Well, praise GOD! Sophie is doing much better. She's even eating!! Of course, finding a food she would eat was a labor suitable for Hercules himself. The food the vet originally sent us home with made her physically recoil, making a face similar to that which my sister makes upon finding a hair in her food, as if she were going to hurl everything she'd ever eaten in her (soon to be – hahahaha!) 50 years! I should have been suspicious when even Winifred and Gizmo weren't interested in it.
That was the dry food. There was complete disinterest in canned food. If it weren't going down a tube, we'd have never gotten her to eat all that she has in the past month.
But miracle of miracles, last week, Sophie started eating the Meow Mix that Wini and Giz eat. This is a huge irony (I don't know if I'm using that term right and I don't care) because four years ago, when I first got them, I tried to lure her over to the slightly less expensive dark side of cat food (Meow Mix) and she would have nothing to do with it. But now, we have to go through hoops to keep her out of the others' food.
So I emailed, then called, Dr. Rizzo in Louisville advising him that she's wanting to eat, but we need something that he's ok with her eating otherwise she's going to eat Meow Mix. He emailed me a list of seven different foods (mostly canned) that we could get at pet stores (and therefore, hopefully, somewhat less expensive). Mom and I Googled the food brands, planned our attack, and Saturday we drove around town buying a variety of cat food.
Against my better judgment, I tried a canned food for Saturday afternoon. In my defense, people keep telling me that canned food is better for cats; they get more water in their diet that way. We tried "Cowboy Cookout" – from the description on the manufacturer's website, it looked fabulous – mom and I thought WE might like it. I opened it and it didn't smell bad. But despite being hungry, Sophie just was not interested. I gave it to Winifred who licked all the gravy off, and ended up giving the remains to Blackie (outside), who was not as picky as the indoor bunch appears to be.
Saturday night, before our regular tube feeding, I tried one of the two dry foods we'd gotten. It sounded yummy (not!) – Herring and Salmon. I poured some out and put the bowl in front of Miss Pickykins and then nonchalantly started putting away clean laundry. Next thing I know, I hear subtle crunch, crunch, coming from Sophie's general area. I almost cried, but I played it cool and just kept on wandering around the room. The crunching continued. So I quietly exited the room to go tell mom and we jumped around the living room in excitement for a while.
Ever since then, about an hour before each tube feeding time, we put the food down and Sophie munches merrily! Very happy times at the ol'homestead! Monday, we decided to cut back, slightly, on the amount going into the tube feeding sessions. Last night, I talked to Dr. Rizzo – I had a long list of questions. Most importantly, how and when to transition from all tube to all dry food. He said to just try it and see how much she'll eat and if not enough, give her some tube before bed.
This morning, we woke up, I put the dry food down, and she munched. Probably not as much as I'd have liked, but she most likely was expecting the tube food, too. I'm guessing that by the end of the day, that food'll be GONE!! Tee hee!
Again, per Dr. Rizzo, after about a week of her eating well on the dry food, we can have the tube REMOVED!!! Well, maybe that shouldn't get three exclamation marks. After all, without the tube, we'll be responsible for getting the pills and liquid meds down her scrawny gullet. But hopefully, she'll be more amenable in that area. Our next appointment is on Monday, so we're crossing our digits that Monday we will see the last of the tube!
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