Cat - a fussy eater

Appetite stimulation should involve considering various ways to minimize stress. This may be especially important in hospitalized, depressed and sick cats.

A sick cat and a cat in a shelter that has lost its home - these are quite common cases when a cat refuses to eat. And he must eat to live. A glucose drip alone is, unfortunately, insufficient. In extreme cases, it is advisable to force-feed - wet, high-energy food with a syringe - to the mouth.

Consideration should be given to various environmental aspects such as noise, temperature, concealability (eg cardboard box in a cage), pain reduction, use of spray pheromones such as "Feliway" and patting / stroking to encourage your cat to eat.

For long-term moderate loss of appetite, if there are no physical obstacles to grasping and eating food, and if circumstances permit, it may be appropriate to attempt to stimulate the appetite.

Many factors can increase the palatability of a food or the desire to eat:

• Feeding a Normal Home Diet - Cats often have strong food habituation preferences.
• The use of wide, flat bowls (the whiskers do not interfere).
• Frequent feeding of small amounts of fresh food.
• Feeding moist food rather than semi-moist or dry food.
• Feeding warm food.
• Feeding a high-fat, protein-rich food.
• Giving food with a strong odor (especially meat, fish or cheese).
• Providing a comfortable, quiet environment.
• Encouraging (patting and stroking).
• Cleansing the nose of scabs, if any.
• The use of painkillers.

In addition to manipulating the diet, pharmacological stimulation may be used in the absence of appetite - only on the recommendation of a veterinarian.

If our cat is healthy and fussy - perhaps the reason is our dietary mistakes - cats are clever creatures, they choose the tastier bites and, taught that food changes often, will require it from us through "meal strikes". The way in this case is to give meals at fixed times and take the food afterwards, even if the cat does not eat anything. The second or fourth time, the cat should "put the strike on hold". Of course, we assume that the cat is getting wholesome food. Another possible cause is that the bowl is too narrow.