Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my 11 year old cat has recently stopped eating. it began when i left for a few days and had a friend feed him. one day the cat went without food. but when i came back i found his bowl completely full and it looked like he hadn't eaten the food he was given anyways. while i was away there were workers in my apartment patching the ceiling with plaster. also, he has had a change of food. i originally fed him proplan urinary health, then accidently switched to purina urinary health (which gave him a horrible smelling litter box) and so i bought a small bag of meow mix which i mixed into the purina. then when i returned i brought back some pro-plan(which i had always given him his whole life) and he won't eat it. i tried giving him just the purina....he won't eat it. i tried giving him just meow mix....he won't eat it. the most he has eaten are a couple mouthfuls. he is however, just as excited about me walking to his bowl. he seems to have the appetite for it, he just won't eat the food. he will however eat plenty of cat treats. i was worried about him not eating at all so i bought him a small can of wet food and gave him some of that mixed in. he ate a little, but then walked away. this is so suprising because he is a very large hungry cat. later, he ate all of the wet food and little of the dry attached to the wet, but won't eat anything else. he never acts like he is hurt. he doesn't act any different at all. he doesn't look any different. the only difference i can notice is that he is being a sweeter kitty. but other than that.....nothing. is it that he's protesting all the food change? is it something that happened while i was away? is it him being upset that i was away and he went without food for a day? what could it be?

Hi There,

The best thing you can do for your cat is take him in for an exam, full blood panel, and possibly even a urinalysis. He is a senior kitty and is at high risk for many problems, especially kidney disease, diabetes, and hyperthyroidism. Any cat that stops eating for any reason can also develop fatty liver disease, which is fatal without treatment.

I don't think it was a good idea to leave your cat in the apartment while workers were there. I personally would have boarded him, but whether or not this has something to do with his lack of appetite doesn't really matter at this point.

Please make an appointment and let us know how it goes.

Regards,
PHKitkat

Hi, I am sure that leaving him alone in the apartment while you were gone definitely contributed to his problem. I am sure it made him very insecure and scared.
I know for a fact that switching foods is very difficult on a cats digestive system and can lead to stomach upset. Don't treat the stomach with anything. What I suggest you do whenever you change a food is to slowly integrate it with the old food by just adding 1/4 of the new food to 3/4 of the old food and slowly up the new food ratio over a 7 day period and then you continue with only the new food.
Sometimes our animals smell when something is off in their cat food even though we cannot smell it or see it but they know.
Also, as I have had this problem with 3 cats and after phoning the manufacturer they did confirm that they sometimes use ingredients from different suppliers in their batches so for example - in one batch of food they may use chicken livers and in the next batch they may use beef livers - this in itself can cause some animals to stop eating the food and when you get a batch with the chicken livers again then they resume their eating habit. I suggest you feed a quality ultra premium grain free dry food along with canned food(fancy feast) seems to be a favourite. Also keep in mind that a strictly dry food diet leads to kidney failure.
Hope this helps and don't leave kitty alone again.
Good luck.