My cat won't eat

New here, looking for advice on my catâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s current problem, and hope to be a member longer too).

So my cat Xena wonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t eat. I moved about a month ago into a private apartment with my boyfriend, and just last Thursday I took my 7 year old cat, Xena to live with us since they allow cats. (Oh Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve been missing her). But… she wonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t eat.

The first day she just hid behind the couch, slowly coming out to explore, and only when I am around. By the next day she was following me around, cuddling with my boyfriend, and only hiding when we left the apartment. Over the weekend, she seemed to fully adjust, and shes super friendly and her normal self. So shes not scared.

The first two days she ate nothing, and I had to throw her food out. Over the weekend she ate a few bites, and tonight she ate a few bites of new food I put down. I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t think shes drank much water, if any, and she normally drinks a lot. The food brand is the same as what my parents fed her- I feed her a can wet food a day and there is always dry food out. I tried moving her food to different spots- thinking the kitchen it very large and she might be paranoid at any little sound. She doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t like people food- so I canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t give her anything else I have.

Shes meowing around, and rubbing up against everything, acting like she wants to be fed, and I put her next to her food, pet her and wait with her, or put her there and leave her alone and she just follows me, wanting to be fed.

I just talked to my mom and she says “If she is hungry enough, sheâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll eat.†Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m starting to get worried if this is serious enough to call a vet about. But a hungry cat with food in front of her who seems to be well adjusted? I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t get it.

Here is a picture of her, soooo cute:

Bring her to the vet.

Originally Posted by yayi

Bring her to the vet.

Click to expand...

I think I will call them tomarrow.

But HA! She just ate some more. I sat on the floor with her and she gobbled up some... but still not enough. As soon as I left she stopped eating, I went back in with her and shes trying to play with me.

She's adorable! And I'm glad she ate a bit more... but if I understand correctly, she's eaten and drunk very little in the past five days, and that's just too long.

If I were you, I'd run get some babyfood -- the kind for the very youngest babies, plain chicken with no spices or onions at all. I've never seen a cat who could resist that, and it always seems to get them excited about food again. Warm KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) is also great for cats who won't eat, or who just need some extra calories and tender loving care.

But I agree that you should also call the vet first thing in the morning -- because Xena might need some kind of supplement to help her recover the nutrients she's missed the past few days. And of course, it's always possible that the problem is not the move, but an illness of some sort that just happened to appear at this time.

She really is a beautiful little girl! I hope she'll feel better soon...

Why not try different food (a little mixed in with the old stuff at first). Cats are so fussy, and if she's sick of the old stuff, give her a break and try something else. Mine all get a different flavor of a couple of different kinds of food for supper, and another kind for breakfast, plus dry food each time. I don''t think she's sick, just slow to adjust, though if she's still not eating after a trial of 1-2 kinds of different food in a day or two, certainly go and check her out. She is sooo cute!

Good news. Xena is eating regularly again. My vet said that by the next day if she didn't eat to buy chicken baby food and/or force feed her. She was worried that I didn't see her drink anything. It is a good sign she wasn't hiding anymore though, she prolly just needed to adjust.

What got her eating is that I made her food area like the one she normally ate at. Before the cat area was in a basement room, where is was darker, quiet, small, and away from people. (...that kinda sounds like a dungeon, haha). Where I live now we have a RR apartment with huge ceilings, no closed spaces. So I set up a little kitty fort for privacy and that seemed to work.

I'm glad she's eating again. SHe was probably used to having her own little space. She is gorgeous...

That's very good news. Good job Xena is beautiful!!