Hi Robyn! I would love to ask you and the L&H hive mind for any suggestions. I have a cat who is too skinny. He is three years old, a street rescue, and has always been skinny but it was thought to be due to being a stray. Multiple vets say nothing is wrong that they can find, but they urge me to get weight on him. Their suggestions were to simply give him more food, but … that’s the problem. He has ZERO food drive. He would rather play with his catnip mouse than eat.
I have tried every food out there on the market and from home, from homemade raw to Alley Cat kibble and all stops in between. It became a challenge for the fellow at the local healthy pet food store, he called every distributor for free cans/packets/pouches/etc of everything! Human food, baby human food, freshly hunted/caught meat, you name it, I have tried it. I even got Chewy on it – they sent me things the local shop couldn’t get, and it became a challenge for them, too! I still get questions from them about his eating, and had I tried X brand yet.
He eats about four bites of food, happily stops and washes his face and licks his chops, and purrs while he walks away to wrestle with a toy. And then doesn’t want to eat again until the next day.
So next on the list of possibilities is to try syringe-feeding a supplement to boost his nutrients and calories. Are there any suggestions for safe products? Reading about some of the ones that are commercially available, online, is rather scary!
Happy to hear other suggestions except trying different brands of food – trust me. I have tried it already. (My mailman asked me “how many freakin’ cats you got in that place?” as he brought me the 20th Chewy box in a month…)
I have tried Nutri-Cal with varying results – for the most part, they tend not to mind the flavor but I think the texture isn’t something they love.
But I do wonder how necessary it is to get weight on the cat – like humans, some cats are skinnier than others, and if the vets can’t find anything wrong with him and he seems perfectly happy, do you need to stress yourself out trying to get him to eat? (This is not a judgement, I hope it doesn’t come across as that – I’m genuinely curious. I guess it also depends on whether he’s just skinny or actually emaciated.)
Other than the Nutri-Cal, my mind is blank – it sounds like you’ve tried everything I would have suggested. I hope that maybe someone has a better suggestion? (With a holiday weekend coming up page views tend to decrease drastically, so I will likely go ahead and post this next Friday also so more people see it.)
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It looks like the new fosters are just as nutty as Praline and Roux. Will they meet?
Probably not for a couple of weeks – but it depends. We’ll play it by ear!
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Would you please take a close up photo of the picture of the lady on Fred’s bedroom wall? It looks pretty. I have seen it a few times and was always curious about it. Thanks.
I had that picture on my bedroom wall growing up (I was very into ballet for a while). I recently found it when I was decluttering closets, and hung it up. I think it’s pretty – Fred isn’t crazy about it, but hey – who says he gets a vote?
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I love Roux’s little smile.
Praline from above, with Roux refusing to look at me.
Roux from above, with Praline refusing to look at me.
Praline in the Tiny Basket.
And Roux in the Tiny Basket.
The girls have had free access to the entire house (except for the foster room) since Wednesday night, and they spend about 98% of their time upstairs. When Fred shut them out of his room Wednesday night, they played for a little while and then ended up sleeping on a bath mat in Fred’s tub. I mean, I would have been HAPPY to let the little brats sack out on my bed with me, but I guess upstairs is home to them for now. Like all fosters, as time goes on they’ll expand their territory.
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The fosters-in-waiting are now in the foster room! Let’s re-meet them, shall we?
Belle took one look around the foster room, went into the closet and is currently hanging out on top of the tall filing cabinet, where the kittens can’t get to her. She was just spayed Wednesday, so she’s still healing.
Chip, who walks over to me and howls every time I walk into the room.
Gaston, who hid in the closet for about an hour until he realized there was playin’ going on in the foster room, and he hasn’t stopped playing since.
Mrs. Potts, who isn’t sure what the deal is, but thinks she fits nicely in this oversized tea cup.
Lumiere, who – yay! – has already been adopted. The people who adopted Charlotte have adopted him, and he’ll go home in a few weeks, once he’s neutered.
Agnes, who is completely insane.
And Ressler, who purrs if you so much as look in his direction. (Also, he looks so much like Gaston that I’m going to have to collar the two of them so I’ll be able to tell them apart.)
You might be a little confused about Agnes and Ressler, since I’ve only mentioned them once (twice?) before. I hadn’t intended to bring them home yesterday, but Susan said “You’re going to take the other two, too, right?”, so obviously I said yes.
I worried a little how the kittens would react to each other, but it’s been fine – Belle’s kittens are curious and interested, and Chip wants to be BFFs. Ressler is interested in the other kittens, and Agnes pauses long enough in her racing around playing to spit at them. She’s perfecting her drive-by spitting technique. She’s almost got it down!
Belle’s kittens are nearly 9 weeks old, and Agnes and Ressler are a couple of weeks older. They’ll be with us for at least three weeks, possibly longer. However, if you see one you’ve fallen in love with, feel free to contact Challenger’s House now instead of waiting!
Gaston on the scratcher, and Ressler with the Ears of Annoyance.
Ressler readies the Slappin’ Paw.
Gaston’s all “I AIN’T SKEERED O’ YOU!”
“I HAS THIS PAW AND I WILL USE IT. IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING.”
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Pink appears to be Newt’s color.
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Previously
2016: Such a big ol’ teddy bear.
2015: Yes, Committee of Judgemental Kittens, I KNOW THAT THE TUB NEEDS TO BE CLEANED.
2014: “We don’t miss no stinkin’ Uncle Dennis!”
2013: No entry.
2012: No entry.
2011: “COOKIES, PLEASE.”
2010: “I’m gonna jump!”
2009: Fun facts about Creed.
2008: He just looks at her like “I don’t know what you want, but I wish you’d be quiet about it!”
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.