Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My 10-11 year old cat (found not sure on age) will not eat my old neighbor was taking care of her beacause she runs away to try to find home, since we moved.

She called us and said she was acting strange and had not been eating for 3 days, as far as she knew. But here is the catch two of our other cats that lived down their also had these symptoms and died from them but it was alot quicker and she is acting like she has recovere but will not eat, I read somwhere to force feed her until she eats again....... I fed her some but the only way to get her to eat was to put it in the back of her mouth and hold it shut until she swallows and these are very small pieces....

Do any of you guys have any advice on what to do about this problem? and is force feeding her the right thing......... It is 11:30 here and I haven't called the vet beacause of time I'll post again after I ask her or we take her to the vet...

Usually when you force feed, it's either canned food or dry food pureed with water to a peanut butter like consistency so you can scoop it up on your finger and put small amounts either in the pouch on the side of the cheek or on the roof of the cat's mouth.

A cat that isn't eating for more than a day or so can become seriously ill. I am glad to hear you are calling the vet as waiting could be putting your kitty at further risk.

Most cats do not like change. Moving can be very stressful for cats as well as humans. Often cats will try to return to their old home. My best suggestion is to keep the cats inside all the time. After a while they will adjust to the new home and to being indoor kitties.

Hi,

I hope that by now you have taken your cat to the vet. She is a senior and is prone to several medical problems that may cause her appetite to fail. Besides the fact that once a cat stops eating he or she may develop a very serious, and sometimes fatal, liver condition.

The key is really to find out why the cat stopped eating in the first place, and to treat the underlying problem. Force feeding may be helpful but most likely your cat will need some kind of treatment in addition. Remember that most health problems are treatable, especially when diagnosed in the early stages.

Please update us when you can.

AshleyElla