Help - Jess won't eat

[Desley (booktigger)]

i am glad he is eating now, but I can't believe vets are still playing down HL, especially as it can start in as little as 3 days of not eating.

[Millys Mum]

I could mix Fekix in I don't risk it to be honest he has to get his water intake from the urinary food.

Urinary food has extra salt in it to increase thirst, it isnt any wetter than normal wet foods

[Leanne]

LEanne, your vet has given you terrible advice - Hepatic Lipidosis can occur when cats dont eat, it can range from as little as 3 days to 3 weeks, and is more common in overweight cats, as they have the biggest fat reserves. 70% can recover, but it can take months of aggressive force feeding to recover, and people on here have lost cats to this, I can think of 2 people, and tehre was one on CC just last week.

I trust our veterinary director at work his been in practice for years and is the director of a large animal welfare charity he know's his animals, our own vet also wasn't concerned either if he went without food for days, I think I am the only one who seemed stressed over it.

But Jess seems to be eating now anyway, even if I have to feed him.

[Desley (booktigger)]

LEanne, your vet has given you terrible advice - Hepatic Lipidosis can occur when cats dont eat, it can range from as little as 3 days to 3 weeks, and is more common in overweight cats, as they have the biggest fat reserves. 70% can recover, but it can take months of aggressive force feeding to recover, and people on here have lost cats to this, I can think of 2 people, and tehre was one on CC just last week.

[Leanne]

Well I spoke to our vet at work who said not to worry too much he can go weeks without food as long as he is getting water thats the important bit. Dehydration would make him more poorly than not eating. Fortunately Jess is a rather large cat.

I could mix Fekix in I don't risk it to be honest he has to get his water intake from the urinary food.

When Jess's problems first started he was on Felix swamped in water and it didn't help him so its pretty important that he has the urinary food.

HOWEVER! Last night when we got in, I put a bowl of food with a whole pouch in and he nibbled at it, we had our dinner and then took him out for a walk and took the food with us, he nibbled a bit more, then sat looking at the bowl and then at me so I tipped some onto the grass and he gobbled it down, so I ended up spending 20 minutes tipping bits of food out.

Because we feed small amounts and often in the evening 2 hours later I tried feeding him again, and he nibbled at it, so I did the same put a couple of chunks down at a time on the floor (in the kitchen) and he managed another half a pouch. Just before bed though he ate a quater of a pouch from the bowl, I did put a couple of dental biscuits on it, and it was almost like he ate those and thought he would try the food.

This morning he has had another pouch in stages with a dental treat on the top I'm reluctant to keep adding these and he shouldn't really have them but if it means he'll eat a whole bowl of food I'll do it (I'd rather do that then add in Felix). I'd also hand feed him every day if I had to if it means he'll eat.

[Desley (booktigger)]

i suspect it is rebellion against the urinary food and would either start mixing normal food in and added water, or give him some normal food and then start mixing his urinary food back in - prescription food is no good if they wont eat, as there are other health issues then.

[Maddiesmum]

It's such a strain and you have to be careful not to make it into a big issue.  I hope he eats normally tonight 

[Millys Mum]

Cant he just have normal food with extra water? Food is so important to cats, if i made Taz eat yukky prescription food he would get stressed and pee blood 

[Leanne]

Well tonights plan of action is to see whether he will eat as normal when we get in (I suspect not but I'm hoping he'll be starving as he won't have eaten for 24 hours by then) if not we'll take him for a walk in the garden and take his food out there as well.

He has to 9:30 to eat something then I'll get the tuna out, I'll sprinkle small amounts into his food and add water as well, and see what happens.

I love this cat to bits but his really putting me though it this year you know 

[Maddiesmum]

I know you have to be very careful with the tuna but could you try mixing a small amount with his food and sprinkling a tiny amount on top?  Or add the tuna juice?

[Leanne]

Could you try just leaving it down and ignoring  him.  He may feel your stress and you could end up with mealtimes becoming a nightmare.  Charlie sometimes wont eat first thing in the morning but I have learned to just leave it there and eventually he eats it.  Best of luck, come on Jess

This is what we did this morning, was down for 1 hour and 15 minutes, I can't leave it down all day because Milo will eat it!

