Minor (Hopefully?) Cat Problem!

themosthappy91 · February 2016

Hey y'all- so I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with a similar cat issue. My sweet kitty has randomly stopped eating her food in the past 24 hours- we feed her in the morning and at night and I think the last time she ate her full meal was yesterday morning. She is usually very eager to eat and doesn't leave her food sitting for long, so this is out of the norm for sure. She seems otherwise alert and normal (i.e. no obvious signs of feeling sick). Haven't noticed obvious changes in her water intake or litter box use, but it's only been 24 hours and I haven't been paying attention closely.

Anyone had this happen before? Has she just randomly decided she doesn't like this food anymore, or are there serious issues I should be on the look-out for? How long before you would take her to the vet, and what should I try before taking that step?

thefanciestbeckler · February 2016

I don't have a cat, I have dogs, but they have done this before. My youngest dog will go a day or 2 without eating sometimes even though she's usually very eager to eat.

Try switching her food up and see if that helps before you get worried. Animals get bored with their food sometimes.

nerdwife · February 2016

I'd call the vet and ask. A lot of times they'll say it's just a watchful waiting, and if she doesn't eat after X amount of time, then bring her in.

Good luck!

princessleia22 · February 2016

Call vet, just to be safe. But, it may be just a wait and see thing. It could be that she's feeling a bit sick or maybe she is just bored with her food. I know I may not have much of an appetite if I have a stomach ache, but it's not usually anything serious and goes away after a day or two. Or try changing up the food. Several years ago, my cat had a broken tooth which got infected when we pulled it, so he really didn't want to eat much. Vet said to feed him pureed baby food (chicken or turkey) to help encourage his appetite... he loved that stuff. When my dog gets finicky, we will feed him grilled chicken with rice for a few days. It's yummy enough to encourage him to eat, but it will calm his stomach if he's having stomach issues.

scrunchythief · February 2016

How old is she? We got our cat at 6 months old, and she'd eat all her food right away. As she's gotten older she tends to leave it longer. But if this is a sudden, dramatic difference, then I might call the vet.

themosthappy91 · February 2016

scrunchythief said:

How old is she? We got our cat at 6 months old, and she'd eat all her food right away. As she's gotten older she tends to leave it longer. But if this is a sudden, dramatic difference, then I might call the vet.

We think she's about 2-3. It is really sudden so that's what caught my attention- I think we'll definitely try to entice her with some wet food or something if she hasn't eaten by the time we get home from work today and give the vet a call tomorrow if she still isn't eating.

speedyturtle · February 2016

If she is overweight, then you should get her in to see her vet asap. If overweight cats stop eating they can start to mobilize their fat stores and cause acute liver failure (hepatic lipidosis). If she's at a healthy weight then you may have a bit more leeway. Speaking as a veterinarian, my advice is ALWAYS to get a pet in asap for a physical exam if anything is out of the ordinary. Better to find out it's nothing to worry about than to wait too long and find out it's too late to easily correct whatever the problem is.

MyNameIsNot · February 2016

Did you try dumping the food and starting with fresh? My older kitty is really sensitive to dry food being stale. Sometimes she'll just refuse to eat, but starting a new bag solves the problem. Trying to coax her with wet food is a good idea too.

I would call the vet if she's still not eating tonight.

Jells2dot0 · February 2016

I'd definitely check with the vet. I have 4 cats and all have stopped eating at some point and for various reasons. One decided to not like his food anymore. One had gall stones. Gall stone kitty also had a bowel obstruction from eating a plastic bag. Another one got the swine flu from me! So, it can be a wide range of things. If you don't want to call the vet right away, just keep an eye out over night and re-evaluate in the morning.

littlemushroom · February 2016

When mine stopped eating it was because she had pancreatitis. She was otherwise normal, except for being a bit more cuddly/attention seeking. After we treated that, she never would eat the old food again. We had to switch her to something else.

randomslove · February 2016

My kitten did this when he had a really bad UTI and my cat refusing to eat all of a sudden lead us to get him diagnosed with IBD. There wound up being blood in his stool, which made me rush in like no tomorrow.

themosthappy91 · February 2016

littlemushroom said:

When mine stopped eating it was because she had pancreatitis. She was otherwise normal, except for being a bit more cuddly/attention seeking. After we treated that, she never would eat the old food again. We had to switch her to something else.

I also felt like she was being more cuddly/attention-seeking last night and this morning (though she's generally pretty affectionate so it could be in my head). How serious is pancreatitis (that may sound dumb, I'm sorry I just don't know what it is) and is it easy to treat?

I did try changing out the food for fresh and also she is not overweight to answer other poster's questions.

I'm torn right now between going in right away and giving it another night. I'm going to call the vet and ask I think... and possibly going to leave work early to see if she'll eat wet food right now.

charlotte989875 · February 2016

Do you give her treats at all? Try that to see if she'll eat something. If it's 24+ hours id definitely call and/ go in. Has she gone to the bathroom at all?

themosthappy91 · February 2016

I'm at home now and she is happily chowing down on some wet food I bought her, so I think we're okay? And she just obnoxiously decided to dislike her regular food all of a sudden? Cats are weird man!

