This is called Feed The Cats because, according to my wife, when I prepare meals for our felines, I sing those words to the tune of Edelweiss from The Sound Of Music. And I thought I always sang the chorus to Cat Food by King Crimson.
In any case, the feeding ritual had been the same for well over eight years. Give them each a quarter can of wet, shredded cat food and some dry food, his in a toy to slow him down. Then, I watch them as Midnight, after wolfing down his wet food, attempts to eat Stormy’s food. This was a process that took about ten minutes twice a day.
In the past few months, however, Midnight started to become thinner. From 13 or 14 pounds to around 10. He was drinking far more water, even going into the shower.
Meanwhile, Stormy, who had been 10 or 11 pounds, is now heavier than Midnight. The exact numbers are difficult to come by because one is weighing them while my wife is attempting to hold them. Nevertheless, even visually, one can see the difference.
So we started feeding him pâté, a somewhat drier wet food, a half can per meal. Putting out the dry food for him was pointless except to fatten Stormy.
They get fresh water at least twice daily because Midnight sticks his litter-box-laden front paw into each bowl.
More food
After my daughter looked up some remedies, we attempted to feed him a scrambled egg now and then. He eats it occasionally but ignores it other times. Ditto with an extra quarter can of pâté at lunchtime.
This begs the question: what is wrong with Midnight? If we could take him to the veterinarian, we would. But after the last visit, that’s a non-starter, as he could not be lured from the cage. His increased water consumption suggests diabetes, perhaps.
The upside is that he’s usually a bit more mellow. He is more affectionate. For a time, his meow was more like a mouse squeak, but it irritated him when I replicated his sound, which I was annoyingly good at. Now he’s back to his full-throated obnoxious-sounding self.
Cat lovers: if you have any insight, please share.