My oldest cat, Callie, is going to be 13 in September. For a long time all 4 cats were on Innova cat food, but I had noticed that since the newest cat showed up in October that they were all putting on a little bit of weight. Plus there was some hairball puke every now and then. So I decided to put them on a weight control/hairball formula (also trying to find something a little less expensive). The only thing I could find was Iams hairball/WC.
I went through one bag of that and noticed that Callie was losing some weight so I thought the food was working well. But lately I've noticed that she's been kinda bony in her lower body - could feel the backbone and she was skinny back there. So I've been checking with people here if they've seen her eating the food at all (there are two bowls in opposite ends of the house, one of the cats sleeps in my room at night so I have a bowl in here for her). Callie seems to have turned her nose up at the weight control food, but she'll eat things like tiny pieces of chicken or even the cat treats that I give them every now and then.
So I stopped the weight control food and picked up some Nutro Natural Choice. Any time I have had to switch foods, I make sure to mix them for about 5 days or so so they can get used to the new stuff. But I just wanted to see if she would actually eat, get something in her. I opened the bag and she ate a bit of what I put in front of her, but she's largely been ignoring the food bowls.
Am calling the vet tomorrow to probably get her in on Thursday. She still grooms herself a bit, and she climbs up (slowly) to some of her favorite sleep spots, as long as she has a way to step up to them. She's snoozing on my bed right now.
So, I did wonder at first if maybe her teeth were bothering her, but she's eaten some things and when she lets me stroke her face or chin, she doesn't act like anything bothers her. I was also wondering about thyroid issues. Of course I am also worried that maybe she's "winding down" or something. She's a little spitfire, and fighter, though. She went through a few years of battling rabies-related cancer. But I never gave up on her and she completely recovered from that; the vet is still amazed at her.
Does anyone have any thoughts on all of this? I love the vet that I've been going to for years now, so I'm sure he'll do a great job, but is there anything in particular people think I should ask about? Or any kinds of tests I should see about for her?
I went through one bag of that and noticed that Callie was losing some weight so I thought the food was working well. But lately I've noticed that she's been kinda bony in her lower body - could feel the backbone and she was skinny back there. So I've been checking with people here if they've seen her eating the food at all (there are two bowls in opposite ends of the house, one of the cats sleeps in my room at night so I have a bowl in here for her). Callie seems to have turned her nose up at the weight control food, but she'll eat things like tiny pieces of chicken or even the cat treats that I give them every now and then.
So I stopped the weight control food and picked up some Nutro Natural Choice. Any time I have had to switch foods, I make sure to mix them for about 5 days or so so they can get used to the new stuff. But I just wanted to see if she would actually eat, get something in her. I opened the bag and she ate a bit of what I put in front of her, but she's largely been ignoring the food bowls.
Am calling the vet tomorrow to probably get her in on Thursday. She still grooms herself a bit, and she climbs up (slowly) to some of her favorite sleep spots, as long as she has a way to step up to them. She's snoozing on my bed right now.
So, I did wonder at first if maybe her teeth were bothering her, but she's eaten some things and when she lets me stroke her face or chin, she doesn't act like anything bothers her. I was also wondering about thyroid issues. Of course I am also worried that maybe she's "winding down" or something. She's a little spitfire, and fighter, though. She went through a few years of battling rabies-related cancer. But I never gave up on her and she completely recovered from that; the vet is still amazed at her.
Does anyone have any thoughts on all of this? I love the vet that I've been going to for years now, so I'm sure he'll do a great job, but is there anything in particular people think I should ask about? Or any kinds of tests I should see about for her?