1 year old, suddenly eating half his food, drinking water and lick lips

Hi,

It's me again and I'm not sure if this belongs in the behavioral section or even if this might be just a fluke.

Hugo had a healthy appetite till yesterday when he refused to eat his wet food (usually grain free Merricks - half can of 5.5 oz spread through 3 feedings) or finish his dry food (Orijen). He woke me up at 3 am and I saw that he didn't touch his dinner or supper at all (I usually programme a late feed for him at 2 am so he doesn't get hungry). I thought he was just being finicky about the food so swapped it out for a 1/4 5.5 oz can of Wellness core since it was the highest kcal I had in my inventory which he promptly gobbled up.

I made him another quarter of the can this morning for breakfast (around 7:30 am, with warm water added) but he just ate perhaps half of it and walked off. Hugo did come back for his fresh dry food but took two bites before leaving. After that, he came back to his dry food again, took a sniff and walked off.

I might be paranoid but counting the kcal from yesterday, I would say he ate 100 kcal at max and after this morning, I'm not sure what is going on. The licking lips thing happen only when he isn't in front of the food.

Is it possible for cats to go off wet and dry food after some time? Hugo has been on Orijen since I adopted him and I usually rotate between two flavours (one chicken, one beef or whatever protein) of Merricks sliced with some more expensive cans that are added randomly.

Addendum: He went to the vet for a yearly checkup in early October and was looking fine.

Addendum #2: He still pees and poop though yesterday was of lesser quantity.

The lip smacking could be a sign of nausea.  Cats will sometimes do that if they are nauseated.  If he still isn't eating tomorrow I would get him to the vet.  It could be some kind of stomach bug, one of mine just had something like this last month.  The vet can give a shot of cerenia for nausea and some sub-q fluids to help your kitty feel better.  Hopefully he will come out of it fine or better yet he is eating normally tomorrow.

Agree sounds like nausea. Perhaps acid reflux as well. Cats go to eat then the stomach acid hits and they walk away. Then go back - more acid - walk away. Cerenia and Pepcid are standard treatments. If the acid problem becomes chronic some people find using raised dishes helps.

Has your cat vomited at all?

zoneout said:

Agree sounds like nausea. Perhaps acid reflux as well. Cats go to eat then the stomach acid hits and they walk away. Then go back - more acid - walk away. Cerenia and Pepcid are standard treatments. If the acid problem becomes chronic some people find using raised dishes helps.

Has your cat vomited at all?

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No. He has never vomited before. I use semi raised stainless steel dishes and he doesn't gobble everything at one go either. (Sometimes I have to chase after him and feed him by spoon to finish the wet food)

Well not vomiting is a positive sign. Hopefully it's just a short-term bug that he gets over quickly. Good luck.

It has been an entire day. He has not vomited nor eaten a lot. He did finish the wet from the morning that I left out but not much of the dry. I just made him some wet with warm water again but he only drank all the water and left out the formula. He did crunch on some dry on the side

No poop and just as active.
Sigh. Off to the vet tomorrow, I guess.

Good luck tomorrow. Just mentally prepare yourself beforehand. Write down all the symptoms you have seen so you give the vet a complete picture. Chances are all the tests will come back negative and the vet won't have a diagnosis. Have questions prepared so you don't forget to ask if you have any. If they suggest prescription food see if they have it in can not dry.

Good luck.

He is running a temperature but blood test is normal. They gave him metacam without letting me know what it was (am torn up) and prescribed antibiotics which he spat out in the pill pocket. I am torn how to make him eat.

Is there an order of what kind of fish flavors will be good to tempt cats?

Supposedly the problem with metacam comes with prolonged use so hopefully he has no adverse effect from this one-off.   Freakin vets.   They should have given Cerenia to stop the nausea.   Chances are he would eat then.

Well, its probably the fever that is making him nauseaus so once the fever breaks in a few days hopefully he will be back to normal.   I would buy a kitty thermometer so you can monitor his temperature on your own.  

Next what I would do is give him baby food with a syringe the next few days to tide him over.

If there is a trader joe near you they sell stinky tuna for cats.   You can try one can to see if he eats on his own.

Thank you zoneout I tried to ask the vet about nausea but she said she wasn't sure and saw no issue with his mouth either.

I tried to give him the pill in a pill pocket but he wouldn't eat it.

Sorry to bother but hugo is my first and I am not sure what kind of baby food or how to syringe it. I am not in USa either so my choice of food is down to what can be found around.

Whiskers, friskies, kakato, wellness, applaws. I am heading to work to pick up up my computer then to the pet show

oh.  in that case just get a can of cheapest dark meat tuna you can find.

if he doesnt eat on his own in a day then force his mouth open by putting your fingers on the sides and smear the food in with your free hand.

when you pill him do the same thing to force his mouth open and drop the pill in the back of his throat so he swallows right away.

when you are at the pet store get a 10cc plastic syringe.  it will come in handy for giving him water or food.

Thank you @zoneout!

I took your word to mind and went to buy the stinkiest food I could find. He gobbled down 5 oz worth of wet food (Salmon in broth, Chicken and cheese) in 3 hours and I'm a happy mommy!

I'm just wondering if this is an effect of metacam and hopefully he will still eat tomorrow.

Once the fever resolves he should be fine. The metacam should have brought it down but hopefully it will stay down. If it spikes back up he will need the full course of antibiotics.

Hi,

I was about to write about how he hasn't pooped in 36 hours and he happened to stroll across and pooped in the litter box after his food.

Thank you so much for everything @zoneout ! Hopefully this is it!