Eating Problems Still...

My Simon received a thorough examination from a vet who specializes in felines. Everything looked fine, including the inside of his mouth, so it's not soreness preventing him from eating.

When I get home from work, I find that he's barely touched his dry food (I do see him eat bits of it when I am home). He'll scarf down canned food, if it's not been refrigerated (in that case, he only nibbles a bit).

Tonight, I mixed room-temp. canned food with his dry food, and he looked at me like I was crazy.

He continues to cry in the kitchen, as if saying, "I'm hungry; this isn't what I want."

How on earth does one appease a cat without blowing one's budget and/ or losing one's mind? I'll listen to anymore suggestions.

Thanks,

Jenk

Is it possible that Simon's lonliness during the day could be causing his big drop in appetite? Like I've said, he does eat here and there, just not like he used to. My husband and I were home with him for nearly three months before we returned to work full-time. After five weeks on the job, I noticed a decrease in his appetite. My husband thinks it could be a combo of lonliness and a finicky appetite. Any thoughts?

Jenk

...so he's seen the Vet and doesn't have a cold or virus or anything... (because when cats can't smell their food, often they won't eat).

Hmmmmmm.... hissy knows lots of tricks to help fatten up kitties and if I remember correctly, a little catnip added to the food helps increase the appetite...

Whether it could be loneliness or not, I don't know. My completely uninformed opinion would be that if it were that it would turn up earlier than five weeks, but... ????

I don't know what you've tried and what you haven't, but I do have one idea.

I don't know what food you feed him, but maybe try switching to Eukanuba. It shouldn't be that expensive as it's a supermarket food, but here's why I suggest it. (When switching foods, mix a little in with the food you've been feeding at first. Over a period of 5 dyas to a week, make the mix more and more of the new food. This will help avoid kitty getting an upset stomach and/or diarrhea).

We constantly switch the food we feed our kids because we didn't want them to become finnicky eaters. We mix things like Royal Cannin, Felidae, Science Diet, Purina One Hairball, etc. All kinds of stuff. BUT we tried Eukanuba once. It was all they would eat. As a human, you can smell a noticeable difference - Eukanuba is STINKY food! It's not the healthiest food in the world for your kitty, but if he's not eating and it's not a "psychological" (behavioral) problem, the stronger smell of Eukanuba might stimulate his appetite.

Worth a try?

One other thought. When you come home, play really hard with your kitty, then feed him. Playing stimulates the cat's appetite. (Read this in a book by a Vet). But it makes sense... in nature, ferals hunt mice or whatever prey, then they attack it and eat it. In a home, the closest you can get to simulating / stimulating this instinct is to play with a wand toy, mimmicking the hunt/attack, then feed kitty.

Just thoughts....

LDG,

Simon has been fed nothing but Eukenuba dry since he was weaned from his mamma's milk. And, yes, it smells pretty bad (makes Simon's breath even worse).

The vet suggested that we switch him to an adult formula, since he wasn't touching his dry kitten food. But he's not really touching his adult dry food, either.

He shows *no* signs of a cold or infection. His breathing is fine, no discharge from his eyes and/ or nose. Nothing. Besides, I don't think he'd be begging for food, then, if he couldn't smell. (He still eats his treats, which he gets *very* infrequently.)

Crazy-Cat-Lover,

He's never had a table scrap, never will. I don't want to get mixed up in that racket. LOL

Jenk

Hello, sorry to hear your baby won't eat! My Harry was, and is, very finicky and I tried EVERY food on him. In desparation, I asked a pet food store owner for help and he gave me a sample of Royal Canin formula for "sensitive" (finicky) cats. Well, Harry LOVED it. It is pricey though. The other foods my finicky guy enjoys are: fancy feast wet food (chicken varieties), hairball remedy treats, tuna water over his dry food and plain bread (but I give him that very rarely as a little treat).

Harry definitely trained me. He just wouldn't eat anything until I gave him something really good.

DANGER WILL ROBINSON! Don't give your house pet catnip in their food, or you will find a cat that will only eat the food if their is catnip in it. That only works with wild cats in colonies for some reason. Otherwise, you will have one finicky eater.

Jenks, the cats are turned on by texture and shape, not by aroma. Have you tried any of the Royal Canin special blends? I have had great luck with their products.

Hissy,

Don't worry; I won't add catnip to Simon's food.

