Ever Have a Pet Just Stop Eating a Food They Had Been Fine With?

Remy

Remy

Well-known Member
Location
California, USA
Not my two, but the ferals I feed. I was feeding Purina One and then thought perhaps Iams was better and was just a little more cost. Then I switched to the urinary health. They were eating fine. I had ordered 2, 16 pound bags from Chewy to save a little. Fine they ate it. I reordered. Then they were not eating it.

There was food left when I left work and that does not happen. So the next day I brought some of my cats Science Diet and they ate that and today I stopped and got Purina One again and they seemed to be eating it fine. I stood back and watched for a few minutes. I don't know what I'll do with that damn Iams I bought. I won't buy that amount again because now it's not a savings.
 

Remy said:
Not my two, but the ferals I feed. I was feeding Purina One and then thought perhaps Iams was better and was just a little more cost. Then I switched to the urinary health. They were eating fine. I had ordered 2, 16 pound bags from Chewy to save a little. Fine they ate it. I reordered. Then they were not eating it.

There was food left when I left work and that does not happen. So the next day I brought some of my cats Science Diet and they ate that and today I stopped and got Purina One again and they seemed to be eating it fine. I stood back and watched for a few minutes. I don't know what I'll do with that damn Iams I bought. I won't buy that amount again because now it's not a savings.
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I have had pets do this occasionally. I make some instant broth any flavor will do and pour approx 2 tablespoons of broth on the dry kibbles and that will usually get a healthy animal to eat the food. I put the both in the fridge and use it until it is gone for the next few days. Maybe this will work for you.
 
Pepper said:
I never had luck feeding any of my cats past or present, with IAMS. I guess it must taste awful.
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That's good to know. I've never had fussy cats, including my two. But for ferals not to eat something, that's odd.

I could take the unopened bag over to PAWS thrift since they are all volunteer cat people and let them know but see if one of them would want to try it. No more Iams.
 
Well, they are eating the Purina One. I also gave them all a Friskies can this morning with hair ball medication mixed in which I do more in the summer. But cats can get constipated too.

I fed the un-neutered grey male the Iams and he was eating it. He gets fed a few yards away. I'll start leaving some extra for the racoons, skunks and possums. It will get eaten by someone. And I'll try that unopened 16lb bag at PAWS again to see if someone feeding other ferals can try it.
 
We have a lil Cotton and 2 adult cats. They do not like grain free food. Prefer Chick and lamb flavors the best.
The Cats love a Chicken wet treat (1 teaspoon) our Cotton gets the lickies off the spoon. All like the larger morsels.
Really despise the lil piece foods. The Cats will choose Purina Dog Chow over their own mostly. Hate pumpkin in foods .
So we alternate the Friskies Cat and Dog Chow types of every time we go to the store. Lamb, beef, chicken, turkey.
Cats don't like Salmon or Tuna.
 
Many years ago, I had an indoor-outdoor cat. I should have known better but I bought him as a kitten from a petshop at the mall. It turned out that he had coccidia and he was a sick little guy for a while. His digestive system was very delicate and I fed him baby food and boiled chicken until he got well. The bout of tummy problems left him looking like a long drink of water. The vet pronounced him perfectly healthy but he just never put on weight. He didn't look like those cats in the human society ads but he was definitely skinny....but healthy.

He ate dry cat food and he actually ate a LOT of it and seemed to like it.

Then he started coming in andturning his nose up at the cat food. He wasn't starving, but he clearly wasn't pleased with the Purina Cat Chow. I tried tempting him with canned cat food. He was mildly interested, but only mildly.

I figured, well, he's eating mice or something and obviously prefers that. I left food out for him if he ever decided to eat at home again.

A week or so later, I came home from work to find the county animal services van waiting outside my house. Apparently, the old lady down the street made a complaint against me that I wasn't feeding my cat. She claimed that he came into her house, obviously "starving" and she was feeding him chicken, fish, tuna, premium canned cat food, and all the cream he would drink.

I showed the animal guy all the food I put out in the kitchen for him, all his vet records showing why he was skinny and said, well, of course he doesn't want to eat here if she's feeding him better than I'm eating myself! I went down the street with the animal guy to speak to the old lady. I asked her to please not feed him. "But he's sooo hungry all the time!" she wailed. No, he's not hungry, he's greedy. No self-respecting animal is going to pass up gourmet food.

