Cats can be finicky eaters. Some cats simply decide from one day to the next that they no longer like a food they’ve been happily eating before. This can be discouraging for cat parents, and it’s not something to take lightly. A cat who stops eating is always a concern, and a cat who hasn’t eaten anything for a lot more than 24-48 hours may be developing hepatic lipidosis, a potentially dangerous condition also known as fatty liver disease.
Rule out a medical issue
If your cat stops eating for a lot more than 24-48 hours, an immediate check out to your veterinarian is in order. Inappetance can have many causes, and it’s crucial to identify the underlying condition.
Hepatic lipidosis – a severe consequence of loss of appetite
Hepatic lipidosis is nearly always preceded by anorexia, a cat’s nearly total avoidance of food. When a body is undernourished or starved, it starts to metabolize its own fat reserves for energy. Cat’s bodies are not able to convert large stores of fat. When a cat is in starvation mode, the fat that is released to the liver is not processed efficiently and is simply stored there, leading to a fatty and low functioning liver. Cats who are already overweight are a lot more prone to this condition than normal weight cats.
This condition requires aggressive treatment. If diagnosed early, and if the cat survives the first few days of treatment, the prognosis for a full recovery is excellent. If left untreated, the condition is fatal.
Is your cat finicky?
If your cat is finicky, there may be several reasons. Finicky eaters are made, not born. kittens who are fed a variety of foods after being weaned from their mother develop varied tastes. Those fed the same food all the time typically refuse unfamiliar foods later in life.
Something as basic as the wrong food bowl can cause finicky eating. Make sure bowls are shallow and large so that the cat’s whiskers don’t touch the edge of the bowl. keep bowls scrupulously clean and don’t use scented detergents to wash the bowls.
How to encourage your cat to eat
Encouraging a finicky eater requires patience and resourcefulness. The following ideas may help:
• offer foods that have a strong scent
• Sprinkle freeze dried chicken or salmon on top.
• Drizzle a little bit of tuna or clam juice drizzled over the food
• add small pieces of cooked cooked meat
• spread a spoonful of meat-based baby food (make sure it doesn’t consist of onion powder) on top of the meal
• Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the food (yes, the stuff in the green can)
• Sprinkle nutritional yeast over the food
This post was previously published on Answers.com and is republished with permission.
Ingrid King
Table of Contents
Rule out a medical issue
Hepatic lipidosis – a severe consequence of loss of appetite
Is your cat finicky?
How to encourage your cat to eat
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Feline Hepatic Lipidosis: Fatty Liver disease in Cats
How to get Finicky Cats to eat
Does Your cat have Whisker Stress?
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18 comments on What to Do When Your cat Won’t Eat
Jackie McDaniel says:
November 14, 2021 at 10:22 pm
Hello Ingrid,
My 16 year old cat stopped eating and drinking. I have been able to get her to eat treats but thats it. Tonight she’s walking in the hallway (which is unusal) I plan on taking her to the vet in the morning. What can I do to make her a lot more comfortable till she can get seen
Reply
Ingrid says:
November 15, 2021 at 5:05 am
Unusual behavior combined with not eating and drinking is absolutely worrisome – I hope you can get her seen asap, Jackie. There really isn’t much you can do until you know what’s going on. All my best to both of you.
Reply
mountainkiddo says:
June 18, 2018 at 11:52 pm
One thing I do as a last resort when one of my gang stops eating, is I take a food Kitty previously ate, and paint it on them, as is smear it in goobs on their legs, chest and paws. They have to lick it to get it off. My theory is that after too long without eating as is pointed out in the post above, they tend to stop completely and I believe this is due to losing their taste for the food. Forcing them to lick the food off helps seems to help bring back the desire to eat. So once I get them licking the food off, I hold the bowl up ideal under their nose, and normally they will then start to eat from the bowl again. I’ve been successful at this with my IBD cat, as well as my Struvite cat who was addicted to the dry food. This is how I got him over his addiction. hope this helps. ?
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carol says:
June 21, 2018 at 4:44 am
I always keep a few cans of science diet A/D on hand. I know it requires a prescription, but my vet has been kind and will sell me a few cans to keep on hand for emergencies. I also keep KMR (kitten milk replacer) powder on hand. The KMR powder I keepnullnull