Bit of a long story but I will try to get to the point quickly.
My cat is a 15 year old male. His history of eating habits have included being fussy about the type of food, only licking the jelly off wet food (so we've had to mush it up) and gorging on dry food.
In the last couple of months I have noticed a bit of weight loss. He was actually obese through most of his life but old age slimmed him down to a respectable weight, but now I don't like how much I can feel his bones protruding in certain places.
However, he is still very much himself. Active, running about and jumping up on chairs.
His eating habits recently have changed. First I was pretty sure he was bored of his current food (Whiskers senior) and so asked my dad (whome he lives with) to change to Felix. My dad was pretty intent on using up the Whiskers so I can't be sure how much he ate during that time.
A couple of weeks ago I was on holiday for a week and it was down to my sister to feed him and I found out she'd been feeding him the Whiskers as well, so again who knows how much he got to eat.
His eating habits now are as follows:
- Gets excited about recieving food and starts to eat when given it.
- Eats for about a minute and then walks away.
- Will continue to eat for another short time if you pick him up and put him back in front of it.
- Not as interested in dry food as he used to be.
- Seems anguished when presented with food going from bowl to bowl, taking a little then walking away.
Recently his brother was put to sleep to relieve him of a cancer, and he has always tended to take a stroppy sulky air when is displeased. Because of this I am wondering if the eating could be behavioural at all.
He has company of one of my cats which he enjoys.
I am thinking of taking him to the vets to get his teeth checked out (something we were going to do with his brother) just to check while he's still stong if surgery to remove bad ones would help him. He hasn't had a history of bad teeth, I'd say just the general detrioration from his age.
He had his geriatric tests along with his booster last year (I do them every year now he's old) which showed good results and he is due soon for this years.
I am going to give him till next week to see if the food he's taking in now (the Felix, he seems to like it) is enough to help him gain weight. I can feel when I pick him up that he's getting a little heavier, but his attitude to the food is what worries me.
His interest and small intakes seem to indicate a physical problem eating, but the walking away and then reintroducing him to eat again seems behavioural.
Can anyone shed any light onto what is making my kitty be like this?