She reluctantly agreed to ignore his pleas, the animal guy closed out the call, and Punkin had to go back to eating food that was obviously below his pay grade. And eat it, he did! With gusto, when his Benefactress stopped feeding him on a silver platter.

Cats. They're smart and they're wily.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I had 3 cats- 2 males, and "Turkey". She just stopped eating. The vet could not find anything wrong with her. After a few thousand dollars worth of tests- still nothing. Her digestive system was intact. She was definitely refusing to eat or drink. She didn't last long.
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my little dog...peaches..has refused to eat or drink since Thursday night...
even her favorite food...she's 14 years old...
today she's going to be put to sleep...i am devastated
 
bingo said:
my little dog...peaches..has refused to eat or drink since Thursday night...
even her favorite food...she's 14 years old...
today she's going to be put to sleep...i am devastated
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I had to have my cat, Turkey, put down. There was no way I could go to work. Most employers wouldn't understand taking off because of a cat. But I worked at a psychiatric hospital, and they understood my grief.

My condolences.
 
When my last dog was getting hit with many medical issues, at the end of his life, we had quite a time finding a food he liked. I tried the fresh food but even that didn't keep him interested.
 
astralcat said:
My cats have always eaten IAMS - no problems there. Perhaps you could donate the cat food to a humane society?
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I took the unopened 16 pound bag to PAWS thrift store yesterday. They took it. It's all volunteer run and many who volunteer there are involved in cat rescue and colonies. I explained the small colony I feed is getting spoiled which is my belief. They are slinging down the Purina One again. The newer grey on is eating the Iams. It will get used up. Even if I put extra out for the wildlife from the gulch.
 
bingo said:
my little dog...peaches..has refused to eat or drink since Thursday night...
even her favorite food...she's 14 years old...
today she's going to be put to sleep...i am devastated
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I'm so sorry! Euthanizing a beloved pet is a very hard thing to bear for us. But sometimes that's the only way to relieve them of their suffering. I'm sure she knows she is (was) well loved and that you did your best by her. You have my condolences. Rest peacefully Peaches.

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Remy said:
Not my two, but the ferals I feed. I was feeding Purina One and then thought perhaps Iams was better and was just a little more cost. Then I switched to the urinary health. They were eating fine. I had ordered 2, 16 pound bags from Chewy to save a little. Fine they ate it. I reordered. Then they were not eating it.

There was food left when I left work and that does not happen. So the next day I brought some of my cats Science Diet and they ate that and today I stopped and got Purina One again and they seemed to be eating it fine. I stood back and watched for a few minutes. I don't know what I'll do with that damn Iams I bought. I won't buy that amount again because now it's not a savings.
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My cat stopped eating kibble-type food so I took him to the vet. He has FIV which caused gum disease so he chokes on dry food. I can only give him canned, and then I have to puree it in a blender.

Maybe one or 2 of the feral cats lost some teeth or has gum disease or has an infection in their mouth.
 
Yes. She stopped eating pate before she was out of the kitten stage. So I tried different varieties. At first she liked the Friskies Shreds and Meaty Bits. Then she started turning her nose up to those unless she's extremely hungy. I tried Friskies Glazed Infused with crab meat. She loved that but after a while they jacked up the price, now I can't find that variety on Amazon or Chewy.

Her favorites now are Fancy Feast Petites Ocean Whitefish Entree, Seared Salmon Entree and Temptations Chicken Flavored treats. She'll also eat Friskies Indoor variety of food but not as heartily as the Fancy Feast.
 
@Remy - Maybe an inexpensive option would be to buy or save up chicken and beef bones and boil them to make broth. And if you want, you could warm some up (if you've had it in the fridge) and add dry food to it, then let it sit til the kibble soaks up some of the broth and gets soft.

(store-bought broth has too much salt in it, and herbs they don't like)
 
You may have a bad batch of food.

Once I bought a case of Friskies (all the same flavor) & not one of the cats would eat it. I check the batch code & all the cans matched. I gave them a same flavor from another batch & they ate it.

I called Friskies & told them I thought I had a bad batch. I gave them the batch code & they sent me coupons to cover the loss. I asked them if they wanted those back & they said no. If my cats wouldn't eat it & it was bad, I didn't want to feed it to others so it was pitched.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I'm so sorry! Euthanizing a beloved pet is a very hard thing to bear for us. But sometimes that's the only way to relieve them of their suffering. I'm sure she knows she is (was) well loved and that you did your best by her. You have my condolences. Rest peacefully Peaches.

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this is much appreciated diva...and beautiful...i love dogs ...
 


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