Off-topic.. one of the things to hit us out the blue in December is our cat. She was born in September 2010, on the very day we left for our first WDW vacation, and we brought her home the day before Halloween. So she's only just over 9 years old. Not that old for a cat. Before we left in August (Universal trip), she had her yearly exam/shots, etc. Her weight was 11.34 lbs. Come mid-December, my husband kept insisting she lost weight. She needed to regardless, but ok. I brought her into the Vet's and discovered in that 4 month period she lost 2.21 lbs! Way too much too fast.
She ended up being diagnosed with either cancer, liver disease or fatty liver. Medicines were crazy! For 3 weeks it was 1/2 pill morning & night plus a full pill in the afternoon plus a syringe of liquid morning & night. And a 1/4 pill every 3 days to stimulate her appetite.
Every week she gets weighed. Every week she loses. Actually, twice she gained a bit. Last week she gained and for a full week kept eating a can of wet food (for cats who had surgery - easier on her stomach) every 24 hours. I was sure she would have gained weight, but yesterday I discovered she lost the weight gain and more! She's down to 7.98 lbs now. Surprisingly she's still very alert, active, not underweight (for her).
Yesterday she had another appetite stim. pill but refused to eat any of her food all night. Refused all today as well. I couldn't figure it out. She loved this stuff! Then it hit me to try opening a different can. Sure enough, she's been devouring it! I had to stop giving her all she wants as I'm afraid she'll throw it up since her stomach was so empty. Poor cat must have been trying to tell me all day something was wrong with that can and I was too stupid to understand her.
Well, I'm off to cuddle with my cat on the couch for a bit. She's wanted my attention all day and I haven't been able to give it to her until now. I don't know how many more weeks she'll be with us.
Now I am super paranoid about all my kitties eating enough, but not too much, and if one won't eat a meal I follow them around until I can get them to eat something. Canned food is actually much better for cats than the dry stuff but of course you have to watch which you are feeding them as many have fillers, and some have way more calories than others. The ones with gravies (as opposed to pate) are lower in calories but generally have more starches added. I have a very fat cat who has been slowly loosing weight (4 pounds since September, he's still 18lbs though) and feed him the lower calorie stuff, and yes I have done a lot of research into how many calories are in which types of food.
I added them to my packing list for August's cruise with Virgin Voyages.
sending hugs and thinking of your kitty.
