# New kitty- assuage my fears! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 20, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-kitty-assuage-my-fears/596897 "2011-09-20T01:56:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-kitty-assuage-my-fears/596897/21 "2011-09-21T10:10:46Z")
You should probably get her taken to a vet just to check out about hephatic lipidosis. Essentially, if the cat was overweight before the previous owner died, she could now be in a downward spiral where she doesn’t eat and her body canibalizes itself, very inefficiently, destroying her liver. Once that happens you essentially need to forcefeed a cat or have a feeding tub put into their stomach. I know you don’t want to be scared, but a cat not eating for that long would worry me and we once lost one of our cats to hephatic lipidosis because we/the vets didn’t recognize the symptoms in time. ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-kitty-assuage-my-fears/596897/22 "2011-09-22T04:40:02Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Check with your vet, but honestly, if she doesn’t eat _anything_, not one little nibble, in another day or so, you may have to resort to force-feeding. I had to do this with my cat for a couple days. He was having mouth trouble, and managed to bite on a kibble in a way that caused him so much pain he went and hid for a whole day. I dug him out, took him to the vet, and they gave him medications to help with the infection and with the pain – but he was still so traumatized he just wouldn’t eat. I had to take him back to the vet a day later and they showed me how to force-feed him. It sounds like some kind of torture but really all it is is using a plastic syringe to squirt wet food into his mouth. There’s special prescription wet food that’s easier to eat (and easier to put into the plastic syringe for force-feeding) and extra-packed with nutrients to help get a cat back on its feet nutrition-wise. After a few messy sessions of wrapping him in a towel and force-feeding him this food, he realized his mouth wasn’t hurting anymore and decided he’d much rather eat the tasty food without my assistance. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-kitty-assuage-my-fears/596897/23 "2011-09-29T01:26:19Z")
Any update? Hope the kitty is ok. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-kitty-assuage-my-fears/596897/24 "2011-09-29T01:45:10Z")
Me too! EAT, CAT!!11! ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-kitty-assuage-my-fears/596897/25 "2011-09-29T01:55:40Z")
Geez, I had forgotten about this thread. I want to know, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-kitty-assuage-my-fears/596897.md?page=1)