My Kat is not eating yet 🐟

My cat has been here since saturday afternoon. So today is Tuesday morning and she hasn’t really ate anything much.
I tried chicken and fish patƩ, two different dry foods and last night I bought some Kat milk and she drank very little.

Not sure if I should give her more time? I can contact the shelter too

That’s strange. I’d contact the shelter, to find out how much she used to typically eat. If she’s petite, perhaps she just doesn’t eat much ever. Or perhaps she’s nervous about her new surroundings and doesn’t have an appetite due to the change in her environment.

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Put out some dry food next to her water in an area that will make kitty feel safe, like under a counter overhang that has little foot traffic and noise.
You can see How much is really eaten if you measure out the food first.

It’s odd that my two biggest kitties I never see at the food bowl, but the smallest male hover’s up more than 3/4 of any food we put down, you’d think he’d be the biggest instead of the littlest.

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Call the shelter and ask what they were feeding her. Feed her that along with whatever you would like to feed her going forward - start with mostly the shelter food, then slowly serve more of the food you’d like her to eat and less of the shelter food over the next two weeks or so. Cats can be very resistant to diet changes, especially from dry to wet or vice versa, especially when dealing with a major change.

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Also, stop feeding your Cat treats.
This might help.

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@MsBuddha has your cat pooped since you got her Saturday? If so, are her stools normal looking? Has she been drinking sufficient amounts of water?

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ahh i am so worried :frowning:

She has not eaten anything since saturday afternoon. She drank very little cat milk today.
I called the shelter and they told me to take her to the vet tomorrow at the shelter so they will check her because she might get dehydrated too.
She has not pooped but she peed 2-3 times.

I understand, my cat wouldn’t eat both times he got sick and it was very stressful.
The first time I had to wait a week until my paycheck came to pay for a vet, so I kept him alive by force feeding him wet food. I’d just pry his mouth open n pour some in. He’d spit out half but the other half he’d eat. The water was hard too. I had to force feed him that. Then he just stopped spitting out the fancy feast and after that he’d eat that on his own.

He got better n by the time the vet checked him, his upper respiratory infection had healed up. They treated his mites n parasites, he got healthy, but he quit eating again after a neutering got infected. He’d only eat wet food n even then he’d reject it most times. Took him back to get they gave him antibiotics.

Now he’s STILL not eating dry food, but he likes certain flavors of wet food so he’s eating regularly again.

It’s stressful when the cat is sick. Or maybe it’s just scared about its new environment n needs time to adjust. Best wishes!

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I think you should just force feed it now.

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I don’t think I should force feed my cat. I will wait till tomorrow to take her to the vet at the shelter where I adopted her.
I adopted her on Saturday.

I have hopes that she will eat tomorrow morning.

The not pooping isn’t surprising. It’s good she’s getting some nutrients from the cat milk, even if it isn’t very much.

Take her to the shelter vet. They’ll be able to give her any nutrients and fluids she needs.

She’s probably just stressed out, nothing super wrong with her. This is how cats can react when they undergo a sudden change. Some ideas that might make things easier for her:

Confine her to one quiet room for a few days. She’ll let you know when she’s ready to move further. At the shelter, she likely had a small cage she stayed in and that she was very familiar with. Suddenly having your whole home to herself is great, but also terrifying. Let her get used to it one room at a time.

If there is a towel, a pillow, a cushion, anything from the shelter that smells like the shelter, ask if you can bring it home for her. Cats rely heavily on their sense of smell to know things are okay and familiar. This could do a lot to soothe her.

Try a cat pheromone spray like Feliway. It mimics the pheromones that cats use to mark a place as safe and good. Especially since she’s coming from a shelter, where she was around other cats, this might help her adjust. Not all cats like this - my rescue cat loves it, but my kitten I got from a family hates it - so try spraying it on a towel or blanket first and see how she reacts.

Again, try to give her the same food she got at the shelter. Whatever you can make familiar for her is good. Fancy Feast wet food is also like kitty crack, so this is something else to try. It’s not too bad nutritionally, either.

Give her ā€œcavesā€ to hide in. Boxes, bags, anything like that. Don’t bother her while she’s in there, but try hanging out in the same room with her and ignoring her. Don’t pet, make eye contact, just go about your business and talk to yourself quietly out loud.

Good luck!

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Yeah, definitely take your cat to the vet. Peeing 2-3 times since Saturday is not much and may mean your cat isn’t getting enough fluids. Most cats pee more than that over 24 hrs.

Could you try low sodium chicken broth diluted with some water? Maybe your cat would drink some of that to get some fluids in her until you can get her to the vet.

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Thank you @Rhubot I do have a blanket from the shelter, I will put it beside her. :slight_smile:
I had gotten food from the shelter too, she did not touch it. so I tried a bunch of things.

@Moonbeam i have never used chicken broth :frowning: Maybe I could buy some.

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This is a good idea. A lot of cats like eggs, too. Keep providing the cat milk, since she’s having a little of that.

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what do you mean by eggs? a raw egg liquid ?
I tried giving kat milk again and she is not drinking.

@Moonbeam I drank some wine, can not drive tonight but I have chicken breast. Can I just boil it and then use the liquid for the cat?

Make sure it’s the low sodium chicken broth.

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Scrambled eggs are what I’ve fed my cats in the past.

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You could do that, but it sounds like a lot of work. Try the scrambled eggs Rhubot suggested and see if she’ll eat any of that. There is moisture naturally in soft foods like scrambled eggs and canned cat food.

You could also try a little canned (for people) tuna or salmon if you have some on hand. If it’s packed in water you could use a little of the water too.

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I didn’t read every answer so I may be repeating. But a change of diet can effect a cat’s appetite. If you are changing foods or brands it can throw the cat off until he gets used to it. I think the simplest solution is to just call a vets office. They may just be able to help you just over the phone without charging you. It’s possible that there is a really simple solution to your problem with your cat. i wouldn’t let this problem go on much longer without help. Don’t let three days of not eating, turn into 4 or 5 days.

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Hehehe, but it cost so much more…er, not that I would know about how much that costs, but those tiny cans of Fancy Feast cost .67 cents- per can.
and who ya gonna fed That to? My beefy kitties weigh 25lbs + (two of them do), they’d inhale the entire can in one gulp.

Also my cats prefer the ā€œChunk Lightā€ tuna, (better known in our house as the ā€œKitty Tunaā€) over the ā€œSolid Whiteā€ (People Tuna), bonus, the kitty tuna is much cheaper in price.

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