Vincent’s Stories

Today, Vincent only ate twice.  Once, at 6.30am and the second meal was just now, at 5.15pm.  At noon, when everyone else came, he also came to the kitchen, but there was only the staring game (he staring at each option that I offered and not eating anything).  I didn’t want to force-feed him at noon since he had already eaten a fair amount in the morning.

But just now, I had to use the “forced appetiser” technique because it had already been almost 12 hours since his last meal this morning and he was playing the staring game again.

The “forced appetiser” technique works this way: I force-feed some Recovery, then somehow, after a few minutes (if lucky, it’s immediate) he will go for the raw meat by himself and eat all by himself. This way, the force-feeding is only done for a few seconds. And the rest is voluntary eating.

I offered his raw meat first – No. Then I offered Recovery – No. Then, I opened a can of Monge and his eyes lit up, so I thought he might eat the Monge. After sniffing at it, still no. Then, he just stares at the three bowls and then, he stares at me.

Then, I remove each bowl, one by one, try them again. Still no. Then, he walks away, and I try again – still no. All this takes a lot of time and patience.

It is only when all this fails that I resort to the forced-appetiser technique. Really, 12 hours is long enough.

In between coaxing Vincent to eat, I have to feed the rest of the nine cats (Cow’s clan inside, Heidi, Tabs, Ginger in the kitchen and Zurik out in the porch). I also have to prevent Ginger from hounding Vincent because he would be eyeing for his untouched food. If Ginger were to go for his food, Vincent would just remain sitting and continue staring at the bowl while Ginger eats his food.

Tabs doesn’t “steal” food, she’s very well-behaved. Heidi and Ginger do wait until it’s obvious that nobody is eating the food, then they go towards it. I think that’s fair enough.

Luckily there has been no vomiting since yesterday morning, so I pray that yesterday’s Azodyl has reached Vincent’s intestines. Let’s hope Azodyl does the job of breaking down the urea. In some pets with kidney diseases, the drug does not work.

After the forced-appetiser technique, he finally ate on his own.

Is Vincent only choosy now because he is sick or has he always been this way, even previously when he was healthy? Well, actually, he had always been choosy and he is so strong-willed that he would rather starve than eat what he doesn’t want.

But granted, it wasn’t as bad as now, of course. So, yes, it’s partly due to his attitude and partly due to his current medical condition. More so on the latter, of course.

I know force-feeding can be detrimental to his well-being, but I will draw the line at 12 hours. In the first place, he doesn’t really eat that much whenever he eats, so I think a 12 hour interval is a fair enough duration for me to use the forced-appetiser technique.

I know soon, the force-appetiser technique might not even work anymore.

Looking back at the previous weeks, there is a deterioration.  So, at the rate he is going down, it’s just going to get worse. More challenges and difficulties will arise.

Nowadays Vincent has a habit making a loud sound at about 3am every morning. He does this for a few seconds only, then he stops. Sometimes, he also does this in the afternoons, but not often. I don’t know why he does this. I do hope he is not in pain.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2018/09/11/vincents-stories-2/

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AnimalCare is a registered society that promotes caregiving to street animals and helps in their neutering and medical needs. AnimalCare has a Medical Fund, Food Fund and Education Fund.

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