senior cat not eating in new enviroment

[selina kyle]

Here's my dillema people;

My parents have 3 cats, 1 of which (Cinnamon) only eats soft food (trust me they cant get him on hard food).

My parents are on vacation for 2 weeks and so Cinnamon is staying with me. He's 14 years old and this is the first time since he was a young kitten that he's stayed anywhere other than my parents house. My parents have 2 other cats which are not with me (one of which is a few weeks younger than Cinnamon so he probably doesn't even remember not living with him). I have a cat of my own whom cinnamon does not like but they tolerate each other.

Anyhow cinnamon has been here for 5 days and has not eaten once. I spoke to my parents once and they said there was no issue with him not eating when he was at their place last. He seems happy, he's been very affectionate and purring and playful and is not exhibiting any abnormal behaviour but he hasn't ate once since he got here. The only behaviour from him which is unusual is he is drinking a lot of water.

I have the exact same food that my parents feed him and even the dishes he normally eats from. He doesnt appear to be sick and he's not meowing that much (normally he will meow when he's hungry).


I'm at a loss for what I can/should do; i've been changing his food every 12 hours and putting him up to the bowl when I do so but he doesnt bother to eat it. I can't imagine the issue is anything other than the change of scenery or possibly absence of his kitty friends. Luckily my parents will be back in 9 days but I'm kind of wondering, what would the case be if i were taking him permanently?

Should I be calling the vet? If I wait for my parents to get back, it would be a full 2 weeks between meals for him (assuming he eats when he gets back there), could he starve to death in that time? I have heard of cats starving themselves when they are depressed (he doesnt seem depressed but obviously something isn't right or he'd be eating). And I can't really force feed him soft food.

 

[carolina]

This cat has been with you for five Days, and has not eaten once? You need to force feed now. I can not stress this enough, now... now. His liver can shoot down soon if you don't do it, and you parents can come back from vacations to a deadly ill cat.
Yes, you can force feed him wet food - anybody can force feed a cat needed be. Fatty liver disease is a very real disease, very serious, and is what will happen if you don't take action right now.

I wrote a post a little while ago about cats who are not eating when I was force feeding my own cat. In it, you will find helpful links - please, please read and take action immediately... do not wait... If you say you can not do it, drop the cat off at the vet's office for the remaining of the trip to be force-fed in there. Force-feeding this cat can be life-saving.

Here is the link for the thread I wrote: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=227858

 

[farleyv]

Yes, everything Carolina said!

All the water drinking is concerning also. Don't wait.

 

[addiebee]

VET - ASAP! And yes, you can force-feed wet food with a syringe but you have to be shown HOW. VET VET VET NOW! TODAY!!!

 

[cazlee]

My cat was hospitalized on a Sunday, had surgery to remove baldder stones on Monday, and sent home on Tuesday out of the concern of her not eating during in-patient care. She was otherwise recovering very well. The motivation for the early release was concern of the fatty liver issue.

Everything everyone else said. Vet STAT. This is an emergency. Not eating, in and of itself, is a symptom of something wrong and should always be addressed promptly.

hope all goes well.