What to Do When Your Cat Refuses to Eat

In this guide

Ask any cat owner and they will happily, even fondly, tell you how fussy their cat is about food. But a cat that stops eating altogether is not simply being finicky; it is a genuinely serious issue, and one that every owner should take seriously.

Watching a pet refuse food is distressing enough on its own, but for cats specifically, it can also be dangerous.

The risk of hepatic lipidosis

This is a condition every cat owner should understand. When a cat stops eating, hepatic lipidosis damages the liver, and in some cases it can be fatal.

Animals draw on fat reserves for energy once they stop eating, and how long those reserves last varies from species to species, lion or house cat alike. Before that stored fat can be used as fuel, though, it needs to be processed by the liver, and protein is the key ingredient that step depends on.

When a cat stops eating, the body starts breaking down protein from muscle, leading to muscle and weight loss. As weight drops rapidly and protein reserves run out, the liver becomes overwhelmed trying to process all the mobilised fat. That overload is what defines hepatic lipidosis, a genuinely dangerous condition that can progress to liver failure.

A loss of appetite is a sign of illness in its own right and should never be ignored. The sooner you act on your vet's advice, the better your cat's chances. It helps to understand the common reasons a cat might stop eating.

Why your cat might not be eating

Illness: a sudden refusal to eat, or a marked change in eating habits, can point to any number of conditions, infection, kidney failure, pancreatitis, intestinal problems, even cancer. That said, there is no need to panic immediately, since the cause could equally be something as simple as a sore tooth, or even something unexpected the cat has swallowed.

Vaccination: occasionally a cat reacts to a routine vaccination with a temporary loss of appetite. Vaccines remain genuinely lifesaving, but reactions vary between individual cats. This is usually mild and short-lived, though a prolonged loss of appetite after vaccination warrants a prompt visit to the vet.

Travel and unfamiliar surroundings: much like children, cats are creatures of habit when it comes to food, timing, location and surroundings, and any disruption to that routine can put them off eating. Long car journeys or air travel can bring on anxiety and motion sickness, leading to nausea and a refusal to eat.

Finickiness or psychological factors: it may sound surprising, but once a vet has ruled out anything medical, anxiety or a low mood can genuinely be behind a loss of appetite. A new home, new people, an additional pet, or a change in schedule can all affect a cat's emotional state, or your cat may simply be a naturally fussy eater. It is also worth remembering that cats generally take time to adjust to a new type of food, so a recent diet change could well be the underlying cause.

What you can do

Whether your cat is unwell, anxious, or simply picky, a complete refusal to eat can have serious consequences, so even if a prescription diet is needed, the priority is making sure your cat is never left going hungry.

If illness turns out to be the cause, that is in some ways the more straightforward path forward, since your vet can help you work out the best diet for your cat, which may involve adjusting the type, consistency or texture of food offered. If nothing works, your vet may prescribe an appetite stimulant, recommend syringe-feeding a liquid diet, or, in extreme cases, fit a feeding tube.

Where illness is not to blame, there are still things worth trying to tempt a reluctant eater. Some cats respond well to small amounts of liver or canned tuna as an appetite stimulant, though these should only ever be offered sparingly, since larger quantities can cause nutrient imbalances or vitamin excess.

If your cat normally eats home-cooked food, try offering commercial canned food instead, or vice versa. Warming the food slightly, or mixing in a little fish oil, broth or cooked egg, can sometimes tempt a fussy cat to eat, though onions should always be avoided, since they are toxic to cats. If your cat still will not eat, remove the food and offer something fresh later in the day; food left to dry out and harden can put a cat off it for good.

If your cat has been eating only home-cooked food, transition it over several weeks by gradually mixing its favourite people food with cat food, slowly shifting the ratio until it is eating cat food, or home food, exclusively.

Many experts also recommend rotating between two to four different cat food brands each year, using a similar gradual approach, which can help reduce fussiness and lower the risk of developing food allergies or intestinal problems over time.

Cats really can be fussy eaters, so if you also happen to have a dog on hand to mop up any leftovers, so much the better.

Article content © Ravi Teja. All rights reserved.