What to do if your cat stops eating

Are you sure this is from Waitrose?    Some cats are so fussy about what they eat it’s a constant challenge to find something they like.

Our feline friends are normally hungry creatures and demand food at regular intervals throughout the day.   Feeding cats is an artificial routine – in their natural life they are well able to feed themselves.   Birds, mice, rats, rabbits, flies, beetles are natural food for the cat hunter who has survived for thousands of years without a can or a pouch or a dried biscuit.

Cats are good at persuasion though and why bother to hunt when you can train a human to fetch convenience food?    Fussing over the type and variety is just another variation of the ‘cats rule our life’ theme!    If you have a cat who is picky it’s a mistake to assume that she will eat when she’s hungry.   Cats are very different from dogs in this respect and will go for days and I am sure even weeks, without the food they have set their heart on.

Why is this?   The most common reason isn’t the taste or brand or type – it’s a health problem so if you have a cat who turns her nose up at the most expensive little pot of minced morsels, make an appointment to see the vet.   Cats have dental problems just like humans and if their teeth hurt they don’t want to eat.   It might be a different underlying health problem and there are a number of conditions that depress the appetite.  Your vet may do a blood test to make sure all is well.

Worms, instead of making cats voraciously hungry, often have the opposite effect and the cat will go off her food.   If you had a gut full of blood sucking parasites, you would too.    Make sure the worm routine is up to date  and check out with the vet if in doubt.

When all these possible causes have been eliminated it could be that your cat is an attention seeker.   What better way than to get her owner rushing about finding ever more delectable food!    Put down a very tiny amount of whatever you have on offer and take it away again if not eaten quickly.   Don’t leave food (excepting dry biscuits) down for more than ten minutes or so.   

Sometimes cats just won’t eat because their sensitive digestive organs tell them that we have put down for them isn’t fit for even a dog to eat!   Just because there is an emotive picture on the can or pouch, doesn’t mean that what’s inside isn’t pre-formed grunge.   Animal derivates?   No way, says Miss Pussy Willow.    A lot of our cats don’t like certain brands of pet food.    Just what is ‘chicken digest?’.    The ingredients in some brands leave much to be desired and the fillers are very suspect.

Let’s give them all dry food then.   How boring.   Is it a natural diet?    We put out the very best quality dry biscuits ad lib – Royal Canin, Iams or Hill’s Science Diet.   These all have ingredients that are ‘pure’ and straight forward.   The cats do well on them and don’t get tummy upsets and they thrive.    But we do give fresh food also and dole this out at least twice a day.   It might only be a small portion but it is greatly appreciated.

Fish is excellent for cats.   Cheap and plentiful varieties, poached in a bit of milk and with a slice of wholemeal (preferably organic stoneground) brown bread crumbled in too.   Chicken is popular, free range and boiled so you don’t waste any and have lots of gravy to bulk out the meal.   Please don’t buy factory farmed birds though.      Lamb is a delicious treat, the fat makes for a shiny coat.   Again braise in water with a few veg or make a stew.   We don’t usually feed beef but we do give liver no more often than once a week.   The cats love it and plead for a liver meal every day.  It is toxic in large quantities for cats though so this is a rule that can’t be broken.

When eggs are plentiful we offer chopped up boiled eggs occasionally or a bit of grated cheese goes down well or ham scraps are well liked.   Canned fish is fine so long as it’s from a sustainable source – sardines, pilchards, mackerel – and it has to be inexpensive.

For a sick cat we would make special meals as tempting as possible.   Warm watery tuna is often accepted but make sure it’s been caught by pole and line as tuna stocks are very diminished.   Flaked white fish sometimes hits the spot or in extreme cases try potted meat, pate, prawns or very finely chopped chicken.   A braised wood pigeon is the one to try when all else fails – what cat can resist a small bird?

The consistency of food is important to most cats.  Small, fine pieces are best.  Is it because you’ve spent hours chopping it up finely and it shows that you care?   Or just that she can waffle it down more easily.   Again, this is probably a dental issue. 

Some cats seem to have weak digestions.   If they have suffered from worms as kittens their gut might have been damaged and become inflamed.   Their gut flora could be compromised and they feel a bit ‘iffy’ most of the time.    Sorting out tummy upsets is essential.   We find that, given the opportunity, some cats will do this for themselves if you offer them yoghurt.   Poorly or undernourished cats will lick a spoonful of goat’s milk yoghurt with great appreciation.   We offer any delicate cat a little blob on a saucer twice a day.   If the cat wouldn’t go for it and definitely had a weak digestion I would pop a small spoonful in the mouth.    Yoghurt every day is a lifetime benefit – we don’t use cow’s milk though – just plain goat’s milk which is more digestible – for humans as well as cats.