# How To Stimulate My Cat's Appetite?



## Carbo (Dec 14, 2004)

My feline is a 17 year old Calico. For an old coot she's doing quite well. Her overall health is fine. She's outdoors from morn till night. I still see her running, jumping, and climbing like a much younger cat might.
The problem, though, is that she appears anorexic. She has little interest in eating. And she's been this way for years. She'll often scream to be fed. But no matter what I put in front of her, it's the same. Three bites and she walks away from another full bowl of food. Be it commercial dry or wet cat food, or some delicious table scraps. Every once in a while she will surprise me and eat an entire bowl of food. So I'll give her that same meal again the next day, only to have her take two bites and then walk away with disinterest. At this point she might be around six pounds, maybe seven. She looks like a skeleton. We've had her at the vet who claims she is in overall good health.
Any suggestions for getting the old gal to start putting on the pounds??


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Find her something she likes to eat. (I know, if only it WERE that simple)

I think I would want to take the kitty to a different vet for a 2nd opinion. Thorough check of her mouth to be sure it isn't pain related. Seeing as she only eats a few bites and then eats a mountain when she is 'starving'. Then I'd have them do a full blood panel workup to see what is going on inside, like diabetes, kidney, thyroid problems or something that would cause her to be so skinny. It could be a simple imbalance of something that can be corrected with medication.

My skinny kitty is looking very skeletal. She eats well, after having her on an appetite stimulant these past 6wks, but she is still very skinny. Vet feels she has a tumor in her abdomen. Blood tests and physical exam of her mouth all looked good. Vet did feel a mass inside. (both brothers died of internal masses w/in the last 2yrs)


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## Stryker (Apr 2, 2007)

Heidi n Q said:


> ...She eats well, after having her on an appetite stimulant these past 6wks...


Could you post the name of the stimulant? *Carbo* might want to try it.

There are many other ideas here http://felinecrf.org/persuading_cat_to_eat.htm
(Ignore the fact that the site deals with CRF)

If it were my kitty, I'd follow *Heidi n Q*'s advice and get a second opinion.


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## nanook (Jun 12, 2005)

> If it were my kitty, I'd follow Heidi n Q's advice and get a second opinion.


Me too.
I've found smearing some plain meat, human baby food on the cat food can help. Also, although it's not the best food, Fancy Feast is a great bribe food for kitties who don't want to eat. And, at 17, I'd give her whatever she wanted and would eat.


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## Carbo (Dec 14, 2004)

nanook said:


> > . . .And, at 17, I'd give her whatever she wanted and would eat.


Hehe. . .my sentiments exactly. If she told me she wanted scotch and pizza, believe me, she'd be eating scotch and pizza.
Problem is, what pushes her buttons one day, she is completely turned off by the next. I suspect she is just cranky and persnickety in her golden years.
The baby food idea was used by the vet when we had her there a while back. The doc fed her pureed chicken, I think it was, and Patches seemed to love it. I may go back to that again.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Stryker said:


> Heidi n Q said:
> 
> 
> > ...She eats well, after having her on an appetite stimulant these past 6wks...
> ...


5mg Prednisone. It is a steroid. 
I have been on/off large doses of this med for the past two years. I noticed while on it, I was STARVING. I mean I could eat a meal and know I was full, but then 20min later, I'd feel like I was starving again and NEEDED to eat. I gained a lot of weight. I was under-weight to start with, so it really helped that problem. 
The problem with steroids is they are not good for long term use. Besides the excessive eating, I retained water, experienced a racing heart at various times and it was coupled with considerably higher blood pressure. Steroids are not a long term solution, but can be a quick fix. They did help with my inflamation problem, but as soon as the dose was tapered down to low or nothing, my inflamation symptoms would return. 

For my Mousie, I think the vet and I are weighing her medical condition (possible tumor) and the benefits of 'quality of life' while she is nearing the end of her life. Happy and comfortable, that is our goal with her right now.
Best of luck for your aged kitty,
Heidi


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Another, non steroid appetite stimulant is Cyproheptadine. I've had it prescribed for Maggie and also for my IBD kitty Callie. It's an antihistamine and the appetite stimulant properties are an added benefit....but it's prescribed more often for the appetite stimulant than as a antihistamine. Here's more info on it....

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_cy ... adine.html


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