For all i care he can starve to death!!!

Sorry, I'm not familiar with your situation. What foods have you tried and how have you introduced them? How is your cat's weight?

Changing food frequently can upset a cat's desire to eat. You really need to calm down. I don't know the full story behind what is going on with your kitty and I can only hope you have had him to the vet to check for illness. I also know that we have to give some of our kitties antacid or they get very upset stomachs and won't eat.

If your kitty starves to death then there has been something wrong with him that a vet should be able to help decipher. If he does just fine then your expectations of his caloric intake is unrealistic.

My advice, stop stressing yourself and your kitty out. He'll either be OK or he won't.....once you know which it is, you can make better decisions on his care. Watch for weight loss but don't obsess. My guess, barring a medical disorder, is that he will be just fine.

I'm not trying to be mean but you have to stop obsessing over this. Their appetites will come and go. Put the food out and be done with it. Watch his weight....don't guess, actually weigh him and chart it. He is growing and changing at 7 months, everything will ebb and flow during this time.

What does your vet say?

A lot of times, if you're a regular client, a vet will let you, or a tech, weigh a cat for free (I found this out when my boy was on a diet). It can't hurt to ask, anyway.  It is nervewracking when they don't eat - but they do pick up your stress as well.  Just wondering - I wonder if the vet might suggest Hills A/D for a bit, or something like it.  As I understand it, it's very calorie and nutrient dense, and most cats absolutely adore it - I used it when my girl was on Clavamox and wouldn't even eat her beloved turkey for me. And I can imagine how nervous you are about a kitten losing weight, rather than gaining.

 

He may just be a nibbler - my girl just doesn't eat much at any given time.  But she's an adult so I try to stay calm when her appetite goes up and down.

I am curious, do you reprimand him or yell at him when he doesn't eat to your desires? If so, this should not happen as it will just scare him further. If not, then that's good.

 

Pets are sweet gentle souls and they just need our patience and love. Sometimes my car Riley will eat a lot, and other days he will hardly touch his food at all. Like today. He's had less then a 1/3 cup and it's almost 7pm. Just depends on how he is feeling.

I TOTALLY get where you're coming from. We are STILL trying to get Buddy to eat something. He only nibbles at every single brand we've tried. He only wants to eat dry food but I can't have him on a dry diet as it makes his poo runny. Its very, very frustrating. I just got 3 new types of food and he only licked them. 

If you find a solution before we do, let me know, please!

 

 

Ya know, I have no idea how much each of my cats eats individually. I make sure I see everyone eat something at least once a day, but I don't monitor their exact intake. Maybe he's just one of those cats who isn't enthusaistic about food and will only eat enough to keep himself alive. Nothing wrong with that, and I really don't think he'd starve himself. Some cats always stay slim.

I guess what I would do at this point would be to pick a high-calorie dry food, put it out, and let him eat when and how much he wants, and not worry about it. I would probably still offer some canned food, but I know it's frustrating to spend that much on food if you don't have another pet who will eat it if he doesn't. So if you want to skip the canned food for a while I don't see any harm. Make sure he eats something every day (you can usually tell if some kibbles are missing), monitor his body condition (and call the vet if he starts looking dangerously underweight), and that's it. No fussing, no worrying, no measuring his intake.

I know that some dogs will stop eating if they think they can make you fuss and worry over them. . .I don't know if cats are the same. If so, he might start eating more. But even if he never does pick up an appetite, as long as he isn't starving, call it good enough.

I wouldn't worry about him.  Keep some dry food down, and he's not likely to starve to death.

 

We have one cat (Flambe) who is not very food motivated.  Oh, he comes running when I get out the treats, but I almost never see him eating the dry food.  He IS skinny, but he eats the soft food in the morning and evening.  I'm not sure he eats much dry food, except for stealing the kittens's food.

 

 

With Mia I leave food down 24/7 for her (dry of course). She eats just a tad bit at a time. I put a 1/3 cup down in the morning when I get up and a 1/3 cup down in the evening. Sometimes its all gone. Sometimes not. However I dont stand over her to watch her eat. She comes and goes as she pleases. She is 6 months old and is slim but not anorexic.

 

I would just put his food down and leave it for the day and let him come and go as he pleases and see how that works. He might feel a little stifiled from being watched so closely. Dont give up hope!  :)  Keep us updated.

Before my mother passed away, I would go up to her house and there would be at least three plates of different kitty food sitting there.  Mom would get so frustrated at her because she would nibble and she "didn't like" the food she put out, according to her.

 

When mom passed away,  Little Girl came to live with me.  I put one type of food out, and was done with it.

 

Little Girl lived for a long time after, and died of old age...not starvation.

 

Please try not to obcess.  I really don't pay much attention to what my kitties eat.   I know I also can get my cats weighed for free at the vets. Please look into that.  I really don't know of any cats that have died of starvation while food has been offered.  Unless something else was going on.

It is possible he is at a growing stand-still at the moment and is just not as hungry as he was as a baby kitten. But... if he continues to lose weight - at seven month's - he needs a vet. . He is still a growing kitten. I think you might be worrying a bit too much. Just leave the food out like you are doing and give it a few days - monitor exactly how much wet you are leaving out at each feeding so you can know exactly how many calories he is taking in or not taking in. Same for the dry. If he is eating way under at least 20 calories per pound (his weight) then he will lose more weight and something might be going on medically. At this point, if he is looking good weight-wise then let him tell you how much he needs to eat or not to eat. If he continues to lose some weight, then he needs a vet check.....

