Vincent

Vincent ate his last full meal yesterday at 6am. It wasn’t exactly a “jackpot” meal as he didn’t seem much interested in the food, but still, he did eat a mixture of canned, Cubgrub, Primal, etc. It was a fair amount, nonetheless. But I had to go spoil it all by putting a bit of fish oil into the last portion (I had not given fish oil for some time now), and he walked away from it. I guessed it wasn’t time to reintroduce the fish oil yet.

It has not exactly been easy feeding Vincent. He has come to the point where he will only eat “freshly prepared” food, ie. freshly opened canned food, freshly rehydrated Primal, etc. He won’t eat if it’s already been opened (even for a few hours) and kept in the fridge. I guess he can smell the difference.

So it’s been like that for the past 1-2 weeks.

Vincent did not ask for lunch yesterday. Now, I’ve pushed everyone’s lunch to about 3pm (instead of the previous 1.20pm). Vincent did not come to the kitchen when I prepared everyone’s food and fed them. He just sat in his new “nest” among the plants. He seemed to like sitting on the soil. Maybe it’s cooling or maybe he just wants to be with nature.

I decided not to disturb him and wait for dinner.

But he still didn’t come to the kitchen for dinner. Something was clearly not right.

I went out and carried him into the kitchen. Offered him food, but he merely licked a tiny bit (probably just the gravy) and didn’t want anymore. I offered all kinds of food. He didn’t want any.

Clearly, something is not right.

He went back out to his patch among the plants. I let him. But I did forcefeed a bit of Complivit (the multi-vit paste). He ate that.

I spent the night sewing so that I could monitor him. At around midnight, I brought him in again, offered some food and he didn’t want any too. I’ve kept the food as “simple” as I could, and did not mix anything into it at all.

He just wanted to go back to his patch among the plants. But it was rather cold last night and I was afraid it would rain. So I took a chance and brought him upstairs to the bed.

Earlier in the day, I had already changed the bedspread back to the Rosie Blanket. I thought maybe he did not like the Carebears because it could still have Ginger’s scent (although washed umpteen times).

I decided to accompany him on the bed so I put him next to me and after sometime, he relaxed and slept against me. I’m glad he could sleep because all day, I noticed he wasn’t sleeping at the patch.

I woke up this morning at 4.30am and noticed that Vincent had wet the bed. It was a big patch of urine (of course there was no smell), and it went through three layers, including the protector, all the way to the mattress.

I removed all the sheets and cleaned the mattress as best as I could. Then, I put in three layers of bedding and put Vincent back on the bed. He was okay with this.

After that, I went downstairs and at around 5.30am, everyone asked for food, so I started preparing. Normally the sound of the bowls would make Vincent come down to the kitchen but sadly, he did not. I had expected this already, of course.

So, after feeding everyone downstairs, I brought two types of food up. Yesterday, he already didn’t want any of the options I offered.

I thought I hadn’t given him wheatgrass powder (which he loved) for quite some time. So I prepared that, mixed with Cindy’s Tender Chicken. And, the only “trump card” I had left was (yes, some of you won’t like this, I know), the RC renal wetfood. Just one packet. I had to try. Eating something is better than not eating anything.

So I brought the food upstairs.

At least he looks comfortable and is not meatloafing. I can only hope that this means he is not in any pain.

He used to love this, so I offered but no. He turned away.

Then I offered this.

He lit up and he started eating. He could be just licking up the gravy. I know he used to like this gravy during “those days”.

I quickly mashed up a few of the pellets and offered it to him. He actually ate some.

Okay, a bit of food is better than none.

Vincent does have this habit and it’s been going on for the past 1-2 weeks. He would eat and not finish and then look up because he wanted more “fresh” food. If I kept adding “fresh” food, he would continue eating. And you’d just have to cleverly keep mixing the “super fresh” with the “already in the bowl” and somehow, that’s how you get him to eat it all up.

So I did that with the renal food and by doing so, managed to get him to eat a bit.

I have texted the vet to ask for advice and if there is anything more I can do for Vincent. Perhaps give him Tramadol (the painkiller with a mild sedative effect)?  I have not decided if I want to take him to the vet – would a trip do any good?

It was in July that we first brought Vincent to the vet due to his bad breath. As we all know, cats hide their illness until it’s “critical”, until they cannot hide it anymore. That’s just the way they are.

Am I prepared for this?

I hope so.

“Respect your pet”.

I will, as best I can.

Dear friends, if you have any constructive advice, I do very much appreciate it, especially if you have nursed CKD cats before. Thank you.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2018/11/21/vincent/

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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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