10 month old kitten suddenly not eating

[loonieluna]

My recently 10-month-old Luna is suddenly not eating like she did 4-5 days ago! She is still eating but it seems like her pooping and eating habits have changed very suddenly. What I mean with not eating as she used to is that normally we would give her 2 spoonfuls of Friskies wet food in the morning, sometime in the late afternoon/evening and at night so about 1.25 - 1.5 cans a day. She would eat all or most of the food at those times and she had been doing so for months so we had established a routine. A few days ago I noticed that the food I had put out for her in the morning was still half full in the afternoon and I started getting worried. I presumed she was just being picky/spoiled and wanted me to sit by her as she ate, so I gave her more fresh food and sat by her and fed her a little as she ate (seemed quite hungry as it was early evening at this point) but after a few bites, she just went away and wouldn't eat any more of it, despite me following her around with a spoon of food, trying to get her to eat. She would sniff, give a small lick and then walk away. Pretty much the same thing would happen at every meal time, where I would give her fresh food and she would come running and purring (like normal) then after a few bites she would become uninterested. Today, the food I gave her in the morning was still more than half full by late evening. SHe had been eating maybe .5 - .75 cans a day which I know is very little for a kitten her age. My dad also noticed that her litter habits had changed. He tracked her poop during the night and she had developed a schedule for pooping at a certain time at night but my dad said that lately he hasn't been seeing her go at that time but by the end of the day her litter box is full so I know she is going when she needs to. The thing is she is still very active in the morning and night, even though she sleeps most of the day (from around 1pm to 7-8pm) and even though she is getting little food. Although, I have noticed she is sleeping earlier and getting up later than usual during her catnaps. We give her treats and a little bit of her dry kitten food (limited amount b/c dry food is not good on kitten kidneys) throughout the day which she gobbles up. Also, she is not dehydrated because we manually give her water every 1-2 hours as she is going through her rebellious teen phase right now and really like to flip the water dish after she is done drinking her water and get water everywhere. I guess due to this she is more hydrated than she used to be as we are constantly feeding her water so she never forgets to drink. I'm still so worried about her though. She's my baby. Do you think this a serious problem that the vet needs to check? Or should I let it pass? Is this a phase or a change in behaviour as she transitions into becoming an adult cat? Do you guys have any suggestions on what I could do or what you think might be happening to Luna? 

Thank you! 

PS. I don't know if this will help with the answer at all, but she is a spayed, vaccinated, healthy (seemingly), beautiful DSH that I love more than I love myself lol and I've had her since she was 9 weeks old which is how I knew instantly something might be wrong with her. 

 

[catwoman707]

Pooping won't be as usual when her intake has decreased, so that's why that's off.

A few questions, does she ever go outside?

Has she been dewormed, well/recently?

Can you take her temperature effectively?

If not are her paw pads and eartips warm?

When you got her as a 9 week old, where did she come from?

Has she that you know of ever had a cold/uri?

 

[loonieluna]

She only goes outside on our backyard deck maybe 5 minutes a day so she is strictly indoors. She was dewormed when we first got her as a 9 week old. The last vaccine she recieved was her rabies when she was 7 months old so shes all updated.

I have yet to take her temperature but paws are have a normal amount of warmth and her eartips are warmer than her paws but not too warm. I can't exactly take her temperature right now either as it is 1:15 AM here. I'll try to in the morning.

We got her a farm giving their farm cats' kittens away. We took her to the vet the day after we got her and she recoeved her vaccines and was healthy. The vet had said she had a pot belly which might have been because bacteria in her stomach. But that issue seemed to be resolved as she grew. When she was about 5 months old, she did get an ear and eye bacterial infection for unknown reasons. We were given the antibiotics. The ear infection went away and so did the eye infection but the eye is still very slightly swollen so sometimes when she blinks or when she's sleeping her eye doesnt completely close and you can she her third eyelid. Then when she was 7 months old she had a fall and hurt her back legs and was limping. The vet diagnised her with Luxating Patella and we were given anti-inflammatory which did help with the inflammation and I havent noticed a problem with her legs since.

