My husband and I recently found our cat Riniford after he had been missing for over a year. We got him to the vet and got him cleared on updated shots and everything he needed. He has a history of health issues but we’ve always taken good care of him. We were feeding him dry meow mix, then occasionally would treat him to a can of Friskies. Which he would go crazy over. We noticed his stomach would bloat anytime he ate those. So we thought he had a problem with the dry food wheat ingredients, as some cats do. We recently switched to Fancy Feast, and his behavior is a little off. Yesterday I left for work after feeding him and he was totally normal. But I came back home and he’s lethargic and will not move much. He’s sleeping and I’m basically just worried. I’m not sure if it’s the food and it just upset his stomach or if something is really wrong. He ate it just fine but he always scarfs down his food as if he never eats. Im worried because I am reading a lot of bad reviews on Fancy Feast and I’m worried it’s hurting him. I didn’t know Nestle bought Purina (I think I have that right) and a lot of people are experiencing problems with that. Nestle doesn’t have the best track record from what I’ve read.
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Cat being suddenly lethargic. Think it may be FF
- Thread starter LinksMom
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Hi. Purina is a subsidiary of Nestle, and I believe it has been since 2001 when it was combined with Nestle Friskies Petcare Company. So, I am not sure how that affects Fancy Feast today. Although, I do feed Feeby the pates and while the ingredients have not changed, the texture recently has. She still eats them, but isn't as keen on the texture since it seems to be more 'gritty'.
Your best bet is to compare ingredients between the foods you have fed/are feeding Riniford to see if you can find any notable differences. While lethargy could be the result of an upset stomach, I'd be more inclined to attribute it to something else besides a food change. However, if you didn't do a gradual change in his food, an abrupt one can cause stomach upset in certain cats. You might try to go back to feeding him what he was used to before, letting his stomach settle and then gradually add a bit of a new food to the old food, and increasing the new while decreasing the old over a period of time.
If going back on his old food doesn't return him to his normal self, I would say you have another unrelated health issue going on.
Your best bet is to compare ingredients between the foods you have fed/are feeding Riniford to see if you can find any notable differences. While lethargy could be the result of an upset stomach, I'd be more inclined to attribute it to something else besides a food change. However, if you didn't do a gradual change in his food, an abrupt one can cause stomach upset in certain cats. You might try to go back to feeding him what he was used to before, letting his stomach settle and then gradually add a bit of a new food to the old food, and increasing the new while decreasing the old over a period of time.
If going back on his old food doesn't return him to his normal self, I would say you have another unrelated health issue going on.
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There are bad reviews online of basically every pet food that’s ever existed, so I’d try not to let that make you too anxious yet. Does he have any GI symptoms like diarrhea or vomiting?
There’s a very long list of things that could cause lethargy and lack of appetite, the most common of which are luckily harmless things like cat colds, or easily treatable things like worms and UTIs. Did he get dewormed at the vet? If he was gone for a year and potentially living outside he could’ve easily picked up a parasite.
If he just seems to be feeling under the weather, I’d keep an eye on him and take him to the vet if it gets worse or if he won’t eat/drink at all.
There’s a very long list of things that could cause lethargy and lack of appetite, the most common of which are luckily harmless things like cat colds, or easily treatable things like worms and UTIs. Did he get dewormed at the vet? If he was gone for a year and potentially living outside he could’ve easily picked up a parasite.
If he just seems to be feeling under the weather, I’d keep an eye on him and take him to the vet if it gets worse or if he won’t eat/drink at all.
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Thanks for the quick responses. I wasn’t sure if posting here would get me any advice. Riniford is still reluctant to eat or drink; but after resting all day while I was at work he seems a little more active now. He’s even making biscuits and cleaning himself. He’s even purring a little bit. My husband is still going to take him to the vet to get a check up. We have him put on a steroid injection every now and then (as bad as they are for pets, it makes him more comfortable to live, as he has IBD) and the vet tech said maybe it’s wearing off as it’s been 30 days since his last one and he just feels horrible from it. So it could not even be the food at all. My husband is going to take this opportunity to discuss diets for Rin and what the best possible route to take is. But so far my baby is doing okay. He’s resting and getting lots of love and snoring up a storm. I’m going to stay on this site because it seems to have a lot of info on cats. I have 3 boys. A dog and two cats. They’re my babies. Learning how to keep them with me as long as possible means the world to me.
