Eva Hanley
,@evahanley
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My cat (4 yr old domestic) has recently been snubbing his dry food (Hill’s Urinary Health). He’ll eat a little, but will mostly ignore it and beg for wet food for most of the day. (They both get wet for dinner.) This has been going on for about 2-3 weeks. I worried his mouth or teeth were hurting him, but he doesn’t seem to have issues eating wet food. Both of my cats seem hungrier than usual – is that just because it’s gotten colder? Or because I’m now home all the time? How do I know if he is just being fussy or if there is a larger health issue?
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My cat has vomited three times today – it was clear and has gotten yellow. He’s still drinking water and is active – no lethargy or soreness. Do I need to take him to the ER immediately or should I see if it continues?
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Krista Magnifico Hello,
There are many causes for vomiting and many are acute and transient and do not require a trip to the ER. In general we recommend that you not give your pet any food or water for about 12 hours to let the stomach and gi tract rest. The only concern with this is if there is a chance your cat is dehydrated. If your cat is acting normally and the gums are moist and the skin turgor is normal (this is the amount of skin tent in the area of the shoulders) then they are likely not dehydrated. If the vomiting persists in spite of with holding food and water, or if your cat appears to be quiet, lethargic, depressed or cannot stop vomiting, then yes a trip to the vet is in order.
Look around the house to make sure that your cat hasn’t eaten anything inappropriate or dangerous like any kind of toxin (plants, toys, rotten food, etc). If an accidental ingestion is possible this warrants an immediate trip to the vet for care.
If the vomiting stops over the 12 hours i recommend offering small amounts of watered down wet food every 3-4 hours starting tomorrow. If the vomiting returns see the vet.
Best of luck!
Merry Christmas! -
Eva Hanley Post author Thank you! He doesn’t have the signs of dehydration, so I’ll start the fast & monitor him.
I try to feed my cats tuna/seafood flavored wet foods as sparingly as possible, but Sebastian is becoming picky to the point where he will only eat his dry food (Nutro high-protein) or tuna (Blue Buffalo gourmet) or a now discontinued shrimp/chicken/duck combo (Wellness). He will eat some chicken canned foods from those brands, but not always and not much of it. Is it unhealthy for him to have tuna about 4 times a week? He gets 1 3oz can a day, split into 2 servings and about 1/4c of dry food.
I’ve tried mixing a small amount of other food in with the tuna but then he refuses to eat any of it.
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debra yuhasz I was taught, too many years ago, that a seafood heavy diet it not good for male cats. Can cause kidney problems. I have four male cats and I take it very easy on the seafood. Asher is very picky, but when he gets hungry enough he will eat. We’ve had several stand-off’s over canned food. I give him 20 minutes to start eating a new food. Then I take it away and put it out again at the next feeding time. I leave dry food out all the time. Canned is once a day at 8 p.m. He constantly tries to convince me that he’s starving at 7 p.m. and the new food is no good. He’ll even knock the dish on the floor. So far he’s letting me win.
Hi there-
The only way to really find out if there is an underlying issue is most likely a trip to the vet. You know your pet…. keep track of bathroom habits, eating habits (as you’re already taking notice of) and whether they seem more lethargic than usual or any other changes to share with your vet. Hopefully your cat is just being picky????