Triumph! Fiona likes her breakfast!
You may think this is:
Option 1) Trivial
Option 2) I am pussycat-whipped
You’d be partially right on Option 2. Here’s the story:
I’d been seeing cautionary tales of senior cats really needing water, otherwise they’d be subject to the kidney disease so many get, and that proves ultimately fatal. I had been worried about that with Fi Cat. She seemed to drink very infrequently. And I had a cat that went through kidney disease. It was heartbreaking.
So I bought a lovely new water pump-fed fountain for little Fi Cat. As I suspected, it freaked her out. So I demonstrated by sticking my hand into the flowing water and putting the water into my mouth. Several different times. A friend I mentioned that to said, “Eeewwww.” When I reassured him the system is set to purify the water through various filters, he did not buy back his “eeewwww.” But he’s a dog person. What does he know? I actually did see Fi sip a bit from the pool — one time. I now have two water bowls that I clean twice a day, one by the wet food and one by the dry (in different rooms). And I keep cleaning the fountain, in case.
Not long after we got the fountain I saw that Fi Cat started to exhibit symptoms of PCS (Picky Cat Syndrome) much more regularly. For years I just refused to change the perfectly good food I’d put in her bowl (till that moment a favorite). Eventually she would shrug and dig in. Or ignore the bowl and go to her dry food. Feeling wet food is best for most meals — given fears she’s still not much of a water drinker — I’d decided that a slight warming of a meal in the microwave was fair long ago, and rarely omitted that step. Seemed to me that perhaps her sense of smell was a bit less than it had been — she was entering senior cat status after all. And is now fully accredited at 14. Warming her food often indeed perked Fi’s appetite right up, and she would tuck in. (Actually, she’s a grazer, so she rarely eats all her food at once.)
But recently things grew different. About six weeks ago Fi had stopped eating almost anything. For several days she was logy, had zero desire to play, and seemed to be thin. I got her to the vet. She’d lost a full pound, and starting at just her usual 6.1 pound little cat size, that was frightening. Blood tests revealed she has early onset kidney disease. I was devastated. So far she didn’t really need medication, the vet said, but she does need special foods. I bought one each of the most expensive kidney care cat food there is. Plus a bag of the special dry food.
After a few days of refusing every single one of the new wet food varieties, mixed in with faves, or side by side in the same bowl, or just by itself, I reluctantly went back to serving her regular foods she likes. The vet concurred — getting food into her little bod is paramount. And thank heaven, Fi loves the kidney care dry food. And does sip water when that’s all she eats.
Nonetheless, I’ve taken to folding fast, and bringing a different food to Fi’s place setting on a beautiful place mat almost right away if she boycotts the first one.
When it gets to her boycotting a third option, I do get a bit miffed. If she’s hungry she does scarf the dry food, and does drink some water. Since that’s the right kind of food, I do not feel guilty.
The Return of the Zoomies
Now to the great news — we may have turned this around, Fi and I. The real problem could be that I had been giving Fi human snacks for the last year. These have too much salt for little bodies. I stopped cold. She’s feeling much better, has more flesh on her again, is not dehydrated, and is doing zoomies! And once again I’m finding her toys in different rooms. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me feel to see her happy and moving things about.
My fave of Fi’s moves: when she clings to the sofa, three quarters of her hanging on with claws to the side of a sofa cushion, ears back, looking fierce, then suddenly jumping down and racing after one of the nerf mice or singing balls I’ve just thrown.
We are off to the vet again this week to get bloodwork and weight. Keep your fingers crossed for us. The hope is we’ve turned this around in time. Or at least prolonged the state of energy and love of fun for little Fi. And me.
Find out more about Ina Hillebrandt at www.inathememoircoach.com.
Article published in The Relatable Voice Magazine - December 2024.
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