Yay! At least he is eating enough to gain, even just a little! I noticed on the hyper t forum on Facebook there is a shortage starting in some foods, including prescription.
I went to PetSmart and luckily they had most of the premium brands along with some friskies pate so I got enough for a little while.
If worse comes to worse I’ll break out the grinder and do raw if I have to.
More keep eating vibes for Mr. Nigel!!
Yay on the weight gain! Progress! 
Bummer he wasn’t excited about the fresh pets 
I’m sorry if you mentioned this earlier, but is he on anything for his appetite? That can be so helpful.
Does he like pate or chunky? My picky little guys waffle back and forth with what they deem acceptable. They still like the FF appetizers and broth, the Instinct in a pouch that’s chunky, and some of the Purina pro plan in the small cans… chicken and rice, tuna…
Sometimes they’ll eat friskies pate and with that I mix a little hot water in it just to add a little extra.
This time they ate the Wellness turkey and salmon but wouldn’t touch the Core.
I’m just glad he’s eating enough to gain. 
He’s on Entyce which he tolerates well. He just hit a bad spot yesterday - we ended up having to get his meds from a local pharmacy, and today was his first treatment in a week. Not happy about that, but …
He just doesn’t like ANY canned food, as far as I can tell - he prefers a gravy he can lick. But I tried the Tiki Cat and FF both, and he won’t touch them. May try the chicken again tomorrow.
The dry packs the pounds on mine so hopefully he’ll keep gaining.
I hope the medication supply issues get resolved. I’m glad you’ve got some now.
Such great news that Nigel put on a little weight! 
If he keeps gaining a little bit every week, he’ll get there.
I feel for you having a cat that likes no canned food. If there is a canned/wet/moist food that Dewey will eat, I haven’t found it yet. I keep trying. I tried a FF Broth the other day. He drank some of the broth but wouldn’t touch the food. He’s also not interested in chicken flavored baby food and the Hill’s critical care canned food. I tried all of them recently.
I’m thinking maybe Nigel doesnt have his sense of smell back?
Could you try a can of kitten food? I’ve heard that kitten food has a very strong odor to get kittens who are just transitioning to solid food to eat.
It’s too bad that 9 Lives bought Kozy Kitten.
Kozy Kitten was the rankiest of the rank cat food and our cats loved it and scarfed it down.
You could also try chicken livers? You can still get those at grocery stores I think.
We had a cat that always seemed to know when my mom came home with a whole chicken that she would cut up herself because it was much cheaper. The cat would sit by the kitchen sink and wait very patiently because my mom would throw her the gizzard and liver and other innards.
Glad Nigel is feeling even slightly better.
How are you doing? You certainly could use a break I know.
I’ve wondered that, too, esp. since he had a cold in early December, and he’s got the sniffles/congestion again now. I tried him on TikiCat Kitten, FF, Kitten, Wellness Kitten, Royal Canin Kitten, Blue Buffalo Kitten . . . he sometimes will try to eat one once, and then never ever want it again.
Hadn’t thought about chicken livers - I’ll see if I can find some when I go to the store later today.
I’m not doing great, honestly. We have to report back for work tomorrow, and I don’t know how I’m going to stay on top of his eating if I’m not there to oversee it. Thought about smuggling him into work, but my office is in the back of my classroom, and I’m sure my students would LOVE a can meowing at them during class.
This is a suuuuuper common presentation of nausea. They’re hungry, so they eat, but they feel like crap after and “blame” the food, so then they won’t touch it again. Kinda like how even seeing that one drink from college will still set your stomach rolling (mine is apple pucker, that was fun 
)
The answer is usually aggressively treating the nausea and adding an appetite stimulant. Often just addressing the nausea doesn’t get them over it, you really have to kick their appetite up to get them willing to “risk” eating again.
I totally get the stress of non eating kitties I have one right now on famotidine and mirtazipine, and it’s SUCH a relief to just have her EAT. 
