Eat to be healthy

Oct 1st, 2023 Sunday Sunny

Our poor Lyn has gotten another urinary infection.

We noticed a sudden change of her eating behavior after the second weekend of September, when we came back from a short trip to see my mother-in-law. At first, since we were both busy to catch up with work, we attributed this change to her being grumpy at us for leaving her alone at home, assuming that she would go back to normal as time went by. Unfortunately, that did not happen – even though she still ate a little bit every day, it was a fraction of her normal daily intake, and she lost half a pound of weight.

We started to be concerned, and my husband was quick to realize that something else must be going on. A visit to the vet, however unwilling Lyn must be about the idea, was deemed necessary.

The arrangement was made quickly, and the vet was able to diagnose her issues right away – urinary infection compounded with some dehydration. They applied an antibiotic injection, and I brought Lyn home.

“If the medicine works, we should see Lyn improve in a few days.” my husband recounted what the vet told him. To me that was very vague. How long is “a few days”? How can we tell that she has “improved”?

Obviously we cannot do blood test for Lyn. So the only “visible” marker that we can rely on is her eating (and her weight).

A healthy cat should have a healthy appetite. They would eat when they are hungry, and stop when they are satisfied. Their weight is usually stable (Lyn’s weight was around 5.5 pounds for more than half a year). If it is their dinnertime and the food does not appear, they would use all sorts of cute tricks to communicate with their daddy and mommy “feed me please!” ?

However, our Lyn had shown very little interest in food. Sometimes she would approach the canned food as if making an effort to eat, but ended up walking away after a few licks. She continued to lose weight and we were becomingly increasingly worried.

Last weekend, as I was petting Lyn who curled up on my lap, it occurred to me that I could try the homemade calorie dense pate that may have saved Lyn’s life last time she was suffering from an infection. Not giving up any hope, I set Lyn down on her pillow, and jumped up to work on my concoction – pumpkin puree, sardine packed in oil, and a large egg yolk, all blended together.

Maybe Lyn sensed my eagerness, and maybe she was touched by the care and love that she could feel, she slowly ate one scoop of pate. I was so relieved to see her licking her mouth. While I hoped that she would consume more, I know too much food all at once could be a burden for her already fragile digestion system, so I watched carefully for her sign of “I’m done for now, thank you”.

Honestly, being such a sweet and consistent cat, Lyn is really clear in her signal. If she steps back to her bed, tucks her paws in, turns her head away from her food bowl and closes her eyes – it means “I am not in the mood of eating any more. Now it’s nap time.”

The journey to recovery always seems much longer than the fall into illness. Lyn has regained some appetite and a little bit of weight too (she finished my last batch of pate today!). At this point, all we can do is to be patient and pray for another miracle ??

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