No Food Is Good Food--or, The Cat That Won't Eat Anything

[TobiDaDog]

Once again I'm in need of advice! My Reese has suddenly decided that she's not interested in eating. She's never been picky, but also never extremely food motivated. Dinner time is dinner time and but it doesn't excite her like it does some other cats (especially Sir, he's generally dreaming of dinner two hours before the fact!)...but about a week ago she just suddenly decided that she didn't want her food anymore at all. She will not eat a lick of breakfast and eats about half of her dinner, but only if I'm very close. AKA sitting beside her.

I've tried rotating her food and even tried a different brand altogether. Different flavors, different textures, she just looks at me like I'm nuts!

I'm seriously considering taking her to the vet, but what holds me back is the fact that nothing else has changed. She has shown zero signs of distress. She still plays like a kitten, and brings me toys to fetch. She still looks chunky and healthy, with rabbit soft fur. Basically she's been herself. She just doesn't eat more than an ounce or two of food each day and she can't even sit still through that sometimes. And she doesn't beg for food like she's hungry either!

I have always fed her in the same place, on a small flat plate that I bought for her when she was a kitten. I've not cleaned the floor with weird chemicals. Just swept it. I have always used the same soap to wash the dishes and I clean the plate after every feeding.

Originally she was eating American Journey pate and Weruva chicken soup.
Since then I've tried American Journey chunks, various different flavors of Weruva, and Miko chicken. The only thing she'll think of touching is AJ chunks and ONLY at night. She's completely given up breakfast.

And this all happened quite suddenly.

 

[GalaxyGirl]

Yes please take her to the vet a sudden change I behavior is bad. Also cats are VERY good at hiding pain.

 

[TobiDaDog]

A vet's in the plan soon, especially if this continues within the next day or so. I'm hoping for some advice in the meantime on how to get her to eat or if this kind of behavior is known to anyone else in the slightest.

 

[mizzely]

The only time my cats have gone off their food is if they are sick or depressed. You could try some meat baby food, kitten milk replacer, or freeze dried food in the meantime to try and entice her to eat.

 

[di and bob]

I have a stray that doesn't seem to eat anything, or not much anway. But it is NOT a change, it isn just how she is. She is kept in our shop at night. (heat/cooling/TV). She eats maybe a tablespoon in the morning and the same at night. She also eats VERY slowly, looking around etc. while she eats. I changed her free fed dry and she didn't eat any of that till I switched back either. She is very thin but not bony. She loves cut up shaved turkey and once in a while tuna and cut up hot dogs. But not everytime. i think maybe she was fed table scraps in her previous home, where ever that was. It may be time to offer something like tuna and shaved turkey to yours to see if they will eat. Once they start it seems to get better. A change like this does usually mean a problem, so I'm glad you are seeing the vet. All teh luck!

 

[lisahe]

I agree with the others about a vet visit sooner rather than later.

One thought, though. How old is Reese? This may sound like an odd question, but is there any chance at all that she might be constipated? Cats' motility decreases as they age so constipation can become more of a problem even if a cat isn't a senior. One of our cats (she's six) had very similar symptoms -- eating some but not as much as she should, but otherwise seeming absolutely fine -- that we resolved quickly by adding very small amounts of pureed pumpkin to her diet. (She gets probably less than 1/8 of a teaspoon, total, per day.) She also just seems like a happier cat now.

Beyond the constipation question, Ireland is a bit like di and bob's stray -- she eats very slowly and looks around a lot so a meal can take forever -- but making her food more appealing with crumbled Pure Bites chicken on top helps push her to eat faster.

 

[TobiDaDog]

She's right at a year old. I just saw her have a perfect poop, no straining no problems. She LOVES parmesan so I put a tiny bit of grated cheese over her food and she picked at it a little better. Funny thing is, she will get up and walk away after a few bites and I can usually pick her up and put her back in front of the food...and then she will get this look like 'oh look food!' and set back in. If that doesn't work, dabbing some on her nose seems to perk her appetite back up and she will continue eating.