Anyway, if he’s not on something for nausea and appetite, it could make your life a lot less stressful to add something for both. If he is on meds for both, perhaps it’s time to discuss additional options with your vet?
We had him on one - I think it was famotidine. I will ask if they can put him back on it tomorrow when he goes back, along with the steriods again. I gave his last appetite stimulant yesterday; I’ll have to get some more doses tomorrow.
He ate really well all weekend. That’s the kicker for me. But he was off the antifungals for almost a week, and I think it just caught up to him.
If famotidine was used for nausea rather than just reducing stomach acid, you should try something that’s better targeted to nausea - like ondansetron (Zofran). That’s what I used when I had a kidney/pancreatitis kitty some years ago.
I see that @Simkie mentioned it on this thread in posts #69 & 95.
What I “heard” (on disease-specific yahoo lists) back when I was using the ondansetron was that cerenia, the other option, was good at preventing vomiting but didn’t necessarily make them feel better. Ondansetron treats the nauseous feeling. I see Simkie uses the two together, along with the pepcid & an appetite stimulant.
Quick update on Nigel: I hate to even think that we’re finally turning a corner, but he looks and acts SO much better these last few days! We finally have a food he will eat (knock on wood) - it’s a dry, but he refuses to eat canned and I give up trying to make him eat it. As long as he’s getting subQ’s three days a week and drinking, I won’t worry about it. He’s getting more feisty with the vet, too. If the food bowl is, God forbid, empty, he lays in front of it and stares at me.
Beth, on the other hand, is at the vet getting x-rays of her abdomen and chest right now. The vet and I now suspect, since her heart murmur is so minor and the diuretic isn’t working (even at double the dose she was on), that perhaps she has an issue with her diaphragm, or even a tumor that could be pressing on her lungs or heart. We should know more in an hour.
Haha - when they’re feisty about food, wet or dry, that is a wonderful thing! 
Jingles for Beth!!! I’m sorry she isn’t responding to the diuretic.
YES! When he voluntarily goes to the food bowl and starts to eat, I am SO happy! He’s finally acting like a normal cat, not a cat that’s about to die at any second. Hoping we can just keep it going. I may have to learn how to do the subQ’s myself - I had to drag him out from under the bed this morning for his vet appointment!
Depending on the cat, it’s definitely doable. Thomas was tractable about most things although he was picky about needle size, others don’t seem to be. He protested and protested loudly at the 18 gauge needles, but didn’t do anything but flinch a little at the 21 gauge Terumo needles.
I always heated the bag up and he came running to his spot on the fluid for treatment when he saw me get it out, after he learned he got really tasty treats afterwards. Plus the warm fluids felt good, I think. 
OMG I’m so happy to read this update! Made my day!
It’s actually quite easy. I had to teach myself to do it because I could not afford a twice daily trip to vet to get it done. While the procedure is easy, trying to get it done on a cat that is not cooperative is well…not fun. Bonnie the UTI cat is a prime example. Shrieking, growling, hissing and trying to either flip over or run off…a real treat and a delight. Not. I can only get about 50 ml into her at a time even with distractions like treats and pets and brushing.
Glad to hear Nigel is improving. Let’s hope he stays on the mend. Sorry about poor Beth. I hope they can find a solution for her that works.
Unfortunately, I lost Beth tonight. The x-rays showed that her lungs were full of fluid - she only had about 25% capacity in one lung, about 10% in the other. We couldn’t even see her heart on the x-ray through the fluid. She was already at the max diuretic, so there really wasn’t anything else to be done for her.
I came inside from burying her, and Nigel and Hammie both came running up to me. Nigel just leaned up against my leg for a moment; Ham sat in my lap for a while. Not sure why they are the ones who know something’s wrong.
I’m so sorry
RIP ~ Beloved Beth ~ knowing you will always be loved and remembered ~
((hugs)) laced with comfort and peace
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