Thank you so much for all the suggestions and explanations about the cat situation! I phoned the vet and the nurse said it’s most likely that she pulled something and to keep trying to feed her and keep her relaxed! She has given me an appointment for tomorrow but said if she’s eating normally by the morning and is up and about, then I shoud cancel. To be honest I’d rather take her in for reassurance but I know she just so hates the vet that if she is normal it is silly to cause her to be spooked again! She is definitely more herself this morning – she was purring as I sat with her (whereas yesterday all she did was hiss!), she ate cut up grapes (skin off), grapefruit, had a couple of licks of water and about 8 cat treats, but still won’t get off the bed and doesn’t want to move. Poor poor girl!
I’ve never shared the story of this special girl have I? Well she came to me after I found out about a farmer who had barn cats (a friend’s dad), I found out one of the kittens was killed in the combine and was horrified to find out there were pieces of her around to field. I felt sick to my stomach and asked if there were any kittens left I could take to prevent any more of them being killed (before the combine kitty, another one was eaten by a dog…!) There were two left and I was going to take two (anything to stop this happening again!) but thankfully someone else who heard what happened took the other one and I had my babe. The friends took great care of the barn cats, but when a cat is in a barn there’s not much you can do re dogs etc! She had never had any cat food, only human food (scraps) and milk and was underweight the vet told me she wouldn’t survive although I honestly don’t think it was that bad. For six weeks she had to be formula fed every 2 hours, she came everywhere with me in a sling. She finally turned a corner and the vet said it was time to start giving her food as she was recovered (the only ongoing issue was the vets thought she had damaged vocal cords since she can’t really meow!) and nothing worked. She would NOT eat dry or wet food and we tried at least 5 brands of each. I tried the most expensive and the least expensive and she began to loose weight, so the vet said to try people food. And it took, but only non-meat people food, yes this cat is a self-imposed vegetarian! She is almost 9 years old and from 4 months (when she was finally caught up) through to 8 years she was never sick, so it has obviously been fine for her.
Her favourite foods are
- Pasta
- Cheese
- Grapes (I cut off the skin and break them into small pieces)
- Salsa
- Pickles
- Hot peppers in sauce
- Guacamole
- Apple
- Grapefruit
- Corn
- Peas
- Melon
- Broccoli (occasionally)
- Green beans (only if cut up really small with cheese)
- Sweet potato/carrot/squash mash
- Tuna water (but no tuna, no fish, no meat!)
(Disclaimer I would never suggest giving a cat people food, but in this unique situation it was what the vet called for and the only thing that worked!)
However, I always suspected if we kept working on it she’d eventually begin eating cat food. I have found one brand she will eat of wet food and she will have some dry food so she mostly now eats cat food with a little human food to supplement (only a couple of days a week).
And her personality? She really is like a dog! She can play fetch (although as of late she seems to have had enough playing), if anyone comes to visit she is on their lap in a minute flat. She purrs, she sleeps tucked in at night right beside you and when she wakes up in the middle of the night she puts her paw gently on your face (bless!!). She likes dogs, rabbits and all people, especially children. She tries to collect the post/mail when it comes through the door! She has a favourite blanket that gets her purring instantly if you wrap her in it. She loves water, oh how she loves water! She lies in the bathtub/sink to drink water, she has been known to walk into the shower while it’s on! And while I’ve definitely found she is slowing down this year (since she turned 8), she is just darling and everyone who meets her thinks so; it is only because of her unique personality that three friends who are not “cat people” have come over to the other side (although they’ve all been disappointed that the cat’s they have don’t have my girls love of people!) The only person she is very very nasty towards is her current vet! I’m always soooo embarrassed and keep trying to persuade him she really is lovely at home ;0)
And that, in a nutshell, is my girls story! As you can imagine, she is ever so special to me :0)
** Just spoke to the vet, the cat is going in tonight, since she won’t move out of the little make shift bed I made and is hardly eating**
Oh no! Sorry to hear about all this FT but am glad she sounds like she’s on the mend.
When she’s better give her a little tickle under the chin from me
Xx
Hi FT glad to hear she is a little bit better today. She sounds like an absolute character and it’s no wonder you love her so much! Hope she continues to improve and not worry you too much
Cheers
Judy
Oh my goodness what an ace cat!! She sounds absolutely brilliant (although I think all cats are brilliant to be fair).
We rescued a barn kitten too, the farmer was going to ‘do away with them’ shall we say so we snatched one up immediately.
Hope she feels better, my advice would have been to hold off on the vets – she’s probably bruised and in shock and as long as she’s still eating something she’ll be ok given time I reckon. It’s nice to have the vet’s reassurance though!
