Is my cat sick or stubborn? Please Help!!

Question

My male bengal cat has been getting really skinny and his meow has gotten very weak. A while back I started giving him soft food till the vet told me that hard food is better for his teeth so I switched him back. We have also gotten a new cat in the last month so that might be contributing. So just to make sure that he is eating something I put him back on soft food till we can get to the vet on Monday. He used to be a VERY vocal cat, but now the only time he meows is when he seeing the can of cat food then he goes nuts. As I was watching him eat it I noticed he gags every few bits. I don't know if it's because he is sooo hungry that he is eating to fast or if this is part of his problem. Has anyone else ever had this problem? Does it sound like he is just stubborn and would rather starve then eat hard food or is something is really wrong? Could he just be jealous of the new kitty? I have checked out his teeth and he is still drinking good and going potty.

Answer 1

Seriuosly, the problem might be the OTHER cat you just got.

Feed them apart - either in different rooms - or one outside and one inside or watch them the ENTIRE time they are eating.

Just to make sure there is nothing going on between them about the food.

You sure the new cat didn't bring worms with it?

Or some disease?

Answer 2

THough u have checked his teeth it still could be an underlying issue, also my cat did a very similar thing and she turned out to be in acute renal (kidney) failure, but she was to the point of not eating anyhting, make sure you make it to your vet appt

Answer 3

when was the last time the cat got a distemper shot ???

Answer 4

Stress can throw him into diabetes. This happened to one of my cats. A cat died and he became so stressed over the loss that he had the beginning stages of  diabetes. I got him another playmate and he recovered. In your cats case it may be that the new cat has caused him so much stress that it has manifested itself into a physical ailment. It's time for a vet appointment to include blood and urine testing. Good luck.

Answer 5

My cat had a problem eating dry food too. She became very skinny and tired. I switched her to the wet food and she's doing great. She's 8 years old and doesn't have a problem with her teeth.

She is also allergic to beef. So your cat may have a food allergy as well. I would keep him on the canned food and if your worried about his teeth they make crunchy tarter control treats. I would definitely take him to the vet and make sure he's ok.

Answer 6

Your cat is sick. Get a check-up on him.  

Answer 7

He is defo a ill cat.  I would consult a vet but it might be a case of weaning him slowly back on to hard foods, like you would a baby.  Hope it all goes well and he gets better.  Good luck.

Answer 8

There could be lots of reasons for your cat's behavior; so it's good that you're taking him to the vet on Monday.  We had a cat who started losing weight (she was about 16 years old).  It turned out that she had an over-active thyroid, and the vet put her on medication.  This helped for awhile, but then she started eating less.  When we took her back to the vet, he found a tumor in her throat (it was probably what was causing her thyroid problem).

I hope there's nothing seriously wrong with your kitty, but only the vet can tell you for sure.  I'm hoping for the best for you!

Answer 9

IF HE DOESN'T LIKE THE OF CAT FOOD U GAVE HIM TRY TO GIVE HIM A DIFFERENT KIND OF OF DRY CAT FOOD FOR HIM.

CAUSE ALL CATS PICK THERE KIND OF CAT FOOD. IT TOOK ME 5 TIMES TIMES TO PICK MY CAT FAVORITE DRY FOOD. ON THE 5 DRY FOOD I GAVE HER SHE LOVED IT.  

Answer 10

I don't think anything is wrong with your cat. As a mater of fact, your cat sures knows more about what he needs then that stupid vet repeating old wives tales. Even if that vet was right,(he is not) since when are teeth more important then kidneys and other eternal organs?





Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health

Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.

Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean? Is the first ingrdiant a muscle meat like chicken or meal or other things?

http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Rea...

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...

Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms

The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with grains and carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process.  Also, Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food but in

Dry, 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.

http://www.catinfo.org/#My_Cat_is_Doing_...

You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all.    The best food for cats does not contain any grains at all.

Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies  whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. I would rather feed a middle grade canned food then the top of the line dry food.

Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get stuck? http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bp...

Please read about cat nutrition.

                               http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics...

                               http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.ht...

      http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.ht...

Vetinarian diets  The reason your vet thinks so highly of the pet food they sell probably has more to do with money than nutrition. In vet school, the only classes offered on nutrition usually last a few weeks, and are taught by representatives from the pet food companies. Vet students may also receive free food for their own dogs and cats at home. They could get an Iams notebook, a Purina purse and some free pizza.  http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...