My anorexic cat!

[Setphanie_A]

Hi there,
I have a male tabby cat, Turbo, that is about 7 years old now, and hes decided to suddenly be a picky eater. Orginally, he was eating Iams adult cat food and it was out of the floor for him at all times. He maintained a healthy weight. Suddenly, only my other cat, Lynx, woudl eat that food, and Turbo starting only accepting his Whiskas Temptations treats, whcih we feed him barely any of. So we tried him on Fancy Feast, and he ate that for awhile, but now, he refuses to eat that as well. I've checked his teeth, they look healthy enough, he is getting quite thin but is not sick, he still runs, plays, eats his treats. I'm not sure what to do anymore, and I'm worried about his health. Do you have any advice for me?

[spanner7853]

my cat does this now and again. Try changing his food for a little while. I imagine like humans they get sick of eating the same thing all the time. I used to use Tesco brand then he would be sick after he ate it so i took him to the vets and they said he might just have a sensitive stomach. So i tried him on whiskers and loved it. Now he's gone off that. Like you I check him ovr and he still plays around like he's not ill so I will try something else and see how that goes.

[sue11]

Hmm.... sounds familar to me. Both my cats are picky eaters and unfortunately it is all my fault for indulging them! They started off on ordinary cat food, went off that, I tried all the variations, then moved on to select cuts brands, they absolutely loved that for a couple of weeks, then it was not good enough. So I changed to the likes of Sheba and others, after a few weeks they decided they wanted something nicer and now I am onto prawns and sliced beef (and much poorer for it) So you have been warned!
My advice is to try not to give in to demands for nicer food, as I have done with mine, don't worry too much if he seems healthly enough, but if you feel you want more expert advice I would get him to the vet for a checkover.
Best of luck, Sue

[Noweia]

What might help is if you leave the food down for a certain time, say half an hour, then remove what hasn't been eaten and bin it. Do this at every mealtime and don't give titbits in between.

If you think Lynx has something to do with it, maybe try setting up a routine where you feed them both in different rooms with the door closed?

[foxyflugel]

Hi - have you wormed him recently? Ensure that his worming programme is up-to-date and as the previous post says - try feeding him in another room as he may well be intimidated by Lynx. Or try him on James Wellbeloved biscuits - they smell really nice!! Mine also went off Iams and they are still on James Wellbeloved 13 months later!!

[Kimmiebear]

I was reading in a text book the other day that cats will only eat types of food that they were introduced to before 9 weeks... I thought this was interesting. So try foods with different consistancy and shape and texture and see how that goes.
If your cat becomes absolutely anorexic there is a condition called fatty liver which is really serious. Make sure he eats something every day.