As for Royal Canin, I can try it, but I'm not as impressed its indgredients as I am with, say, Felidae or Wellness (but Wellness costs too much for my wallet). Here are the ingredients for Royal Canin's dry kitten formula:

Chicken meal, chicken, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), corn flour, beet pulp, chicken flavor, powdered cellulose, fish oil, brewers yeast, potassium chloride, dried egg product, chicory extract, taurine, salt, choline chloride, DL-methionine, natural antioxidant, iron proteinate, vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, zinc oxide, zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, manganese oxide, calcium pantothenate, manganese proteinate, niacin supplement, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, copper proteinate, calcium iodate, folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite, vitamin B12 supplement.

I'm not thrilled with corn gluten meal, corn flour, powdered cellulose (what is that?) being rather high on the list. But I'm reaching my wits end; I'm afraid Simon will get sick, if he keeps up his nibbling routine.

Jenk

Jenk at the beginning of this year, I was asked to do a review of Royal Canin food, and before I agreed, I did research on the company and looked into how it made its blends and what they put inside of it. I can only pass on to you some of the notes I made to myself-

"powdered cellulose is used in all applications of pet food, both wet and dry. It is an anti-caking agent that adds fiber to the mixture without increasing moisture. It is found in many pet snacks as it increases chewing time and reduces breakage of the product once it has been packed and sealed."

See? I should just keep out of this forum! I didn't realize hissy's advice to me applied only to ferals (which is what I work with).

Jenk, I'm so sorry for giving you inappropriate advice (re: catnip)!!!!

Please let us know what else you try and how it goes. All I can say is that I'm sending prayers your way for Simon to eat!

Laurie

if simon won't eat refrgerated wet food, mix a spoon or too of hot water in it, my cats love that! it make it softer and warm....

I would not leave food out for him during the day when you are not home. His intake should be monitored acuratley.

play for 10-20mins if you can in the morning and evening before you feed him. ann stay in the room while he eats. this might make him look fwd to meals. (have you tried the lazer toy?)

if he still won't eat, you must change flavors of food, you will find the one he is happy with or get his appetite back.

when one of my cats had the flu, she wouldn't eat all kinds of wet/dry food until I got her seefood flavor wet food, then she ate her regular dry again..

Cookie,

Simon's vet advised against feeding him seafood-flavored food, especially canned. She said that if he is on the road to becoming a finicky eater, giving him something that tastes like fish might encourage him to eschew everything else. I don't know for sure if that would be the case, but to play it safe, I'm not giving him any seafood-flavored food--at least not canned. I'm not sure if the dry version would be bad to give him or not.

Jenk

GurlPower,

Hissy recommended that I try mixing wet and dry food to entice Simon to eat. Unfortunately, the plan didn't work. (Simon looked at me like I was playing a joke on him.) But Hissy knows her stuff; I'm pretty sure it's okay to mix wet and dry foods, as long as you don't leave the mix sitting out all day long.

Wellness is a bit pricey for my liking. Believe me, I love Simon to pieces. But if I won't spend that kind of money on my husband's diet, I can't justify spending that amount for our kitty. Wellness has some great ingredients, but the price tag shows it.

Jenk

Hi Jenk,

I guess if your vet advised you against seafood flavor, you should do so. I was just giving my expirience with a cat who wouldn't eat. Usually, when a cat is sick, and refusing to eat almost anything, they will still not resist stinky wet food (fish flavor), and this just gets their appetite going again, and they return to the usual food they always eat with no complaints...but I guess Simon case is a tough one.

My cats do really love the sea food flavor wet food, (it's not seefood, just flavor) and I only give it to them once a month or so as a treat...they seem to be ok with that (very excited and vocal during this time which I love seeing them get so hpyed up!)..

Perhaps buy small cans of the wet food he likes, and just feed him that 2X a day, since you know which wet food he will eat...

also I must emphasize the play time, and it seems this may be the only way to stimulate his appetite, if you can't try different foods...

Your vet is probably right. Our cat loves any kind of seafood cat food, and it is difficult to get him to eat poultry or beef. We haven't had too many problems with dry food, but the canned food I buy is usually "chicken & shrimp", "beef & tuna", etc.. I worry about heavy metals in fish, and also because JC's sister is allergic to any food with tuna. He likes Felidae kibble, but won't eat the canned Felidae. Have you tried "zapping" his canned food in the microwave for a couple of seconds? If you don't like the sound of that, mixing hot water in with his food might do the trick.