I have had this kitten since about October. When he first came to live here he was eating the homemade chicken I was giving to my dog plus my dog's dog dried food. The kittie ate all day and all the time. He was about three months old then. I don't know how a baby could eat so much.

About a month later, he wouldn't eat the chicken nor the dog food anymore. He still won't. Then I started buying him cat canned food and dried cat food. He ate the canned cat food up like a little pig. He was eating almost two 6 oz cans of cat food daily.

Then I found dried food that he likes. He was eating that like a piggy at first. But now he appears to be getting tired of this new kitty dry food as well. Last week, he has been living off the dried food primarily. I am throwing away 3-4 cans of cat food every day in totally different flavors and from different companies.

This kitten won't eat left overs so refrigerating it is not an option.

I have tried different brands of food and all sorts of differnt flavors and he will only eat a very small amount.

Yesterday, I gave him human tuna and he ate a bit of that.

I also offer him human freshly cooked salmon, human freshly cooked chicken and human freshly cooked beef but he will not eat any of it.

How long can a cat go without eating before he gets hungry enough to eat whatever I put in front of him?


I have been reading through the internet and apparently cats are picky eaters. Some researchers believe it is due to some genetic issue that keeps them from tasting.

But what is the definition of a picky eater? How far does this go? Should I keep offering the kitten several different flavors and kinds of food on a daily basis only to throw them away? Should I offer him food once a day only although if he asks for food more than once a day? He does ask for food.

I'm new to the world of cats so I don't know how to handle this situation, and I don't know if there are any health risks involved if a cat does not eat on a regular basis.

Can anyone please share their knowledge and experience with cats' eating habits?

Perhaps Julie and/or Dillweed or other members can give you some tips ?

Also see :

http://www.pawsonline.info/food_rejection.htm

http://www.healthypet.com/library_view.aspx?ID=123 (Esp. see last sentence of this article !)

Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

Great websites. Thank you

Hi Pat,

Maybe instead of giving him cooked meat, try raw meats. Cut up a small portion into tiny bite sized pieces to start with or some ground meat. You will be surprised at how many less times your cat will cry to eat. They actually get filled up and nourished. Cats need meat. They do not do well with kibble as it is full of grains and fillers that do not do anything nutrition wise for your kitten.
Here are some links for you to check out about feeding raw. There is also an excellant yahoo group about feeding cats raw. They will answer any questions you might have about proper nutrition for your little carnivore.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawcat/
http://www.rawlearning.com
http://www.rawmeatybones.com
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/
http://www.ukrmb.co.uk/

Some of these may deal with dogs so if those do not interest you just go to the next link. The best is the yahoo group for cats.
Cats have to eat. They can not go any length of time without eating or they will get sick.

Julie

Pat, consider yourself officially "owned" by the little hairball, HAHA!

Ditch the dry food. Here is a good site to learn better what his nutritional needs are: http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm Unfortunately you have let him know there are choices out there.

Try to get at least a little food into him every day - if he fasts himself he runs the risk of developing hepatic lipidosis.

Sorry, I don't really have suggestions for turning around the finicky attitude of a growing kitten. Maybe you have to wait for his next growing spurt. If you have a good scale that may help you figure out if he is doing ok anyway.

Good luck!

hello Dillweed

Well, at least you got a laugh out of me. LOL

I think this kitten is a spoiled brat. He was just a tiny thing when he showed up at my house. Don't know where he came from. He was a spoiled brat then too.

When he was a tiny little thing I offered him Tuna and FRESH homecooked salmon and he wouldn't eat either one of them. But I gave him some home cooked ckicken and he gobbled it down. I think he stayed because of the home cooked chicken which he ate for a month. Now he won't touch it.

I just got back from the store and offered him raw ground beef but he won't touch that either. Even if he ate it, what then when he gets tired of that too.

I picked up a couple of Fancy brand cat food cans which he has never tasted before. Maybe he will eat those.

I did do some internet searches for factory made cat food and have fed him some high quality cat foods and he is tired of those too.

I may join some cat yahoo groups to find him a good home. I just don't know enough about cats to take care of him. He will either die from not eating or I will have to give him away.

I could feel if he has lost weight when I pick him up and today he was a bit lighter.

Thank you for your help.

Appreciate everyone's help.

Hello everyone

The kitten ate the Fancy brand shrimp/fish canned cat food. This was the best meal he has enjoyed in over 4 weeks. He fed it to himself too. Normally, I have to feed it to him with my finger or with a fork But til when? It's like I have to keep giving him something he has never tasted before?

If anyone has any other ideas or thoughts, please let me know.

Thank you.

P.S. Innova EVO Dry Cat Food contains no grains. This is what my kitten has been eating last week.

Hi Pat,

They mention turkey and chicken meat, but also a bounty of fresh vegetables and fruits.

I wonder how much meat and how much veggies/fruit, because the percentage of meat may be (far)too low for a cat, since the percentage of meat is what really counts for cats (carnivores).

Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

Addition :

Dry cat food should always contain sufficient taurine, which is a minimum of 1000 mg of taurine per kg of dry matter in dry products (= 0,1%) and 0,2 % in canned products, but in case of doubt it`s possible though to buy taurine in a pet shop and add some extra taurine to the food. Giving a little more than the required minimum percentage can`t do any harm. Raw meat is best, because cooked meat doesn`t contain enough taurine. The percentage in Innova would be just enough (0,1 %).

If a cat would eat 200 gram of dry food per day it usually would only contain 150-200 mg taurine and a taurine supplement would be necessary.

Why is taurine so important for a cat you may ask.

Too little or no taurine can cause a slow degeneration of a cat`s retina (CRD = Central Retinal Degeneration) causing serious eye problems and even irrreversible blindness. And it may cause other (serious) disorders as well.

Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

Thanks everyone.

Well, at this point my concern is with getting him to eat SOMETHING. I just hope I'm not giving him bad eating habits by giving him so many different types of canned food.

I will either have to let him starve to death or force feed him or give him away. If this continues, I plan to give him away. I think he reminds me of my brothers when we were growing up. I always had to make special trips to the store for them because they refused to eat nutritious home made meals. I've been going to the store almost daily looking for all sorts of foods to feed this kitten only to throw them away.

I do understand the importance of giving him wet food with taurine.

I will see if I can get some taurine at the pet store.

I may let him stay until he is one year old and then he will have to go.