“Chapter 11: Housing Cats in the Veterinary Practice”, 2016 (; similar):
A period of hospitalization is essential at some point for many cats, but keeping cats in an unfamiliar environment and away from their families can negatively impact their welfare and recovery. A veterinary practice’s goals for hygiene and patient monitoring often conflict with the hospitalized patient’s ability to cope in an unfamiliar environment. Additionally, clients are often anxious about their cats and how they will do away from home. When these stressors are understood, steps can be taken to reduce both feline and client stress and ensure staff safety.
Most cages used to house cats do not meet essential feline needs; they are often too small for the cat to stretch, sleep in a comfortable position, and move around, and most caging setups do not allow cats to hide. Hiding is an important coping strategy for cats in an unfamiliar environment, and they also need a place to perch so they can “monitor” their environment. Consistency in routine, smells, sounds, and handlers is also important in the unfamiliar veterinary practice environment. This chapter provides practical advice for adapting cages and developing standard operating procedures for staff to address these important feline requirements.
Although caging for cats in shelters and catteries is beyond the scope of this chapter, the points discussed here will enhance cat care in those environments as well. These potentially long-term conditions make meeting the needs of cats even more important.
…Food and Water: Feeding the cat its regular diet during hospitalization or boarding helps with familiarity, as well as with prevention of food aversion by not introducing a new diet in a stressful environment. The client can be asked to bring the cat’s favorite food and treats to help entice the cat to eat. If a dietary change is needed, it is ideal to start introducing it gradually once the cat has gone home. It is rare for a cat to need an immediate dietary change; it can usually wait until discharge. However, there are certain situations when a dietary change should be made during hospitalization, such as if the cat’s normal diet has made it sick or if the cat has developed a food aversion because it became nauseous or sick when it ate that food.
In order to find out what food the cat is most likely to accept, questions should be asked about the cat’s preferred diets, brands, and flavors, as well as its preference for dry and/or canned food. Providing frequent, small offerings of food allows for more normal feeding behavior and also prevents the food from becoming stale or dried. Flat food dishes with low sides are often easier for caged cats to eat from. If dry food is fed, it can be placed in feeding balls or toys to increase the cat’s normal hunting behavior.
Many cats prefer warmed canned food. Microwaving the food for a few seconds on high can increase its palatability, but care must be taken to stir the food after heating in this way to avoid hot spots. This is especially true if the food was refrigerated. As cats are individuals, some do not prefer warmed food but do like food from a newly opened can, and some even want refrigerated food. This is often seen in nauseous cats or in cats whose nausea has not been effectively controlled; the intense smell of warmed canned food makes these cats more nauseous.
If the cat has always eaten dry food, it is unlikely that its diet can be changed to canned food. Adding tepid water to dry food may be more acceptable to the cat if it needs increased liquids.
If the cat displays signs of possible food aversion (eg. getting as far away as possible from the food, attempting to bury it, lip smacking or drooling), the food should be removed immediately. It is important to then wait before adding a different food.
If the cat is not nauseous, or if the nausea has been controlled but the cat is still inappetant, appetite stimulants can be helpful. Mirtazapine is an excellent appetite stimulant in cats. It is also an antiemetic, so it can be particularly helpful in these cats.