat lost 0.2 pounds?
Exador, I seem to remember that YOU spent some money on vet/pet care a while back! Ha ha! We do what we gotta do ....
My cat is a dry-food-only "don't even insult me with that canned shit" sort. She doesn't even want to try tuna or chicken skin. However, other cats I've owned were less no bullshit about food. The rule of thumb is that they have to be able to smell it to stimulate themselves to eat when they feel punk. So if it's stinky (dump tuna juice on it) cats will sometimes give it a shot.
Thanks for the advice, bridgett! Until he started having problems with his teeth, Rocky also liked dry food. He's definitely a tuna juice fan (just the juice, not the tuna, thankyouverymuch), so I can give that a shot.
BTW, I know I am sounding like a crazy cat lady with these posts, and I assure everyone that I AM NOT. CRAZY. It's just hard to see your pet of 15 years wasting away.
Oh, Rocky! Poor kitty! (I'm definitely teetering on the edge of crazy cat lady behavior.)
Does he like kitty treats? You know, those tiny cans of expensive goodies? Most of them are soft. My BoyKitty loves them.
Ironically, the only cat treats Rocky likes are called "Lean Treats", so I'm guessing they will not help much in this situation. Maybe if I gave them to him a bag at a time?
Our cats like lots of fattening (empty calorie) stuff - mainly ice cream and potato chips.
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