Conference misery::feline

    Arlene,
    
    Never once did I think you should give up on the poor guy.  
    I do have a few suggestions...but you also might want to discuss
    this with your vet too because they all have different of opinions:
    
      o If he is still on KD...try mixing some low protein cat food
        (Friskie Senior or Kal-Kan Optimum) in with the KD.  Ziggy
        wouldn't touch the KD...so I figured it was best to eat
        something so after talking to my vet we decided we would just
        try to keep him on a low protein (under 9%)
    
      o Add a little bit of beef or chicken broth to the food.  Even
        if the broth is a bit salty...that should be okay because it
        will make Marvin drink more and that's what he needs to keep
        the kidney going. (check the protein level on the broth???)
    
      o Have you attempted to warm up the food in the microwave.  Some
        cats love this...while others hate it. (don't make it hot...just
        slightly warm)
    
    If Marvin isn't eating at all...I personally would resort to
    anything he would eat at this time and then you can try to ween
    him back on the special food.  Try baby food...or slice chicken
    because both of those are pretty low in protein.
    
    I would also let your vet know he is not eating so well since 
    he was on the heart medicine...because maybe the dose is just two
    large.   
    
    Hugs to Marvin......
    
    Sandy
                                                           

    arlene;
    
    i just lost my midnight to kidney failure in june.  he was 17.  two
    years ago my vet said that he had about 2months. i started to feed him 
    ground turkey.  i would fry a little in the frying pan with a bit of
    butter and he would love it. this became his daily diet, until i intro-
    duced him to wiskas poultry canned cat food.  small cans 3/1.00 . it 
    has very low protein 8-9% and it smells good. i believe that this kept
    him alive for a whole year and half. i used to bring him in three times
    a week for fluids and my vet could not believe how he just kept hanging
    on. 
    
    jeane
    
      

Mostly mentioned elsewhere in the conference but what-the-heck...
When our liver-failure cat stopped eating we spiked his food with bits of
cheese. Our bazillion-year-old clinic cat (actually 18 or so) lost her appetite
a couple of years ago. Cheese bits did the trick for a while, and then I had to
move to cheese bits & steak. She likes it barbecued (guess who's out in the back
yard at the "barbie" all winter long ;-). Sometimes we have luck with
meat-containing baby food or chicken when cats won't eat anything else. A more
"classic" approach would be A/D, available from your vet. It looks a lot like
baby food & is supposed to contain an appetite stimulant, though I have to admit
I don't think I've ever seen it work. If absolutely nothing else works, small
doses of valium make for a ravenous appetite, but that's typically a pretty
drastic measure as doping up your cat twice a day to get them to eat is treading
on that Quality of Life issue. And is the steak & cheese "bad" for them? - well,
less good than cat food, but then if life may not last that much longer why not
enjoy it to the fullest? When my dog suddenly came down with aggressive cancer
and had a month to live, he spent that month pigging out on steaks, ice cream,
pizza and was a frequent visitor at the Dunkin Donuts drive-up window. He begged
and put weight on like crazy, but he loved every minute of it.

						Trace

    Another drug to use instead of the valium to induce a desire to eat, is
    ceproheptdyn (sp?).  I have used it with great succes from little
    weanlings to big old Stinky.  My vet once told me they give it to human
    babies for the same thing.  Not too sure about anything else with it.
    Karen

    to add to Sandy's comment about heatingthe food inthe microwave. This
    applys to dry food as well. My Eirene wouldn't touch K/D canned; as for
    the K/D dry she wouldn't look at that either until someone suggested
    sprinking water on it and putting it in the microwave to soften (and
    making sure that she smelled the aroma). I did have to let it cool for
    a bit before giving it to her, though. 
    
    good luck. I know what you are are going through.
    
    Deb

    JFCl won't touch the K/D canned food, but she likes the dry stuff, and
    the kitten doesn't, so they more or less are each eating the proper
    food (I only buy low-protein canned food now - vet says the kitten is
    old enough, and there was no way to stop the elderly cat from getting
    into the kitten food otherwise).  I think cats start to lose their
    sense of smell when they get real old (JFCL is 17).
    
    /Charlotte

    Hi guys, 
    	I've been read-only for about the past year, but now I have a
    suggestion for getting kitties to eat.  Sheba is my 9-month-old, and
    she goes thru phases when she gets tired of certain foods, and refuses
    to eat.  Well, after several brands of cat food, I was running out of
    options, and my vet suggested sprinkling yeast flakes (ummm, yummm) or 
    lightly sprinkling food over Sheba's food.  Apparently, any brand of
    yeast you buy in the grocery store will do, and Sheba loves it!!
    Good luck!!
    
    Amanda 

    Another taste some cats love is garlic.  Try a little crushed garlic
    and see if that works -- it's also a good tonic.
    
    Best of luck with Marvin and wish you both well.

If you are feeding your cat a particularly less than palatable
food for a medical reason, you need to be sure that anything you 
add to that food will not negate the benefits of feeding that
food.  Check with your vet before adding anything.

For example,  I now have to feed Simon KD, since he forms 
calcium oxalate crystals in his urine.  I need to be sure to 
restrict his calcium intake.  Before adding *anything* to the 
KD, I would want to know the mineral content of whatever I 
intended to add.  

KD is a known to be rather bland, with the canned version being
even more so (or so the vet tells me, I haven't tried it myself ;^)
Although Simon and Hannah are not fond of it - Hannah keeps hoping 
for something better, since *she's* not the one who's on a restricted
diet - it's all that's served, so if they're hungry, that's the choice.


Kathy

    I had success with adding a little clam juice to my cat's food.  It's
    available in any supermarket, but, of course, always check with the Vet
    first.  Good luck to yu and your litle furry face.
    
    Marilyn and Tigger