Lucy is a one-kitty-household kind of girl. When my brother's cat Crazy first came to stay with us in my tiny bachelor apartment, Lucy was unimpressed. She made noises like the Chamberlain in The Dark Crystal. There was much squabbling. And for Lucy, there was eating far too much food. Despite the fact that Crazy never ate a lot to begin with and the bowls always magically replenished themselves, Lucy was afraid that Crazy would eat more than her fair share and so she'd store away extra calories against the day that the interloper would... I don't know, set up camp in front of the food bowl and deny access or something. Obviously Crazy was planning something during those intense bouts of napping, right?
This went on for 3 months at a time for a number of years while my brother was gallivanting around the country selling posters. When Crazy left, Lucy would go back to her normal eating patterns and her weight seemed fairly stable. She was a tiny cat.
When we moved to this apartment, there was much more room for the kitties to avoid each other in, but still the eating issue persisted. Then my brother bought property in BC and, despite much talk of bringing Crazy to live with him, she stayed here and became my cat. And Lucy continued to overeat. And grew quite, er, plump. Zaftig, even. Let's just say that the drawings of when your cat is obese on the cat food bag didn't really cover it.
I did try to put her on a diet. I limited the food that I put out; scrawny Crazy didn't eat all her food at once, but took nibbles throughout the day, and Lucy would eat Crazy's share. I tried giving Crazy wet food in a closed room, but that annoyed her and she actually ate less. The best I could do was put them both on diet kibble, which Crazy certainly didn't need, and give them an allotment of wet food. Lucy didn't lose weight, but she seemed to be holding steady. And she wasn't eating Crazy's share... much.
Fast forward to last June, when I got back from Europe. Crazy had died at the end of March, and I had been hoping that Lucy would have returned to a semi-normal eating pattern and lose some weight. What did happen was that she stopped eating almost entirely.
I didn't really notice it at first because Lucy didn't seem ill. She wasn't lethargic at all, but tore around the apartment like her tail was on fire. She had even more energy than before. I only noticed a day or two later when I realized that Lucy was leaving a lot of wet food in her bowl to harden. I kept an eye on her, but she just wasn't eating. I had to resort to feeding her by hand. Literally. It was pretty gross.
When I took her to the vet, we found that she needed to have teeth removed. One of them had cracked right down to the jaw. Poor little thing. Literally. I had to clean out her savings to pay for the cleaning and extraction.
What. Of course shehas had savings.
Anyway, by the time I got her the cleaning appointment, she had gone to the other extreme; so much so that the bones on her back were sticking out and she definitely looked like the too-thin cat on the bag. Happily, after the cleaning and a hilarious evening of doped-up cat entertainment, and an even more hilarious round of trying to give her liquid medication that mostly ended up on her cheeks instead of in her cheeks, she started eating again. Not nearly enough, at first, but I think she was still getting used to the unexpected gaps between her teeth. At least I didn't have to hand-feed her, although there was a period of time where I had to bring the food to her. Often in the bedroom. Which was still kind of gross.
Recently, I've been able to lure her back to the kitchen to eat. I noticed that the bones on her back are not as noticeable when I pet her and that she has filled in a bit at the waist.&n More importantly, she's bugging the heck out of me if she's not fed by 6. AM. On weekends.
So I've got my tiny kitty back. I hope it lasts.
This went on for 3 months at a time for a number of years while my brother was gallivanting around the country selling posters. When Crazy left, Lucy would go back to her normal eating patterns and her weight seemed fairly stable. She was a tiny cat.
When we moved to this apartment, there was much more room for the kitties to avoid each other in, but still the eating issue persisted. Then my brother bought property in BC and, despite much talk of bringing Crazy to live with him, she stayed here and became my cat. And Lucy continued to overeat. And grew quite, er, plump. Zaftig, even. Let's just say that the drawings of when your cat is obese on the cat food bag didn't really cover it.
I did try to put her on a diet. I limited the food that I put out; scrawny Crazy didn't eat all her food at once, but took nibbles throughout the day, and Lucy would eat Crazy's share. I tried giving Crazy wet food in a closed room, but that annoyed her and she actually ate less. The best I could do was put them both on diet kibble, which Crazy certainly didn't need, and give them an allotment of wet food. Lucy didn't lose weight, but she seemed to be holding steady. And she wasn't eating Crazy's share... much.
Fast forward to last June, when I got back from Europe. Crazy had died at the end of March, and I had been hoping that Lucy would have returned to a semi-normal eating pattern and lose some weight. What did happen was that she stopped eating almost entirely.
I didn't really notice it at first because Lucy didn't seem ill. She wasn't lethargic at all, but tore around the apartment like her tail was on fire. She had even more energy than before. I only noticed a day or two later when I realized that Lucy was leaving a lot of wet food in her bowl to harden. I kept an eye on her, but she just wasn't eating. I had to resort to feeding her by hand. Literally. It was pretty gross.
When I took her to the vet, we found that she needed to have teeth removed. One of them had cracked right down to the jaw. Poor little thing. Literally. I had to clean out her savings to pay for the cleaning and extraction.
What. Of course she
Anyway, by the time I got her the cleaning appointment, she had gone to the other extreme; so much so that the bones on her back were sticking out and she definitely looked like the too-thin cat on the bag. Happily, after the cleaning and a hilarious evening of doped-up cat entertainment, and an even more hilarious round of trying to give her liquid medication that mostly ended up on her cheeks instead of in her cheeks, she started eating again. Not nearly enough, at first, but I think she was still getting used to the unexpected gaps between her teeth. At least I didn't have to hand-feed her, although there was a period of time where I had to bring the food to her. Often in the bedroom. Which was still kind of gross.
Recently, I've been able to lure her back to the kitchen to eat. I noticed that the bones on her back are not as noticeable when I pet her and that she has filled in a bit at the waist.&n More importantly, she's bugging the heck out of me if she's not fed by 6. AM. On weekends.
So I've got my tiny kitty back. I hope it lasts.
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