How long can you wait

  • Adult cat: no food for 24 hours means a vet visit
  • Kittens, elderly, overweight or chronically ill cats: 12 hours
  • With vomiting, lethargy, hiding, fast breathing or abnormal urination: come now

When an overweight cat stops eating, fat floods the liver and hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver) can develop within days. It has a high death rate and is treated with a feeding tube for weeks. "It will eat when it's hungry" is the most dangerous idea in cat care.

Common causes

  • Mouth pain: periodontal disease, tooth resorption, ulcers. The cat wants food, approaches, then walks away.
  • Gut: vomiting, foreign body, pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease
  • Kidney, liver, thyroid disease or diabetes in older cats
  • Cat flu: a blocked nose means no smell, and no smell means no appetite
  • Stress: moving house, a new cat, new furniture, renovation, an absent owner
  • A diet change or spoiled food
  • Short-lived loss of appetite after vaccination or surgery
  • Pain: arthritis, wounds

At the visit

  1. Mouth examination, abdominal palpation, weight and temperature.
  2. Blood and urine tests: liver, kidneys, glucose, thyroid, inflammation markers.
  3. X-ray and ultrasound where needed.
  4. Treat the cause, plus anti-nausea drugs, appetite stimulants and fluids; severe cases are admitted and fed by nasogastric tube.

Tempting a cat to eat at home

  • Warm wet food to body temperature to release the smell
  • Try tuna juice, cooked chicken or strong-smelling food, little and often
  • Use a flat dish, not a deep bowl (whisker contact puts cats off)
  • A quiet spot away from the litter tray and other pets
  • Hand-feed and stroke gently
  • Do not force large amounts of food, and never give human medication

These tricks are for a missed meal or two. Past 24 hours, no trick replaces an examination.