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Cat Has No Energy And Not Eating

Your Cat Has Changes In Activity

FOODS THAT ARE TOXIC TO CATS!

According to The Cat Hospital, if you notice a change in your cat’s activity level, either an increase or a decrease, it may be an indication the cat is not feeling well. If you notice your cat is reluctant to jump up on things that were easy for her to reach before, or she seems to be jumping differently, there could be a medical reason. A noticeable change in the cat’s gait could also be a sign of a sick cat.

Weak Sense Of Dehydration

Cats have a weak sense of dehydration. This comes from being evolved from creatures suited to dry environments. If your cat is eating moist canned food , she may be getting sufficient moisture that way. How much water your cat needs depends on size and age.

Older cats may dry out more quickly, but young healthy cats don’t seem to need much. For every kilogram your cat weighs she needs 20-40 milliliters of water. They will drink only clean, clear water so make sure to serve it in dishes that adequately display how clean the water is.

The Top 10 Cat Health Problems

Turns out, cats don’t really have nine lives so be sure to take steps to prevent these common cat health problems now.

Your kitty may look self-sufficient, but she depends on you to keep her in top cat health. That means scheduling regular check-ups and getting her the shots required to guard against cat illnesses. By learning about common ailments, from diarrhea in cats to urinary diseases and more, youll be able to spot early warning signs and get your little furball prompt treatment for any condition she may face.

Common Cat Illness No. 1: Lower Urinary Tract Disease

Feline lower urinary tract disease, or FLUTD, encompasses a number of different conditions that can affect a cats bladder and urethra. Symptoms include not using the litter box or straining without producing urine, says Bonnie Beaver, DVM, a professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A& M University. Other symptoms of FLUTD include excessive licking of the genital area and blood in the urine. If you see these symptoms, and especially if your cat is straining to urinate, see your veterinarian immediately. It could be a sign of a urethral blockage, which can be fatal.

Common Cat Illness No. 2: Infectious Diseases

Common Cat Illness No. 3: Cancer

Symptoms of cancer in cats may include lumps, swelling, persistent skin infections or sores, lethargy, weight loss, sudden lameness, diarrhea or vomiting, and difficulty breathing, urinating, or defecating.

Common Cat Illness No. 5: Fleas

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What Do You Do When Your Cat Wont Eat

If your kitty at any age stops eating, do you need to take them to the vet right away? Or, is it okay to wait until morning or even to monitor for a few days if your kitty is acting normal otherwise?

With cats, dont wait to see if appetite will improve. Cats who dont eat for more than a day or two are at risk for a condition called fatty liver, which can cause liver failure. Fatty liver, or hepatic lipidosis, happens when the body moves stored fat to use for energy during anorexia. The process overwhelms the liver, which is involved in processing the stored fat. Obese or overweight kitties are at the highest risk, but fatty liver can happen to any cat.

Other potential complications of not eating include dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, weight loss, and delayed healing and recoveries.

If your vet has ruled out a medical condition and has determined your kittys loss of appetite is due to picky eating habits, they can discuss techniques to establish a healthy eating schedule. Your vet may also recommend trying a new food or try switching from dry food to canned food. Some cat owners have also had success with mixing in fish oil or a small amount of canned tuna into their cat’s meal. Just remember, you don’t want to rely on feeding you cat human foods as your pet won’t get all of the nutrients they need .

Prompt care will also help your kitty feel like their normal self again as soon as possible.

Lethargic Kitten With Diarrhea

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Testing for this disease is not too accurateFollow-upcan spend up to 16 hours sleeping every day

  • Climbing cat trees
  • Chasing balls made of paper, aluminum foil or foam
  • Cat teasers

the cold canadversely impact his immune system

  • Encourage him to eat by petting it while you serve thefood.
  • Warm the food. Some cats prefer warmed meals.
  • Feed him tuna-flavored kitten food or something else he loves. This should get himeating pronto!

Kitten Not Thriving

try feeding her from abottle

SLEEPING KITTEN

Your best bet is to go to the vet so you can rule the bad stuff out

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What Happens When A Cat Does Not Eat

A cats small body will not retain nutrients for long. If a cat is not eating, it is not getting protein. The amino acids in protein are the building blocks to countless essential functions and reactions in the feline body.

A cat with diarrhea is most at risk as they shed taurine through their waste. Taurine is not created organically in the feline body, so it must be derived from food. If a cat is not eating, it will experience a taurine deficiency.

Most importantly, food provides a cat with energy. If a cat is sick, it will be weak and lethargic.

