Newly adopted cat won't drink and eats very little

I adopted a 5 year old spayed female cat on Friday from the local humane society. My other cat passed away and I needed a new kitty friend. She is very friendly, but flat out refuses to drink water and eats very little. This is her third day here.

The shelter said to feed her whatever we wanted as the cats there eat whatever is donated. We gave her some kibble to start on Friday and she gobbled that up. That night we gave her canned and she loved that. Come Saturday she doesn't want kibble and will only eat the gravy off of the canned. We must have offered her close to a dozen different kinds all with the same result. She also is only eating a few bites of hard food. I measured it out so I can tell she is eating very little-same with her water.

This morning we went through the same thing. She is also not touching her water. We tried metal, glass, plastic and paper bowls. We tried cold water and room temp water. We tried filtered and unfiltered. We tried cups, mugs etc. I tried to get her to lick it off my finger or her paw. We bought a fountain that she ignored. We don't know what to do. I'm afraid we adopted a sick cat or one that is going to be sick soon from lack of nutrition. She is such a sweet girl I hate to think that I made a mistake, but I don't know how to help her eat and drink. The only time I've dealt with this before is with my cats who were terminally ill.

I am sorry your kitty is having a rough time .. Have you taken her to the Vet for a thorough exam ?

Maybe there could be a medical issue .. Might be a good idea to have have her checked out ..

Have you tried Fancy Feast ?  Most cats love that stuff ..

Also , could be she is just stressed from the adjustment to a new home but a Vet visit would still be my suggestion ..

I hope all is well ..

Yes, she is scheduled to see my regular vet on Tuesday for a checkup. I hope she isn't sick, but at least that would give a reason.
We tried fancy feast this morning and she seemed to want it, but mostly licked the juice off of it. She did eat some of the meat but only a bite or two. She's a big girl and doesn't look like she has missed many meals lately.

MissMindy said:

Yes, she is scheduled to see my regular vet on Tuesday for a checkup. I hope she isn't sick, but at least that would give a reason.
We tried fancy feast this morning and she seemed to want it, but mostly licked the juice off of it. She did eat some of the meat but only a bite or two. She's a big girl and doesn't look like she has missed many meals lately.

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At least she is eating a little . Just keep trying . Maybe she is just a picky girl .. I hope she is not sick .. Keep us posted on how she is doing ..

has your girl used the litter box yet? urinated and pooped? has she done so in the last two days? i ask because it can be normal for a newly adopted cat to not use the litter box/pee or poop for a couple days or so. and if she hasn't pooped in the last couple days or since she came to her new home, she could be constipated. constipation can cause some loss of appetite, i think.

that's good that you've got an appointment already scheduled for tuesday.

you could try mushing the meat chunks of the cat food up and mixing it into the gravy part, or even running the whole can of cat food through a food processor or blender to puree it. you could also add/mix some water into her canned food. many kitty parents add extra water into their cats canned food. some cats do have a lower thirst drive than others, but it does sound like your girl isn't taking in much water at all (even with the gravy part of the canned food she is eating).

She has used the litter box. We've had about 2 pees a day and one poop so far. That was a relief! I tried mushing up the food and adding water which helped a little. I had to blend my other kitty's food so I will try that next. When she goes to bite her hard food, she licks and licks at it. I'm wondering if maybe she has some bad teeth. Hopefully we can get any problems sorted out on Tuesday.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions!! I'm open to all tips and tricks! I got some chicken broth, the low sodium low fat kind, to see if she might drink water spiked with it. She has been accepting human food today-she had chicken twice. I'm probably inadvertently creating a picky monster. I just love her though. She's a love bug.

MissMindy said:

She has used the litter box. We've had about 2 pees a day and one poop so far. That was a relief! I tried mushing up the food and adding water which helped a little. I had to blend my other kitty's food so I will try that next. When she goes to bite her hard food, she licks and licks at it. I'm wondering if maybe she has some bad teeth. Hopefully we can get any problems sorted out on Tuesday.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions!! I'm open to all tips and tricks! I got some chicken broth, the low sodium low fat kind, to see if she might drink water spiked with it. She has been accepting human food today-she had chicken twice. I'm probably inadvertently creating a picky monster. I just love her though. She's a love bug.