(I’m working from home today – we know what that means – hello Gilmore Girls!!)
Hopefully your cat will continue on the road to recovery. Funnily enough, our new kitty also seems to have a taste for people food which we’ve never experienced previously. Baked beans seem to be a favourite.
Glad to hear your cat is a bit better – paws crossed all will be sorted out by the morning.
I don’t think there is anything wrong at all in feeding a cat human food. All my mother’s cats ate a predominantly ‘human food’ diet and one of them lived to over 18. However, Lily, her current cat, is unbelievably fussy and will only eat a very limited range of cat food – no ‘human food’ whatsoever (unless she can get her chops around a bit of butter!!)
I shudder to think what cat food is made with and think it’s much better to feed a cat scraps or off-cuts or things like tinned tuna, cheap mince, bits of cheese, pasta or coley rather than minced up gubbins with mega amounts of water added to bulk it out.
What a precious blessing! She sounds a like her personality is a lot like my Jack Russell Terrier was. Best 12 years of companionship I could have ever asked for.
Enjoy her ~ as I know you do!!
You are lucky to have each other.
She sounds like a darling, and a blessing to have! I hope the vet can get her feeling better.
Thank goodness you two found each other! What an adorable cat. I love her taste in food…. very similar to mine!
My family cats eat cat food, but love popcorn. Whenever we pop some up on the stove, they are there, waiting for one or two pieces to be thrown their way!
your cat is a champion for eating hot peppers.
What a lovely kitty! I’m so glad to hear she’s on the mend. It’s worrisome for us to not know what’s going on, but animals are so grounded in their instincts they know what to do to help themselves, so I think you made the right decision to leave her for a couple of days before taking her to the vet.
What a story! You are lucky to have each other.
I can’t imagine my life without my kitties. They make such wonderful companions.
*sniffs* what a great story. I wanna meet your cat!
Hope the vet sorts things out x
That is one awesome cat. I love scrappy animals.
I have a cat that lives with my parents now. When someone gave him to me, he had just had most of one of his legs cut off–I never did find out how. I nursed him, and he recovered. Then he was somehow shot through the lung and recovered (after he drug himself up my parents’ hill to reach the house!). A couple of years later he got an infection that was easily cured, but gave him a permanent floppy ear. And do you think he acts like an invalid? He can outrun and outhunt any other cat we have! Gotta love scrappers who refuse to give up.
She sounds like a lovely companion. I’m so glad to hear she is getting better. Have a wonderful weekend.
Awww, what a sweet story. We have two rescue cats (of course my husband was a ‘cat hater’ until he met me, now what’s the first thing he does when he gets home? Goes straight for the cats!) and they are the sweetest things ever. One will not touch human food, the other goes nuts whenever we cook shrimp or chicken or fish. I should try other things like grapes, etc…she may like that, never occurred to me.
Keep us updated on your sweet thing.
She sounds like an awesome kitty.
Oooh thats such a lovely story,I do hope she’s up and about soon.
We too have a farm cat,rescued after she was abandoned by her Mother at about 2 weeks old..she’s 5 years old now and the dopiest silliest cat you could ever meet..but We absolutely adore her.
Em x
I had to reply as this pic is just too adorable. She is very pretty cat and I hope she’ll be feeling better soon. I enjoyed reading her story and how she came to be with you. God bless!
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All three of our cats were rescue in some form.
The oldest Sophie is 14 and was used as someone’s punchbag until the owner asked the RSPCA to come and get ‘this stray’ that had wandered into her house. The RSPCA weren’t fooled for a second. They said it was clear the cat lived there and there was cat fur everywhere. But she was terrified of the woman and wouldn’t go near her.
Next is Fleagle 5, who was a kitten in a seven cat household and couldn’t get near a food bowl until we took her away from the dotty old lady who hadn’t got a clue. Food issues ever since.
The there’s Georgie, 5, born ferral, captured, used as a punchbag for someone in a second floor flat until thrown out of the window. Picked up off the floor by the sister of his second owner, who couldn’t be bothered to look after him so he roamed starving until he turned up at our back door.
All in a bad state when we got them, all now healthy beautiful animals who need thorough nose kissing at every opportunity.
That is so funny. I once had a cat who would hang out with me in the kitchen, and I was cutting up broccoli, and a peice dropped on the floor, and she ran up to it, picked it up with her mouth, started growling, and ran to the corner trying to hide it like she had caught a mouse! She always loved broccoli (a little too much) from that day forward!
I have never heard of a vegetarian cat!! So cute!!
So happy she’s healthy again!!
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