We will try these suggestions. Thank you. I guess I will be shopping again after work! Dr. Maier said to start Monkee on the Nutrical, so my mom is picking that up for me today. I fed him "human" tuna and tuna water over the weekend from the can, but as of yesterday, he'd only eat one piece. Of course, he eats a ton of my broiled whitefish though! But I can't keep getting take-out fish for dinner every night for Monkee! I forgot that I had a few cans of AD from when Monkee's anemia first started. He only ate that when he was really really down and as soon as he started feeling better, he wouldn't eat even one bit of it. But since I have some cans already, we will try it again.
I did syringe feed him last night- but all I have is a 1 ml syringe, so it takes forever! I took advantage of the fact that he is sooooooooooooo good for pilling, etc. and tried that last night. I had been syringe feeding him his colostrum mixed with water since I couldn't get him to eat a whole meal, I didn't want to waste a colostrum pill by adding it to food he wouldn't eat. That way, I felt like I could make sure he got water too. But last night, I probably added too much water and it took about 10, 1 ml syringe-fulls to get all the colostrum in him! He was so good though! So then I did the same procedure to get some of the beef/chicken livers gravy I'd blended up in him.
We have tried hand-feeding and what my mom calls "community feeding"- where I sit on the ground with him and talk to him, hand him pieces and pet him- which he usually loves. But I tried that this morning and it's like he tries to "fake" eat by just licking some gravy just to get me off his back! Even in his weakened state he is still too smart for his own good!
The funniest thing about all this for me is that, since he won't eat a whole small can of food, I never give him one- usually just a half. The other half that Monkee never touched- I HATE wasting it and throwing it away. My neighborhood has these "neighborhood" strays (not feral, just friendly strays who've been taken care of by the neighborhood) that a bunch of us watch over, feed, water, etc. They have all been fixed by a lady up the street who started this whole street-cat thing. The issue regarding these cats though is a whole other can of worms that I am not ready to get into yet because I rent and worry about what will happen when I move, but for now, they are very well taken care of, safe and happy- even if they are outdoor cats (which I don't "believe" in). I have been feeding them for about a year since I moved in and figured out they were strays and there are two of the 6 cats that seem to "prefer" the food I give them so they are almost permanent fixtures on my front stoop now, with a few others who sometimes visit for food if they are extra hungry, but routinely come for the water that I change everyday. Anyway, instead of always just getting fed cheap 9 Lives dry food- which they love- these two now get Monkee's rejected premium food! They've been fed AD, Fancy Feast, and as of yesterday, the Wellness wet food! It drives my mom crazy, but I'd rather some cat (even a rag-a-muffin stray!) eat that food than just throw it away!
-Caroline
From: "Susan Dubose" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Appetite issues and Monkee update
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:17:13 -0500
hi Caroline,I am sorry Monkee is a bit under the weather again.Try the baby food, but only the turkey or chicken w/ gravy mix.Try PetGuard brand cat food if you have it there, it's usually @ Whole Foods or other health food stores.The fish, chicken & liver formula is quite tasty to cats.And the beef mix has LOTS of juice.Try a product called "Mix It" by Science Diet. It is the dog food section @ PetSmart w/ the moist foods.It is for either cats or dogs, but they keep it w/ the dog stuff.Try Pro Plans moist food, the sardines in the "aspic" is quite gross, but cats LOVE it.It is chunks of sardines in some kinda slimey sauce.....Try Sardines, try tuna.....Try Pet Gold Gourmet Tuna for cats, LOTS of gravey.....This is only available @ the pet food specialty stores.I guess the vet has also tried the A/D moist food for cats?Only available @ the vet.Last of all, have you tried syringe feeding him?Some cats get to the point where they will only eat if hand fed, even if they are feeling better.I usually mix up baby food w/ a squirt of Nutri Cal in it.It is good to feed the best quality of foods to him, but @ this point, you have to find out what he will eat, even if it is "junk" in your eyes, and let him have it.Even if it is Whiskars.........And lastly, I cannot believe the vets were not weighting him w/ EVERY visit.That's really uncool.Please keep us posted.I will keep him in my thoughts.Susan J. DuBose >^..^<
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Trajan Tennent----- Original Message -----From: Caroline KaufmannSent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 10:01 AMSubject: Appetite issues and Monkee updateHi everyone. I just wanted to update you on Monkee's situation and ask for some help/advice with his eating. He has been doing really well since last week. I pretty much just decided to drop his other two vets for now and focus on getting him care from his homeopathic vet Dr. Maier. Monkee was eating his raw food really well. We went to see Dr. Maier on Friday and she said he looked really good- his heart was strong (weak murmur), he was alert and he weighed 12 pounds. Which was nice to know because every time he went to Dr. Daley's, I don't think they ever weighed him so I didn't know how much weight he'd lost with the chemo and anemia. He started at 13 pounds and some ounces, so he hasn't lost too much yet. Dr. Maier added another homeopathic remedy to further help detox him. He was so good for the ride out and back from Dr. Maier's and at her clinic. It was hilarious-- I could tell he was much more happier and I knew I made the right decision about his care. It was a total 180 from his behavior at Dr. Daley's!!!However, his appetite started dropping off this weekend. I can't get him to eat his raw food. I bought him all this Wellness wet food at the pet store to get him eating organic and he won't eat it at all, so I went back to the gravy-soaked Fancy Feast. He will only drink some of the gravy. I also tried putting his chicken livers and raw beef in a blender and liquefying it because he seems to like gravy so much and I thought the stringy chick livers were too much effort for him to chew. He really only drank a little of that. I can get him to eat table scraps of my own food- broiled restaurant fish- but that is not the kind of stuff he's supposed to be eating to help his anemia.He also started eating litter-- which has been really hard for me because I know if he wasn't anemic, he would never do anything like that. He's very OCD about his litter box and I think if he could think straight, the mere thought of nibbling on litter would appall his sensibilities. I emailed Dr. Maier about that and she told me to start him on Silica- which I got from the health food store and started on Sunday.I am aware the transfusion may be wearing off. Also, he is no longer on the appetite stimulant Cyproheptadine because last week he was eating fine without it.I have emailed Dr. Maier to let her know and see what she can do for him. But I also wanted to know if any of you have any other "tricks" up your sleeves that I can try on him?Thanks,Caroline
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