Stress+Stress+Stress = Cat Not Eating
The idea of your cat not eating much is pretty scary but does not have to cause a huge state of panic as long as you keep focused and try to discover the source of the problem. There are almost countless reasons for cats not eating, but the majority of cases do not even involve serious health concerns. As with their human caregivers, most cats lose their appetites from incidents of stress—both emotional and/or physical. You need to look into these triggers of stress before you start to really worry or get too anxious about your feline friend.
Stress related reasons for cats not eating can include a lot of things.
The idea of an animal undergoing stress may make some people laugh, but kitty lovers have long understood that a cat not eating much could be linked to pressure on their physical bodies or even on their spirits. The physical stress reason for loss of appetite in cats can be related to several things. If you bought a new cat toy for them or if you have recently been letting them run around more outside, your cat not eating might be linked to the physical activity increase they are experiencing. Also, this increased activity might have led to an accidental injury which causes most cats to lose their appetites for a while—as is seen after a cat has surgery and needs to be encouraged to feed. Even a mild bump or bruise might make your cat pal want to lower their eating habits for at least a little bit.
If these physical stress explanations can be ticked off the list of reasons for cats not eating in your own home, then you definitely need to look into the aspects of emotional stress that could lead to loss of appetite.
Feline owners who know they have a cat not eating for reasons other than physical stress, should see if an external stress factor might be making your kitty nervous or scared. Emotional stress in a cat resulting in loss of appetite is also another widely acknowledged fact as it is easily seen when you bring a new cat into your household. It usually takes some time for the cat to become comfortable in their new surroundings and possibly with their new food if you serve them something different than what was offered at the animal shelter or their previous foster home. If your cat is anxious or troubled after the initial establishment at home, they will most likely go into another bout of appetite loss. Figuring out where this stress is coming from can help you fix it and put your mind at ease about your cat’s recently scary lack of eating habits. If you have recently been having multiple people in your home who are not normally there, the frequent in and out presence of strangers could certainly spook your feline family member. Also, just by changing their habitat too much might make it an anti-kitty feng shui environment to the point where they will stay hidden in an untouched part of the house until things get settled down enough for them to get comfortable and start eating again later.
Tips for your cat not eating can help turn things around for your kitty.
To make sure that your cat not eating problems will be settled after the stress has passed, you can try a few tricks. If either types of stress are possible, you might want to look into investing in a few new and special treats or snacks with which you can tempt them. Being careful to let them eat the snacks from your hand first then sprinkling a few on top of the food already in their bowl might lead them to start eating again. Also, merely acknowledging that you know the kitty is not eating the food you have provided by taking all the food from the bowl and replacing it with new and fresh food and being sure to put the bowl down in its normal spot while they are watching is actually known to be pretty helpful. If the stress is caused by renovations or switching around the house, you will want to make sure that his or her food and water dishes remain in their normal spots, and the locations are in a place that will keep them out of the way and as far from your home changes as possible. Reasons for cats not eating can really be easy to figure out if you commit the time to investigate.
However, if the problem persists and none of the tips help, you might need to look into possible health related issues that can cause issues of your cat not eating, in which case a visit to your veterinarian is highly suggested.