Cat not eating out of jealousy?

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peanutbutter7

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Thank you to everyone who was able to watch the video! And sorry to those who weren't! If you're really interested I can try to send it over email? I'm not sure how else I can attach it to these posts.

For catsknowme, she does not have any history of feline herpes or any other medical problems. She's been a very healthy cat so far. The emergency vet took a look at her teeth and didn't say anything looked suspicious. She's also not even eating things that don't require chewing like cat yogurt.

We did start putting her food bowl further away from him and have tried feeding both where she normally eats and in an entirely separate room. We usually close Arlo's door now when she's eating as to not add any stress. But it's just very odd because she doesn't seem very stressed by him as seen in the video. So I'm still not sure why she's not eating.
 

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We did start putting her food bowl further away from him and have tried feeding both where she normally eats and in an entirely separate room. We usually close Arlo's door now when she's eating as to not add any stress.
Hi, I think you're on the right track here, unless there's some hidden health issue going on - and I sincerely hope not!

But, maybe there is something else in this thread that could help;

Any Good Tips To Get Your Cats To Eat? Share Them Here!

and there might be a couple in this list that aren't mentioned in TCS's;

Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Persuading Your Cat to Eat
 
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peanutbutter7

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Thank you for linking these! We've tried warming up the food, trying different brands of wet food, fortiflora, canned tuna water, but there are a few others that we haven't tried that I'll try tonight.

I think we also have to take her back to the vet to get blood work done. This really is an incredibly stressful mystery.
 
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peanutbutter7

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Hi anyone following this! A somewhat unexpected update: Luna has started eating a bit more! She's still not eating as much as she normally does, but she ate some dry food last night/this morning and about half a can of wet food so far today. Last night, we decided to try and introduce Arlo and Luna in the same room together for a supervised visit. They booped noses and played a bit which was great. There was no hissing or fighting. Then Luna started eating during that night. It's very odd because I think the assumption would be to slow down the introduction if she's not eating, but for whatever reason meeting Arlo has gotten her to eat more. We're still planning on taking her to the vet to get her blood work done and teeth checked, but I'm so happy that she's being a bit more like her normal self.

Unfortunately, I worry that she's turning into a bit of a bully with Arlo. We've allowed them to be in the same room together probably for about 3 hours total between yesterday and so far today, and I've been noticing that 90% of the time Luna is the one following Arlo and instigating a tousle. It doesn't seem malicious as her ears are forward, there's no blood or fur flying, and she's very quiet, but at the same she's the one that's chasing Arlo, and she's always the one that ends up on top. Arlo doesn't seem afraid of her, but sometimes he tries to run away from her. He has also hissed once during the play, and another time made some noises. I don't think Luna is trying to hurt him, but it does seem like she's maybe trying to assert dominance? Usually once it starts getting a bit rough we separate them for a cool down period. I don't want him to become afraid her.
 

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It doesn't sound bad, tbh. Luna may be trying to show dominance - one cat usually does. As long as Arlo 'comes back' after running away, they are likely 'working it out'. Just keep doing what you are doing and see how it goes.

As far as Luna eating more now, it could be that having more exposure to Arlo is what she needed in order to start the process toward some eventual 'agreement' between the two.

Still a good idea to have her checked out by the vet. Just make sure to prepare for it, by taking towels with each of their scent on them before she goes to the vet and then rubbing them onto each other after she comes home from the vets so that no one is bothered by any new smells coming from the vet's office.
 
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peanutbutter7

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Hopefully, a final update for anyone who is following or who might find this in the future and is going through a similar situation:

Luna had her teeth checked and bloodwork done at the vet. We got the results back last night and everything looks good. We can safely say that we have narrowed her hunger strike down to stress. Luckily, she has started eating much more. She's not fully back to her regular diet, but she's eating much more than she was. She's also initiating eating more on her own which is fantastic.

Her and Arlo have been getting along really well. They play, they lick each other, and they have even slept on the same cat bed. Their play sometimes still gets a little too rough, so they only are together when someone is home, but it's going well! For whatever reason, what seemed to help Luna the most was getting her and Arlo in the same room. The vet said that maybe she was feeling more anxious because she couldn't see that Arlo wasn't a threat until they started interacting. I'm definitely not saying that this is a normal situation, and I think typically when there is a lot of stress on a cat the correct response is to go slower with the introduction, but for Luna it seems like she needed to interact with Arlo. We can only hope that her health and their relationship continues to get better!
 

