Cat was lost outside for a week and now isn’t eating as much as he did before - cause for concern?

[CorynM]

My cat slipped through the front door last week and was gone until yesterday morning, when I was finally able to coax him out from under my neighbor’s shed.
I took him to the vet right away, and he was given a clean bill of health, blood work and all. But he’s not eating as much as he did before he went missing. He’s not finishing his wet food, and normally he’d scarf it down within minutes.
Otherwise, he’s acting completely fine. I just wanted to make sure that the eating thing isn’t a cause for concern.

 

[stephanietx]

It's similar to when a kitty is new in your house. It will take a little bit of time for him to feel relaxed and comfortable. As long as he's eating, drinking, and using the litter box well he should be okay and return to normal. If he starts hiding or there are changes to eating or litter box use, then that's cause for concern.

 

[silent meowlook]

I am so glad you got your cat back. He got a full physical, right? They hopefully checked in his mouth, throat and checked all over for wounds?

I would try to keep track of anything abnormal in his behavior such as not jumping up on things he used to, or not playing etc. I would get a flea comb and comb him making sure there aren’t any parasites like fleas or ticks. You can also check to see if any of his nails are shredded.

When you say not eating as much, how much is he eating now? How much did he eat before?

Is he your only cat? Only pet? What was the weather like when he was out?

Sorry for all the questions.

Also, it’s a good idea to weigh him 2 times a week.
Is he a large cat anyway, over weight? Underweight?

Another thing to consider is viral testing him in a month.

 

[CorynM]

I am so glad you got your cat back. He got a full physical, right? They hopefully checked in his mouth, throat and checked all over for wounds?

I would try to keep track of anything abnormal in his behavior such as not jumping up on things he used to, or not playing etc. I would get a flea comb and comb him making sure there aren’t any parasites like fleas or ticks. You can also check to see if any of his nails are shredded.

When you say not eating as much, how much is he eating now? How much did he eat before?

Is he your only cat? Only pet? What was the weather like when he was out?

Sorry for all the questions.

Also, it’s a good idea to weigh him 2 times a week.
Is he a large cat anyway, over weight? Underweight?

Another thing to consider is viral testing him in a month.

Yup, full physical! They also checked him for ticks and fleas and did a full blood panel as well. They also asked me to drop off a fecal sample in a few days so that they can check that as well.

Before, he would have 1/3 cup dry food and half a can of wet food in the morning - repeat in the afternoon. He always scarfed down the wet right away, and would then take his time with the dry. Now, it’s almost opposite. He’s eating pretty much all of the dry food, but only about half of the wet. (He has no problem trying to steal my other cat’s dry food too!)

I have one other cat and a dog. They all get along well. The weather was very cold when he was out, and the night he slipped out we had a really awful wind/rain storm.

He’s an average sized cat. His weight at the vet yesterday was 8 1/2 lbs.

 

[MeezeIfYouPlz]

Our middle cat Braveheart slipped out the door on New Year's day of this year and reappeared in July, having been gone a full seven months. It took several days for Brave to settle back in, especially since one of our elderly dogs passed away whilst he was gone and a new puppy had joined the family. The vet did a physical and wormed him, since Brave had been eating who knows what, "eating wild" is the phrase the vet used, to survive. I would give your cat some time to decompress and watch for signs of illness.

 

[silent meowlook]

If you can stop the dry food you will have a much healthier cat.

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