Maybe the folks here can offer some advice...I've just about exhausted all possibilities with trying to feed my cat Kip. He was never a picky eater before - he ate the Purina Urinary Tract Health kibbles the other kitties ate for years and managed to plump up. Lately, though, he's been being a finicky little snot and he's losing weight from it. He's not interested in the Purina kibbles - he might pick at them for a couple seconds, but nothing much. He was eating canned food every day for a while, but now doesn't want it; before, he ate whatever canned food I put in front of him. Friskies, Meow Mix, Fancy Feast, he ate it all. Now if he so much as sniffs the wet food, it's a good day. Usually he'll just stare at it or back away from it like it's nuclear waste.
I've tried everything to get him to eat...made sure he didn't get the same brand or flavor two days in a row, tried mixing pate with warm water or nuking it for about 4 seconds to get it warm, tried the shredded wet food instead of pate, tried mixing it with milk (since he seems to like cow's milk), even tried dabbing the gravy on his nose to show him that it was food. Even tried meat baby food. The most he'll do is lap at the food maybe once or twice, but then he leaves the rest. I've tried leaving it out for him, still nothing.
Recently, I tried giving him Purina dry kitten chow. I know he used to like that when I fed it to Caspurr - I caught him chowing down on it a few times, but he's turning his nose up at that too! The only way he'll eat the kitten chow is if I place a few kibbles in front of him, and even then, he may only eat 5 teaspoonfuls of kibbles. I do leave his kitten food out all day because if he happens to get hungry, I want him to eat.
I don't know what's the matter with him, and I can't believe he's that stubborn that he'd rather starve than eat canned food. For a former stray, he is by far the most finicky cat I've ever seen. And why he started doing it out of nowhere is beyond me. He's fine otherwise - drinking, peeing, normal behavior and sleeping patterns. I still find some stools in the cat box, so he's eating some. And while he's not an unhealthy weight, I would like to get him back up to his old 15 pounds (I'm guessing that's his former weight. Now he's more like maybe 11). I really don't want to force feed him, but I will if I have to. Why's he doing this? I don't think it's in response to my kitty Rolly being gone since the behavior started before Rolly got sick. Note, I started feeding him more wet food because I noticed he has some trouble picking up dry kibbles and I assumed he lost some more teeth. He only had about half his teeth when I found him, so I figured he had no front teeth to pick up food with. But he can pick up his dry kitten food just fine. Where there's a will, there's a way, it seems.
The one thing he continues to actually like is deli turkey. I've tried putting it on or under wet catfood and he just picks the turkey out and leaves the rest. This cat turns down wet catfood (even walks away from cooked chicken), but will eat bizarre things like canteloupe and sweet potato chips. I might consider just not feeding him for a day, but he probably does that by himself already, so it won't do any good. I've never had a picky cat, so I don't know what to do. Should I put him on appetite stimulants? I'm sick of throwing away catfood or feeding it to the dogs. Kip has never had a big appetite before, but why in the world is he so picky all of a sudden? He did eat a can of Fancy Feast (I forget what flavor) a few days ago when I left it in one of his sleeping spots, but that trick never worked again. I just lost two kitties about a month apart and I really don't want a third one getting sick because he's decided to starve himself.
I've tried everything to get him to eat...made sure he didn't get the same brand or flavor two days in a row, tried mixing pate with warm water or nuking it for about 4 seconds to get it warm, tried the shredded wet food instead of pate, tried mixing it with milk (since he seems to like cow's milk), even tried dabbing the gravy on his nose to show him that it was food. Even tried meat baby food. The most he'll do is lap at the food maybe once or twice, but then he leaves the rest. I've tried leaving it out for him, still nothing.
Recently, I tried giving him Purina dry kitten chow. I know he used to like that when I fed it to Caspurr - I caught him chowing down on it a few times, but he's turning his nose up at that too! The only way he'll eat the kitten chow is if I place a few kibbles in front of him, and even then, he may only eat 5 teaspoonfuls of kibbles. I do leave his kitten food out all day because if he happens to get hungry, I want him to eat.
I don't know what's the matter with him, and I can't believe he's that stubborn that he'd rather starve than eat canned food. For a former stray, he is by far the most finicky cat I've ever seen. And why he started doing it out of nowhere is beyond me. He's fine otherwise - drinking, peeing, normal behavior and sleeping patterns. I still find some stools in the cat box, so he's eating some. And while he's not an unhealthy weight, I would like to get him back up to his old 15 pounds (I'm guessing that's his former weight. Now he's more like maybe 11). I really don't want to force feed him, but I will if I have to. Why's he doing this? I don't think it's in response to my kitty Rolly being gone since the behavior started before Rolly got sick. Note, I started feeding him more wet food because I noticed he has some trouble picking up dry kibbles and I assumed he lost some more teeth. He only had about half his teeth when I found him, so I figured he had no front teeth to pick up food with. But he can pick up his dry kitten food just fine. Where there's a will, there's a way, it seems.
The one thing he continues to actually like is deli turkey. I've tried putting it on or under wet catfood and he just picks the turkey out and leaves the rest. This cat turns down wet catfood (even walks away from cooked chicken), but will eat bizarre things like canteloupe and sweet potato chips. I might consider just not feeding him for a day, but he probably does that by himself already, so it won't do any good. I've never had a picky cat, so I don't know what to do. Should I put him on appetite stimulants? I'm sick of throwing away catfood or feeding it to the dogs. Kip has never had a big appetite before, but why in the world is he so picky all of a sudden? He did eat a can of Fancy Feast (I forget what flavor) a few days ago when I left it in one of his sleeping spots, but that trick never worked again. I just lost two kitties about a month apart and I really don't want a third one getting sick because he's decided to starve himself.
Definitely, have it all done. And I wouldn't put it off. Weight loss can be very harmful in cats. The liver could fail.
would be developing another resorptive lesion he would go off his wet food and I would have to give him kibble until I could get him to the vet. My guess is that the wet food would get into the tiny holes in his tooth landing on the exposed nerves. Kibble he ate whole so there were no crumbs or pieces to cause pain.