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Ladyrosee

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Thank you for linking these! We've tried warming up the food, trying different brands of wet food, fortiflora, canned tuna water, but there are a few others that we haven't tried that I'll try tonight.

I think we also have to take her back to the vet to get blood work done. This really is an incredibly stressful mystery.
I just want to say I'm in the same boat and a nervous wreck and losing my mind upset and stressed about my young cat. I have a feral kitten in my foster room for 8 days now. My kitty Broccoli has been in there a few times and hisses and is very upset she is there and runs out. I probably shouldnt have let him come in the first time.. he stopped eating yesterday morning and is lower energy too. He has eaten a meat tube, freeze dried chicken, and his vital essentials nibbs but wont eat any wet food. The vet said he looked great today and if he isnt eating tomorrow then sedated xrays and blood draw. I'm so nervous I cant handle it. It seems behavioral to me but weird it would happen a week later. I also do snub him a little because i try to socialize my feral so I'm in the bedroom closed in a lot of my free time
 
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peanutbutter7

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I just want to say I'm in the same boat and a nervous wreck and losing my mind upset and stressed about my young cat. I have a feral kitten in my foster room for 8 days now. My kitty Broccoli has been in there a few times and hisses and is very upset she is there and runs out. I probably shouldnt have let him come in the first time.. he stopped eating yesterday morning and is lower energy too. He has eaten a meat tube, freeze dried chicken, and his vital essentials nibbs but wont eat any wet food. The vet said he looked great today and if he isnt eating tomorrow then sedated xrays and blood draw. I'm so nervous I cant handle it. It seems behavioral to me but weird it would happen a week later. I also do snub him a little because i try to socialize my feral so I'm in the bedroom closed in a lot of my free time
First of all, I love the name Broccoli. Secondly, I am sorry you're going through this! It is so stressful.

Our cat stopped eating like 3-4 days after we brought Arlo home, so we were also confused as to why it was delayed. While on some level for us it was a relief that Luna was medically cleared by the vet, in other ways it was more stressful because it didn't have a specific "fix". And it was a frustrating cycle because if a cat doesn't eat, they feel nauseous which makes them not want to eat which makes them even more nauseous. After almost 3 or 4 days of Luna barely eating, what worked for us was bringing the cats together. The night we decided to let them interact in the same room was the night that she started eating again on her own. While this worked for them, I know most conventional wisdom recommends separating two cats and moving even slower when there are issues, so I'm hesitant to suggest to anyone to try this because it could cause more damage. But I will say that you are not alone in going through this, and it got so much better quickly! One Luna started eating again, she was back to her old self in twoish days.
 

Ladyrosee

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First of all, I love the name Broccoli. Secondly, I am sorry you're going through this! It is so stressful.

Our cat stopped eating like 3-4 days after we brought Arlo home, so we were also confused as to why it was delayed. While on some level for us it was a relief that Luna was medically cleared by the vet, in other ways it was more stressful because it didn't have a specific "fix". And it was a frustrating cycle because if a cat doesn't eat, they feel nauseous which makes them not want to eat which makes them even more nauseous. After almost 3 or 4 days of Luna barely eating, what worked for us was bringing the cats together. The night we decided to let them interact in the same room was the night that she started eating again on her own. While this worked for them, I know most conventional wisdom recommends separating two cats and moving even slower when there are issues, so I'm hesitant to suggest to anyone to try this because it could cause more damage. But I will say that you are not alone in going through this, and it got so much better quickly! One Luna started eating again, she was back to her old self in twoish days.
Thank you.
He wants to eat. Acts excited when I get food ready only for him to jump on the counter with his food, smell it, then look around everywhere like he's scared of something and not eat any of it.
Your Luna wanted to see your kitten though didnt she? Broccoli won't really go upstairs now or again least didnt last night. He was curious at first and waited outside her door only to hiss a lot and run away when he saw her.
This is just too much :(
 
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