Geriatric Cats

If they have GI issues have you tried the prescriptions food for it? We feed Royal Canin that is a prescription ,food for our cats. Our dog is on Natural Balance. Our dog has also been in Eukanuba, at the time it was the only food that she would not loose weight on while growing and being very active. Does the vet think it could be allergies, worth it to try a rabbit or duck and green pea formula or rx diet? Make sure to watch treats too if they get any. There are lots of high quality foods, some smaller pet stores will be able to give you samples too. Also ask your vet for their short list of foods.

I recently went through a mystery with our elder cat (13). He stopped eating altogether. We thought he had an intestinal tumor. Turned out...they don't know what it was. He's on Pepcid AC, an antinausea med, and an appetite enhancer. He's also eating mostly canned food now, though he will also eat some dry food if he's hungry for it. It's a mystery. I'd make sure there's nothing else wrong (no tooth issues, or liver problems or kidney problems). They should probably have a senior blood panel done anyway. Ask the vet to confirm that it's just feeding issues and not something like pancreatitits. We also once had an issue where our big cat was supposed to diet and all that happened was the little cat got smaller. Our big cat is a Maine Coon so no, he was not going to be a 10lb cat. We changed vets. We feed Science Diet (different types for each cat) and Fancy Feast. Your mileage may vary, but our vet says our cats are healthy.

Have you talked with your vet about the raw chicken food many pet stores offer? I know quite a few people who swear by the raw chicken for cats. My MIL prepares her own, however, I understand that Petco will soon be carrying them.

Be very careful about your big cat "living off his fat". This can cause feline fatty liver disease and affect both the liver and pancreas. When we first got our cat (he was 8 years old then, 16 now) he had stopped eating because of stress at his old home. This is considered Feline Anorexia, and because of this he developed feline fatty liver disease. We really weren't sure if he was going to make it for a few days, he was in BAD shape. We ended up tube feeding him for six weeks+ follow-up care, to the tune of about $4, 000 of vet bills when all was said and done. As a very senior cat now, he has chronic kidney failure and pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) that we deal with. Because of the kidney failure, he goes in to the vet for a bag of IV fluids and vitamin B-12 acupuncture every so often (we go to a holistic vet; the conventional vet wasn't quite working for us and only made him sicker... he's gotten a lot better since.)

He now gets Wellness wet food (chicken and herring, which he loves...and lots of water mixed in) and a regimen of granules for indigestion or Pepcid AC for acid (which makes him nauseous-- which is why he wasn't eating), a tincture with slippery elm and some other herbs and a laxative, because he's pretty dependent upon it at this point. All of this is mixed into his food. The old vet had given him an appetite stimulant which he had a strong seratonin syndrome reaction to; for us, the Pepcid actually works better and didn't tweak him out the way the medical drug (an anti-depressant) did. Many pets respond well to that medication, our old Gus did not.

I agree with others that getting blood panels done would be my first step in your situation, and then go from there. We had Gus before we had our son, so he was our 'baby' for a while. Now we are mostly just wanting to keep him comfortable as he ages. 16 is a long, good life for a kitty. Sorry this is so long, and I hope your cats feel better soon. (Maybe feeding them in separate rooms might work, if they need different food?)

Try i/d from Hill's.

We feed our very old (16+) cat Orijen which we buy at a pet specialty store. She's become much healthier since we started her on that a year or more ago. She's more energetic, has a sleeker coat, and vomits less.

The store that we go too is an independent local one. Their staff is well educated and helpful in making recommendations. PetSmart is affiliated with Banfield Pet Hospitals and can also give you help.

Has it ever been considered that they may have fur ball issues?
Try Google Searching "fur ball issues in geriatric cats."

It can cause a host of intestinal problems... especially in older cats.

My "baby girl" will be 16 soon. She sometimes has hairballs during those high shedding periods. I used to feed her wet food once a day and she had her dry food throughout the day that she could get anytime. Since about a year ago, I started having to give her breakfast and dinner wet food. (She lost one of her big insisor teeth from falling on an attempted jump. So scarey when I saw her do it.) We feed her the Hill's wet foods. As for dry we give her Royal Canin. They have different varieties for different conditions your cat may have. She sometimes eats Eukanuba's hairball control. You may need to buy different foods for each cat.

If you have one cat that is overweight and one that is starving, you will need to separate them while they eat. Otherwise the overweight one will steal the other kitty's food. I would set designated eating times for them and not have the food out at other times, especially for the overweight one. If it is possible to separate them completely for awhile, I might consider trying that until the underweight kitty gains some weight. If they can't be totally separated, then at least do it during the designated meal times.

As for the overweight kitty, I would try to play with kitty more often. Does kitty have a chasing string or cat mice that can provide some exercise? My little kitty still loves chasing her mice and string, although she usually tires out in about 10 minutes if she gets so excited, whereas she could chase them for around 30 minutes when she was younger.

Cats are very sensitive to their owner's mood. When I am having a lot of stress or am upset, my kitty is sure to have more stomach trouble. Make sure you spend some time with each of them everyday. They can also get their feelings hurt, and you need to very humbly apologize to them if you have somehow upset them, else you end up cleaning the floor. When I promise to play with my little cat and end up not having time, I must tell her that I am sorry. Otherwise, she gets sick. Cats are very social even though they are more selfish than a dog.

We've had issues with cats with allergies (chicken and corn..the most common filler ingredients in cat food) and digestive problems along with picky eaters.

The food we feed our cats now is Blue Buffalo Basics Turkey and potato.
http://bluebuffalo.com/cat-food/basics-turkey?pf=1&br...

It is a little expensive but it is completely worth it! If you sign up for the Petco card you earn $5 back for every certain amount of money spent and they have it on sale often enough so it's not so bad.
We have 4 cats now that eat it and we've had another one that finally would eat that after trying so many other things. She died a few years from old age (she was 15).