Extremely Odd Situation: Cat Refuses to Eat or Drink at Home--will only eat and drink at the VET

This is a really odd situation with a long backstory.

My mom has had a kitty named Starla for the past 10 years. Starla came from the animal shelter where I used to work--she had been there over a year, because she is FIV positive, and no one wanted her. She lived in her cage by day and was allowed to roam the office and lobby at night.

Starla has never had any complications from her FIV--in fact, she has been a very healthy cat in general. However, she is VERY intelligent and VERY quirky--she can't be manipulated or cajoled like other cats. If she doesn't want to do something, she simply won't do it. She's an extraordinarily picky eater--she has been offered a vast variety of foods over the years, but will ONLY eat Purina Indoor formula (yes, my parents have tried getting her to eat Call of the Wild and Blue Buffalo, but she would literally starve herself for days, so they had to put her back on the Purina).

So we've already established that Starla has a weird hang-up when it comes to eating--and it should also be noted that she won't even eat people food like yogurt or chicken or ANYTHING that's not her Purina Indoor (she won't even eat canned food).

About a month ago, Starla got an upper respiratory infection and my mom took her to the vet. She got medicine and was better again after about a week. During this time, her appetite waned, but we figured that was to be expected due to the illness. Well...even after she fully recovered, she refused to eat, so my parents tried to hand feed her some canned food. She got VERY upset and hid under the bed for the rest of the day. And so began the vicious cycle.

Worried that there was something still wrong with Starla, my mom took her to the vet. She immediately started eating and drinking like a pig. She stayed for a few days and my mom brought her back home. Once again, she stopped eating or drinking. The vet said to wait it out, but four days later, Starla was very dehydrated and losing weight rapidly (she is a tiny kitty to begin with), so my mom took her back to the vet, where she immediately started eating and drinking again.

My parents brought her back home, and again, she stopped eating and drinking. By this time, they were about to leave on a trip, and while they usually have a petsitter come to the house, they decided to just board Starla. After about four days of not eating or drinking, Starla went to be boarded. For a whole week at the vet's, she ate and drank perfectly.

My parents picked her up after the trip, and she went right back to not eating or drinking. So after a few days, she went back to the vet. Again. She ate and drank, and now she's back home and--of course--not eating or drinking. My mom is at her wit's end. She has tried replicating the vet's set-up for Starla--a cage in a small, dark room, but Starla got VERY upset by that. She has tried appetite stimulants, but they only make Starla agitated--and she still doesn't eat.

There was one other time in Starla's life when she quit eating--right after my mom adopted her from the shelter--and the shelter vet gave her a shot of Valium. That seemed to "kick start" her, and she started eating again.

Starla seems to have connected my mom's house with not eating, so we were thinking that maybe a mobile vet could come give Starla a shot of Valium at home so that she would start eating there. She talked to the mobile vet in our town, and the vet refused to do it, since Starla doesn't seem to have any other health issues.

Starla can't live at the vet's for the rest of her life, but she also can't be allowed to starve herself to death.

I've spent many, many years working with animals, and I have never seen anything like this. Ever. The cat literally thinks going to the vet is the best thing ever--she starts purring and head butting all of the staff members whenever she gets dropped off.

I've told my mom she should take her back to the vet and leave her there while we try to figure out what to do, but what CAN we do?? Do you think the valium idea might work, if we can get someone to come do it??

Please help. I'm 600 miles away from my mom, and I have no clue what to do. At this point, I'm just praying fervently that she comes to her senses and starts eating/drinking again. We're all at our wit's end. BTW: her Purina Indoor gets sent with her to the vet--so she is eating the same food as usual whilst at the vet. My parents even tried bringing home her bowls that she was eating from when she stays at the vet, but it had no impact on her.

Thank you so much.

That indeed is a very strange issue! I wonder apart from being ill would there have been anything at all that might have triggered a fright while she was actually eating and drinking from the last time she stopped at home?

Valium is known to be an appetite stimulant in cats but I don't think it's meant for long term usage. Perhaps the vet can give your mum some valium tablets to give Starla to try encourage her to eat. Perhaps mum could handfeed the purina to her and see if that makes a difference rather than out of the bowl?

I'm just tossing ideas out there for you! Hopefully this can be resolved.

@Kelsie Gray

Were they feeding the cat the same thing as she usually gets or a different food at the vet? If different (ie, if you didn't supply the food) then maybe she likes what they serve and is now addicted to it.  If she gets something different, find out what it is and start serving it.

Can you get the same dishes they use at the clinic? She might associate with them.

I would find also find out what food she got at the vet clinic.   Since she is so determined about what food she gets she may now have a different food that is the one she will eat.

Hey guys, thanks for your replies!

To answer your suggestions: my parents tried putting her in a cage similar to the one she had at the clinic, and she flipped out.

My parents DID bring her food and water dishes that she used at the vet's, but it didn't make any difference.

Finally, the food she was eating at the clinic was the Purina Indoor she always eats--my parents sent it with her.