As for a cold, I read somewhere that cats always seem to have an chronic cold. Correct me if i'm wrong. But I dont think she has, atleast we havent had to take her to the vet for one. She does sneeze a few times a day but that usually doesnt lead to anything else.

Hope this helped! Thank you for the reply!

 

[catwoman707]

She only goes outside on our backyard deck maybe 5 minutes a day so she is strictly indoors. She was dewormed when we first got her as a 9 week old. The last vaccine she recieved was her rabies when she was 7 months old so shes all updated.

I have yet to take her temperature but paws are have a normal amount of warmth and her eartips are warmer than her paws but not too warm. I can't exactly take her temperature right now either as it is 1:15 AM here. I'll try to in the morning.

We got her a farm giving their farm cats' kittens away. We took her to the vet the day after we got her and she recoeved her vaccines and was healthy. The vet had said she had a pot belly which might have been because bacteria in her stomach. But that issue seemed to be resolved as she grew. When she was about 5 months old, she did get an ear and eye bacterial infection for unknown reasons. We were given the antibiotics. The ear infection went away and so did the eye infection but the eye is still very slightly swollen so sometimes when she blinks or when she's sleeping her eye doesnt completely close and you can she her third eyelid. Then when she was 7 months old she had a fall and hurt her back legs and was limping. The vet diagnised her with Luxating Patella and we were given anti-inflammatory which did help with the inflammation and I havent noticed a problem with her legs since.

As for a cold, I read somewhere that cats always seem to have an chronic cold. Correct me if i'm wrong. But I dont think she has, atleast we havent had to take her to the vet for one. She does sneeze a few times a day but that usually doesnt lead to anything else.

Hope this helped! Thank you for the reply!

So, what I am trying to do is discourage myself from thinking FIP as a possibility.

This is because kitties this age just don't stop wanting to eat, so it's always a red flag to hear of this starting.

If she sneezes a few times a day and has an eye infection/swelling, she very likely does have the herpesvirus which is quite common.

Yes it is there for life but as they grow and mature the symptoms fade, eventually they usually go away completely, and through her life during times of change causing stress she may show watery eyes and/or sneezing for a few, but her system will get it back in check.

However I asked about this because in my mind it slightly raises suspicion for fip, but lets not get ahead of this yet.

We need to know if she has a fever first off. 

 

[loonieluna]

oh no! I googled FIP and now I'm scared too! 

She does not have a fever. It is normal from what my old, old thermometer is telling me but I'll have to go out and get a better one since the thermometer I have has a record of giving inaccurate results. But her ears and paws are not hot and her nose is not very dry either. 

She was also eating more today! Not her wet food but we gave her more of her dry kitten food - a meal's worth - and she ate that up. She also loves a little bit of canned tuna, as well as the tuna water. I'm starting to think that her not eating her wet food is because her preference has changed or is changing and she is tired of her old food. Luna is known for being a picky kitten. She also hasn't had any diarrhea - all solid poops. And she is still staying very hydrated. Wanting more water than usual actually. 

She was a little less active today though. Usually in the mornings and at night, after her catnap, she is running around and jumping off the walls. She was very active this morning when I was leaving for university but when I came back late evening, she was not her usually active self. But she wasn't lethargic either. She was just quieter, seemed tired but still wanted to constantly around her people and still got into things and explored. She played a little when I prompted her. 

FIP scares me very much. The symptoms very loosely fit what Luna is going through but I read that serious symptoms don't show up until it is too late. Then again, she is in a one cat household and she is an indoor cat. The most contact she has had with other cats (after we adopted her) was with a friend's kitten who came to live at our house while his family was on vacation and with a few abandoned kitten we found and fostered for 2-3 days. The first time was when she was 3 months old with a 4-month-old kitten for a few days and they played/fought together but were mostly kept apart due to how violent they got sometimes. And the other time was with about six 3-4 week old kittens when she was 7 months old for a few days and she was only in the room with the kitten a handful of times (three or four times for maybe 5 minutes) because she would hiss and grr at them. So I'm not sure this really warrants her for FIP but I am still worried. 

I'm going to buy her different food and see if she really is just tired of her old food. 

 

[catwoman707]

I don't mean to scare you, not at all, and don't go overthinking it now and making me feel bad! lol

It's just not right for a cat this age to lose interest in eating.

