I need help

Please help me i need some advice. My cat does not liek his usual food, he drinks quite a lot of water and keeps on plucking the hair on his breast. Otherwise he looks perfectly OK, his coat is shiny, he is active and so on.. What should i do? should i try a different type of food? and i really needs some advice on thi splucking of his

Sometimes cats get tired of eating the same food all the time, just like we do. That could be one reason why he's not eating his usual food. I've had to switch foods twice for this reason. The drinking of alot of water concerns me though, he could be doing this for many reasons. You might want to call and talk with your vet and see what he or she says. Many things can cause increased thirst such as diabetes, flea infestation, kidney problems, and the list goes on. Not sure about the plucking hair on chest, so you could bring that up to your vet also. I'm not trying to scare you about the increased thirst but it's better to be safe than sorry, and the sooner you find out for sure if anything is wrong you will feel better also.

Yes, please consult your vet about this. If it is a combinations of excess driniling and loss of apetite a vet should see the cat ASAP.

It is best to contact the vet. Plucking of furr can mean he has developed an allergy to the food,come into contact with a fungus or a possible sign of some kidney or thyroid problem.

thanks a lot all of you.it would be really nice to get to know you people. it's the first time i am in such a forum so any useful advice will be heartily welcome.
greetings from the other side of the world :-)

Aren't these folks here wonderful? I have gotten help and adivce here too and am also new to a forum - this is my only one!
I would like to hear how you make out with your cat - How old is he? I have had to switch foods too due to pickiness for my older 4 - and have one that needs her restricted calorie - when I ran out one time and tried another brand - boy, did Noodles let me know it! Finicky friends, these fur balls of ours - they really do rule the house!

Well, I should admit i'm not very persistent as regrads Eric's diet. Sometimes i decide that i'd try and find a suitable food for him and go chnage brands like crazy until he starts eating and sometimes i'd just give him dry food. Teh problem is he's got too much of a character and basically his eating habits are a battle of characters - it's either me or him sometimes. When he wants to eat, he eats but he doesn't always do so when i want him to eat.

As for his age, i don't really know how old he is. i'va had him for three years and a half already but he seems quite young. I know i should ask the vet about an approximate age but i never seem to get around to it.

Our kittens are between 4-5 wks. old and if we don't
stimulate them to have bowel movements they don't. Do you have any suggestions?

You dont have much of a choice. Lack of a mother has put you into this predicament. I would try and make sure they are getting some KMR it will help to loosen the stool and easier for them to get it out.

Theresa asked me (by email), at what age do kittens stop needing stimulating in order to have bowel movement? I said 4-5 weeks as this is my personal experience with orphaned kitties. Does anyone know something else about it?

Theresa - I'm glad to see you posting! Your question really deserves to be in a thread of its own, if you don't get any replies here, you may want to start a new thread about this (click on "new thread" instead of "post reply").

Not an expert, but I also stopped stimulating the 4 I have assisted at about 4 weeks of age - I think it also depends on how strong they are. Hope this helps.......
Do you ahve another cat who might help in this? My old Baby took over at times - he should have been a mother!