- Joined
- Jan 2, 2022
- Messages
- 39
- Purraise
- 33
Just looking for some advice. This past Christmas, I went out of town and when I came back, one of my cats wasn't eating. She previously had scarfed down every meal as soon as I gave it to her. I'd had her and her sister for about 8 months at that point and they are 2 years old. I freaked out because I'd never had a cat who stopped eating for any reason other than being gravely ill. Since I'd been out of town, I also didn't know how long it had been since she hadn't been eating, so I took her to the vet. Got an exam and bloodwork done, there was nothing wrong with her. They said it was likely a behavioral response to me going out of town. They sent me home with an appetite stimulant and a few different kinds of wet food. The little brat started eating immediately as soon as we got home from the vet. I was mad about wasting the money, but figured I'd much rather have that happen than something really be wrong! I thought all was well, and then the non-recognition aggression started with the other cat.
I'd never had 2 cats before and had never heard of this. The vet didn't warn me. It was 3.5 weeks of absolute hell dealing with this. Thankfully, they did rebond, but I was miserable in the process and so were they. After this experience, I am TERRIFIED of taking anyone to the vet again. I will do anything to avoid that experience, and I'm also afraid that they won't rebond if it happens a second time.
The same cat has been "more fussy" with her food ever since then, but has always eaten. Because her sister still eats her full meal immediately, I started feeding her separately in my bedroom/closing the door inbetween so that her sister couldn't go eat her leftovers. She doesn't always eat much when I give breakfast in the morning, but until recently, on the days when that happens, as soon as I get home from work and let her back into the bedroom with the food, she eats the full meal or most of it.
Strangely enough, BOTH cats stopped eating their wet food several months ago. I read a few posts here and wondered if it was a recipe issue- it was Wellness brand and it seems I'm not the only one who had that issue. They both continued to eat their dry food (purina pro plan) and I figured it wasn't a huge deal. I just upped the amount of dry food I was giving.
In the past several days, the same one I originally took to the vet has gotten REALLY fussy with eating. She is still eating daily, but not nearly the amount she used to. No behavior changes and no issue with the litter box. She is still cuddling, playing with me and her sister, etc. Around meal times, she will act excited that I'm getting out the food, and then not eat it. Several times per day, I am taking her into my bedroom where her food is and just praying she starts eating. Probably every 5-6 hours or so, she will eat from her bowl for like 2 minutes. I have tried getting the wet food back out, feeding 3 different bowls, feeding on a plate, warming the wet food up for 5 seconds in the microwave. None of that worked. Other cat is eating the food as normal.
I have thought about giving the appetite stimulant, but it's a topical thing that goes in her ear. If the other cat smells meds on her, am I going to be dealing with non-recognition aggression again? I cannot stress enough how much I want to avoid that at all costs. Every time I start to get really worried and think that I'm going to have to suck it up and do another vet visit, then she starts eating. But it's still not the same amount that she was eating before. Should I go try to buy other brands and see if she'll eat those? Buy treats? She's always preferred dry (even when she was eating the wet, she'd only eat a little) so it's not like I can just go buy 1 can of a bunch of different stuff. From reading some of the other posts here it seems it IS common for cats just to be fussy. None of my cats nor any of the cats my extended family members have had have ever been like that. They've always scarfed down food immediately unless they were sick. If it weren't for the non-recognition aggression I'd make a vet appointment just to be sure, but there was nothing wrong with her last time and I want to avoid that scenario at all costs.
I'd never had 2 cats before and had never heard of this. The vet didn't warn me. It was 3.5 weeks of absolute hell dealing with this. Thankfully, they did rebond, but I was miserable in the process and so were they. After this experience, I am TERRIFIED of taking anyone to the vet again. I will do anything to avoid that experience, and I'm also afraid that they won't rebond if it happens a second time.
The same cat has been "more fussy" with her food ever since then, but has always eaten. Because her sister still eats her full meal immediately, I started feeding her separately in my bedroom/closing the door inbetween so that her sister couldn't go eat her leftovers. She doesn't always eat much when I give breakfast in the morning, but until recently, on the days when that happens, as soon as I get home from work and let her back into the bedroom with the food, she eats the full meal or most of it.
Strangely enough, BOTH cats stopped eating their wet food several months ago. I read a few posts here and wondered if it was a recipe issue- it was Wellness brand and it seems I'm not the only one who had that issue. They both continued to eat their dry food (purina pro plan) and I figured it wasn't a huge deal. I just upped the amount of dry food I was giving.
In the past several days, the same one I originally took to the vet has gotten REALLY fussy with eating. She is still eating daily, but not nearly the amount she used to. No behavior changes and no issue with the litter box. She is still cuddling, playing with me and her sister, etc. Around meal times, she will act excited that I'm getting out the food, and then not eat it. Several times per day, I am taking her into my bedroom where her food is and just praying she starts eating. Probably every 5-6 hours or so, she will eat from her bowl for like 2 minutes. I have tried getting the wet food back out, feeding 3 different bowls, feeding on a plate, warming the wet food up for 5 seconds in the microwave. None of that worked. Other cat is eating the food as normal.
I have thought about giving the appetite stimulant, but it's a topical thing that goes in her ear. If the other cat smells meds on her, am I going to be dealing with non-recognition aggression again? I cannot stress enough how much I want to avoid that at all costs. Every time I start to get really worried and think that I'm going to have to suck it up and do another vet visit, then she starts eating. But it's still not the same amount that she was eating before. Should I go try to buy other brands and see if she'll eat those? Buy treats? She's always preferred dry (even when she was eating the wet, she'd only eat a little) so it's not like I can just go buy 1 can of a bunch of different stuff. From reading some of the other posts here it seems it IS common for cats just to be fussy. None of my cats nor any of the cats my extended family members have had have ever been like that. They've always scarfed down food immediately unless they were sick. If it weren't for the non-recognition aggression I'd make a vet appointment just to be sure, but there was nothing wrong with her last time and I want to avoid that scenario at all costs.