Am posting in the hope of inspiration! We have a 14(ish) year old cat who is becoming increasingly picky about what he eats.
He will eat food in gravy, but only eats the gravy and ignores the meat so when he is hungry again later the food has dried out and he won't touch it. Everything else is ignored and accompanied by scratching, whinging and generally making a nuisance of himself because he is hungry.
His teeth are ok and he will eat dried food if he has to (usually left down for him during the day) but he only eats small amounts as it isn't really what he wants.
We have tried all of the usual brands and variants but he just doesn't seem to like any of them because he's a bastard picky. He doesn't eat 'real' food like fish or chicken and he doesn't drink a lot of water.
He is currently ok health wise but obviously as he gets older I am worried that he will just stop eating anything.
Does anyone have any suggestions for what else we can try before he drives us totally round the bend?!
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The litter tray
What do you feed your old cat??
archfiend · 13/10/2013 14:18
He is still nibbling at dried food - not so keen on anything wet at the moment. Will continue to top him up with small amounts tonight and see if he will eat anything different tomorrow.
to all of you, glad to know I am not the only one with a picky old cat and his weird mystery ailments
You're certainly not the only one.
Good that he's nibbling dry but I'd keep putting wet down in case - and obviously leaving lots of water around.
By the way - wet food freezes a treat if you have room in the freezer and some small containers. (Without freezing some partial pouches or tins it can get real expensive having a finicky cat.)
Well, he is currently munching away on his normal food in the other room, so I think for now he is back to normal or as normal as he gets.
Very good tip re freezing the spare food, will definitely remember that for the future!
We still have no idea what was wrong with him, but at least I know that his organs are still working as they should 
!
If I may make a recommendation from one picky cat to another. If you have a Coop nearby-ish, try the Gourmet chicken in gravy pouches. (They come in a black pouch with an orange label.) They're a staple at CozieTowers: Seniorboy has been eating them for supper (a two thirds pouch) for a year and hasn't tired of them yet. If I didn't have them, I'd be in a bit of a pickle.
Gourmet Solitaire chicken in white sauce little tins have also proved very acceptable but are on restricted issue due to cost.
How is the application for the second mortgage going?
Oops - fell off my threads list!
Well, he is still eating, although a bit less than usual but isn't unhappy. He is being a bit pickier than usual, but I suspect that is just going to become the norm as he gets older.
Thank you all for the food suggestions. He has had a different flavour of the gourmet food which he seemed to like so I will add that to the list. We have a co-op nearby so will try their food too.
He is slowly getting through the mountain small pile of varieties that we have bought recently, I will be stocking up soon. And yes, second mortgage application coming on well!!
Thanks again all, it's really appreciated. 
Winter, radiators, dozing. What a life, eh?
I would maybe be expecting him to eat a little less with a degree of inactivity so it's really providing toothsome morsels and keeping an eye on his general weight and behaviour - which I'm sure you'd be doing anyway.
Good luck with him.
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Quick update. Well, after he appeared to perk up and start eating again, he subsequently went off everything but dried food again. He would eat some but would then bring it back up again. So, another trip to the vets today.
Vet has said that she can't feel any blockages or lumps, but that there is a possibility he either has inflammatory bowel disease or small diffuse tumours in his small intestine. The problem is that both conditions almost impossible to diagnose/differentiate even with a biopsy which she isn't keen to do due to his age, recovery time etc. he has lost just over half a kilo in the last week which isn't good.
So, she has dosed him up with steroids, vitamins and anti nausea drugs and put him onto royal canin. If he doesn't start to eat again then we will try more steroids and if that doesn't work then we have a very sad decision to make in the next few days 
.
He has just eaten a small amount of the canin food, so now we just have to see if he keeps it down and continues to eat.
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