skinny kitty

Juliet Cat has been losing weight; she's now under six pounds. I know because I ask to have her weighed each week when she gets hydrated -- I'm still not watering her at home yet. She hasn't just "lost" weight -- she's on a downward trend, losing an ounce here and an ounce there. I go around telling my friends that she's starving to death.

I had a long talk with the technician yesterday and we talked about techniques for getting her to eat. I've bought baby food (disgusting, even to her), anchovy paste, and clam juice. None of those are big draws.

Our current plan is for me to buy a couple of tiny cans of tuna. She especially loves the juice, so perhaps she'll be extra excited about food with tuna. We've also started putting tasty treats on top of her food, which sometimes gets her to eat.

There's a fine balance here, though. Because of her disease, she's not supposed to eat a lot of protein. Much as I don't want to hasten her decline, losing weight isn't helping. We'll see what we can do.

We also had a long talk about "when it's time." The technician said that she's obviously full of life now -- she's active and curious and very bonded to us. I keep secretly hoping that we'll wake up one morning and she will have died quietly and happily in her sleep. But I've seen her get extra sick before, and I know what signs to look for. That part won't be fun, but if I do have to make a decision, I know that I'll be giving a kind gift, perhaps the kindest one possible.