Experienced pet owners know that our pets often suffer from quite serious illnesses. Like people, they experience stress, are attacked by bacterial and viral infections, they are tormented by many serious diseases of the internal organs. If your cat refuses food and water - this is a serious reason for the owner to worry about his well-being.
Refusal from food can be a temporary phenomenon that causes some discomfort or a symptom of a serious, and sometimes life-threatening animal disease.
Why does the cat refuse to eat?
This situation should alert the owner. The body of a cat experiencing health problems spends more energy on digesting food, and spends a large amount of energy on recovery. For this reason, during inflammatory or infectious diseases, the animal is less likely to eat food, and sometimes even goes on a hunger strike for several days.
What can cause loss of appetite?
If the cat refuses food, there can be many reasons - the onset of the disease, psychological, childbirth and the postpartum period, age, etc. We will try to talk about the most common of them. The main reasons associated with the state of the animal’s health include:
- The presence of worms. There is an opinion that in the presence of parasites, the pet's appetite increases. This is a fallacy - histamines are the source of many infections that can cause permanent loss of appetite.
- Gastrointestinal diseases. These include ulcers, indigestion, gastritis. They are manifested not only by refusal of food, but also accompanied by an unpleasant smell from the mouth, diarrhea.
- Diseases of the circulatory system.
- Diseases of the internal organs - gastrointestinal tract, liver, genitourinary and reproductive systems, oncological diseases. It is especially dangerous when a cat, in addition to food, refuses water. This may indicate serious kidney and liver problems (CRF). This is also indicated by a change (more precisely, yellowing) of the skin, signs of intoxication - often foam appears from the mouth. If you find these signs in your pet, go to the veterinarian immediately.
- Bacterial or viral infections cause apathy, diarrhea, vomiting, fever.
- Food poisoning, intoxication with chemicals, potent poisons. In these cases, the prognosis depends on the substance that provoked the pathology. Often, the instinct of cats tells them how to treat themselves, where to find the grass necessary for healing. But with severe poisoning with toxic substances, it is far from always possible to save the animal even with medical preparations.
Suspecting a pet’s disease, do not try to help the cat yourself, you just miss the precious time.
Symptoms of an Onset Disease
What to do if a cat refuses food? First of all, you should watch your pet. If he is unwell, then this will be manifested not only by a lack of appetite, but by behavioral characteristics:
- disturbing and loud meow;
- persistent desire to hide in a dark place;
- anxiety;
- lack of activity;
- apathy and lethargy;
- discoloration and stool odor.
If you find at least one of the described symptoms, do not delay the visit to the veterinarian.
The consequences of refusing food
Even if the cat refused to eat because of a serious illness, such a situation can have unpleasant consequences for his health:
- Exacerbation of chronic diseases. If your pet is diagnosed with a pathology of the kidneys, liver, intestines, then refusing food even during the day can provoke an attack.
- Weight loss, which is very dangerous for cats.
- A lack of vitamins, which will lead to a deterioration in the general condition of the animal.
If the cat refused food and water - you can’t hesitate. Show your pet to a specialist urgently so as not to lose it. It is especially necessary to carefully monitor the nutrition of a kitten for up to six months. If adult animals can do without food for two days or more, then the baby will surely die after a day of starvation. If the kitten refuses food without obvious signs of illness, the owner should feed him milk with a pipette.
Diagnostics
At a reception in a veterinary clinic, tell the specialist when the cat refused food, how he behaves during this period. The doctor will examine the animal, prescribe the collection of necessary tests and only after receiving their results, prescribe treatment.
Non-Health Causes
Perhaps someone will be surprised to know that your cat can refuse to eat because of the stress or this is a manifestation of her character. But this does happen, and quite often. If you offended your pet, then not every one of them will “mark” the territory. Some animals in response to an undeserved resentment defiantly refuse food, including their favorite treats.
In addition, cats may not eat for several days for various reasons:
- Moving to a new home. Cats are very used to the place and every change of scenery is stressful for them. In this case, you can only wait until the pet in the new house settles.
- A sharp change in diet. When transferring an animal to natural nutrition or changing dry food, a cat may express its protest. In such a situation, it is enough to pick up the pet exactly the food that he likes.
- After the vaccination.
- During puberty. At this time, hormones are released in the body of the animal, which affects behavior and appetite.
- Dirty bowl. Cats are very clean and most do not eat from dirty dishes.