I'm going to keep an eye to make sure she's going to the bathroom normally and remains otherwise normal, but for now chalking it up to she's just being a picky little brat lol.

Thanks everyone for weighing in! Y'alls experiences motivated me to just bite the bullet and leave work to check on her, and now that I've done that I'm feeling much better

.

charlotte989875 · February 2016

Friday+Potentially sick cat=Perfectly legitimate reason to leave work early.

kimmiinthemitten · February 2016

themosthappy91 said:

I'm at home now and she is happily chowing down on some wet food I bought her, so I think we're okay? And she just obnoxiously decided to dislike her regular food all of a sudden? Cats are weird man!

I'm going to keep an eye to make sure she's going to the bathroom normally and remains otherwise normal, but for now chalking it up to she's just being a picky little brat lol.

Thanks everyone for weighing in! Y'alls experiences motivated me to just bite the bullet and leave work to check on her, and now that I've done that I'm feeling much better .

Our cats are insanely picky eaters! We split a wet food can every morning and it has to be gravy based, no beef, no salmon, no liver. It was like they meowed to each other to boycott those flavors and just did it.

Hope your little guy is okay!

speedyturtle · February 2016

I would keep a close eye on her. Wet food tends to be more palatable, so in cases of kidney disease or pancreatitis when they feel nauseous and don't want to eat, they may be more likely to eat the deliciously-smelly wet food even when they are not interested in dry.

Just as often though, they are just being stinkers and want tastier food!

In answer to your question, pancreatitis ranges from very mild (treat as an outpatient with prescription GI-supportive diet, acid blockers, and sometimes pain meds) to very serious (requires hospitalization for fluids, IV pain meds, and a feeding tube).

arrippa · February 2016

randomslove said:

My kitten did this when he had a really bad UTI and my cat refusing to eat all of a sudden lead us to get him diagnosed with IBD. There wound up being blood in his stool, which made me rush in like no tomorrow.

This happen to Mac as well. It was a scary few days for us.

themosthappy91- I am glad to hear your kitty is eating now!

drunkenwitch · February 2016

My dearly departed cat Smudge wwould boycott eating if her food displeased her. The cat woild refuse to eat until I served her something to her specific taste. That cat was spoiled rotten, but I totally have myself to blame for that.

SP29 · February 2016

Cats can get "bored" with food, changing up flavours is a good idea.

Cats can also go the other direction where they are so used to eating one type of food that they won't eat anything else (which is why variety is also good).

Silly buggers.

Good to hear kitty is eating wet food. Try some fresh dry, and if she's not eating that, I would still consider a visit to the vet.

Keep an eye on changes in the amount of water she is drinking, litter box use, sleeping habits, cry/meowing. Cats can be really good at hiding problems, unfortunately.

MandTFebruary62011 · February 2016

Just wanted to pipe in with, be careful about changing foods too. I have fed my cat chicken based food his whole life. After Iams changed their formula and he got chin acne from it (I know.. weird) I changed his food and went with a fish based food. He started getting sick after every time he ate. The girl at the pet store told me that cats tend to either be able to digest either fish or poultry but if they've only been fed one they cannot digest the other properly.

I don't know if that's true or not, but I did go back to chicken and the problem stopped.

Otherwise, lots of good advice. I hope your cat is feeling better soon!

SP29 · March 2016

MandTFebruary62011 said:

Just wanted to pipe in with, be careful about changing foods too. I have fed my cat chicken based food his whole life. After Iams changed their formula and he got chin acne from it (I know.. weird) I changed his food and went with a fish based food. He started getting sick after every time he ate. The girl at the pet store told me that cats tend to either be able to digest either fish or poultry but if they've only been fed one they cannot digest the other properly.

I don't know if that's true or not, but I did go back to chicken and the problem stopped.

Otherwise, lots of good advice. I hope your cat is feeling better soon!

I have not personally found the same with chicken vs. fish (my cats have eaten both), but cats can get different food allergies.

My first cat started having trouble with vomiting at around a year old. Diagnosed with IBS and food allergies. He did quite well on Iams Hairball Control- still occasional vomited, but he would vomit then be fine (more like a hairball), vs. before where he would get SICK with diarrhea and vomit. Second cat then was fed this same food from day 1. We eventually switched them both over to grain free food- Cat #1 problems 99% gone (except when he'd get hairballs). We also started feeding Cat #1 wet food. Interestingly, also had to be grain free, or he'd vomit, and he could never eat anything with beef- would vomit within an hour of eating it. As long as it was grain free and not beef, could feed him anything.

Cat #2 has also eaten chicken, turkey, beef, fish, etc. She however, is VERY picky and it's hard to get her to eat anything new. She likes the same old, same old. Doesn't eat treats except for ONE flavour of ONE brand, and even then, eats a piece or two, leaves the rest. Doesn't eat wet food.

One thing I noticed about both of my cats, and not sure if this has more to do with their age, is that both prefer a smaller kibble size. The food gets eaten up better with less waste.

Minor (Hopefully?) Cat Problem!

Re: Minor (Hopefully?) Cat Problem!

Choose Another Board

Search Boards