Does she like a particular flavor of ice cream? My father was in a nursing home and when I went back to visit he had lost so much weight. I didn't ask, I just went to Dairy Queen and got him his favorite shake. He sucked that down like no tomorrow. I did that everyday while I was home. He then started drinking Ensure. My husband told me the regular Ensure is chalky but the Plus has a better flavor and he likes the milk chocolate the best. If she likes an ice cream flavor where Ensure has the same flavor, you might want to buy the ice cream and mix it in a blender with the Ensure to make just enough for 1 glass. She may not want to eat but ask her what sounds good. I found that taking the time to fix a well rounded meal is too long of a wait for them and then they decide they aren't hungry again. Also sometimes the new types of foods aren't pleasing to them. Chicken soup is a good standby. If too soupy, put in enough crackers to thicken it up. Take time, and I know that is hard, but if you could make a mental note or write down what seems to upset her tummy or what she doesn't like and then the list of possibilities. If she's ok with tomato sauce, what about some of the canned meals like ravioli or spaghettio's or even a frozen meal. My husband is 64 and disabled and we went through and still do sometimes, the problem of him eating. There are different medicines to stimulate appetite too. Now he can have no salt whatsoever. I find things he thinks will be good and keep it on hand. His favorite is chocolate ice cream and his milk chocolate Ensure. Talk to her doctor of your concerns and the two of you will come up with a plan. She may be old and her mind in another place but I bet she knows she loves you and that you love her. Stick that thought in your pocket, take a deep breath and take one step at a time, even if baby steps. Lynn

How's your kitty doing? I just saw this post and it reminded me of my cat Emmett a little. He's 14 1/2, big cat like Sylvester, very lanky, not overweight. In 2010 he started to have issues with throwing up -projectile- and his back legs going a little limp, pooping issues, he's always had pooping issues! After many, many vet visits involving multiple tests, scans, sonograms, xrays, they decided to scope him. I see you said you can't put Sylvester under, have they tried a sonogram? Hopefully you can find a clinic close by. I never realize how much I take for granted having state-of-the-art veterinary facilities just down the street. Anyway, Emett had a mass of hardened mystery goop stuck in his lower esophagus. They saw fur, partially digested food, god knows what. He eats fuzzies and used to eat the plastic off of our clothes hamper until we got rid of it. He's really weird. This didn't explain his back legs though. He's polydactyl with 7 claws on each front and 6 one each back paw so we thought maybe he's just getting old and starting to walk funny, arthritic perhaps. So after the mass was knocked out of place by the scope, he started a round of steroids, medicine to help him poop, medicine to help him eat, the whole deal. He did really well and for years we experienced no big issues, just general check-ups, nothing special. About a year ago he started showing symptoms like he did last time. Our doctor thinks is it's IBD which makes so much sense. He does have some serious gut issues so we started feeding our cats only non-GMO, grain-free, organic, made in the US food which has helped insanely. (should have been doing that since day one) They also get pro-biotics daily with exception to Emmett. I find that giving him some makes him vomit after eating every time. But all in all, after switching his diet, giving him a boost of vitamins sometimes we give him some CannaPet - it has CBD oil in it and really helps when he's starting to flare again, he's been doing really well with us treating his medical problems as an autoimmune disease. His back paws still flare out, especially his left one, but he doesn't seem to be experiencing any more weakness. When he had the blockage and when he flares, his back legs go almost limp. But this could be a spasm or pinched nerve, he's only lost minimal bone density from all of this. I hope everything works out for you and Sylvester. I hate seeing furry little critters sick. Maybe sharing what Emmett deals with will help in some way, maybe not. But either way, we'll be thinking about you guys and hoping Sylvester gets better.

Straw, you are spot on in identifying the veges. We generally do add potatoes also to the mix as they bake very well. Yogurt goes well with beef. It ensures better marination of the spices and almost dries up during baking but in the process, keeps the beef tender and gives it a nice flavour. However, few people may not like it with the veges though. Olive oil also assists in saving the meat and veges from drying / burning and give a very nice flavour to veges. Shirmp marination in our recipes usually doesn't contain yogurt though there is no harm in using. However, mostly lemon juice or vinegar go well with shrimps. We usually prefer a perforated baking dish which allows excess water to drain down. But then one has to keep another tray at the lower level inside the oven as water will keep dripping down from the perforated tray and make the oven dirty.

A triple of good quotes, and in each my favorite is the first one. Robinson's last one makes me think of the so-called mega-churches.