Your pet Maine Coon can refuse to eat for an incredible variety of reasons. Most diseases can begin with this common symptom.
If at the same time the cat has one of the following signs, then it is better for you to go to the veterinary doctor without delay:
- lethargy
- fever
- vomiting
- diarrhea
- constipation
- difficulty urinating or its complete absence
- of discharge from the nose and/or eyes
- breathing with open mouth (“like a dog”)
The reasons that a cat or a cat does not eat are not necessarily related to the disease. The lack of appetite in cats and cats can be influenced by different factors:
- Your Maine Coon cat has already eaten. Check if he has eaten something secretly from you, if he has not opened the door of the closet or even the refrigerator. This also happens. Cats can be very resourceful and persistent in their desires. Interview relatives – perhaps someone has already fed the pet.
- Any change in the type and quality of feed. Cats are often very sensitive to the composition of the feed, its consistency, temperature, smell. And even with a small change, they may not touch the food. Sometimes it can even be the same ready-made food, but from a new pack. Or the same food, but with a slightly different taste. Or instead of canned food with jelly, you bought a pate. Not to mention homemade food, where it is impossible to observe the sameness of the components. Therefore, think about what could have changed in the last 1-2 days in the pet’s diet. The transfer from one type of feed to another for cats should be carried out gradually, in 7-10 days, mixing the new feed with the old one.
- Change of the external situation in the apartment. Has the bowl been moved to a place that is not comfortable for the cat? Did they put something unusual in the place where the cat prefers to eat (a large bag, a broom).
- Stress. Cats are very sensitive to stressful situations: a trip with them somewhere, the arrival of strangers into the house, the appearance of a robot vacuum cleaner, even a smell brought on clothes can provoke a reaction of a mustachioed pet and lead to a decrease or lack of appetite.
- Features of sexual behavior. During the period of active sexual hunting, both in cats and in cats, appetite may decrease. The instinct of reproduction overcomes basic physiological needs
What diseases are most often accompanied by the refusal of cats to eat?
1. Diseases of the teeth and oral cavity.
In such a situation, very often a cat may want to eat, be interested in food, but when approaching a bowl or when trying to eat something, it will refuse the food offered. He can take a piece in his mouth and spit it out, try to eat on one side. The most common dental problems:
- injured teeth
- tartar
- gum inflammation
- ulcers on the tongue (often associated with viral infections, chronic kidney disease)
- different types of cat stomatitis
- abscesses
- foreign objects stuck between the teeth or in the soft tissues
- of the tumor of the oral cavity.
2. Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
Mkin kun may not eat or eat poorly if he develops any of the problems of the gastrointestinal tract:
- inflammation of the stomach and intestines of any nature (alimentary, bacterial, viral, parasitic, poisoning) – acute or chronic gastritis, gastroenteritis, duodenitis, colitis
- inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), associated triaditis (complex inflammation of the small intestine, pancreas and bile ducts)
- foreign bodies (pilobezoars – lumps of wool in the stomach, threads, pieces of toys, animal bones, fruit bones – the range of foreign bodies is wide and unpredictable)
- diseases of the liver, gallbladder and bile ducts – hepatitis, cholangitis, liver lipidosis
- parasitic diseases (caused by helminths – simply worms, protozoa)
- oncological diseases of the gastrointestinal tract – such as intestinal lymphoma.
As a rule, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract will be accompanied by other symptoms – vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, weight loss with prolonged course. In this case, you should not self-medicate or treat yourself over the Internet, but contact a doctor with your pet as soon as possible. Cats can get dehydration and complications associated with it very quickly. To establish a diagnosis after examination by a doctor, additional research methods are likely to be required – clinical and biochemical blood tests, stool tests, ultrasound, in some cases X-rays.
3. Kidney diseases
Kidney diseases are literally a scourge of cats and, perhaps, one of the most common groups of diseases, and our Maine Coon pets are no exception. The difficulty lies in the fact that they can be asymptomatic for a very long time: the cat is just a little less active, eats a little worse, lost a little weight. They are clearly manifested already at the stage when the functional tissue of the kidneys is destroyed by more than 70%. And these changes are irreversible. Only early diagnosis with the help of a set of indicators can help here: regular measurement of blood pressure, urine analysis with determination of the ratio of creatinine and protein, blood test for creatinine.
4. Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus is one of the most frequent endocrinological diseases of cats. In addition to the lack of appetite, it will be accompanied by lethargy, increased thirst, frequent urination, a characteristic “hare” gait. Overweight animals are predisposed to it.
5. Viral infections
Acute viral infections, in addition to a decrease in appetite, will simultaneously be accompanied by an increase in temperature, discharge from the eyes, nose, ulcers in the oral cavity, digestive disorders. Chronic infections can occur without pronounced symptoms. Only a doctor can determine the disease by conducting a full clinical examination and the necessary diagnosis.
6. Diseases of the reproductive system
This is more about females. Since quite often, especially with age or after giving pills that prevent estrus, they develop inflammation of the uterus (endometritis, pyometra). With the open form of the pyometra, you can see bloody or purulent discharge from the vagina, the female can begin to actively lick this area. When the form is closed, there may be no selections. In the later stages of pyometra, you can notice an increase in the volume of the abdomen. Sometimes after estrus, the female has a false pregnancy, which may be accompanied by inflammation of the breast (mastitis). The area of the mammary glands can become thickened, inflamed, cause pain, deterioration of general well-being. Any of these conditions requires the professional help of a doctor.
Based on this information, let’s summarize – what to do if the cat does not eat
- If you find that a cat or a cat does not want to eat, analyze and exclude factors unrelated to diseases.
- If you do not find anything like this, pay attention to the presence of any other symptoms, based on the groups of diseases described above.
- If there are additional symptoms or your cat does not eat for more than a day – seek qualified veterinary help.
Maine Coons and other cats are very sensitive to starvation – this is their specific feature. If they do not receive food for more than 2 days, specific irreversible changes begin in the liver, which can worsen the prognosis of the underlying disease and affect the future life of the pet. Therefore, for any type of disease, it is very important to start feeding the cat as soon as possible – with a syringe or through a probe (in a hospital setting). Ideally, use special liquid diets for this.
Do not give the cat any medications before going to the doctor. If you refuse to eat, there can be no commonly used recommendations, since the reasons for the lack of appetite in cats are very diverse. And many drugs for cats are not only not useful, but on the contrary, very dangerous. After all, a cat is not a person or even a small dog.
If the cause is physiological or not very serious, then the appetite will recover on its own. And if more than a day has passed and you do not understand the reasons for the pet’s condition, only a veterinary specialist should understand the reasons and give recommendations. The sooner the cause is identified, the more targeted the treatment will be and the better the result!
* feeding maine coon