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excellent news that your girl has peed and pooped!

i'd make sure to ask your vet to check your girl's teeth on tuesday. that sounds like a possibility, teeth issues.

my snick is a very picky eater. but i've found things she likes, ways she likes her food, so she eats very well.

how much is she eating each day now?

stage 1 jar baby food (beechnut or gerber brands -- chicken in gravy, turkey in gravy, beef in gravy, ham in gravy, the kinds that have just meat/water/some have a bit of cornstarch in them) are something you might try, to entice your girl to eat more. the stage one baby food is also good for cats who are having upset tummies/gastro upset, because it's smooth and easy on the tummy/easy to digest. but they don't have all the nutrition cats need, so i'd try the pureed canned cat food first.

SHE DRANK!!! She finally marched over to her bowl and took a long drink. Her chest is all wet now so I wonder if she'd like it raised up a bit. I guess I better leave well enough alone for now.

Foodwise she is eating about almost one small 3oz can and a few bites of kibble here and there. She eats treats and bites of our chicken willingly. She does seem to have trouble picking up whatever it is that she is eating though. I have some baby food from when my Mindy kitty was sick so ill try that too. Her shelter records say she is 10 and 3/4 pounds, but I think she is heavier. My Mindy weighed 10 when she was healthy and KeKe feels heavier. Plus she is taller and bigger bones. She doesn't love being picked up so ill wait until the vet visit to get a new weight instead of getting her on the scale with me.

I feel a little better now and hopefully Tuesday my vet will have some more answers.

  YAY!!!

how was keke's vet appointment?

MissMindy said:

SHE DRANK!!! She finally marched over to her bowl and took a long drink. Her chest is all wet now so I wonder if she'd like it raised up a bit. I guess I better leave well enough alone for now.

Foodwise she is eating about almost one small 3oz can and a few bites of kibble here and there. She eats treats and bites of our chicken willingly. She does seem to have trouble picking up whatever it is that she is eating though. I have some baby food from when my Mindy kitty was sick so ill try that too. Her shelter records say she is 10 and 3/4 pounds, but I think she is heavier. My Mindy weighed 10 when she was healthy and KeKe feels heavier. Plus she is taller and bigger bones. She doesn't love being picked up so ill wait until the vet visit to get a new weight instead of getting her on the scale with me.

I feel a little better now and hopefully Tuesday my vet will have some more answers.

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i am so glad that she is eating and drinking better .. 

how did her vet appt go ?  I hope she is feeling better today ..

She has gotten better each day. I'm trying different types of canned to see what she likes. She's a gravy licker.

She checked out pretty good at the vet. She might have the beginning of a line lesion on a tooth so we are going to watch that. She also has feline acne on her chin so I switched her to glass bowls. They ordered some medicine to put on it as well. I found a little.marble lump on her belly so we are going to watch that and just be cautious for now. Vet thinks it's probably benign but always the chance it could not be.

Nutrition wise she wants KeKe to lose a pound. The vet thinks she may have been much heavier in the past and has some loose skin from it. Now that she is settled she will probably want to devour everything!

Thank you all for the suggestions-this site is the best!

I have picky eaters over here.
Your cat sounded like she was nervous about the big move.She is getting use to you. You are doing right. Good instincts.
Trial and error on the type of food she likes. Everyone is different.
Jill

Does anyone have suggestions for helping a cat with a diet change? The shelter told me KeKe ate whatever they had that had been donated. She got kibble every day and canned food every other morning. I have her on dry and wet right now and want to get her on all wet, but she now has diarrhea. She's tried about a dozen kinds of wet food over the past 5 days-she only gobbled a couple and turned her nose up or just ate the gravy on the rest. She LOVES iams canned tuna of course, but I think that may have kick started the upset tummy. My other cat loved it too and it gave her bowel trouble too. So, I want to pull that of course, but don't know how not to make it worse. Of course all this happened after the vet visit today! Any suggestions? I feel bad for the poor girl!