What worries me is Jess is such a foodie, his clearly hungry because when I call him for "yum yums" he comes running

[Maddiesmum]

Could you try just leaving it down and ignoring  him.  He may feel your stress and you could end up with mealtimes becoming a nightmare.  Charlie sometimes wont eat first thing in the morning but I have learned to just leave it there and eventually he eats it.  Best of luck, come on Jess

[Felix (Caroline)]

Would pilchards be ok for him to eat, I have heard that cats go mad for the tomato sauce in it xx

[Leanne]

His not eating again! I'm at my wits end I don't know what to do 

[Leanne]

Well here is an update, Jess did eat a small amount last night, we usually feed a pouch to him over the course of 6 hours in the evening, but he was having non of it last night, so I gave him a good half and he ate it, 2 hours later he wouldn't touch it.

This morning he wouldn't eat, took me half an hour of me pretending to eat it, spoon feeding him, and feeding him with my fingers before he finally ate it, I decided to take him to the vets anyway to be on the safe side. Then as I was about to put him in the box he ate a bowl of food!!!!  The little terror, as by this point I had arranged with work to come in late I decided to take him anyway, and guess what his fine! Nothing wrong at all, vet checked him thoroughly. We think he is going off the urinary food the vet did say a little bit of tuna smothered in water will be fine if his adamant he won't eat but not to do it too often, so basically its tough love now.

I'm glad I took him though as at least I know his fine though.

[Desley (booktigger)]

Just be careful with the tuna, as I said on your HiLife thread, fish should be avoided with cystitis cats, as it can make it worse - I got told off for using Tuna hi-life to get Tom's MEtacam in him until he decided he liked it enough to take it from the bottle. You also run the risk of them refusing anything else, and a diet too high in tuna can cause health issues.

[madkittyrescue]

its amazing how far they will go to get what they want... and as the others have said he could well just be holding out for more tuna!!

sometimes I think they are too clever for their own good!

[Maddiesmum]

Sounds like Jess has the tuna bug!  Anyway at least he has eaten something.

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

They are fickle things, Leane. Poor Mark spends an absolute fortune on the very best cat food there is, but his Clapton only wants to eat junk and Willow has fads and never seems to eat the same food twice.

Try to relax and avoid feeling stressed about the situation, or Jess might pick up on it and get worse. Odds are, Jess is holding out for something naughty - like the Tuna.  At the moment, I'm nursing a sickly and stunned kitten and we have to syringe feed her some high protein suppliment in an effort to build her up. She'll only take about 15mls before enough is enough and she starts spitting it out. But as soon as I place her back in the pen with her brothers, her little nose is soon in their bowl and she's nibbling at their Felix. She's going to send me grey, I just know it...

Good luck! 

[Leanne]

Thanks Maddiesmum, to get something into him we gave some tuna soaked in water, and his eaten it and drank the water.

I'm thinking about mixing in some high life into the food water as Jess is only on the urinary food to get water into him, not for crystals etc,

Hubby also just said next doors dog was out and Jess went right to the fence which is a first.

[Maddiesmum]

If you have any tuna left try mixing a little with his normal food then sprinkle a tiny amount on top.  Good luck

[Leanne]

As usual Jess woke me up at 5:30 this morning, Hubby got up to feed them but I heard him tryin to coax Jess to eat so I got up, Jess was wouldn't eat anything, this is really unlike him. I opened a different sachet of food but it made no difference. So we put the food away and went back to bed.

He had wee'd and had a poo, as I was initally worried he was going to block again, but he seems fine in himself.

W've just tried again, he is clearly hungry as he knows what the word yum yums is and is chippering like he normal does, this time he did investigate the food but wouldn't eat it, he has tried to eat Milos food though (Jess is on a urinary diet). We even tried different bowls.

I don't know what to do, I don't really want to bother with the vet on a Sunday, Hubby is taking him out for a walk as he wanted to go out.

He did have some tuna yesterday soaked in water and has had this in the warm weather but I can't give this too him daily.

Any thought or suggestions I'd be really grateful