Why won't she eat from her bowl?

Milly is 9 years old, and keen on food. Usually, when her bowl is put in front of her, she sits & eats until all the food is gone. Yesterday evening, however, she refused to eat from her bowl. I had to sit with her, and feed her tea to her piece by piece on the feeding mat (where her bowl sits). The same thing happened at breakfast this morning. Her bowl is a pottery one with low sides, and it is cleaned after every meal. I tried putting the food into a different bowl, but she didn't like that either.
Milly is healthy, and I can think of no reason for her being under stress. When I am feeding her (it's Iams) bit by bit, she chomps down on it with enthusiasm, but she doesn't seem to want to take the food from the bowl.
Can anyone offer any ideas as to why this is happening? And any thoughts on what I can do about it would also be most welcome.

Thanks folks!

Sue

The fact that Milly refuses to eat suddenly is already a sign that she is not feeling well. If she continues to behave the same way tomorrow, please call your vet.

I expect I've not been clear about this, but she is not refusing to eat, she has eaten everything I've given her, but she won't take it out of the bowl. I have had to put it on her feeding mat.
If she did refuse to eat, full stop, you can bet I'd be at the vets the minute they opened, I'd be first in the queue!!

Sue

Originally Posted by millyanddaisy

I expect I've not been clear about this, but she is not refusing to eat, she has eaten everything I've given her, but she won't take it out of the bowl. I have had to put it on her feeding mat.
If she did refuse to eat, full stop, you can bet I'd be at the vets the minute they opened, I'd be first in the queue!!

Sue

Click to expand...

Try using a saucer.

I cat sat for a very elderly cat once who also wouldn't eat unless she was fed by hand. At 21 years old I figured she had earned that right. The other thing was this cat was blind and by holding the food right under her nose she knew exactly where it was.

I am not suggesting anything is wrong with your cat's eyesight, but to suddenly decide not to eat from her bowl is a big change. Have you changed dish detergent, used bleach on it, or is there anything that might affect how the bowl smells? A cat's sense of smell is much better than ours and even the smallest hint of something unusual might be enough to put her off. Does she have 'sore whiskers' or something that might cause her to be uncomfortable if her whiskers or chin rubbed up against it?

Those are the things that come to mind immediately. Good luck

Kathryn

I will try the saucer tonight. Thanks for your help Kathryn & Yayi.

Sue

As they get older too, they become really sensitive with their whiskers. If her whiskers are hitting the sides of the bowl, and her eyesight is failing, she understands in her language that the opening is to narrow and she will become stuck. Put the food on a flat tray and see if she eats it that way-

Last night I offered her a choice of bowls - we tried anything and everything that we had in the kitchen, and she has settled on a cereal bowl, and is eating happily out of that. I am inclined to agree that it could be her whiskers telling her not to eat from her original bowl (although when I put a drop of cod liver oil in the original bowl, she licked that up with enthusiasm). The cereal bowl is wider so maybe she feels her whiskers less when she's eating from it.
Thank you, all, for your helpful suggestions. I knew I'd get some good advice on here!!

Sue