When Rosie was a kitten she would lick the jelly and leave the rest. Like you l kept changing her food but it made no difference. She would sniff at her dry food and when l told the vet he said she'll eat it if she's hungry.

 

I left her dry food out like the vet said and she started eating it, so leave some quality kitten kibbles out for her and when she's ready she'll eat it, but try and stop stressing because she'll pick up on it.

Sometimes our kitten Molly (4 months old), doesn't fancy her meal, and she leaves it, but then our other cat, Roxy, will eat it! Molly's going to learn not to leave her food! Both my girls have biscuits available all the time, so they can pick at them. Cat's appetite's do fluctuate. Have you tried kitten milk for your little one? Perhaps the vet could give you telephone advice for free?

I don't get why you're getting so stressed out about it - just leave out some dry food for him.  Give him treats (temptations, etc) to encourage eating beforehand. 

 

Try some probiotic yogourt? My cat loves yogourt, lol.

My now 8 month old kitten Chacho sometimes doesn't eat hardly any of his food. I give him a mix of wet nutro kitten food and dry kitten science diet, I feed him twice a day. Once in the morning when I get home from work around 8am then again a night around 10pm. Sometimes I run out a wet so I just give him the dry food until I get the chance to buy canned. I usually give him 1/4 of a can of the wet and about a 1/3 cup of the dry each meal. If he's only getting dry, I follow what it says on the bag to give him. After his intial weight gain after we first adopted him, his weight has been a steady, healthy weight. Even though usually he eats more of the wet/dry mix there are days that he may take only a few bites when I first put it down then he'll pretty much leave it alone the whole day/night until maybe eating a few bites here and there. When he just has straight dry, like he has right now until I get paid, he doesn't even eat any when I first get home and then he won't eat any of it except for a nibble. Usually with the dry there's so much of his first meal in the bowl at night that I usually don't have to put more in before I go to work at night.   Occasionally he's like that with his wet dry mix but I usually dump out the old stuff and give some fresh because at that point it looks kind of dry and nasty.

 

I've never had any problems with all the cats not eating I've had in my life but I don't worry about Chacho when he doesn't touch his food. If he's hungry he'll eat. I actually perfer when he just nibbles on his food throughout the day because sometimes if cats eat too fast it can cause them to have tummy aches and/or throw up.   Sometimes he seems to stuff his face first thing in the morning and I jokingly tell him that he's going to give himself a tummy ache if he doesn't stop being a piggy.

 

So like everyone else is saying, don't make this a big deal, just make sure food is available for him at all times.  I would suggest that you skip any treats because that's only going to make him less hungry therefore he will be even less tempted to eat his actual food.

Sorry you're still going through this with your kitty. I too was getting really stressed with my cat not eating. I find it comes and goes in waves with him...I might actually start to chart it just cause.

I don't think they will willingly starve themselves, but I get how frustrating it is to throw out so much food. I've done the same. Loki was eating like a piggy...but now he's sick and Isis has stopped eating. I don't know if it's stress or they don't like the food...or what. Two nights ago I gave Isis some dry cause she was acting hungry...she ate it all. I had to be away a lot of yesterday so I left her some dry again, hasn't been touched in 24 hours! What gives??

 

Of note I have had much more success with the kitties eating since I cut out dry food. Isis's eating problems have started since I gave her dry again. I dunno if it's a coincidence or something to watch for. Some cats maybe can't handle the 2 options...pick one or the other? Might be worth a try

If this just started (for some reason I was thinking he was always picky) and he looks like he wants to eat but doesn't, I wonder if it's a mouth problem. If he'll let you, try to take a look in his mouth. Could be a string around his tongue or a bad tooth or something.

I really am sorry that your cat is not eating well but you are coming off very, very angry that your cat is not eating. I am sure you are upset but you do sound a bit mad at your cat over this and that is wrong. If Cynder was meowing for food this morning - you put the food down and he walk's away After this many days - that would be a red flag to me that he is trying to tell you something is wrong. I seem to just be repeating myself here - but if that what it takes then so be it. Take your kitten to the vet. A kitten of his age should be eating more than 1/4 cup of dry food a day that is only about 100 calories - and that is why he is losing weight. Poor Cynder

Just my opinion but personally I wouldn't be leaving out wet food all night!,  what is he like with tune flakes maybe try adding that to the top of the wet food when you serve it might encourage him to eat a bit more of the cat food and maybe reduce the tuna add a little bit more wet food  just a thought because eating something is better than not eating at all

 

I agree with just leaving the dry down especially only having the one cat

You can perhaps borrow a scale from some neighour or relative?

 

It IS socially accepted, if you in time om real need do ask for help / borrowing from your neigbours.  Even neigbours with whom you usually dont talk.

 

So it is true in Sweden, a country wellknown for its "keep for themselves" people.  So is true surely also in your country.

 

I do have one idea.  Playing on nice, soft, calming music may perhaps be the trick?  It works in good restaurants. It may also work in your house.   :)

 

Good luck!   *vibes*

 

I agree that he definitely should be checked by a vet for dental/health problems. Other than that, have you tried more variety? Cats in the wild don't have just one type of prey, because they'd starve if that prey became too scarce. I always have three different brands of dry open and three or four different brands of wet in a variety of flavors, because Jamie won't eat the same brand more than twice in one week (I mix the dry foods the 7th day). It's never caused him or Miezi (or our former "foster", ZsaZsa) any digestive problems and keeps mealtimes interesting. Rotating brands also makes it easier to introduce prescription food should it become necessary.

While some cats experience digestive upset when a new food is introduced, that's by no means the case for most of them, and a lot of the "you have to stick to one brand only" advice is a myth propagated by food producers, not vets.