Update: Nikki is eating!

Hooray! While she still seems to be "off" wet food, Nikki has eaten about her usual amount of dry food (including some of the EVO she was rejecting last week and some of the Blue Buffalo Wilderness which she'd never had before at all) yesterday evening and throughout today. She is back up to her normal (high) energy level, and was even running around on the neighbors' roof this morning!


(Image shows Nikki, patrolling the rooftops)

I do hope she eventually accepts some sort of wet food but for now I am just glad she is eating something with a reasonable amount of basic nutrients -- she certainly would not be able to live indefinitely on whipped cream and cheese!

In any case, I am compiling a list of things to try in case this ever happens again. So far that list consists of:

1.) Whipped cream (the Reddi-Whip spray stuff). NOT in large quanities, just a little lick off the finger. This type of whipped cream contains a bit of sugar as well so it might help resolve a glucose crash and inspire her to eat more before she starts getting heartburn.

2.) Shredded cheese (she is partial to the Mexican 4-Cheese blend). Again, only to be given in very small amounts. Provides a small amount of protein at least.

3.) Wellness brand Turkey & Salmon Jerky treats (as many of these as she wants -- they don't have the full litany of nutrients needed for a complete diet but at least they're meat)

4.) Purina Cat Chow Indoor Formula dry food. I don't like feeding her this as a primary diet (as it's basically meat-flavored cereal, NOT the best thing for an obligate carnivore) but it seems to be a "comfort food" for Nikki, sort of her version of saltines and ginger ale. And it is at least a source of taurine and other vital nutrients.

I would be quite curious to hear from anyone else out there who lives with a very picky cat -- what s/he eats when s/he will hardly eat anything, etc.!