Everyone’s Breakfast

I started by mashing the chicken feet broth with my turbo chopper.

Heidi loves it. Ginger too, but not Tabs.

Fuss-pot Ginger is difficult to please. Today, the only thing he would eat was the chicken feet broth and rehydrated Primal. His taste is unpredictable. Maybe today’s check-up at the vet’s will shed some light on his appetite and constant vomiting.

If Ginger likes chicken feet broth, maybe he prefers homecooked meals. I’ll just have to add bone meal for the calcium plus other supplements like Vit E, B Complex, fish oil and taurine (very important for heart health). Taurine is found in raw meat, but is greatly reduced after the meat has been cooked.

Tabs used to eat “anything” but now is also fussy. She loves rehydrated Primal, though. She used to love Cubgrub, but refuses to eat it now.

Next, is the Cow Clan. I have to figure out how to give each one a capsule of Coatex (fish oil). Most importantly, is for Cleo. The vet actually only prescribed it for Cleo for her skin problem, but I read that fish oil is an essential supplement for all cats, especially senior ones.  I would prefer to plonk in the whole capsule, but if that’s too traumatic and stressful for them, the next best (as recommended by the vet) is to cut open the capsule and mix it with food. Cutting open would render some oil “lost”, for sure. But something is better than nothing, isn’t it?

Cleo hates having anything plonked down her throat. So, let me try by adding some to her food first. I expect being as careful and paranoid (yes, she is super paranoid) as she is, she will probably sniff at it, detect the unfamiliar smell and walk away in protest. I think this will happen…..almost sure of it. But let’s just give it a shot.

Would you believe it? She did NOT walk away, she licked up the food, but not all. Hooray! Still, not walking away from the smell is a HUGE success already.

For the rest, I cut open the capsule and mixed it with their food. Everyone ate, even fussy and paranoid Pole. Pole and Cleo are super paranoid (it’s in their genes, I think?).

Yesterday morning, I had already tried fish oil with all of them. I gave them the brand that I used in their homecooked food previously.

This one. I tried it with everyone except Tabs (because she was locked in the room upstairs and I could not find her at the time). Bunny and Heidi were willing to lick up the oil from the cut-opened capsule. The rest sniffed at it and walked away. So, at least for Bunny and Heidi, I know they will lick it up. For Indy, I plonked the capsule down his throat and he was okay.

Yay! I did it for all five of them!!

Next, Heidi – a piece of cake. She licks it all up. No stress of plonking. For Ginger, I plonked (he’s so easy to plonk) and I plonked for Tabs too (not so easy, but I think she should be able to get used to it).

As for Zurik, he is very careful about new smells, so I just left some trace of the fish oil in his bowl to let him get used to the smell for a start.

Zurik did not object or walk away. He ate up his food. I’m still trying to convert him to wetfood and discovered that he doesn’t like Cindy, but he likes Monge. Okay, Monge it is. But he still loves kibble and not Cindy (grain-free), but Monge. Okay, Zurik can be the Monge spokesperson then.

Buddy came, and as you can see from above, he has his own bowl. But he would just eat a bit and start disturbing Zurik. His whole purpose is to disturb Zurik.

I tried to stop him, but….

So, I had to lock him in the cage.

And let Ginger guard him.

So happy all 8 of them have eaten the fish oil this morning!

I’ll do a comparison of the fish oil products later.

Currently, everyone is crazy over the RC renal kibble but I know it’s just a phase. So, taking Dr Lisa Pierson’s advice of “respecting your cat and listening to your cat”, I gave it them as a snack but added water to it.  If you want it, you’ll have to eat it with water.

Indy is CRAZY over it. Of course he is, he’s the kibble-king…sigh. He’s been so miserable for a few days now because I have been giving him wetfood. So, he paws at me, almost like pleading, each time I use the tap.

I gave in today, and he even roped in Cleo (why does Cleo want kibble – I am stumped). Both have been rather miserable, so yes, I gave in today, but I added water to the kibble. After that, Indy was SO happy he darted in and out of the room, to the garden, high-jumped to the ledge, exactly like being ‘high”.

Good to see him so happy. We live in the moment, but I’m still researching on what’s best for him. I understand that every cat will be different and there is no one formula that will suit all cats. I’ll just have to find the best for him. But a few factors cannot be changed: (1) Quality protein, (2) Hydration (consumed water is better than subcut).

Today is Tabs, Heidi and Ginger’s turn for a check-up. Please wish me luck!!

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2019/03/29/everyones-breakfast/

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