What Can I Do For My Underweight Cat

An exam with your veterinarian is the first step in finding out why your cat is still eating but losing weight. Your veterinarian will do a complete physical, blood work, a urinalysis and other diagnostic tests. Depending on what your veterinarian finds, treatment recommendations for your cat may vary.

If your cat has been diagnosed with GI issues or IBD, your veterinarian may prescribe a special diet, and oral medications to help increase the absorption of nutrients and restore your cat to a healthy weight. If your cat has been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, you and your veterinarian will go over several treatments options and possible dietary changes. In any case, it is important to offer your cat a well-rounded diet that meets all of their nutritional needs.

If you think your cat is losing weight, but your cat is still eating well, or if you have concerns about any other changes in your cats health, contact your local veterinarian in Sewell, NJ to schedule a thorough physical exam.

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Symptoms Of Lethargy In Cats

Lethargy is a symptom in itself and is characterized primarily by the following:

  • General inactivity
  • Lack of interest or response to surroundings
  • Lack of energy

Other symptoms that commonly coincide with and are associated with causes of lethargy are:

  • Weight gain
  • Dull hair coat/loss of hair
  • Behavioral changes, e.g. aggression

In addition, there may be specific symptoms present that are indicative of a specific medical disease or condition.

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Having a cat is like having that warm, constant presence in your home. We love them to bits! Thats why when it comes to their wellbeing, we, as pet owners, want to be sure they are healthy. Wouldnt it be great if thats always the case?

But getting sick is inevitable. Sometimes, they might even need immediate medical attention. So how do you know when you need to take your cat to see the vet straight away? Weve collected the most common cat medical emergencies that you should know about.

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Behaviour Or Psychological Problems

We learned that cats face different kinds of behaviour or psychological problems as humans do. According to veterinarians, there are trying to stop eating or drinking as a side effect of these problems. At first we thought that psychological issues might be a rare incident. But after we dig deeper through several articles in veterinarian websites and forums, we found that this is familiar.

Hence, we checked what are these psychological issues, and we found that few common triggering points such as change of household, facing disturbance from other cats, owner gone for long trips and changes in cat diet or place. These points can elevate your cats depression state or anxiety

The Scoop On Dry Food

Did you know dry cat food can become stale or rancid? Vitamins and fats can erode if the food isn’t properly stored. Keep food in its original bag for a good reason. The bag may have a special barrier to keep food fresher longer. To ensure the food’s best freshness, put the original bag in a sealed container and place it in a cool, moisture-free environment.

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How We Did Our Research

We checked with some of best-known veterinarian hospital knowledge bases and research news journals such as Chico Hospital for Cats, WebMD and Science Daily. The collected information was analyzed with the reported similar situations with several other cat owners.

Further, we got lot of useful experience and info from our cat forums, pet groups and related web posts. Finally, we narrowed down each important factors and noted them with the solutions that you can follow.

How To Get Cats To Drink Water

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Convincing a cat to drink can be more challenging as most cats teeter on the brink of dehydration when healthy. Cats are also fussy about drinking water. As hydration is so important to sick cats, you must persevere. Tips to encourage the drinking of water include:

  • Leave water bowls throughout the house.
  • Half-fill the bowls.
  • Use a water purifier or mineral water.
  • Add flavor to the water by adding tuna juice.

Arunning water source may also tempt your cat into drinking. A water fountain isideal. If you do not have one, leave a kitchen tap running. If your cat feelsup to it, it will drink straight from this source. Even sick cats struggle toresist a running water source.

Cats can be offered water through a syringe or be given intravenous fluids, if necessary. This may be essential to your cats recovery.

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Should You Take Your Cat To The Vet For Whisker Fatigue Symptoms

In most cases, simple adjustments to how you feed your cat and the dish you use to do so will get rid of any symptoms of whisker fatigue your cat has experienced. However, if you have made the necessary changes and your cat still seems stressed about eating, make sure you come see us or contact us at the Cat Hospital of Tucson to make sure there are not more serious issues at play.

How Much Sleep Is Healthy For A Cat

Your cat can sleep from anywhere to 15 to 20 hours a day. Theres a reason why the phrase cat nap exists, after all!It sounds like a pretty sweet way to live. But its actually because domesticated cats evolved as predators in the wild. Ever noticed that lions on nature shows on TV are often shown lying around?

Thats because theyre saving their energy for chasing down those gazelles. Or probably small birds, mice and voles in your cats case. When you pair that with a cats crepuscular sleeping pattern , you can see why it might seem like your cat spends a lot of time in bed or on your favourite part of the sofa. Yet theres nothing unhealthy about that for them.Knowing your cat and their routine will be key here. The real important bit of knowledge youll need to figure out whether you have a lethargic cat on your hands is whether theyre sleeping more than usual.

