Hi,
My cat Buttercup is a 15 yr old, always healthy cat, who has been off her feed for a while and lost half a pound over the last 6 months. Weighs usually 12 and a half pounds.
She seems to have slowed down this last very cold winter ( though she has the benefit of living in a house with radiant heat in the floors).
Normally she eats 1/4 - 1/2 cup dry food , small amount of table meats
now and then, and a couple of teaspoons of canned food mainly for her cosequin. It seems that she no longer prefers her dry food and is eating much less. She was to the Vet's yesterday. Urine tests are fine, blood work is pending. Her teeth and mouth are fine , just a tiny amount of gingivitis over 2 teeth.
Thinking she may be having a problem with chewing for some reason,
is there a dry food that cats can eat easier in their older age? The vet was thinking about thickening of G.I. walls leading to digestion problems.
No diarrhea, no vomiting ( only 1 hairball a yr) She probably would eat a lot more of the canned food, but I want to try to keep her on some kind of dry food.
Thanks for your help,
Marlene
Feeding re older cat
Re: Feeding re older cat
my opinion would be to simply give your Buttercup what she will take in order to maintain a healthy diet. have you tried to mix up some wet and dry with a little bit of water to soften it up?
Re: Feeding re older cat
Roseycrest, a thyroid panel wasn't mentioned in your post, was that done? If not, I would strongly suggest getting that done immediately.
Even mild ginigivitis can cause painful gums and cause a kitty to not want to eat. Jason's suggestion is a good one, you can also try canned food alone if you feel she will take to it and maintain a proper amount each day.
Even mild ginigivitis can cause painful gums and cause a kitty to not want to eat. Jason's suggestion is a good one, you can also try canned food alone if you feel she will take to it and maintain a proper amount each day.
..........Traci
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Roseycrest
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2004 11:27 pm
- Location: MASS.
Re: Feeding re older cat
Hi Jason and Traci,
Jason , I did try the mixing of dry and canned food as you suggested . And it did help to get her back on track. Thanks for suggesting that.
Then I found softer dry food, which she is now eating better and back to normal these last 2 days. May it last!!
I got back her blood report today. Thyroid was 1.7 last year and now its 3.2. So, that bears watching. WBC is down--but wouldnt this be part of the immune response to normal aging? Anyway, her vet is still concerned re the potential of the GI tract thickening and thus interfering
with digestion etc. She wants to weigh her in a month, which is reasonable. And potentially do the blood test associated with this diagnosis, which is fine but only if her weight continues to go down.
Thanks for your help !!!
Marlene >^..^<
Jason , I did try the mixing of dry and canned food as you suggested . And it did help to get her back on track. Thanks for suggesting that.
Then I found softer dry food, which she is now eating better and back to normal these last 2 days. May it last!!
I got back her blood report today. Thyroid was 1.7 last year and now its 3.2. So, that bears watching. WBC is down--but wouldnt this be part of the immune response to normal aging? Anyway, her vet is still concerned re the potential of the GI tract thickening and thus interfering
with digestion etc. She wants to weigh her in a month, which is reasonable. And potentially do the blood test associated with this diagnosis, which is fine but only if her weight continues to go down.
Thanks for your help !!!
Marlene >^..^<