Starla went back to the vet's this morning because she was so weak from lack of food or water. Infuriatingly, as soon as they put her in her cage, she started to eat and drink. It's completely baffling and incredibly frustrating. My mom is going to talk to the director of the shelter this afternoon--it's the shelter where Starla came from. I used to work there for 8 years, so I have some pull and we're going to try to work something out where Starla can live at the shelter for a few months (provided she starts eating once at the shelter) and maybe we can try bringing her home after a long while has passed to see if whatever her phobia or psychological issue might be has passed.

I've seen cats refuse to eat for many, many, many reasons...but I've never seen a cat who loved going to the vet and would only eat whilst there, and not in the safety of her own home. Something has happened to make her dislike either my parents' house or my parents themselves, but we've no clue what that could possibly be!

As much as it grieves my mother to send her back to the shelter, it would grieve her even more if Starla died from a preventable cause. I've never seen a cat who wouldn't at least drink water--I've never seen a cat starve/dehydrate herself to near death and then start pigging out/drinking the moment she goes to the vet. It's beyond perplexing. Hopefully we can work something out with the shelter. Starla lived there for over a year before her adoption 10 years ago, and she seemed much happier there than any of the other cats. She has always preferred living in small spaces--she hardly ever leaves my parent's bedroom, for example, which is where her food, water, and litterbox are. Perhaps she has a touch of senility in her older age?? I was wondering if maybe even an anti-anxiety drug wouldn't help her. My mother said she would hide under the bed whenever my mom pulled back the drapes in the morning to let the sunlight in. It's as though she's afraid of light and space and wants to be in the tiniest, darkest space possible. I think a consult with a behaviorist could be helpful, but I'm not sure. Maybe even an animal communicator might be of use, though I have my trepidations about their validity.

Just wanted to give you all an update/a little more info. This seems to be a pretty unique case with no easy answers.

That is so odd.  My kitties absolutely hate going to the vet, one of them gets so stressed she poos in the carrier as soon as I walk in the vet's building with her.

It's completely baffling and about the oddest thing I have ever heard.  I feel like we're missing something but the most obvious thing is that there is a stressor (real or perceived) in the home.  I agree I don't think the cat should be in your home while she is doing this.

Why was your cat at the vet in the first place?

Have you tried to assist feed her with an oral syringe? That's what I do with one of my cats. He didn't want to eat because his gums were sore from gingivitis. Plus an oral syringe helps with administering things like probiotics and meds. You could give her some oral b-12 via syringe to get her appetite going. Surprised the vet hasn't given her a b-12 injection.

I agree with the other posters that it has to have something to do with your parents house.

So here's something my parents and I thought about today. It's not a connection we'd made before, since this is something that happened several months ago, and Starla has been eating since then...but it really does make sense.

A few months ago, my parents were away for a couple of hours and their house was broken into. The thieves kicked the windows in and ransacked the house, including the room where Starla always stays. My parents couldn't find her for hours after the break-in, and finally located her under the bed in another bedroom, shaking like a leaf.

After the break-in, Starla DID continue to eat, but not as well as usual. Then she got sick with the respiratory infection (the reason she went to the vet in the first place). Then, she stopped eating at home.

Could it be that Starla associates her former sanctuary with terror now? Some sort of PTSD??

My parents and the vet have decided that Starla should perhaps go back to my parents' house with the exact cage that she is kept in at the vet. The vet assistant who regularly works with Starla said that every time Starla is placed in the cage, she immediately starts purring and seems very content, so the vet is willing to give my parents the cage if it means Starla can be back at home. The cage will be put in a bedroom that was NOT ransacked in the robbery. It seems as good a plan as any.

I feel like the trauma of the break-in  is the possible answer as to why Starla has all of the sudden decided that eating at home is a terrible idea. It seems a little belated, but perhaps the very first time we brought her back from the vet (after her illness), she was able to suddenly smell the robbers and it freaked her out all over again? Perhaps having the carpets and floors steam-cleaned could help, as well? Obviously, my parents have vacuumed since the break-in, but cat's, of course, have incredible senses of smell and such. What do you all think?

Quite plausible. Have your parents tried any calming agents like Feliway? or calming meds?

I think you are right. It must have freaked her out pretty bad. Poor kitty. Along with the cage, comfort zone spray with Feliway gets my vote also.

I second what @cocheezie asid, has there been a discussion about feliway or calming meds?  And I agree that this could be connected to the break in.

Many vet my clinics have a resident cat. I would try asking jf they would like a clinic " mascot". I wonder , too, if she would eat at any vet office or just that one.

I would absolutely talk to a pet communicator. You may be able to pinpoint the cause. You can certainly reassure her that you want to help her be safe and healthy.

I hope she begins to eat at home again. She sounds like a sweet girl.

Pet communicator = fraud just like psychic scammers. Might as well call Miss Cleo while you're at it. [emoji]128513[/emoji]

Have you tried feeding her outside the house? or maybe do and an experiment of feeding her in a neighbor's house that the cat has some stressor in your mom's house that makes her not to eat there. hope she gets better soon.