What is the reason for a poor appetite in a cat?

Answer 1

This is not normal behaviour. Cats usually completely reject its food because it cannot digest or swallow it, or it could even be an intolerance to something in the food.

If your cat can't hold down food please take it into your vets as soon as possible. Anything could be wrong: Your cat could have a twisted gut, a stuck hairball, intestinal parasites such as worms, or even something wrong with the throat or bowels. However, the most likely cause could be the food itself.

Many brands of dry and low quality wet food are packed with corns and grains. This is cheap carbohydrate filler that the food manufacturers use as its a cheaper source of protein than meat is. Cats are strict carnivores, so can only get their nutrients from meat-based protein, not plant-based protein.

Sadly, it is all this carbohydrate filler could be the reason your cat is vomiting up its food. Cats cannot digest such a high level carbohydrate at all; the stomach usually ends up working far harder than it should just to try and break the kibble down (a cat's stomach has evolved to break down raw meat quickly - not to store grain). This doesn't help as many cats will just swallow pieces of kibble whole - they will often not crunch the food. The biscuits will often just sit in the stomach for long periods of time and often get converted into fat (this is one of the main causes of obesity) if the cat does manage to digest it. Yes, even vomiting up food the cat has had for years can happen. Cats can and do build up Allergies and intolerances to said grain and corn. In fact, corn and wheat gluten are one of the most common food allergy causes.

It might be advisable to switch to a grain-free food. There are many wet foods that are high in meat and grain free, but there are also some dry foods out there with no grain such as Orijen. Look at the Ingredients and stay away from labels such as "grain, corn, wheat gluten, grain/corn by product, by product meal" etc.

Answer 2

The main reason for a loss of appetite in cats is illness. cats are very well guarded and dont like to show weakness so the fact they're not eating should be a definite red flag and a trip to the vet would be a good idea. Monitor their water intake and keep an eye on their litter box if possible to see if they are urinating excessively or if there is any blood in their urine or stool the vet may want to know and check his or her gums, they should be a nicer pink color not red or white and if you lightly press on the guns they should go white where you press but right back to pink as soon as you let go, are his or her eat tips hot? It's he laying around being extra lazy and listless? In the end as I mentioned above he should go to the vet because loss of appetite can be a big deal.

Answer 3

He or she may be sick if I where you I'll take him or her to the vet to check his or her digestive organs