# cat won't eat his catfood anymore



## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

My cat wants to eat but he doesn't seem to want his canned catfood anymore. I've opened several cans and nothing appeals to him. I try to wait it out but he cries for something. He has access to dry food which he will (usually, finally) eat, so should I just try to wait him out?

We like to give him canned food because it keeps his weight down instead of just dry food.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

I am of the belief that if he is hungry he will eat. He is not going to starve to death if there is food, of any sort, available.
Sometimes cats talk for reasons other than hunger too.


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## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

I agree with you, and typically that's what happens over a period of time. My cat knows where the canned food is kept. He would look at me and then walk over to that cabinet (it's below the counter) and look at me again with that plaintive meow. He was talking food this time!

They can be very clever when they want to be. My mother says that he has me wrapped around his paw!


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

We are going through that with certain flavors of our wet food too. All three cats will follow me endlessly during the day, making it very clear they think they are starving - but no one will touch one specific flavor of the wet food. Makes me wonder what they know that I don't know....


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

cathleenc said:


> We are going through that with certain flavors of our wet food too. All three cats will follow me endlessly during the day, making it very clear they think they are starving - but no one will touch one specific flavor of the wet food. Makes me wonder what they know that I don't know....


That is what I'm thinking...maybe something is wrong with that batch of food. With all the recalls and such I would be leary and try another brand.


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

I'm wondering if the wet food now has something in it from China. The cats know it's different. We don't.


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## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

No kidding -- that's the way it is with all my animals. Often I feel like I'm working just to stay a step ahead of them.

Yesterday evening, after I had firmly said "there is no other cat food here," he finally went upstairs where he goes to do his Zen meditation. A couple of hours later he comes down and eats every bite of the canned and then wanted more.

Maybe the meditation increased his appetite or changed his attitude!


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Do you realize you're anthromorphizing your cat? Do you wear a lot of purple clothing? ... just kidding. I do the same to critters. But I don't wear purple.


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## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

Anthropomorphizing is so nineties, Darren -- most behavioral ethologists don't even use the term anymore. Doesn't matter, really. Those who have animals, companion or not, and who appreciate them for their own natural history, know things scientists don't know because of protocols in methodology. 

It's far more fun to "anthropomorphize". Shoot, in our household not only do our animals understand English, they speak it. I thought everyone did!!


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

Seriously, if this behavior continues, have a vet check him out.

I have to add that we have one cat who will gobble up his wet food one day and walk away from it like it's poison the next. 
We feed them each about 1/4 of a small can every day each and they eat dry the rest. (That doesn't include the younger who eats smoked string cheese with her "Daddy" at night, but that's another story!)


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## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

_I have to add that we have one cat who will gobble up his wet food one day and walk away from it like it's poison the next. _

That's about the same kind of behavior, Ardi. Did you vet find something wrong?


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

Doc said:


> _I have to add that we have one cat who will gobble up his wet food one day and walk away from it like it's poison the next. _
> 
> That's about the same kind of behavior, Ardi. Did you vet find something wrong?


Nothing except that he is a cat! Cats are strange creatures.


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## beccachow (Nov 8, 2008)

My Jinx cat went through a few years of being VERY strange with her canned foods. I could feed her friskies for a bit, then she would snub it and it was on to the next brand. Whiskas, fancy feast, friskies, it was a can-go-round! I usually had a few cans of each on hand just in case.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

Make sure that he does not have a hairball. Or possibly another obstruction. This has stopped my cats from eating in the past. 

I feed canned food to keep their weight down as well. I have found that if I blend the can with at least 1/4 cup of water to make the food soupy they just lap it up. Even my sick cat will eat his "soup". Plus the added water to their diet makes their coats softer and shinier and less sheddy.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

there is a product by Purina called Fortiflora (feline). It is a probiotic but has "animal digest" in it and is apparently like crack for cats. Sprinkle that on the food and stand back. You can get it on amazon for about $20.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

My calico, Marilla, suddenly refused her canned food back in the winter. She acted starved but would not touch it. We feed mainly canned food with dry food as generous "treats". She became quite aggressive about demanding treats. I was quite worried. I bought a premium canned cat food ($1.75 a tin!!!!) and she was enthusiastic... for the first two or three feedings. Then she snubbed it the same as she did Friskies canned food. I got frustrated and quit feeding any canned food for a few days and increased the dry food. About three days later she was suddenly demanding canned food. We feed the different foods in separate locations, so I knew that was what she wanted. She's back to eating some of each in her normal way.

