Why will my cat only eat if hand fed?

Question

My 10 year old tonkanese cat has always had a very healthy appetite - in fact in the 4 years we're had her she's been a bit of a pig - very vocal and always under our feet when cooking. She recently had a bout of sickness and we were advised by the vet to introuduce her slowly to eating again (chicken and white fish). She's now healthy in every way (grooming herself, playful, affectionate) other than she will no longer eat like a normal cat - she will literally only eat if we hand feed her. This can be from her bowl, in the area she has always eaten in but she only wants to eat from us! We have tried various different catfoods but are quite limited as she also has no teeth (previous owner didn't look after her teeth). It's concerning as we're due to go on holiday in a couple of weeks and can't really expect a cattery to pander to her hand feeding demands!

Answer 1

You need to stop hand feeding her now as hard as it is, as she has got into a vicious cycle of knowing that you will feed her this way. If she is hungry enough she will soon eat. Give it 2 days and if she does not change you could ask your vet for advice on how to get her to eat normally again, good luck, its best to nip it in the bud now.