Recently adopted cat won't eat...

[tpapictures]

There isn't a whole lot of info to give but...
1. We brought our cat home yesterday, he's an older guy from a shelter, 11 years old. He had been surrendered by the previous owner.
2. He had been eating a Hill's Dental care food, nothing in the shelter vet's analysis suggested a need for that food.
3. Shelter had been giving him some Seafood Friskies garbage that he seemed ok with.
4. He refused to eat that stuff when we got him home, we tried some food we had, he seemed to eat a bit. We let it go that it was a small amount given his stress of being in a new home
5. Today, the second day, he's still not eating a lot, has vomited just foamy saliva twice (nothing much in his belly anyway)

He's used his litter twice, is super super friendly with us, plays with toys, seems very comfy exploring and resting in the room we have him in. He's in this room as part of an introduction to our resident cat. But he won't eat. We are not sure what to do. As I said, all signs from the vet at this rescue shelter were that he was in fine health. A bit dehydrated. The one thing he has done here is drink and pee so I think we're good on that end.

Any thoughts? Ways to get him to eat? Are we expecting too much too soon?

Thanks!!

 

[maggie101]

Take him to the vet. He is senior so they will do full blood work. Can you check his gums? Try feeding him smooth pate

 

[tpapictures]

Take him to the vet. He is senior so they will do full blood work. Can you check his gums? Try feeding him smooth pate

This rescue center has an on site vet. He just had blood work done a few weeks ago. He's in good health. I will try to check his gums but I dont want to have the great work we've done earning his trust to be spoiled by shoving my hands in his mouth. We've tried our other cat's pate, he wasnt into it. We have other foods to try.

 

[cejhome]

Try some good stinky stuff - good quality chicken/fish, or something like that. We had the same problem with our Buddy when we adopted him. Happy, playful, littler box fine, but wouldn't eat at first. Just a tiny bit here and there. I was so worried. Tried so many different types of food. Finally found a chicken one - I think Tiki or Petco Soulistic brand that he liked - it was chunks of chicken with a lot of juice, and a chicken/fish chunk one. He also loved and still does a Soulistic Lamb and Tuna Hydro something or other sort of very juicy almost Pate. That jump started him.

I also figured out that during the first few weeks we had him, he needed me to pet him in order for him to eat - while he was eating, then we graduated to me just sitting next to him, then finally, he was fine eating on his own. I do believe he was really worried about other cats coming around and getting his food - he'd look all around before he'd eat and keep looking around. Habit for him, as we have no other pets. He may have smelled our kitty that passed away before we adopted him. He ate garbage food at the shelter and the same food at his first "home". They told me what it was. He absolutely wouldn't touch either.

He turned out to be allergic to chicken, but once we got him eating, he did fine. Try a few different textures to see if anything perks his interest. Maybe some tuna water on top of the food - just a tiny bit? Buddy's not an older guy - he was only 3-ish when we adopted him last year. I think with Buddy, he just needed to decompress and realize he was home. He was a stray, was trapped as a TNR when he was 1-ish. TNR folks realized he wasn't feral after the fact, got him to a rescue, was adopted out, then returned (thank goodness) 1 year after that.

Don't get a a bunch of whatever you try - get a few cans. Dry food get the smallest container you can. Sometimes stores have samples.

If he still won't eat for you, please take him to your regular vet - maybe he is having teeth issues, or too much stress. He needs to eat and drink and keep it down! Please don't wait - seniors can develop issues quickly.

 

[tpapictures]

Try some good stinky stuff - good quality chicken/fish, or something like that. We had the same problem with our Buddy when we adopted him. Happy, playful, littler box fine, but wouldn't eat at first. Just a tiny bit here and there. I was so worried. Tried so many different types of food. Finally found a chicken one - I think Tiki or Petco Soulistic brand that he liked - it was chunks of chicken with a lot of juice, and a chicken/fish chunk one. He also loved and still does a Soulistic Lamb and Tuna Hydro something or other sort of very juicy almost Pate. That jump started him.

I also figured out that during the first few weeks we had him, he needed me to pet him in order for him to eat - while he was eating, then we graduated to me just sitting next to him, then finally, he was fine eating on his own. I do believe he was really worried about other cats coming around and getting his food - he'd look all around before he'd eat and keep looking around. Habit for him, as we have no other pets. He may have smelled our kitty that passed away before we adopted him. He ate garbage food at the shelter and the same food at his first "home". They told me what it was. He absolutely wouldn't touch either.

He turned out to be allergic to chicken, but once we got him eating, he did fine. Try a few different textures to see if anything perks his interest. Maybe some tuna water on top of the food - just a tiny bit? Buddy's not an older guy - he was only 3-ish when we adopted him last year. I think with Buddy, he just needed to decompress and realize he was home. He was a stray, was trapped as a TNR when he was 1-ish. TNR folks realized he wasn't feral after the fact, got him to a rescue, was adopted out, then returned (thank goodness) 1 year after that.

Don't get a a bunch of whatever you try - get a few cans. Dry food get the smallest container you can. Sometimes stores have samples.

If he still won't eat for you, please take him to your regular vet - maybe he is having teeth issues, or too much stress. He needs to eat and drink and keep it down! Please don't wait - seniors can develop issues quickly.

Very good points all around. This is our 5th senior. So we know exactly what the concerns are. He was used to eating dry food apparently so we started with that, reluctantly, but I think we just want to try anything that might grab his interest. I've got a chicken breast defrosting in the fridge right now to try a little piece of later. We need to head out to buy our resident cat some more of his food and we'll see what other kinds of food we can bring home. We have an assortment of cans that haven't worked with our cat to try as well.
Thanks!

 

[maggie101]

This rescue center has an on site vet. He just had blood work done a few weeks ago. He's in good health. I will try to check his gums but I dont want to have the great work we've done earning his trust to be spoiled by shoving my hands in his mouth. We've tried our other cat's pate, he wasnt into it. We have other foods to try.

My cat just had tooth resorption done. It can be a disease that starts early. There is paste to rub on their gums or brushing. She is 11 yrs old. Vet needs to check his teeth

Dental Disease in Cats | VCA Animal Hospital | VCA Animal Hospitals

 

[Alldara]

Try popping some food through a blender with some hot water. That's a great way to entice.

Do you have any kitten food at home? It's usually stronger smelling and easy to digest. Some KMR could do in a pinch.

You might have to ask the shelter vet if they have a few cans of recovery you can buy.

Propping the food up or trying to hand feed are also good ideas to try.

Also any luck with a Churu or something similar just to get something in to him?

 

[lisahe]

Our experience with four newly adopted cats -- even two very hungry ones that had been chronically underfed -- is that they don't eat much for the first few days. They're too busy exploring or hiding, too busy trying to figure out where they are.

Our current two cats were sent home with a small supply of what they'd been fed at the shelter: Iams dry food and Friskies pates. They were used to those and ooh is Friskies odoriferous! As A Alldara mentions, you get get even more smell out of wet food by warming it with some water. A cat with dental problems might appreciate the opportunity to lap it up, too. One of our cats was so shy that she didn't come out of the corner of the duvet cover very often for the first week. Fortunately, the corner made it easy to stick a little dish in there. The smell really gets strong in the corner of a duvet cover.

Good luck!