- Wool in the stomach. Lumps of wool that enter the digestive tract during molting clog the esophagus and stomach, causing the animal discomfort. In order to prevent this, the wool should be combed out regularly during molting.
How to help your pet?
If psychological problems are not taken into account, refusal of food in animals means that the normal life cycle is violated and urgent intervention by a veterinarian is required to establish the cause and treatment. Since cats have only two reasons for refusing food: an infectious disease and an upset stomach, it is necessary to find out what exactly worries the pet.
Unwillingness to eat a favorite product in a healthy cat can last a little more than an hour after the next meal. Then she is ready to eat again, if offered to her. So, if the cat refuses to eat, lies down, looks sluggish, what should I do?
Measure the temperature. To do this, you can use a thermometer placed in the anus. The procedure is unpleasant, but it must be carried out and try to keep the animal from fleeing. The normal temperature for cats is 38 ° C. Its increase indicates the presence of infection, and a decrease indicates a decrease in vitality from a lack of food and water. However, a normal temperature does not always mean that your pet is healthy, just in this case, the likelihood of inflammation is sharply reduced.
Infectious diseases
If you suspect an infection, you will need to do a blood test in a veterinary clinic. If the result is positive, the doctor will prescribe antibiotics. If you suspect an intestinal upset, palpate the cat's stomach, carefully fingering its internal organs. If the animal screams sharply, scratches, it means that you have found a sore spot and can understand exactly where the cat has problems.
Bowel obstruction
If your pet constantly screams during the examination, this does not bode well: perhaps this is a symptom of intestinal twisting, the presence of a solid impenetrable object that has got into the intestine and clogged all the way. Naturally, in such a situation, the cat refuses food. How to feed an animal? Before examining a cat by a specialist, it is strictly forbidden to try to feed it by force, pour any liquid, including milk, into the mouth to give a laxative. This can cause intestinal rupture, and the animal will die from internal hemorrhage.
Urgently seek help from a large veterinary clinic, where they will conduct all the necessary examinations, take an X-ray and take tests. If the x-ray does not show pathology, the doctor will prescribe a second shot with a radiopaque solution. The cat is immediately given barium chloride, because after taking the marker for a high-quality picture, at least eight hours should pass. If the second x-ray reveals an obstruction of the intestine, which may be caused by swallowed objects, wool, threads, then you will be offered surgery.
If there is no clear obstruction, but the cat refuses to eat, has lost much weight, then for the next day he will be prescribed droppers and intramuscular injections. These measures will allow you to artificially support the body until the digestive functions become normal or until the operation becomes a vital necessity.
Natural Causes of Food Refusal
- Age. In old cats, the metabolism slows down, their body does not need a large amount of food. If an old animal does not take food for a long time, but only drinks water, becomes lethargic, lies motionless for a long time, does not respond to the owner’s voice - these are signs of the animal’s quick death.
- Prenatal period. On the eve of childbirth, the cat completely refuses food, she rushes restlessly around the house, looking for a convenient place for the birth of kittens. Such behavior should not disturb the owner. To make your pet less worried, prepare in advance a secluded corner where she will feel protected.
- The postpartum period. The birth of a cat causes severe stress, so do not worry if she refuses to feed for some time. However, if she refuses water, practically does not pay attention to babies, consultation with a veterinarian is necessary. Often, such a condition indicates serious problems with the reproductive system, for example, the placenta remaining in the uterus.
- A lactating cat may not experience hunger for several days. This condition is due to her fatigue after childbirth. Do not worry if your pet does not give up water, behaves normally - the appetite will soon return to her.
- Heat. Do not be surprised: not only people do not tolerate abnormal heat poorly. In this situation, the animal refuses food, but drinks a lot of water. The problem is solved simply - put the animal in a cool room where the air conditioner or fan is working.
To summarize
Today we tried to find out why the cat refuses food and water. As you can see, there are many reasons for this situation. A successful solution to the problem largely depends on the careful attitude of the owner to his pet. Can you determine in time that the cat is unhealthy and needs emergency medical care? Can you understand that your gentle purring friend is uncomfortable with stress? Do you recognize your pet's protest because of an undeserved resentment?
Animal owners should be aware that physiological problems are usually a temporary condition. Having shown patience and care, the owner will very soon be rewarded with an improvement in the condition of the animal: he will become energetic, cheerful and will eat the offered treats with appetite. And psychological factors, for the most part, are reversible: the cat will get used to the new house, the changed circumstances, the unusual feed. The desire to eat is sure to return to him.