No one is allowed to pet her while she eats...not anymore anyway. We call it her 'factory reset'. She gets touched and about five seconds after she gets up and wanders away. Every. Single. Time.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Are you able to get a good look inside her mouth? Maybe there is an issue going on with gums, tongue or elsewhere.

Milly had an interaction with a wasp last week. (It's kind of the season that wasps, bees, etc., are getting more active. One snuck into our apartment; we found it dead during a swiffer sweep.) It zapped the end of her tongue. She was only able to eat 1/3 or 1/2 portions of each of her regular-sized meals, and she chewed only on the left side of her mouth.

She's better this week.

 

[TobiDaDog]

PushPurrCatPaws Poor Milly!! That sounds awful. Reese has always been pretty good about letting me peek into her mouth so I had no trouble looking inside. All I found were pearly white teeth...nothing out of the ordinary and her breath doesn't smell or anything.

She doesn't seem to be hurting...she still plays tug 'o war and fetches toys without favoring her mouth.

 

[Tobermory]

A vet's in the plan soon, especially if this continues within the next day or so. I'm hoping for some advice in the meantime on how to get her to eat or if this kind of behavior is known to anyone else in the slightest.

I have a less-than-enthusiastic eater as well. Iris is not all that interested in food, but I can usually get her to eat by putting one (or more) of several toppers I keep for that purpose. A crumbled nugget of freeze-dried Stella & Chewy’s Duck Duck Goose, some crushed Northwest Naturals freeze-dried pork liver treats or the dust from the bottom of the package, bonito flakes, etc. She loves all of those so I’ll add some to the top of her food, and she’ll usually just keep eating once she’s through the topper. Sometimes I have to add more and put it in front of her again if she walks away before her meal is gone. Maybe some tasty treats as toppers?

 

[Tobermory]

Milly had an interaction with a wasp last week.

Poor Milly kitty! I’m glad her reaction wasn’t any worse.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Poor Milly kitty! I’m glad her reaction wasn’t any worse.

ME TOO.

 

[lisahe]

Hmm, I think toppers are the common denominator on this thread!

And also best wishes for Milly and her sting, ouch!

 

[Jem]

When you bring her to the vet, ask them too look into her nasal cavities. Maybe she's not food motivated because she can't smell very well. And if she has polyps and they have gotten worse, this may be the reason for the complete lack of interest.

 

[lisahe]

When you bring her to the vet, ask them too look into her nasal cavities. Maybe she's not food motivated because she can't smell very well. And if she has polyps and they have gotten worse, this may be the reason for the complete lack of interest.

That's an interesting point!

On another nose note, it is allergy season, at least where I live! And one of our cats has been sneezing every now and then; cats can definitely be affected by pollen.

 

[1 bruce 1]

TobiDaDog any news?

 

[TobiDaDog]

She did much better on her own this morning. She ate an entire can of American Journey. Her vet appointment is Tuesday.

 

[wrenboii]

How did it go?

 

[TobiDaDog]

Oh shoot I've been meaning to update here but I keep forgetting. The vet said that she is healthy...not even underweight or anything. He told me that sometimes cats just go off of their food because they're weirdos basically. He recommended heating the food to get her to eat it...initially she still kind of picked at it, but ever since then she's been scarfing her food like a normal cat so it must have worked! I haven't had problems in days.

 

[lisahe]

Yes, cats are weirdos! I find that our cats' appetites vary a lot. Now that it's (sort of) summer -- and warmer -- they nap more and eat a little less. Although now that the chipmunks are active around their veranda, they spend more time watching chipmunks and get hungrier. It's fairly easy to track their activity because I work at home but I'd have no clue about most of that if I were out of the house all day for a regular job!

At any rate, I'm glad to hear Reese is eating again.