We warm it up sometimes. Trouble is, the microwave seems to be the quickest, but not the best; canned cat food goes from cold to SPLAT in about 0.008 seconds. Any other ideas? I suppose we could steam it or set it in hot water, but we’re already doing this every 3 hours . . . gah. Maybe if I put a cup of water in the microwave with it?
And he refuses the warmed food we’ve offered just as readily as when it’s cold.
I’ll try warming the spoon-fed stuff next time.
When my Mum’s cat wasn’t eating she (the cat!) was finally tempted by raw, minced chicken livers… Served at room temperature. It was digusting, but she went for it!
Hope he eats soon, keep us up to date!
We thought about liver, but haven’t tried it yet, just some liver-flavored Fancy Feast (no reaction, of course). Think I’ll send Mr. S to the store today . . . Also tried yesterday:
Chopped-up breakfast sausage
Potted meat (“You really think it’s got peckers in there?”)
Probably one or two other things; I don’t remember anymore. Bought some canned salmon but haven’t offered it yet. (We’re running out of tiny dishes!) We now have a tray in the fridge with more than a dozen little plates and dishes in sandwich bags, of all the things we’ve offered him, plus a few open cans of cat food, tuna, etc. sigh
I read that cats often like to eat/drink in private, at night. We hadn’t been leaving him water in his crate because we didn’t want him to fall in it and get his stitches wet (plus for a few days there we were up all night with him anyway giving him fluids). But last night we gave him a 4-oz. ramekin full of water and a smaller dish with soft food in it, just in case he got a wild hair. No food, but Mr. S (who was up with him after about 4 am) says he probably drank the equivalent of a full ramekin. I’ve been reading that cats Wolfie’s size (11 lbs/5 kg) need roughly 200 ml/day, so 120 ml overnight seems pretty good! I’d been worried that he wasn’t drinking enough; I’m used to dogs slobbering everywhere when they drink, and here comes Wolfie with his tiny tongue and delicate sips.
Scarlett, you are true cat people! Kudos to you and Mr. S for your wonderful care of this poor kitty. Your posts have made me tear up - especially when Wolfie drank some water. LOVED the pic, too!! Lots of good thoughts being sent your way for continued improvements!
(for awhile there I thought you were my mom!! 
)
Heh, no, we’re actually dog people . . . we’ve been talking about it, and we still think that after Wolfie, we wouldn’t want to have a house cat. They’re psychos! But we are animal lovers, and this one is in our care, and we want him to be healthy and happy.
This morning I offered him some more “beef bits in gravy” cat food, heated, because he had liked the gravy before. Got excited a few minutes later when I saw his nose in it, but he had just fallen asleep. In a normal cat, that might be cute, but he had gravy all over his nose and wouldn’t even lick some up? 
So I gave up and just squirted some liquid food down him. A little while later I heated up some canned salmon and juice, and rubbed some of the juice on his lips. No reaction, totally ignoring it. This is getting really frustrating. It’s almost like he’s back to “beanbag cat” again. Must call the vet first thing Monday morning.
I’ve added a new photo of Wolfie to the slideshow (photo #2):
Honest, he’s just conked out, nose to the floor. I feel like I need to check him every so often and make sure he’s still breathing! The dark green towels at upper left are supposed to be his bed, but twice he got up and plopped back down in front of the litter box, right behind my chair. Ho-kaaayyy . . . So I slid the blue hand towel under his front end for a little more cush and tucked him under the heating pad for a nap.
I have to keep telling myself that cats normally sleep 18 hours a day (probably especially if they’re recuperating!), so I don’t freak out . . .
They really do sleep a lot. Also, when they feel really really bad they usually go and hide under something. Since he is not doing that maybe he doesn’t feel all that terrible. Also sometimes they do seem to refuse every food you offer but then they sneak back in the night and eat. Are you leaving food out for him?
kayT: Well, we are confining him in an extra-large dog crate at night, just to limit his movement (though he doesn’t get up much anyway). He has a litter box in there too, which he uses.
We’re supposed to be offering him warm, soft, smelly food, which goes bad after sitting out for very long, so we’re just offering him things frequently during the day. Last night was the first time we left him a dish of soft food in the crate overnight, and he didn’t touch it. I’ve also tried leaving little plates out within his range during the day. No interest yet. I even crushed up some of his usual kibble (the “familiar things” theory), both dry and with a little broth stirred in. Nope. Offered some bits of my breakfast omelet (even though the vet said “no eggs,” it’s still protein and might get him started). Nope.
