Choice of Food

Weasel's diet is gradually improving.  I recently purchased frozen raw 'patties' from the pet store - Tollden Farms brand, in duck and chicken flavours.  I also bought a single rabbit one to see how the kitties like that.  Initially when I placed a thawed out patty on each of their plates, they sniffed at it and walked away - not sure what to make of it.  When I added their own food as a mixture, they dove right in.

To avoid putting Weasel off of eating, I'm ensuring that his breakfast and dinner are herbal free.  He receives snacks during the day of tasty treats such as tuna and chicken that contain the herbal mixes.  Some of the items, no matter how fancy the treats are, he will not touch.  So as an alternative, I've tried putting the 'poor tasting' substances in the Vitamin C goop that goes on his paw each day.  I'm skeptical of how impactful this is though as some of the mixture drops to the floor when trying to apply it to him, or he flicks his paw and bits flies off, or he squirms away and in doing so, it ends up on my hands, etc.  I feel as though he gets 1/4 of what his daily intake should be - if even.  There's no way to hide the flavour of the Vitamin C though in his food.  He also has a habit of shortly after, sitting and curling his paws under him so that the substance comes off onto whatever surface he's on.  I really wish cats could understand what they're contending with and cooperate.  So many more lives could be saved if that were the case.

Now on a side topic and a very important one, I assumed that my other cat - Gabriel, would improve on this new and improved diet.  The consequence of this thought was me rushing him into the vet this morning.  He was lethargic all night, unresponsive, wouldn't eat and sat in the basement on a mat.  I made the assumption that his Cystitis returned, triggered by the new diet.  The vet went along with this theory and drained his bladder but he wasn't even full, nor was the urine cloudy which makes me concerned that it's another issue altogether but Cystitis is the only thing that makes sense.  He hasn't vomited either, which would be symptomatic of some other issue.  The vet didn't have any suggestions, so we came back home but he doesn't show any signs of improvement even after having his bladder drained.  I'm hoping he's simply off because of the catheter which is a terrible thing to endure and causes spasms.  So it looks as though Gabriel will be on Urinary SO for the rest of his life which is extremely unfortunate as it's full of garbage and preservatives.  I wanted so badly for him to live to the ripe old age of 20 but I don't see it happening if he has to live on this poor quality food.

In contrast it was extraordinary to see Weasel running around happy as can be, oblivious of his brother's pain, knowing what I know of their health.