My theory? She's a cat and a control freak. She just likes to keep us guessing.


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## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

Maggie, I'm glad to hear your story. I've thought about cutting out the canned for a few days as well and then see what happens. The food he gets is $1.30/can so we try to make go a few days along with the dry. 

How about this -- same catfood brand and same flavor. You feed him one can and he eats; open another (same lot #) and he walks away from it.

Yes, control freaks!


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

Today, Brat the Cat gobbled up a wet cat food that he normally turns his nose up to. DH accidently grabbed it at the store. his sister Mitzie eats any wet cat food, but she is such a pig! 

I've come to the conclusion that cats like variety just like we do.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

mekasmom said:


> I am of the belief that if he is hungry he will eat. He is not going to starve to death if there is food, of any sort, available.
> Sometimes cats talk for reasons other than hunger too.


If he is an overweight cat, you don't want to let him go without eating even if he's choosing not to eat. Feline Hepatic Lipidosis is a real danger in that situation.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

When my old cat refused both canned food and dry food, he turned out to have dental problems.

Things he WOULD eat included egg yolks and bits of raw chicken. I do not think he chewed the chicken: he licked it up and swallowed. The vet was able to help for a few years, but he eventually quit eating again at the age of 17 and we had him put down.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

The trouble with feeding a variety of flavours to Marilla is that if I guess wrong when choosing one, she just picks at it and a lot gets wasted. Well, not exactly wasted because I give it to the chickens. They're not picky!


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## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

Same here -- nothing gets wasted when you have a farm with other critters. Chickens love the cat food.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

Doc said:


> Anthropomorphizing is so nineties, Darren -- most behavioral ethologists don't even use the term anymore. Doesn't matter, really. Those who have animals, companion or not, and who appreciate them for their own natural history, know things scientists don't know because of protocols in methodology.
> 
> It's far more fun to "anthropomorphize". Shoot, in our household not only do our animals understand English, they speak it. I thought everyone did!!



Have you seen the Sad Cat Diaries on the internet? you will die laughing.ound:
http://laughingsquid.com/depressed-...r-miserable-lives-in-ze-franks-sad-cat-diary/


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## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

Sad Cat Diaries had me laughing outloud. Thanks for that.


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

Just to show how fussy cats can be!

We have an very old feral female who is deaf and probably somewhat blind. She has fought many battles. Now she is in her twilight years . She sleeps in winter in an insulated, heated house in our attached garage. I feed her soft foods because I don't think that she has many teeth. Fool that I am, I cook up odds and ends to supplement her food.

Yesterday, I chopped up some cooked pork and juice and added it to her canned food and she ate it up like there was going to be no tomorrow.

This morning, she turned up her nose at it with great disgust!


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## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

Go figure! worse than children.

When I open the refrigerator door to get the canned food, he goes over and sits in front of the cabinet where the unopened (aka: fresh) cans are stored. Then looks/meows at me.

When he does that, I know that he is going to turn up his nose at the "non-fresh' can (and yes, I warm it up -- doesn't matter, it's old, you see).


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Too bad the "single serving" cat foods are so expensive. Marilla would really go for that idea!


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## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

I agree. I think the small cans is what he is trying to tell me to get so that he can FRESH every meal. They are so expensive that I tried to stretch the small can out for two meals. No such luck.


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## Use Less (Nov 8, 2007)

Cats can be picky, and I think they get bored if they have the same food too many times. Or have anxiety if they don't see the same food for the correct number of meals. Which of course we can only guess at. A cat that won't eat given a few choices does need to see the vet, though. It doesn't take very long for other bad stuff to happen. Not eating can be a sign of a hairball that won't come up, a bad tooth, upset stomach (some older cats need an antacid), or kidney problems.


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## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

Why don't you just feed the same brand and same flavor each day? If your cat knows what it is going to get then it will probably not be as picky. I think that when we switch things around a lot we can make our cats pickier and they are less likely to eat what's set before them every day.


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

Joshie said:


> Why don't you just feed the same brand and same flavor each day? If your cat knows what it is going to get then it will probably not be as picky.


Well, here is a thought...how would you like to eat the same food at each and every meal every day? :bored:

We feed our cats a variety because they enjoy it and we enjoy seeing them contented.

I tell my DH that he will never regret giving his cats extra pleasures because we both know how quickly something can happen and they're gone.:Bawling:


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## Doc (Jun 5, 2003)

That's what we already do -- as I mentioned, he won't eat anything else. Same brand, same flavor.

I wanted to hear what other cat people do and enjoy their stories.


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