Cat Dish Suggestions Please

Hello again,

My cat that was diagnosed with hyperthyroid had totally gone off her food. Well, steadily her appetite is improving but here is the weird thing...for days she would no longer eat out of her dishes. But...she would eat out of my hand so long as there was only a little ball of food there at a time. I even tried on a flat "people dish", in case she didn't want to put her face in a round cat dish. I also was told that she maybe had associated the dish with the nasty way she was feeling and this is why she wouldn't eat from it. However, she turned her nose up at the flat dish, too.

So there I was 4x a day, hand-feeding. Then yesterday night I brought in the flat "people dish" and prepared to pick up each morsel at a time and feed it to her, but she walked right over to it and started eating. So, I sat there breathlessly and watched her polish off over half the dish.

Today, though, she ate a bit and then looked at the dish funny and walked away. So, I tried hand-feeding again and she ate more food. This time she picked up the morsel and dropped it down to the towel she lies on. (Since she's been sick she wants to sleep on our bed and so we put a towel down to keep the cat hair off the bedding.) She continued to eat that way...but again when I put the dish in front of her, she tried a bit and then gave up.

What I noticed is that the food slides around on the dish and she has no patience/energy, what-ev-er, to grab it in her mouth. She likes the towel because the food stays put and she can get it better. However, being wet cat food, it grosses out the towel and I have to put a new one down after each feeding. My next attempt will be to bring in a little facecloth and hope she drops the food on it, rather than on the towel used for her bedding.

So, now to my question. Do any of you know of a cat dish that is rough on the bottom? I remember seeing something that looked like a dish with sandpaper on the bottom or something like that.

Ideas? Suggestions? I have had cats for over 30 years and you'd think I'd have it all figured out by now...NOT. lol ;)

Have you tried adding some warm water to the wet food, to make a kind of soup that she can lap up? Two of my cats, although they are not sick, eat better this way. How is she with kibble?
Also, I would check that her thyroid meds are well calibrated, too much or too little could be affecting her appetite.
I use flat, heavy ceramic bowls from the dollar store, so they stay in place while the cat is eating. They have a 1 1/2 inch rim so they can't easily push the food over the side.
Is she drinking OK?
Sounds like she is getting the royal treatment!
Oh, it could be a problem with her teeth which is making it difficult for her to seize her food. You might want to have them checked.

awww the poor baby... as for suggestions, it seems like you've tried many different methods already, but what about putting a folded paper towel or napkin in her dish or ontop of the flat dish? this would prevent the food from sliding around, and you could throw it out instead of having to wash towels/facecloths.

Personally, I use ceramic dishes for my cats water & dry food. For the wet food, I use tea-cup saucers from an old dish set that I no longer have. I just kept the tea-cup saucers for the cats. With a set of 6, they always have a clean dish.

I do agree w/ badger though, you may want to have her teeth checked and/or try adding some warm water.

Have you tried baby bibs from the dollar store? texture on one side and water proofing on the other. use it in the bottom of the bowl or on its own. it might save her towel. Or you could try cutting a place matt and oputting that in her bowl for texture.

Interesting comments. I might try the baby bib idea...both my kids are too old for them and I can wash the bibs. I tried the napkin but it got wet and started to come apart.

We did have her teeth checked which was the first step, actually, in determining exactly what her problem was. This led to the discovery of her thyroid issue. Her teeth were cleaned and scaled and she has no bad ones which is great considering her age. The vet also said that her mouth and throat cavities were fine, so it seems to be just "weird cat behavior" in relation to her illness, I guess.

She won't eat kibble anymore which is odd if her teeth are fine. We tried the water in the food trick at first and it worked. Then she didn't want it anymore. What she likes is canned food that has enough dryness to hold together in little balls...kind of like Purina Tender Vittles (which for some reason we can't find in this town anymore). The animal homeopath we have begun to work with says the canned is better for her anyway than the vittles with filler and she's probably right.

Badger you had a good idea about checking the med. level. Today she started throwing up right after we put the gel on her ear so we assumed that perhaps she was overdosing. We called the vet and he's had us cut back. She will blood test Monday if the problem continues. Maybe her thyroid has stabilized sooner than they anticipated.

In any case, thank you, each one, for your support and suggestions. Each one gave me something to think about. Even the tooth thing...even though her teeth are "good", maybe she has some sensitivity going on. I know she doesn't like it when they touch the side of a ceramic dish...figured that one out last night!

Ok, we'll see where it all goes. Take care guys.

Starr

How about using something like Rubbermaid shelf liner? It's rubbery and 'grippy' and you could cut it into the shape you want. It would be rinsable/washable and would not have to go into the laundry.