Vinni Snoozing
Since Monty passed away a little over a week ago Vinni, my other 20 year old cat, has been trying to starve himself to death. Monty and Vinni were very close, being the same age, and both Vinni and I miss Monty greatly.
The things you do to keep a loved pet going are pretty much like grabbing at straws. Dietary restrictions go out the window as he now pretty much is having anything he will eat. So long expensive organic kitty foods. I am trying to keep it healthy as I can, but face it, food can be the healthiest and still do no good if not ingested.
He seems to like egg yokes, whipped cream and vanilla yogurt right now. My oldest daughter said it sounded pretty good to her if I would only throw in some strawberries she’d join him for dinner. Of course Vinni is not into strawberries, so my daughter is out of luck there. I realize these three things are not good for cats in large amounts and I do worry about that, but at this point just getting him to consume some calories are something even my vet stresses.
You now walk into my foyer to find a smorgasbord of items in little glass dishes for him to select from. All laid out side by side next to the water dish. If I seem him moving about some I lay them down, take some and put it in his mouth….see if I can tempt him. When the smorgasbord doesn’t tempt him I bring his food to him where ever he maybe. Sometimes that works, other times it does not. I have to watch him eat because he is no longer cleaning himself so I wipe his face for him, (okay he is not thrilled with that part). I give him baths with a dry cleaning shampoo so as not to threaten him with water.
Vinni Tucked In With Greyhound Tyler
Just hoping he can be turned around, of course he has to want it for himself.
He seems to like whipped cream and vanilla yogurt right now.>>>>
ReplyDeleteHeh. He has very, very good taste! In owners AND food! ;)
Hi Claudia,
ReplyDeleteOh thank you, he is a wonderful guy as was Monty and is so worth the effort.
I feel honored you dropped by. Thank you. Feel good!
Aw .. Vinni! I hope he's OK. Has he seen the vet? Maybe there's something wrong ...
ReplyDeleteHave you tried something stinky, like mackerel or sardines? Cats won't eat if they can't smell properly, and older cats do sometimes lose their sense of smell. I hope he picks up. Poor old guy, he's probably just missing his companion. :(
Hi Jay,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the ideas, we did try those things and he wasn't interested. He was into the vet a little before Monty passed away and got a clean bill of health. I have chatted with the vet about it, but haven't gotten him back in again because he is petrified of the vet, and very old. The combination doesn't work for the old guy all that well. But I am going to have to take him again if we can't get this working for him. He was a little bit fiestier this evening as I have him a little sponge bath.
My daughter used to work with a vet and remembered something they gave that would work with some of the old guys is chicken broth with sugar, as cats love sweet things as well as savory. I had tried the chicken broth, but not with sugar, so that is my next move...see how that goes. He is so mopey right now.
Thanks again.
Poor little Vinni. He does sound in a bad way if he's stopped cleaning himself. :(
ReplyDeleteLet us know how the broth with sugar goes down! Fingers crossed here.
Poor Vinni - it reminds me of when Max was so poorly in February - he had to have a feeding tube put in and all the time it was in - his nurses were tempting him with little bit of food... they didn't think of pilchards in tomato sauce though - that did the trick!!
ReplyDeleteVinni is such a beautiful boy - I do hope he recovers!
Hi Jay,
ReplyDeleteHe did eat a little chicken broth with sugar. Though not all that popular either. The ticket with him seems to be 'something new'. With whipped cream and egg yokes as a stand by.
I am writing a little update, will post it.
Thank you!
Kate,
We did do the fish (of various kinds)....but I am going to get a can of sardines in tomatoe sauce today and see what he thinks about it. He has not had any tomato sauce so who knows. As I was explaining to Jay, seems to be a 'something new' perfered diet going on at the moment.
Thank you, Kate.
Well when we are grieving we act differently - why shouldn't it be the same with our animals?
ReplyDeleteVinni reminds me of a sea; point Siamese we had when I was young - a beautiful boy too!!!
Kate, I agree...this much is true I think especially since they had been together for so many years.
ReplyDeleteOh - you had a Sealpoint Siamese too - then you know how sensitive they are. When they want to they can pretty much talk your ear off.
Thanks again, Kate.