My 18 year old cat not eating well

Question
Dear Jessica,

I hope you can give me some advice.  My cat (Mitten) has just turned 18.  She has remained very active for her age, her kidney function is still good enough that she needs no medication and her heart is good.  She still runs through the house and jumps on everything.  The problem is she has stopped eating the food she has always eaten.  I took her to my vet and she could find nothing wrong except age.  She told me cats begin to get tired of chewing and to try baby food.  I have no experience with baby food so could you give me some tips?  What kind of baby food (jar or cereal) would be best or have you had the best response to?  My vet has given me an appetite stimulant to give to Mitten and it makes her eat but it also drugs her.  Can you give me any tips?  I would greatly appreciate any help.

Answer
Hi Cindy.  Sorry to hear you're having trouble.

What I personally recommend to feed, instead of baby food, is a prescription food called Hill's a/d.  I'm not sure if your vet carries this, but if not, I might consider having another vet look her over and ask for his opinion.  This food has a creamy consistency that can be lapped up, contains an appetite stimulant, is high-calorie so, it's good for cats with tapered appetite, and is balanced for a cat's diet, so it can be fed permanently.  As long as she is not needing a special diet for kidney failure, then I believe a/d should be fully safe to feed.  But certainly bring concerns up to the vet.

Another life saver that I recommend is a product called Nutrical.  It's a malt-flavored gel available at pet stores and through vets, that provides extra calories, sugars, minerals, and proteins to cats who need extra supplements, or who are not eating their full ration of food.

I have used baby food in some situations, and cats do find it palatable.  The first thing you should make sure of is that the majority of the food you feed your cat should be meat.  Lamb, beef, chicken, turkey, and veal are all fine.  And it's imperative that you feed only stage one baby food.  That means the only ingredient is what's listed on the front, and water/broth.  Stage 2 baby foods often add gravy, which contains cornstarch that can cause allergies, or onion salts, etc., which are toxic to cats.

You can mix the meat baby food with a bit of rice cereal, if you like.  Rice will provide carbohydrates.  I don't recommend to feed any cereals that include corn, again because this is allergenic in many cats.

There are a couple problems with baby food, though.  The first is that it's not a balanced diet to feed cats and should only be used very short-term.  It doesn't contain taurine, an ammino-acid essential for a healthy heart, eyes, and coat.  Taurine deficiency can cause fatal cardiomyopathy and blindness.

And second, baby food is about 90% water.  A cat has to eat an awful lot of baby food to get the same caloric intake as a much smaller portion of cat food (say a/d).  So even if you are impressed with the amount of baby food she eats, it may not be enough to meet her caloric requirements.

Something else you may consider is feeding her boiled chicken breast meat.  This is what I prefer to use in emergencies over baby food, because baby food is so watered down.  You can feed her straight chicken breast, or boil white rice and smash it up with the chicken breast, if she'll still eat it.  While chicken breast and white rice is not a balanced diet and should only be used for a matter of days, I would choose it over baby food.

Just out of curiosity, what was the appetite stimulant your vet prescribed?  Valium (diazepam) is often prescribed as an appetite stimulant, and that certainly does leave cats drugged up and sleepy.  There is another drug called cyproheptadine, which is an antihistamine, that very often bumps up appetite.  The benefit of cyproheptadine over Valium is that it doesn't tend to have the side effects that Valium does.  If your cat is on Valium or some other appetite stimulant that you feel is causing side effects, it might be worth asking your vet about cyproheptadine.

All the best to you and Mitten!

Jessica