There's not much that would likely cause it either which is why I mentioned it.

You can always get a titer done for coronavirus to hopefully rule it out, but still that's getting ahead of what may be a simple problem and will straighten out soon.

 

[loonieluna]

Sorry for making you feel bad! I tend to overthink and overworry lol

I think Luna is just being a little picky. She is eating a little more now. Still not as much as she used to a few days ago but I honestly think she is just tired fo her food. She has always been really picky. We started her off with kitten dry and Whiskers Pate which she always had throuble eating because of how compact it was (we would have to smush it) so we started giving her chunks which she ate very well. We found she LOVED Friskies Indoor Cat wet food. She ate any flavour of this particular variety of the brand even the Pate. Thats the only one we had been getting in all of the flavours for the last couple of months. So its understandable that she would get tired of having the same kind of food everyday. I definitly would.

What I want to know is that if 'the cat will eat when she wants to eat' is accurate? I've been seeing this on a few forums and people have been telling me this but I don't think its right especially for Luna, who is still very young.

 

[aksm4]

Im going throught he exact thing with my 6 month old Chanel ?? I posted yesterday did not get many responses so i took her to the vet which my vet thinks its her molars coming through and this is painful ?? could Chanel have FIP also??

Anna

 

[ReallySleepy]

I think Luna is just being a little picky.

Could be. I have just been through many similar episodes with my 10-year-old Turbo. He gets mostly wet food now and prefers it over dry food. Yet it has happened several times this winter that he has only eaten dry food. At first I thought this meant stomach trouble, because he did throw up the wet food some weeks before Christmas. But I now realize that I have misinterpreted the signals. He gets tired of the wet food, but this can be remedied by rotating the brands and flavors. He will now happily eat wet food that he rejected in January. Hopefully, nothing more serious than that is what afflicts Luna.

 

[catwoman707]

Canned pate is always best as it is grain free whereas chunky, sliced, fillet and gravy types are not and have other added junk as well.

I can see a cat changing up at 10 years old but a 10 month old should not get picky about their normal food unless they never liked it from the beginning.

You also mentioned sleeping more than the norm.

I just want to be sure I'm getting my point across that this shouldn't be taken or thought of lightly, cats this age should steadily be spunky, curious, getting in the way, demanding attention, taking short naps, eating well, bright eyes and thriving.

Any sudden changes are def. a reason to be concerned and keeping a hawk's eye on.

They're not like human children who pop up with random viruses constantly that makes them feel crummy for a few days then better.

Your kitty is vaccinated too so that doesn't leave many things that will cause her to feel 'under the weather'.

Just hoping for something simple and keep an eye out for changes.

They have alot of spunk and kitten ness in them so even seeing some normal behavior but not steadily for days solid is normal. It's after the normal bouts of normal behavior, play, etc is what will tell you if things are back to the norm or something is still brewing.

 

[bella gatto]

You may want to consider having your vet look at her teeth. One of my young cats was not eating well and as a kitten did not gain weight like she should have. I work in an animal ER and because she  was healthy figured she was jut going to be a small cat. As it turned out  my cat had STOMATITIS, she was allergic to the plaque on her teeth. Only way to fix is to remove all the teeth. My vet removed all but her canines .  What a difference in her eating habits .

 

[loonieluna]

Well, she is eating a lot better now! Still not as much but we are trying to feed her more frequently. She ate a whole can of her old food yesterday which is definitely progress. We got a few cans of new food (pate) and she has had two meals this morning before it was even 12. So I'm hoping that she was just having a few off days and that she'll be back to her old routine soon.

Her teeth were healthy the last time we had her checked, 3 months ago. But if she still isn't back to normal in 1-2 days, I will make an appointment with our vet to see if there are any serious problems and I will talk to her about all of your (and mine) concerns. 

Thank you all so much for the helpful advice. 

 

[catwoman707]

This is very good to hear.

If you do feel she is not back to herself and take her in, you may ask for a titer test to rule out FIP.

Negative and that means not possible.

Positive does not mean FIP, but it can't be eliminated as a possibility is all.

Good luck!