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Understanding The Anatomy Of Your Cats Whiskers

Most pet owners see their cats whiskers as merely a physical trait, much akin to hair or similar to facial hair on a human face. However, your cats whiskers are actually much more complex than that. Whiskers, which are actually called vibrissa, are coarse touch receptors that reach far deeper under the skin to connect with the nervous system of the cat.

While your cat doesnt necessarily have feelings in their whiskers, the movement and touch that affect the whiskers send signals to their brain and sensory system. So this physical trait acts like an antenna that is constantly collecting important information about a cats environment, such as what direction the wind is blowing, how close they are to a wall, and when they could be in danger.

Your Cat May Have A Dental Issue

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Similarly, many diseases of the mouth can make cats stop eating altogether.

Cats can develop tartar and gingivitis, as well as inflammation in other tissues of the mouth that can be quite painful. Sadly, cats can also develop cancerous tumors in the mouth.

Clues to watch for include:

  • Bad breath

  • Nausea

Nausea may also be caused by kidney disease or medications .

Cats that are nauseous may seem interested in food, but then refuse it, or they may drool and lick their lips often.

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Why My Cat Is Not Eating Or Drinking

You may have to play detective to find out why your cat isn’t eating. If you live in the country, Kitty may have found an old barn infested with mice and her predatory instincts kicked in.

If she’s getting food somewhere else, whether from hunting, begging or raiding trash cans, she may be too full to eat what you offer. If she’s just been vaccinated, she may have temporarily lost her appetite but will get it back soon.

If you’re on the move, she could have a touch of motion sickness. If she lost someone close to her, be it another feline friend or a favored human, she might not be in the mood to eat.

It could be she simply likes her food served hot. A minute or so in the microwave will solve that.

There may be a more serious reason your cat isn’t eating. Kidney failure, intestinal problems, pancreatitis and several types of cancer and infections can lead to a loss of appetite.

It may be something less worrisome like a toothache or tongue or mouth injury. Has Kitty gotten into something poisonous? If you wouldn’t want a toddler drinking or eating it, neither should your cat. Some plants, insects and frogs are poisonous.

One overlooked poison is opossum urine. Gnawing on something an opossum urinated on can cause necrosis of the tongue.

General Information And Causes

Cats save energy for hunting which means they often sleep for 12-16 hours a day . However, if your cat is sleeping more than usual it could be a sign that something is wrong. Lethargy can be caused by many different conditions ranging from a simple cat bite abscess to more serious problems such as kidney disease, diabetes or poisoning. There are so many different causes of lethargy in cats that it would be difficult to list them all here.

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What Changes Should I Look For In The Litterbox

Both diarrhea and constipation are indicators of disease in cats. Diarrhea is usually easy to recognize in the litterbox, but constipation can be more problematic to notice. Small, hard, dry stools are never normal and are often an early indication of kidney disease.

Increased amounts of urine in the box indicate an of inability to properly conserve water and may mean that your cat is developing kidney or liver problems, or diabetes mellitus.

Your Kitten Might Have Eaten Something They Shouldnt Have

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The natural curiosity of kittens sometimes gets them into trouble. Kittens have been known to eat string, tinsel, hair ties, and other objects that can get stuck in their stomach or small intestines. Never let your kitten play with string, balloon ribbons, hair ties, plastic grass used in Easter baskets, tinsel, or other objects they could eat.

Surgery is sometimes needed to remove the offending item, so call your veterinarian right away if you suspect that your kitten has eaten something they shouldnt have or if their decreased appetite is also accompanied by vomiting.

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Why It’s A Problem If Your Cat Stops Eating

If your cat isn’t feeling well, it may stop eating because there’s something stuck in its stomach or intestines. Or, your cat might not like the food you’re offering. Your cat’s lack of eating can also be a symptom of a disease or problem that’s causing pain or discomfort. Regardless of the reason, it’s a major concern if your cat stops eating.

If you have an obese cat that’s stopped eating, it can quickly develop hepatic lipidosis by going without food for a few days. This disease is often referred to as fatty liver disease or fatty liver syndrome and it can be fatal if left untreated. This is the main reason why it’s so important to make sure your cat, especially if it’s overweight, keeps eating. With fatty liver disease, the liver is overwhelmed trying to convert fat to energy. The excess fat that’s stored around your cat’s liver exacerbates the situation. The liver is a critical organ and if it’s not working effectively, your cat can suffer without immediate treatment from your veterinarian.

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