Sorry for the long post, tried my best to be concise, but there’s a lot of history (and I tend to info dump due to my ADHD)

Bailey had an ultrasound in February, and it found dilated liver issues, thickened gall bladder and scarring in small intestine. Her vet prescribed her Ursodiol and Samylin for a month. Ursodiol was tablet and I could make her swallow. Samylin was powder, she refused to eat it on food (starved herself for 3 days), refused to lick her paws when I put it as a paste, refused to close her mouth when I tried to syringe-feed it in water, and had trouble difficulty swallowing capsules that I filled with powder (capsules were double the size of Ursodiol tablets). She was also prescribed Hypoallergenic food.

During the 1 month review, I reported that she was eating the dry Hypoallergenic, but wasn’t eating the wet Hypoallergenic, so I was still giving her Sheba. Vet strictly told me to eliminate all food and treats that were not Hypoallergenic, even if it meant keeping her on dry only. This means I couldn’t coax her with Churu to eat her wet anymore (not that it worked before). She had gone on 3 hunger strikes during this month whenever I tried to switch to Hypoallergenic. Tried slow introductions twice (each time I gave up after a week), but she would just eat the Sheba around the Hypoallergenic, and leave the Hypoallergenic to dry out.

Since the last review, the poor girl has been screaming at me, keeps taking me to her wet food area (separate from the dry food area), keeps whining when I’m asleep, even takes my boyfriend to her bowl (who she usually doesn’t care for). Today, she’s absolutely quiet, isn’t letting me touch her, but would sit next to me.

She hasn’t eaten wet food since last Sunday night (almost 10 days now) when I started giving her only wet Hypoallergenic. She’s completely on dry now, and is barely eating 30 gms (vet recommended at least 50gms). It hurts my heart to see her like this. I feel so guilty every time I go to eat while she sits at my feet. I feel like I’m committing a sin every day I’m starving her.

All of this has been happening due to her history of vomiting and loose motions. I’ve spent hundreds of £££s buying every brand of food I can find in the last 5 years. The Hypoallergenic she absolutely refuses to touch is Hill’s z/d and Dechra Allergen Management Plus (which stinks up the whole house!). I’m trying to buy Trovet, Concept for Life, and Calibra right now. I don’t know if they are any good, or if her vet will approve, but I just want her to eat something. She’s one of the fussiest cats in the world because when she ate Sheba and Whiskas until recently, Sheba had to be Salmon in jelly flakes and Whiskas had to be fish in jelly only. Before those, she ate Blink Tuna in jelly until they changed their recipe last year. All other types of food that came in the multipacks had to be thrown or donated. She would rather starve than eat something she didn’t like.

Although I’m going to order 3 new brands, I don’t have high hopes of her accepting anything, especially since Hypoallergenic food is usually pate form, and she wants jelly (gravy is unacceptable too). I’m sort of at my wit’s end because I have rang the vet multiple times since Hypoallergenic food was prescribed and she refused to eat, and each time the vet said that dry food is complete and she should be fine on that. But I’ve known her her whole life, she’s wilting, she’s languishing, I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like, life has lost meaning for her, because all she’s figuring out is, I’m being cruel to her by not giving her food. She has always free-fed on dry food by snacking a bite or two here and there throughout the day. So when I tell her to go eat her food, her tiny brain is like, “What food? Where?” Ugh, I’m rambling now.

Please help! How do I make her understand that I’m doing this for her own good? That my hands are tied? That I spent almost £1000 on her blood tests and ultrasound to get a diagnosis for her chronic vomiting and loose motions, and that I’ll spend another similar amount next month or so to figure out if the medicine and food change worked. BUT, she needs to be alive for that! She needs to eat for that… 😭

Location: Scotland, UK

Photo of the stubborn princess attached.