A lot of people do not like to feed fish all the time because of mercury.  A little is good every once in awhile.  But it has a strong flavor and cats tend to turn their noses up at other offerings.  So try to break her from fish (tuna) with mixtures of tuna and chicken or tuna and turkey, whatever at first and then little by little, only have the chicken, turkey, or lamb in it.  Wellness is a good one.  Iams has it, too.  Basically you can't go wrong with any of them.  The thing is getting kitty to eat it so start out with mixtures and gradually weed the tuna out of it.

Kibble is good to free feed a kitten and as long as she's active and playful, this is not a problem.  However, later in life, you will only want to have set dinner times because free feeding can contribute to obesity.

As fort he diarrhea, any switch can contribute to diarrhea but they may have sensitive systems like my Phoebe and cannot handle the gravies or sauces of some.  So be vigilant in keeping an eye on that.

Thank you for the suggestions!! I've been trying to get her to eat weruva chicken and tiki cat chicken without fish, but she will only eat the broth and a bite or two of meat. I tried blending it and she wanted nothing to do with it in that form. She will eat chicken when we eat it with no problem. When I gave her fancy feast or friskies-same thing only licked the gravy off. The iams canned seems to have a unique texture. It's pate like, but softer. I was trying to avoid it because of the carageenan in it. I'll grab some of that though to see if can get her to at least like a fish free flavor. I haven't tried wellness yet. What is the texture like of that?

Ill keep an eye on the litter box. So far so good today. I worry she isn't eating enough though. I've been letting her have some dry too.

MissMindy said:

Thank you for the suggestions!! I've been trying to get her to eat weruva chicken and tiki cat chicken without fish, but she will only eat the broth and a bite or two of meat. I tried blending it and she wanted nothing to do with it in that form. She will eat chicken when we eat it with no problem. When I gave her fancy feast or friskies-same thing only licked the gravy off. The iams canned seems to have a unique texture. It's pate like, but softer. I was trying to avoid it because of the carageenan in it. I'll grab some of that though to see if can get her to at least like a fish free flavor. I haven't tried wellness yet. What is the texture like of that?

Ill keep an eye on the litter box. So far so good today. I worry she isn't eating enough though. I've been letting her have some dry too.

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Try Fancy Feast Chunky  , it is a mousse like consistency with little chunks of meat  . Maybe she would like that ... 

2Cats4Me said:

Try Fancy Feast Chunky  , it is a mousse like consistency with little chunks of meat  . Maybe she would like that ... 

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I'm headed to the pet store tomorrow so I will try that-thanks!!

MissMindy said:

I'm headed to the pet store tomorrow so I will try that-thanks!!

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you are welcome . i hope she like it .

Fancy feast chunky met with some success! I could only find one Flavor, so ill have to check around for more. I also got.some wellness to try as well. Now that we have had some success with food, she still isn't drinking much. I have water all over the house. I thought after the weekend we were all good. We've tried all types of bowls and cups and the fountain. She only pees about once every 24 hours so I'm assuming her water/moisture intake is not good still. I have to pick up her chin medicine tomorrow, so ill leave a message with the vet too about it. I've never had a cat that didn't drink so this is a new.

MissMindy said:

Fancy feast chunky met with some success! I could only find one Flavor, so ill have to check around for more. I also got.some wellness to try as well. Now that we have had some success with food, she still isn't drinking much. I have water all over the house. I thought after the weekend we were all good. We've tried all types of bowls and cups and the fountain. She only pees about once every 24 hours so I'm assuming her water/moisture intake is not good still. I have to pick up her chin medicine tomorrow, so ill leave a message with the vet too about it. I've never had a cat that didn't drink so this is a new.

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That is great , I am glad she is eating .. Fancy Feast Chunky only comes in 2 flavors  , Chicken & Turkey ..  
They also have both at Petsmart ..