A Very Challenging And Frustrating Day Indeed

First thing this morning, I hoped today will be a good day like yesterday, but I was so, so wrong.

I took out all the Tupperware containers of food which I had prepared last night.

Vincent wasn’t interested to eat at all, so I didn’t force him. Also, it was 6.00am and he normally prefers to eat at around 7.00am.

By mid-morning, he still showed no interest in food at all. I let him be. I was told that force-feeding does more harm than good for terminal animals, so I should just respect his wish. If he wanted to eat, he knows he has to “tell” me by coming to the kitchen or showing some interest in food.

I did, however, want to give him his antibiotics, Clindamycin, which is a liquid. I know it’s going to be a nightmare because firstly, he hates liquids pumped into his mouth and secondly, he hated Clindamycin since last time. But when we were doing the tube-feeding, I managed to give him the Clindamycin through the tube and even in those 3 days, I saw the mouth ulcers heal. Now, the ulcers have improved quite significantly and that is why Vincent can eat again.

Yesterday, because he was so happily eating all day, I didn’t want to spoil his day by giving him the medicine, so I skipped that. Between eating and taking medicine, I guess eating has to be prioritised.

So, giving him that 0.6ml of Clindamycin was indeed a nightmare which I’d rather not describe here. I swore there and then that I won’t give it to him again.

But he still showed no interest in food.

I thought perhaps he needed a “cue”. Yesterday, the two times that he heartily was (1) when I came home from work, and (2) when I came home from the bank. Maybe that’s his cue for eating?

So we went out and I went to the supermarket to buy fresh liver and fillet. Then, we came home and….

Nope.

I guessed wrong.

Finally, at around 11.40am, he showed a bit of interest by coming into the kitchen. I was steaming chicken for him and the cats, so maybe the aroma attracted him. I quickly offered all kinds of food, but none were correct.

Maybe he wanted the steamed chicken, so I quickly prepared it, cooled it and offered it…

I know Vincent needs a lot of food (for sufficient aroma/smell) to stimulate his taste buds, but nope – this is not what he wanted.

So I tried raw liver and yes, that’s what he wanted.

Raw liver again?

Actually, what choice do I have, right? It seems to be the only thing he wants to eat.

Then, at 3.26pm, he came into the kitchen to ask for food. Of course whatever I offered was all wrong again (today has truly been a very frustrating day). I think I opened just about every flavour of every type of food we have.

I even tried the AD and this time he was disgusted by the smell of it (but yes, yesterday, he ate it with gusto).

So my last ditch effort was to open the can of Recovery.

He just licked a bit, and no – that’s not what he wants. Every type of food was wrong.

So, I thought I would just let him be then.

At 4.33pm, he came into the kitchen and this time he was asking for food. I was also steaming fish (trying my luck). Again, maybe it’s the aroma of the fish.

I gave him all types again, including the steamed fish and raw liver. All wrong. By now, I was truly tested to the core, so I said to him, “Vincent, it seems to me that you want food and yet, everything that I offer seems to be wrong. I really don’t know what you want anymore. I am truly sorry, but there’s just so much that I can do.” I had practically spent the entire day going back and forth from the kitchen to the patio with bowls and bowls of different types of food, each time hopeful that this might be it, but it just wasn’t.

He continued sitting and staring at the food in the bowl, expecting me to change it. But I had given him everything already, I even gave him Primal and kibble.

He refused to budge. This means he wants to eat, but I had to get it right.

So I just re-offered the raw liver again. He had already rejected it, but I had nothing more to offer anymore. I remember Vincent doing this way back in July/August too and that’s when his vet (then) said to just let him be. “He’s just being an ass”, he said. But way back then, Vincent wasn’t emaciated. He is now.

So, raw liver – do you want it or not?

This time he ate. Okay…please eat.

Then, he looked up from the liver bowl and wanted something else. Cubgrub was wrong. Cindy’s Tender Chicken was wrong. So I gave him the steamed fish again (which he had just rejected) and HE ATE!

Then, he went back to the raw liver and again, back to the steamed fish. He didn’t touch the Cubgrub or Tender Chicken and I do wonder if it’s because I did not put enough of them?

As he ate the steamed fish, I sat down and filleted the rest of the fish. I poured all the fish and gravy into his bowl so that he can have all the aroma he needed.

So, Vincent ate two times today.

The vet texted me to ask about Vincent and I told her about the Clindamycin. Three days ago, I had already asked if I could stop the Clindamycin because Vincent hates it. She told me he still needed another 3 days of it, but after today, she agreed there is no point in forcing him with it anymore.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2019/03/08/a-very-challenging-and-f..

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