Kitten not eating much suddenly

[Luvyna]

My 6-month old kitten is suddenly eating much less than usual - probably only half or less than half of what he usually eats.

It started when he regurgitated some food 2 days ago. This seems to be something he does once almost exactly every 30 days since I got him and I haven't been able to find the cause yet - the previous two times he regurgitated however he continued eating as usual. I have asked two vets about it before and they said with the frequency of the regurgitating it's probably not serious and just something to monitor and it may have been caused by him eating too much or too fast (in this case he was fed more than usual in the few days before he regurgitated as a family member was looking after him for a few days and gave more food than I usually do).

The difference in this case is that we are having a heat wave and my kitten is also teething (he lost 4 baby teeth in the last 2 weeks and I can see at least 2 more that are loose). I am using AC so the temperatures are between 76 - 83F indoors.

Right now, he basically doesn't eat at all during the day (thankfully he is drinking water from his fountain) and only eats a bit (slightly less than half a can) in the evening/overnight. I'm feeding canned food right now as he refused to eat raw food (which is unusual, he usually prefers raw). He was very active and playful yesterday but today he slept for most of today and seems less energetic than usual.

He isn't completely refusing food but he is not eating enough. I've tried a few things like warming up the food, hand-feeding, and sprinkling freeze-dried treats onto the food but the most he'll eat is a bit less than half a can of wet food.

At what point should I take more drastic measures like force feeding or seeing a vet?

 

[Alldara]

This is the point to see a vet and have blood work done. That is not normal for a kitten for sure. Eating extremely small amounts is not normal at this age and can effect growth. Since it's wet food, it shouldn't cause him to feel ill.

He may have eaten something and had a partial blockage. So x-ray or ultrasound may be necessary.

Here's some things to try/look at while you wait for the vet:
1. How is his poo? If watery, it is an emergency as it could be a blockage or parasite/illness. If hard or coming out in little pellets then that's a sign of constipation.

2. Will he eat another type of wet food? Will he eat his normal wet food if you toss it through a blender with some extra water?

What food do you have him on? Have you checked for recalls with that food? If he will eat another type of wet kitten food, please notify the company as there might be something wrong with the batch of food he has that isn't reported yet. We had a bad batch of Wellness wet food that caused our kitten to stop eating. He began eating the recovery food from the vet and is now eating Iams perfect portions.

 

[Alldara]

I'd expect, you might be dealing with food allergies though. When picking out a different food, try a different protein. For example if he's eating chicken now, get him some rabbit or fish to try that has NO chicken in it.

 

[di and bob]

Don't give him raw for a while. Stick with some cat foods that are well-liked by most cats like Fancy Feast.

 

[Luvyna]

Thanks very much for the replies!

Fortunately my Zephyr is eating normally again today - he lost another tooth last night which I found on the sofa this morning:

I think this was likely the culprit for him not eating much and being inactive yesterday, he is now back to his usual self and is very playful and active.

This is the point to see a vet and have blood work done. That is not normal for a kitten for sure. Eating extremely small amounts is not normal at this age and can effect growth. Since it's wet food, it shouldn't cause him to feel ill.

He may have eaten something and had a partial blockage. So x-ray or ultrasound may be necessary.

Here's some things to try/look at while you wait for the vet:
1. How is his poo? If watery, it is an emergency as it could be a blockage or parasite/illness. If hard or coming out in little pellets then that's a sign of constipation.

2. Will he eat another type of wet food? Will he eat his normal wet food if you toss it through a blender with some extra water?

What food do you have him on? Have you checked for recalls with that food? If he will eat another type of wet kitten food, please notify the company as there might be something wrong with the batch of food he has that isn't reported yet. We had a bad batch of Wellness wet food that caused our kitten to stop eating. He began eating the recovery food from the vet and is now eating Iams perfect portions.

Thanks for the advice, I will definitely take him to the vet if he stops eating again!

He is currently on Weruva Cats In the Kitchen canned food and Tiki Cat mousse pouches. There was no change in his poop when he wasn't eating, it was the same frequency, size, shape, and firmness as usual and there were no indications of diarrhea or constipation. I am so glad he ate normally this morning and I will keep him off raw food for a while since I think canned and mousse will be easier on his mouth while he is teething.

I checked for recalls and it looks like there weren't any for the canned food or mousse, however, now that you mention it I have suspicions about the Instinct frozen raw bites I gave a few days ago. It's possible his regurgitating episodes coincided with me feeding that specific type of food so I will try leaving that out of the rotation and see if that helps. I also went out and bought some chicken-free flavours of canned food and mousses so I can see if those help as well.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Thanks goodness he's back to normal . Not eating is always a worry.