Suddenly picky eater

Suddenly picky eater
Suddenly picky eater
a few seconds ago
Giraffatitan
I'm trying to decide if I have a vet issue or a picky eater issue. I'm also not sure if this is the correct place to ask this.

Pippin is about 10 months old and the last couple of days he hasn't been eating normally. I feed my cats a wet food breakfast (6am), a small portion of hard food for lunch, wet food dinner (6:30) and a small snack in the late evening that is hard food to tide them over until morning. Pippin is always excited about breakfast and dinner he lets me know it is time for both by coming up to me or my husband and being very affectionate licking us and nibbling on us. In the morning he is right there beside me waiting for my alarm to go off so that he can begin being affectionate to me. He never misses a beat.

So a couple of days ago we did our morning routine of him hearing my alarm and proceeding to lick my face. I get up he follows me until I start getting his food out everything is normal until I put the bowls down and he goes to his maybe licks it a bit and backs away. I found this odd and just made a note of it, well he did it at dinner and the next day too. He also doesn't seem as interested in his dry food either. So I thought maybe he is being picky so I bought him some fancy feast classics to see if he would eat it. The first night he ate it well, I was pleased but the next day he wouldn't eat it either. I tried giving him back his old food and the same reaction.

Now I am worried, otherwise he is totally himself he is playful, naps a lot, and still wakes me up for breakfast and tells me he is hungry.

What do you guys think? Should I just keep trying new foods or go to the vet? I do want to add that he has thrown up a few times, I think it is from hunger though as it is mostly clear liquid, but I understand this could be a bad sign. He wouldn't eat again tonight (he didn't even try his food) my husband tried to give him some cooked chicken he was eating and wouldn't eat it, but he did eat some treats. It is possible he is eating later on but he is acting so hungry.

Also Pippin is allergic to chicken (poor guy loves it too), I believe he may be growing out of this but he has had tummy and bathroom issues because of this the entire time we have had him, he has been to the vet about it, I actually had some past threads about it. Anyway I have not seen anything unusual in the litter box.

We have two other cats as well.

Here is a cute picture of him:

If it's a couple of days now and he's acting differently also, most definitely a vet visit is warranted. These are two of my "red flag" symptoms that will cause me to go to the vet a lot faster than others. So many problems can have those symptoms. 

And he's VERY cute btw.

Donutte said:

If it's a couple of days now and he's acting differently also, most definitely a vet visit is warranted. These are two of my "red flag" symptoms that will cause me to go to the vet a lot faster than others. So many problems can have those symptoms. 

And he's VERY cute btw.

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I agree with Donutte, particularly given his age and the existing stomach issues, that a vet visit is in order. I wouldn't want a cat with a sensitive stomach to go too long without food. (We have a cat with a sensitive stomach, too, and have to feed her lots of small, varied meals a day: I wonder if picky and sensitive go together?)

I also agree that Pippin is very cute!

Good luck, I hope you're able to resolve the problem easily!

He is so cute and he looks so much like my Hannah! 

I agree with the others that a vet visit is in order.  If his eye is kind of winky like that and it's not normal, he might have an upper respiratory infection. 

He isn't acting strangely otherwise just with his food. So I'm not really sure what to think!


His eye was damaged when he was very little, so that is normal for him. I guess I will just have to take him, I do hope he is just being picky though.

Giraffatitan said:

He isn't acting strangely otherwise just with his food. So I'm not really sure what to think!


His eye was damaged when he was very little, so that is normal for him. I guess I will just have to take him, I do hope he is just being picky though.

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Even if it's just with food, if it's more than a day, and you've already tried to give him something else, he needs to see a vet. They cannot go without eating for more than a day or two. You're risking fatty liver disease if they don't eat for a few days, and at his age he should be eating quite a bit. Also, if a cat stops eating for some reason, they can and will literally starve themselves, so it's not like they'll just start eating if they're hungry enough. 

My cat was being finicky one day. Not like she wasn't eating totally, just not eating her normal amount. I took her to the vet and there was something wrong. I honestly wouldn't wait another day to take him to the vet, do so today if possible.

Donutte said:

 
Even if it's just with food, if it's more than a day, and you've already tried to give him something else, he needs to see a vet. They cannot go without eating for more than a day or two. You're risking fatty liver disease if they don't eat for a few days, and at his age he should be eating quite a bit. Also, if a cat stops eating for some reason, they can and will literally starve themselves, so it's not like they'll just start eating if they're hungry enough.  

My cat was being finicky one day. Not like she wasn't eating totally, just not eating her normal amount. I took her to the vet and there was something wrong. I honestly wouldn't wait another day to take him to the vet, do so today if possible.

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This is so true, especially with cats who have stomach issues. I'm glad you're going to take him in, @Giraffatitan! So many things can happen. Let us know what the vet says. (We had an episode of not eating (and some vomiting) with one of our cats last month... and I'm really glad we brought her in because she had a high fever!)

He has an appointment today! I will update.

Thank you guys for your time and concern!

He is super cute, hope he is ok

How is Pippin and how did the vet visit go, @Giraffatitan? I hope everything's okay!

Hey!

Sorry it's been a bit! Pippin is doing well here is what happened.

So the day of his appointment my car broke down on the way to work my husband had to come take care of that and my husband missed the appointment because it took longer than expected.

So he had his appointment the next day. Pippin hates the vet so it wasn't a good visit for him, they were unable to get a stool sample. The vet decides to treat him for hair balls first, so Pippin got some medicine to calm his stomach and some food to help him go to the bathroom. I wondered why they didn't X-ray him but my husband said that the vet would have to sedate him because of how he reacts to the vet. When my husband gave Pippin the first pill right away, he threw it up and then some. We tried again later in the evening and he took it fine and even ate a little. He wouldn't really eat the special food they gave him but we kept trying, so the last day or so he only ate a little. However today we have seen significant improvement, he ate all of his breakfast this morning and my husband said he was very eager for lunch and ate periodically through the day. He has also been pestering his brother all day.

I still have my eye on him but I believe that he is better. The next step was surgery for him, so I'm happy to see the improvement!

Thank you for your concerns!

wonderful news, keep us updated on his improvements 

I'm glad to hear he's eating! I hope he continues to improve so you don't have to do the surgery. Fingers crossed!