 

[loonieluna]

Update on Luna:

She's back to not eating much. I've made a vet appointment for this weekend but I'm still worried. She seems to prefer her kitten chow over canned food but she still eats very little of the kitten food. Just to give perspective, I have her 2 spoons her wet food and about half of it was still there when I got home at 3. She was sleeping so I let her sleep but woke her up at 5 and she still would not eat wet food. So I have her kitten chow, about a 1/4 cup and she ate most of it but left about 1tbsp. and then left. I'm just so concerned about why she isn't eating normally. She had one good day. I'm hoping the vet can come up with a reason. 

But I was wondering if a 10-month-old kitten could get fading kitten syndrome? Her face structure concerns me a little because, while her cheeks were never always filled up, I feel like I can see her cheekbones and feel the crevices of her face more than normal. And I recently learned that a triangular face is a symptom of FKS. I worried about her losing weight. She is a small cat. Not skinny or overweight, she looks (and her stomach looks) perfect for her size. I can't weigh her because I don't have a machine to do so. I'll attach pictures of her face below and if someone could tell me if it is normal that would be so amazing.

 

[loonieluna]

This is from when she was 3 months old so ask you can see she has always had those incredible cheekbones

IMG_0951.PNG

• loonieluna
• Apr 5, 2017

This is from a month ago. Shes still got the looks and the pose to match.

IMG_0985.JPG

• loonieluna
• Apr 5, 2017

Shes really fluffy for a DSH yet you can still see her face structure.

 

[catwoman707]

I can't tell from the pics, but surely she is losing weight, however slow it has been.

Are you against getting a coronavirus titer for her?

 

[loonieluna]

Not at all! It's one of the things I plan to talk about with my vet. Could you explain the process for that? Is it just a blood test? Does it cost a lot of money? 

 

[catwoman707]

There are actually a few tests for corona titer present, but best is blood spun down to serum done in the lab, and it's diluted to get an accurate level of titer presence.

Hopefully your vet uses a good lab for this.

Cost I am not sure of since I get greatly discounted for rescue, but nothing through the roof for sure.

 

[loonieluna]

Okay. Thank you so much for the info. 

Luna is no better today. She really prefers her dry food over her wet food right now so we give her that and leave the wet food out so if she wants to eat it, she can and she does eat a little bit as she's eating her dry. We also give her a little bit of canned tuna every night which she devours and all of the tuna water which she also enjoys very much. So the problem isn't really her not eating at all because she is eating her dry food and tuna and she still begs for treats. She just isn't eating her wet food and because of that she isn't really eating as much as she should be eating for a kitten her age.

 

[loonieluna]

OKAY! Back from the vet.

The vet concluded that because she is active, hydrated, doesn't have diarrhea and isn't vomiting, she is just tired of her old food. The vet suggests we try a completely different brand or maybe even switch to dry food because dry food seems to be what she prefers eating. I was also informed that, while she may be losing weight at the moment due to not eating much, she is still slightly overweight for age and size!!! Overweight?! This surprised me because all this time I had been worrying about Luna being so small and tiny! Turns out she is just a tiny cat and she will likely stay this small for the rest of her life. Due to all these factors, the vet did not think there was any reason at all to test Luna for coronavirus titer or any other serious problems. The vet gave use some prescription dental dry food to try for Luna. We gave her some of the new food and she didn't eat any but I think that after a morning of crazy hyperactivity and a scary, stressful trip to the vet, Luna was just exhausted. She's napping right now. 

I got her leg and eye rechecked. Her kneecaps are still dislocating and the vet says that it will likely be a life-long problem for Luna that might eventually lead to arthritis. Luna's case is very mild but I was still wondering if there was anything I could do to prevent her knees from getting worse? 

Also, the vet said that her eye not closing fully might be due to a tiny bit of nerve paralysis in that area, if it has been going on for this long. I never even thought of that or came across it. I just figured it was inflammation that refused to subside. Does anyone know what facial nerve paralysis entails and how serious it is or can get? 

This is how much her eye closes when she sleeps. Sometimes it closes all the way and usually, if I press the area gently while she's sleeping, she'll close it fully as well.

IMG_1048.JPG

• loonieluna
• Apr 8, 2017