1Guest Blogger: Ellen Watkins aka the Devoted Cat Lady
Little is little. Of course. She’s only weighed 10 pounds max since we’ve been together. When I found her she was starving, so I’ve always worried about her weight. Maybe that’s what I deserve for naming her Ballerina. You know how they are.
When she started looking a bit scrawny, I took her to my cat whisperer, Dr. Greg. He confirmed that she’d lost over a pound in a year. Not good.
After Little’s exam , Dr. Greg and I had a conversation. He was worried too. He thought that there might be some intestinal disturbance in play because of her early malnutrition. I worried she was anorexic.
But we decided that we wouldn’t do anything invasive at this point. We didn’t want to stress her out. She was probably stressed enough because I was worried.
Instead, I would start supplementing Little’s diet with some “special food”.
I’ve used this ploy before. When I have a cat that’s sick or skinny, I feed them canned food twice a day.
They eat the canned food by themselves in the bathroom with the door closed, along with eating dry food whenever they want. Simple plan, good results.
Here’s how it went.
Me: (taking the can of food into the bathroom with her under my feet) Sweetie, I have some special food…Just for you!
Little: (intently focused on me and the food) Meow! Meow! Meow! Ooooh, Mommy, go, go, go! Dish it up! I love the special food! It’s great! I want it now!
I’m beginning to think that not eating is not her problem.
Every day it’s the same…I come home from work, Little is sitting on the top of the cat tree, drilling holes in me with her eyes and screaming…
Little: Meow! Meeeooooowwww! Mommy! Where is my special food??? I want it now! Right now!
Me: Little! Calm down! Don’t waste calories!
Little: Mommy! Meeeooowww! Come on! I want special food now!
I realized that Dr. Greg was probably right. Little may have some type of intestinal disturbance. Based on the smell in the bathroom after she eats.
But so far, so good. She eats frequently and she eats a lot. Evidently enough of it is sticking on her because her weight is staying stable. That’s the best result I can expect. I’m not ready to do anything else. I’ve already created a food monster.
Ellen will have more adventures of The Cat Chronicles next week!
Posted in not categorized Tagged with no tags