I did create a “hidey-hole” here in my office, in case he felt he needed a den, but he hasn’t used it. Then again, it’s just the carrier with a towel laid inside and another draped over it, and maybe he’s still averse to the carrier. Or, hopefully, as you say, he doesn’t really feel as crappy as we might think. (He still needs to eat, though . . .)
Thinking of running to town for chicken livers while he’s still snoozy (Mr. S slept in after spending much of the night on the floor next to the cat crate).
I dunno . . . he’s been VERY inactive today. Peed himself once even though he was right in front of the litter box (and hasn’t used the litter box otherwise). Several episodes of yowling (or perhaps just insistent meowing – I’m not sure how to describe it), then getting up and plopping back down a step or two away and then falling back to sleep. He’s taken only a few sips of water. Once he actually did get up and climb into his “hidey-hole” (which in light of kayT’s post scares the crap out of me). But then after a minute he climbed halfway out again. I pulled him all the way out and put him back on his towel.
Just talked to Mr. S and he tried to reassure me that yes, he was up and about quite a bit in the night, and he’s probably just still really tired. But I dunno, this just doesn’t feel right.
I’m worried again.
That’s probably a good sign. He’s decided that you are his human (well-trained servant) and so he prefers to stay near you. Cats that are in pain or not feeling well tend to find a dark, quiet hiding place and curl up in that, like kayT said. The fact that he’s staying out in the open, and near you, is good.
Do you really think so? Remember, two weeks ago this cat preferred to hide from us. Could it be that getting attacked/surgery/sudden change of environment (essentially, getting knocked on his ass) has essentially “rebooted” him? We’ve had people tell us that “he knows you’re taking care of him.” I’d love to believe that, but I really wonder, given his history.
He’s still pretty snoozy, mews pitifully a few times every once in a while. But he did take about 10 tiny slurps of water about an hour ago.
It’s so hard not to freak out!!!
We found Wolfie in his crate this morning . . . he’s on the loose again, where he liked it best. No more stress for him.
Perhaps it’s for the best; he had a long, difficult recovery ahead. And I think we probably both had this outcome in the back of our minds after yesterday. So we 're not terribly surprised; we’ve been prepared for this.
Still, we’ll miss our “scaredy-cat.”
Good-bye, Wolfman . . . you had a great 10 years, and even though you preferred to hide from your scary humans, they thought you were a very nice and handsome cat, and they loved you.
I’m so sorry. You did all you could, and I’m sure Wolfie knew that too.
{{{Scarlett67 and Mr S.}}}
Typed and deleted several curse words here.
I’m sorry, Scarlett. Thank you for all your hard work.
Sorry to hear that.
Scarlett - I’m so sorry to hear it. You have the comfort of knowing you did your best for him.
StG
Oh, Scarlett, I am so sorry for your loss. Please know that your pain is shared by many, and we didn’t even know the kitty. Sad hugs to you and Mr. S.
I’m so sorry to hear this.
Meanwhile, the plot thickens around the Bumpus house. (In a nutshell: Dodgy neighbor house, loose dogs in our yard about a month ago, nobody home, we called the pound.) I didn’t post about it at the time, because we were busy with Wolfie, but about a week ago the errant dogs appeared again at the Bumpus house. The white one was on a chain attached to the front porch, but the brown/black one appeared to be loose. So they did “belong” to those people.
So this morning I see the white one standing in the road in front of our house. I go out and yell at him, and he trots down the road and up Mr. S’s brother’s driveway, which is the house between us and the Bumpuses.
Crap.
I call the pound, and they tell me that now it’s a matter for the sheriff’s department. We can file a complaint (which I did, and the officer will stop by today to talk to us), but they can just issue warnings and tickets. The pound woman said the dogs can’t be confiscated for repeat violations, but the owners “will just get tired of paying the tickets.” Yeah right. Meanwhile we have to walk our own dogs on fucking leashes on our own 9-acre property, in case these jackass dogs show up. And I don’t want to leave the dogs in their outdoor kennel when we’re not home, for fear of retaliation.
And yes, though we can’t prove it, these may well be the dog(s) that got Wolfie. He lived here 10 years with no trouble. These yahoos move in and suddenly we’ve got a dead cat (and one missing since about a week after we sent the dogs to the pound, which I had left out of this thread to focus on Wolfie). Pretty big coincidence.
Assholes.
I looked for this thread to bump it for an update. Not what I’d hoped for.
Sorry about Wolfie. I promise you he knew you were doing your best to take care of him at the end. He’ll certainly rest in peace.
Now go get those motherfuckers who caused this! :mad: