Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello. we are the proud owners of two sisters adopted from the same stray litter. they've been with us for three months. we have little experience with kittens, more so with adults in the past. at first the both of them ate all of their food together w/o incident. their followup visits to the vet this fall indicated no disease or other medical problems. however in the past 2 weeks, one has dropped off her eating habits drastically (loss of appetite, won't readily take wet foods) and it's begun showing in her lack of growth and listlessnes as compared to her sister. the only thing that she readily goes for are exposed pipes and window insulation, which she licks and chews on, then drinks lots of water afterwards and has no desire to consume her canned kitten food. we've heard that two cats shouldn't be fed together, but aren't sure if this is the cause. we noticed that the healthy cat does tend to change from her own eating dish towards her smaller sister while eating but beforehand the victim would just up and move to the other bowl no problem. now she seems to only get discouraged and extremely easily. could there be a fraternal pecking order being established here that has to just sort itself out? what does the acquired 'taste' for exposed piping and insulation indicate? we've intervened by changing the food type (we go between Wellness and Eagle Pack), keeping Nina (the larger kitty) away, as well as trying to nurture and protect the smaller kitty, Frida. but if she's not having it, she's not having it. we're thinking about taking her to the vet this week, but didn't think it was panic time just yet, because she still takes in hard food w/ little to no issue. and we're also considering buying a repellant to cover the metallic things she's been licking. we are afraid though that this is only going to be a band-aid solution as she'll look elsewhere to sate the appetite. when they are fed separately, Nina will cry endlessly and then poor Frida gets concerned, loses her appetite completely and goes to search for the distressed sister. help, please? we don't want her to fall too far behind her somewhat egotistical sister. thanks!

I'm going to come across as a bit strong, but since I feel your kitten's life may be in danger, please bear with me.

I can see that you are a person who cares deeply for your cats. So please get her to a vet ASAP!! And then, please let us know how she does.
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

thank you for your reply, and no, your advice was not harsh. we apologize for not getting back to you sooner but have been absorbed with Frida's care and other greatly pressing needs of everyday life. anyhow, she has picked up her appetite, she is stronger and her coat is approaching a normal sheen.

following this original post, we did not wait for a reply but went and took her to the vet the day after. the vet said that her weight, demeanor and body shape were all normal. her impression was that her troubles were more behavioral due to stress from food competition with the sister and that we should give them a holistic additive to both of their food bowls to put them at ease. this worked for almost a week and then the two of them both rejected all wet food entirely with the calming drops added. once, removed, they'd eat.

we purchased a bitter apple spray and applied it to the exposed pipes and insulation, which greatly helped to keep her off. we weren't too sure about this happening due to nutrient digestion problems as you had speculated because her stool was always normal and she always ate dry food. the licking came always when she felt that it was futile to continue eating when sister was pushing her away.

we noticed that Frida does eat s-l-o-w-l-y and is choosey about wet food. a method of feeding her exclusively from the can w/ fork or spoon works. after a while sister Nina's jealousy comes into play and after spell, they both get their 1/2 to 3/4 can per meal. ironically, there are little to no issues or drama with dry food. we do not want to go exclusively to a dry diet for them because of the health benefits of the wet food (we're feeding Eagle Pack; they both reject Wellness kitten formula). when we are out for extended hours during the day, they'll have nothing but dry. when they get the rare Iams kitten wet formula, there is little trouble but we really don't want to feed them with the quality of food containing artificial and low grade ingredients. please let us know if you think of another method.

so thank you so much for your firm insight and assistance with our problem. so long as Frida is taking her food in her inimitable way, continues to stay off the metal and also maintains her growth within range, we'll stay optimistic and keep you posted should another crisis arise.

have a great rest-of-the-weekend, PHMadameAlto.

--claudiayjeff

Thanks for the update. Although it is recommended that you not feed dry food, if it solves the problem of the cat getting enough to eat then this is probably an answer for you. Sometimes you just have to pick your battles!
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!