Advice on Cats That Won't Eat

If your cat has stopped eating, you need to take steps to get it to start consuming food to prevent dehydration, starvation and liver failure, according to WebMD. Not eating can indicate that your cat does not feel well or is under stress. Try to tempt your cat to eat with its favorite treats or canned food, and take it to a veterinarian if it continues to avoid food to diagnose and treat any possible illness.

  1. Feline Anorexia

    • When a cat loses the desire or ability to eat, it suffers from feline anorexia. This condition has many causes, including medical and psychological reasons. Often, a loss of appetite indicates that the cat suffers from a disease or some type of pain. Dental disease causes the cat pain when it eats, as do diseases that affect the liver, throat, stomach or kidneys. If your cat shows a sudden drop in appetite, bring it to a veterinarian for a full examination and possible blood work to determine if it suffers from an illness causing it discomfort. Treating an underlying illness in your cat should alleviate its symptoms, causing its appetite to return to normal.

    Feeding

    • Once you have ruled out a medical cause for your cat's lack of appetite, you can try to tempt it to eat. Sometimes a cat becomes bored of the same food every day, and switching brands solves this problem. If your cat currently eats dry food, try switching to canned. Cats tend to prefer canned food because it smells more pungent than dry food. Senior cats or cats suffering from dental disease prefer canned cat food because of its soft consistency, which requires less chewing. On the other hand, a cat that will not eat canned food may actually prefer the crunchy texture of the dry food.

    Tempting Your Cat to Eat

    • A cat that does not eat for more than two or three days may develop a possibly fatal health condition known as hepatic lipidosis, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. To prevent your cat from developing this health problem, tempt it to eat its food. Serve the cat canned food that you have heated in the microwave for a few seconds to bring it to slightly warmer than room temperature. This increases the smell of the food to your cat, making it more apt to eat it. Crush some of your cat's favorite treats up and sprinkle them on top of the food. Add some low-sodium chicken broth to either dry or wet food to increase its flavor, or try adding tuna oil or juice to the food.

    Stress and Feeding Regimen

    • If you have recently moved or have added a new pet to your household, your cat may experience stress, causing it to stop eating. Try to reduce stress in your household by providing your cat with its own feeding area, separate from other pets. Use a few drops of a calming flower essence in its water to keep it relaxed. Feed your cat at the same times every day so it knows when to expect its food, and leave out canned food for only about 15 minutes to prevent it from spoiling. If your cat continues to refuse to eat, you may need to hand feed it with your finger or take it to your veterinarian to tube feed it.