Cat Not Really Interested In Eating

[shapopo]

So my cat (11 months old) is normally fed a combination of Weruva wet food, Royal Canin wet food and some Orijen dry food. He used to be so excited when it was food time. But for the last week he's not been interested in eating.

He will come to inspect the food, sniff it, scratch/paw the area near the food and will just walk away. I've done some reading about what it means when cats paw the area near the food and it seems like it could be a number of things.

He eats some if I feed some by hand but not a lot. He also still loves eating his treats. Sometimes I can only encourage him to eat a few bites if I add his treats on top of the food.

I don't know what's wrong with him. Could it be he no longer likes his food?

 

[maggiedemi]

There's a big recall of Weruva going on over in Australia right now. I don't know if it's going to affect the US or not. But I did read on the Facebook page that some people's cats were refusing to eat it right before the recall.

 

[shapopo]

There's a big recall of Weruva going on over in Australia right now. I don't know if it's going to affect the US or not. But I did read on the Facebook page that some people's cats were refusing to eat it right before the recall.

Oh crap. I have to look it up. I guess I'll take it back and try some other food to see if that helps. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[tabbytom]

Hi shapopo, as your cat is 11 months old, I presume he's not the large breed cat but the normal size breed of cats, he is reaching adulthood. As the reaches adulthood, amount of food intake reduces as compared to when he was a kitten which he needs to eat more as to grow.

Also it depends on how much calories intake is he getting each day. If he's a strictly indoor cat, he should be needing around 250 calories a day which roughly works out to 20 calories per pound. Some canned food offers higher calories than others and some lower.

So if he has reached his calorie intake, let's say between feeds, he is not hungry and he won't eat and therefore he does that digging action next to his food bowl as he was in the wild to cover up how food so that predators may not detect him. This is perfectly normal as my boy and many other cats in this forum does the same thing.

Also you may want to limit his treat intake as this might make him full and therefore he does not eat when fed. You can observe his feeding timing and calories intake and this will give you a better management over his weight.

But if this go on for awhile more, you might want to take him in to the vet for a check as it could be an underlying medical condition but I hope it's not.
You can try changing to other flavors and see if he will eat.

Feel free to ask questions if you are in doubt and I'm sure some members with better experiences may be able to help you

 

[shapopo]

Hi shapopo, as your cat is 11 months old, I presume he's not the large breed cat but the normal size breed of cats, he is reaching adulthood. As the reaches adulthood, amount of food intake reduces as compared to when he was a kitten which he needs to eat more as to grow.

Also it depends on how much calories intake is he getting each day. If he's a strictly indoor cat, he should be needing around 250 calories a day which roughly works out to 20 calories per pound. Some canned food offers higher calories than others and some lower.

So if he has reached his calorie intake, let's say between feeds, he is not hungry and he won't eat and therefore he does that digging action next to his food bowl as he was in the wild to cover up how food so that predators may not detect him. This is perfectly normal as my boy and many other cats in this forum does the same thing.

Also you may want to limit his treat intake as this might make him full and therefore he does not eat when fed. You can observe his feeding timing and calories intake and this will give you a better management over his weight.

But if this go on for awhile more, you might want to take him in to the vet for a check as it could be an underlying medical condition but I hope it's not.
You can try changing to other flavors and see if he will eat.

Feel free to ask questions if you are in doubt and I'm sure some members with better experiences may be able to help you

This has been very useful. He's 11 lbs (just weighed him hah). So I just did some math and hopefully I calculated it correctly. It appears I feed them (I have two cats) about 140 calories per meal and I feed them twice a day. So a bit more than they need. Visited the vet not too long ago and the vet said they are at a healthy weight.

It's so hard to gauge how much he eats when he never finishes his food. If say he eats about 1/4 to 1/2 each meal twice a day, that's about 70-140 calories I guess, but that's a really rough estimate. I try to feed him as much of his food as possible. I'm going to stop with the treats to see if he eats more at each meal.

 

[tabbytom]

Yes, you have to do a little observation to get it close to the point and use it as a rough calculation. Don't have to be too detailed but close enough is good.

My boy sometimes eat more and sometimes less but at the end I just watch his calories intake for the day and that leaves me no worries whether he eats more at one time or less.

 

[orange&white]

Unless you're in Australia, you don't need to worry about the Weruva recall: Weruva Recalls Best Feline Friends (BFF) Products Made for Australian Market - The Conscious Cat

Is your cat exercising as much as usual, or being more of a sleepy head since his appetite decreased? My kitten's appetite is quite variable. She eats more on days she is bouncing off the walls, and eats less on days she's being a nappy cat.

Is he peeing and pooping normally? Any changes in the litter box "gifts"?

 

[shapopo]

Unless you're in Australia, you don't need to worry about the Weruva recall: Weruva Recalls Best Feline Friends (BFF) Products Made for Australian Market - The Conscious Cat

Is your cat exercising as much as usual, or being more of a sleepy head since his appetite decreased? My kitten's appetite is quite variable. She eats more on days she is bouncing off the walls, and eats less on days she's being a nappy cat.

Is he peeing and pooping normally? Any changes in the litter box "gifts"?

I've not noticed any changes on that front, either from sleeping more, exercising more or poop/pee.

He has since vomited a bit (thankfully on the hardwood and not the rug hah). First time ever vomiting. He seems ok for eating now and is interested again. Maybe he was feeling sort of poorly and the vomiting helped him. It didn't look like a hairball (not that I really know what one is supposed to look like, but I saw no hair).

IDK if vomiting every once in a while is normal cat behaviour. My cats have never vomited before.