Calling All Cat Owners......

[ladybirder]

Our vet has suggested I sprinkle Ipakitine powder on my 18-year-old cat's food. It is supposed to be odourless and tasteless. Not to Maggie it isn't. She won't go near any of the tasty morsels I have put down for her with a little of the powder buried in there. As she hasn't eaten for 24 hours I've given in because she is very hungry and she's so thin and scrawny it felt cruel not to. Has anyone of you managed to get your cat to take Ipakitine?

[Big Jenny]

Never heard of it. What's it for?

[redcrx]

i dont know what it is, but when my cats would turn nose up at medication i would try all sorts of stuff until i found something theyd eat. Try tuna or some strong smelling fish. What is Maggies favourite treat?

[pussnboots]

My old cat went thin and scrawny due to old age and it was an ordeal getting him to take any medication. The best way I found was to mix it with some milk on a spoon, open the cats mouth and tip it in, most of it ended up around his mouth on his fur but then he would lick it off.

[ladybirder]

redcrx, her favourite treat is (now was) in a dish on the kitchen floor with Ipakitine mixed in it and she wouldn't touch it. I have had to throw it away plus the prawns, chicken, tuna that she has also refused.
It's for her kidneys and wish she'd take it. She needs all the help she can get.

[ladybirder]

Puss was it Ipakitine you were giving your cat?

[redcrx]

can you give the vet a ring and see if the medication comes in an easier form to give her. Poor cat, it really is hard to get medication into them at times, especially when they are old and perhaps dont feel up to eating anyway. good luck

[woofgang]

How about adding way less than the dose to the food and gradually increasing?
...also when my tort needed to have powder on his food and wouldn't take it, the vet suggested storing the powder in the fridge which worked.

[rojash]

"she is very hungry and she's so thin and scrawny"
Well, that's pretty common in chronic kidney disease in cats, which is what Ipakitine is used to treat. But if you don't treat it, she'll get worse and die a rather unpleasant death.

There are other treatments available, if she really won't accept Ipakitine:

http://www.petprescri...0failure%20in%20cats/

[pussnboots]

No not Ipakitine, I'm just talking about all meds I had to give my cat. He was the same and no matter what treats I tried he would turn his nose up.

[rowanwitch]

Tinkerbell is the third of four cats to develop kidney disease... the first two we struggled with shoving ace inhibitor tablets down their throats and watching them struggle with the special diets we finally agreed we were keeping them going for our sakes and all we were doing was causing them distress... Tinkerbell is a little different as she has developed an acute failure rather than a chronic type but her blood results are the worst of the three We have decided to have a low threshold for stopping active treatment partly because was wild for some time and doesn't like being handled and would cope less well than the boys did.

It's always hard to make the decision but I hope we will make it based on what is best for her.

[Nosha123]

i agree with the above post... maybe she shouldnt be force fed this powder if she hates the smell/taste of it so much...
Ultimately she is 18 years old.. a very good age for a cat.. and (not meaning to sound harsh!!) and something has to get us all in the end....
I had my 1st cat for 21 years... a very good age.
My second cat didnt live as long - about 15yrs old.. and if it is one regret I had.. it was putting him through a thyroid operation in the same year as his euthanasia... I really shouldnt have done it at his age.. and wished I had just left it.
Only you can decide - but her happiness and comfort has to be priority... Thats what us cat-owners are for!

Good luck!

[ladybirder]

rojash thanks for the link, I've just been reading it and I shall get her some of the special renal food. She is being treated by the vet. She took half M's Thyroid out last year and she improved greatly but recently her coat has become a mess and big clumps fall out and she started drinking more than usual so I took her back again suspecting it was kidney trouble which the vet confirmed. We are waiting for the results of samples taken from her but in the meantime she said to try her on Ipakitine. Woof, thanks for the suggestion. I have just put it in the fridge. Fingers crossed. She has wolfed down a dish of food without the powder in it this morning.
Rowan, thanks for your response. She's not at death's door quite yet I don't think. She is in the garden now and has just shot up a tree trunk like she was a kitten. Now she's on her back in the sunshine waving her legs in the air. Bless her.

[rowanwitch]

still time to enjoy her company a while then...its always hard to judge the right time as cats seem to go from coping to really poorly so quickly.... One thing that might work is mixing it with crushed up yeast conditioning tablets most cats seem to like these (a lot) Kitzyme was the one I remember...try just the crushed kitzyme first and then increase the amount of Ipakitine...

[ladybirder]

I'll have a look at that rowan, thanks.

[ladybirder]

redhelen, tried the cream cheese, no way, not interested, and that's without the powder! But thanks for the suggestion anyway.

[boxtops]

Ladybirder, see if your vet will change her medication to Fortekor tablets (of course it may depend on why the Ipakitine is being prescribed) - but our missing Rover has chronic kidney disease and has been on Fortekor for two years. One tablet a day and they are palatable so they taste really good - he would always come up for one before his breakfast, and eat it straight from my hand. He wouldn't touch KD cat food or biscuit (and I can see why) but the Fortekor kept him well and his bloods in good order. He's 14.

[ladybirder]

Boxy i'll see what the vet says when she gets the results. I think the Ipakitine was an interim measure until then. It may well be that she will prescribe what you have suggested when we know how bad the damage is. Mind you she's a nightmare with tablets. Even putting a spot of flea treatment on her freaks her out. She's hilarious, shoots off as soon as I open the drawer where it's kept. Thanks for your help.

[lizzydrippin]

Ladybirder, I have 7 cats over the age of 16 and have often had to find weird and wonderful ways of getting medications down them and have found 'powders' one of the hardest. Then I had the idea of buying a packet of the thinnest cigarette rolling papers you can get (either blue or silver Rizla's) I'd cut the sticky bit off then cut the paper in half, so you have a little square, put the powder in and twist the paper into a small ball, pop it into some favourite food and more times than not, it gets eaten along with the grub (cos they don't pick up on the scent of the powder). Might be worth a try at least.

[ladybirder]

Ooh that's a novel idea lizzy I'll try that. I've got a family member who smokes roll-ups so I'll collar them later. It's supposed to be odourless and tasteless but Maggie actually backs away from her dish before she's even reached it when it's got Ipakitine in it so odourless it certainly ain't.

Seven cats over 16? OMG respect lizzy, respect.