Cat can't eat certain foods, they fall out of her mouth

[Renne]

My cat has developed so much trouble eating wet foods that now she refuses to eat them at all. I don't really mind, I feed her dry foods, but in case she ever develops some disease and needs wet food that could be a big issue. Besides, maybe there's a health issue involved.

After adopting her as a kitten I fed her dry food (wet too expensive), so I didn't notice any issues until late.

When she hit 8 months old she fell ill (panleikopenia), and we were told to feed her only special vet (and wet) food for a while. The cat had a lot of trouble eating it, which we initially attributed to her being weak. That food was a paste, hopefully I'm using the right English word for it: a humongunous (sp?) mass rather than meaty bits in juice. The cat had issues eating it: she just tried to lick it and lick it, and it wouldn't get into her mouth that way. I wanted to help her eat, so I started making small balls of meat from it, roughly the size of her regurlar dry food. But whenever she tried to grasp those balls with her teeth, they'd fall out of her mouth again and again. I'd say in every 4 out of 5 attempts they just fell out. She persisted for the first few days, eating like this, as we were told to feed her only a little and she was super hungry... But in the end she absolutely refused to eat that food any longer, hungry or not.

By that time she's recovered enough that we were allowed to give her dry food, it was a very light case of panleikopenia, and she had no issues with the dry food.

In a month she went through sterilization, and we wanted to make her happy after such an ordeal, so we bought her a lot of wet food as treats. Regular wet food with meaty bits, not paste. That's when we learnt that she won't eat it. At first she actually tried, just for a little while, but food would just fall out of her mouth whenever she tried to lift it, just like those meaty balls made from paste had. I don't think she managed to eat even one meaty bit from those wet foods, and so she just refused to eat them.

But I know that she really wants them! B\c she starts purring loudly any time she spots a wet food packet!!! I brush her every day and give her some wet food as a reward. Unfortunately, she only licks out the tasty juice, purring from happiness, but she doesn't even attempt to touch meaty bits...

I asked a vet about it, he looked into her mouth and said there doesn't seem to be any problem, so 'maybe this is your cat's individual trait'. But for me that sounds strange. What cat doesn't know how to eat? And why can she eat dry food perfectly well and not wet food? I couldn't find anything about such a problem online so I thought I'd ask here. Maybe you have some ideas.

 

[ArtNJ]

One idea is to try mixing some dry food into some wet food and see what happens. I do this fairly routinely and mine really enjoy it. I add a tiny spray of water to make it easier to mix and the wet food softer, which you may or may not want to do.

Since my mom had dysphagia (difficulty swallowing from a neuro issue) and that virus your cat had can cause neurological symptoms, I googled cat dysphagia, and its a thing. It does not sound like it fits your cat that well though, so perhaps your vet is correct:

Dysphagia (Difficult Swallowing) in Cats

Worth familiarizing yourself with the disorder, but it doesn't necessarily sound like a match based on what you've said so far.

 

[Tess7717]

My cat has developed so much trouble eating wet foods that now she refuses to eat them at all. I don't really mind, I feed her dry foods, but in case she ever develops some disease and needs wet food that could be a big issue. Besides, maybe there's a health issue involved.

After adopting her as a kitten I fed her dry food (wet too expensive), so I didn't notice any issues until late.

When she hit 8 months old she fell ill (panleikopenia), and we were told to feed her only special vet (and wet) food for a while. The cat had a lot of trouble eating it, which we initially attributed to her being weak. That food was a paste, hopefully I'm using the right English word for it: a humongunous (sp?) mass rather than meaty bits in juice. The cat had issues eating it: she just tried to lick it and lick it, and it wouldn't get into her mouth that way. I wanted to help her eat, so I started making small balls of meat from it, roughly the size of her regurlar dry food. But whenever she tried to grasp those balls with her teeth, they'd fall out of her mouth again and again. I'd say in every 4 out of 5 attempts they just fell out. She persisted for the first few days, eating like this, as we were told to feed her only a little and she was super hungry... But in the end she absolutely refused to eat that food any longer, hungry or not.

By that time she's recovered enough that we were allowed to give her dry food, it was a very light case of panleikopenia, and she had no issues with the dry food.

In a month she went through sterilization, and we wanted to make her happy after such an ordeal, so we bought her a lot of wet food as treats. Regular wet food with meaty bits, not paste. That's when we learnt that she won't eat it. At first she actually tried, just for a little while, but food would just fall out of her mouth whenever she tried to lift it, just like those meaty balls made from paste had. I don't think she managed to eat even one meaty bit from those wet foods, and so she just refused to eat them.

But I know that she really wants them! B\c she starts purring loudly any time she spots a wet food packet!!! I brush her every day and give her some wet food as a reward. Unfortunately, she only licks out the tasty juice, purring from happiness, but she doesn't even attempt to touch meaty bits...

I asked a vet about it, he looked into her mouth and said there doesn't seem to be any problem, so 'maybe this is your cat's individual trait'. But for me that sounds strange. What cat doesn't know how to eat? And why can she eat dry food perfectly well and not wet food? I couldn't find anything about such a problem online so I thought I'd ask here. Maybe you have some ideas.

Hi, were you ever able to figure this out? My cat had this happen 3 years ago. We never quite figured it out and I’m not even sure how he recovered from it (he was on a few different prescriptions, different foods, etc) but now it’s happening again. He can’t drink water and he can barely eat anything especially if it’s wet. He can somewhat eat bigger harder things but not wet food or water. It’s so confusing.. please help!

 

[FeebysOwner]

T Tess7717 - the OP last posted on this site in June, so they may not respond to you if they are not active at this time.

Are you able to syringe water into his mouth - just a tiny bit each time? Does he try to drink water at all on his own? What happens if he tries to eat wet food? And how much dry food is he able to eat?

I think you don't have much choice but to have your cat checked out by a vet and see what they say. Not being able to drink water should really considered a serious problem, and not eating much - if anything at all - follows right behind that in terms of importance/severity. A cat cannot sustain themselves for long without both.

I am sorry you are facing this again, but hopefully you will have the same outcome that you had before once he is seen by a vet.