Update on Tucker

Question
QUESTION: Hi Jana,
You are a genius!

Tucker came right out when I brought the tuna into the living room.

He was under the couch and I touched the tuna with my finger and then held it up to his nose.

He started to sniff it and then he licked my finger, so I put my finger into the tuna bowl again and got a shred of it out and put it up to him and he ate it, and then came forward and I fed him tuna right there with his head sticking out from under the couch skirt.

He then came out all the way and proceeded to eat out of the bowl and I was so happy!

The other good news is that last night he came out to see us on his own, but the bad news is, that he went right back under the couch afterwards and continues to hide on us. It's very frustrating!

The other frustrating thing is that when he came out last night, he didn't want to eat any cat food at all.

My husband and I were petting and brushing him and I put the food right in front of him twice and he refused it.

I left food out for him before I went to bed and he didn't touch ANY of it.

I just wanted to update you on the situation and tell you that at least the tuna did work and at least he ate something. His appointment is tomorrow night after 7 pm, so I'm hoping they will give him an appetite inducer or something to get him back on his feed. Thanks again Jana.

ANSWER: Great News Leslie! He will come out more and more on his own. Don't fret about it as he will pick up on that and make it worse by hiding more. Just go about your regular routines and soon he will want to be in on them too.

Keep leaving out the dry cat food also. Pour a little tuna water on it so he will smell it. Don't worry, he seems like he is doing fine. His behavior is completely normal for a cat that has been through what he was put through.

In your home he will blossom into a beautiful, loving cat. Have some faith and patience and soon you will wonder what the fuss was all about.

Make sure you are feeding him a high quality diet that will assure his urinary tract health. We recommend and feed only Hill's Science Diet foods. They are the best!

For him I would recommend the indoor cat or Adult light. Either one he will love.
Thanks for the update and keep me posted.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Jana,
Tucker had his appointment with the vet last night.

It turns out that he has an upper respiratory infection, so they gave him a long-acting antibiotic shot for that.

His appetite seems a little better, but the only problem is, he'll have no part of the Hill's science diet even with tuna juice on it.

He will only eat some of that if it's on the plate, moistened with the juice and some tuna sprinkled on it, that way he gets some of the dry food too.

He did eat a few cat treats that my husband picked up yesterday, but he doesn't even want anymore of those.

I am worried about his finickiness. The vet said to keep giving him the tuna if that is all he'll eat.

Can you tell me, do you think that fecal testing is necessary for a cat that's only been an indoor cat? I ask because they made my husband pre-pay for it last night.

We want the best care for Tucker, but we don't want to waste veterinary funds on things that are absolutely necessary as we are only a one income household and my husband hasn't gotten a pay increase since 2005!

We are perfectly fine with paying for what is necessary. I just am wary that the vet's office will keep you coming to get the most out of you.

I hate to be that way, but that's the way things are these days.

I also am concerned because the fecal sample has to be submitted no more than 12 hours after he eliminated.

We keep the box very clean, but what if he only goes overnight and not during the day? The appointments have to be in the evening hours for my husband to get there.

By the way, Tucker has come around nicely, especially after the vet visit.

He spent more time with us and actually curled up like a cat that's at home last night on the easy chair and went to sleep.

He even sat with my husband while he ate his cereal this morning, so we are happy about that. He also visited with me today and sat on my lap for 3 minutes.

Thank you for all of your help and advice Jana, it's been a comfort.

Leslie Mills

Answer
Thank you so much for the update Leslie. While you don't want to feed Tucker a permanent diet of tuna, I would keep using it and keep putting little bits on the dry food and just leave the dry food out. He will come around to the food also.

Patience grasshopper! He will be fine and one day you will realize that he has been chowing down on the Science Diet and you never had noticed when he started to. That's just how it works.

With an URI he might not be able to taste well either, and cats that have URIs almost always go off their feed. Cats that cannot breathe well or smell will not eat because they will not open mouth breathe unless they are dying. It's a last resort for a cat to do this. So he isn't being finicky as much as he is being unable to smell his food except the stinky tuna.

So just keep using the tuna, putting less and less on as the days go by and more and more dry food instead. Leave out one small bowl of dry.
He will start eating soon.