One of my beautiful rescue cats has stomatitis. He’s only 2. He had most of his teeth removed and has lost considerable weight. But he still is energetic and tries to eat. Here’s where we are at:
Tried grinding his fav dry food into smaller bits. He was uninterested (!!?) and still eats the regular size.
Oddly does not like wet food, I’ve tried many, many different textures and flavors. He has two kinds/textures he sort of likes but doesn’t eat much.
Squeeze up treats: some success - I give him 4-5 at a time or as much as he can or will eat.
I sit with him while he’s eating to encourage him, and he asks for brushing a lot and has good energy. He was at the vet last month and the doctor gave him antibiotics and prednisone. He has a follow up in about 2 weeks.
I check his mouth daily and it doesn’t look as red.
Anyone with experience in this? Tomorrow I’m going to try to see what Target has with respect meat flavored baby food. My favorite got discontinued last year so I’ll see what’s in store now.
Any advice would be appreciated. I love these guys, they are my world.
Thanks.
Thank you Rice!!! Yes!!! Of the flavors he kind of likes, they all have rice in them!!! will definitely try that and hamburger.
I’ll make a trip to the Asian supermarket which has tons of meat varieties and go on a spree.
Today I had some success with a new wet food - with a paste that I mix up with water to feed the gang members that like paste.
He showed up and though he rejected the bowl, he did eat when I sat with him and used a spoon so he could slurp off the spoon!!! I am so happy, tiny steps are progress and absolutely welcome. .
Yes… A few years back I was taking care of a friend’s dog (who had to go out of town). The dog was upset that the owner had left and wouldn’t eat. After two days, I began to worry… so I fixed her up some rice and hamburger and she gobbled it up.
So each night I made plain white rice in the rice cooker, heated up some pre-cooked meatballs in the microwave, ground them up in my mini chopper (small food processor) and mixed it all together.
The dog did go back to eating her normal food when my friend returned and picked her up.
It sounds like you’re on the right track with him and the recovery process. How long ago did he have the extractions?
Food wise, I’d suggest Gerber Stage 2 Chicken baby food. For reasons unknown, that’s the only brand our cats will eat - and yes, we’ve tried many.
Mixing the baby food with Churu (the tubes of puréed meat/seafood/fish) tends to work here. (I use this blend to disguise medications, too.)
Many cats will return to eating their regular kibble, even after multiple or full extractions, without it being softened or broken into smaller pieces. As Felix is eating some kibble, you might want to consider purchasing a bag of Royal Canin Mother and Babycat. It’s a higher fat kibble with small pieces and is apparently delectable.
Other than that, I’d recommend smaller feedings multiple times a day. If he stresses around the other cats you can try feeding him in a separate room, so he can eat at a speed he’s comfortable with.
Best of luck - from myself and the eight cats who currently boss my partner and me around.
Oh the baby! We went through this ages ago. Our cat was a senior and hardly had a tooth left. This is what we did:
•We soaked his favorite crunchies in warm water (kinda like the old Gravy Train idea) and molded them into a pyramid. He would bite off the top and we’d remold it until he was finished.
•Likewise we did that with canned catfood. I was preggers at the time and OMG, the morning sickness was over the top with smelling that stuff.
• We gave him the tuna water/oil from our people tuna and he was able to lap that up.
•I would poach chicken blsl chicken breasts, season with a pinch of salt and pulse them in the food processor to just below a puree. I’d freeze that it in ice cube trays and when it was time to feed him I’d mix 2 cubes in a bit of warm water and mold a pyramid.
It was an intense few weeks with that diet and he improved for a bit. Unfortunately there was an undetected underlying ailment. We gave him our best. Best of luck with your kitty.
When our previous dog had several teeth pulled, we fed him a mixture of ground beef/turkey and rice - cooked separately and then almost-puréed in the Cuisinart.
Thank you kindly for the suggestions and sending much love and blinks to your eight cat family members
I’ve found success with the small meals or squeezable treats, and I take Felix to a separate room to feed. Mostly because he eats slow and likes my help with the wet food, and also because for the treats, the gang eats so fast I go through like 50 of them in one sitting and they are expensive!!! so just Felix for now.
On the Gerber food, do you think it’s still ok since they’ve changed the recipe and now it has starch? It used to be just the protein meat and water, now (possibly for cost reasons ) they added starch. Maybe I’m overthinking the starch.
And thank you again, also for sharing your experience.
I love bouncing ideas and experiences with other cat moms. It helps a lot.
thank you kindly for your suggestions and tips and sharing your experience.
I took mental notes and will try chicken first. Right now I’m having success with Felix and eating in small amounts at several times during the day, so a weight has been lifted from me.
I love sharing experiences and tips with fellow cat
Moms or cat parents so I thank you sincerely. I am blessed to have two neighbors who are cat lovers (and my neighborhood is super small!!) - the image is what I sent them today (for fun! I know this site doesn’t allow political discussion - this is more a reflection of my love of cats)
Thank you for sharing your experience and the tip!! This might work because Felix seems to like the wet cat food that has rice!!
And if I may, reading that actually made me sort of hungry for the same thing / like a meatball with rice. . I am personally on a limited diet for medical treatment, so there are ebbs and flows with my appetite, but they did sound appetizing. .
Keep up the good work! There is a sign out there, “Kind Hearted Woman Lives Here”. I think it was originally a hobo sign and I’m pretty sure cats can read it. They’re special!
Those are just the permanent residents. (We also foster and do end-of-life/hospice care for cats and various other species; it’s a happening household!)
I think it is, but that’s just my opinion. I tend not to fret (too much) about the starch and try to focus on the practicality of what I can get the cat to consume when/if they are at a point where they need supplemental food.
If it is going to be a permanent dietary change, then I likely would try to get the cat onto a homemade purée of sorts. (I have managed to do that with other species.)
How’s Felix doing - and how are you holding up as you two address this challenge?
Have you tried cooking or soaking his regular kibble in a little broth and making a paste or mash out of it? I can see how dry and small crumbly might not appeal as much.
I have and of course, other gang members liked it but not Felix!!! (face palm)
Percie, Linus and Beaker seem to really like the soaked dry food so I’ve done that a few times in a row.
But on the bright side, Felix is still progressively eating!!! this makes me so happy. He doesn’t eat a lot, well, compared to his size or other gang members but I think he’s doing better!!! I have another gang member who had to have most of her teeth pulled but that did not seem to impact her eating. She’s like a little submarine
Bought a turkey flavored Gerber - I used to have cases of the old formula (pre-starch) for a few of my senior gang members to help with appetite and supplement their diet as needed.
I haven’t used it yet but the Gerber stands ready in case. That plus lots of squeeze up treats.
So happy with Felix’s progress so far.
Below isn’t Felix, but I’ve been making random collages of the tabbies . Keeps my neurons firing away during my at home medical treatment. I think
He had most of his teeth removed and has lost considerable weight. But he still is energetic and tries to eat. Here’s where we are at:
Rice!!! Yes!!! 
so just Felix for now. 
) they added starch. Maybe I’m overthinking the starch.
