Ken Smith had adopted two black-and-white cats from the same litter when they were just six-month-old kittens. One of the kittens, Drexal, suffered from a permanent neurological condition that caused her to wobble when she walked and made it impossible for her to jump. Still, she and her sister, Berkley, played and slept together every day for six years. Then, without much warning, Drexal died. Immediately, Berkley stopped eating, and Ken assumed it was because she was grieving, thinking that any day she’d start eating again.
Over the next couple of weeks, Ken could coax Berkley into taking a few bites of food, but that was it. He kept waiting for her to come around, but it didn’t happen, and Berkley almost died.
The Dangers of Cats Not Eating
While Berkley’s loss of appetite was likely related to the trauma of losing her sister, what Ken didn’t know was that when a cat stops eating—for any reason—it can turn deadly very quickly.
When a person stops eating for a short period, their body can handle it. Yes, there will be some changes, such as the stomach shrinking and blood sugar levels shifting, but generally, a healthy person can go without food for two weeks or even longer with no long-term effects.
But a cat’s body functions differently from a human’s. A human liver is efficient at processing fat, while a cat’s liver is not. When a cat stops eating, the body begins to send fat cells to the liver. Because the cat’s liver cannot process these fat cells, a condition called hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease) can develop.
Once a cat has this condition, eating becomes increasingly difficult, and eventually, the cat may not be able to eat at all. This can happen rather quickly. Cats are not known for complaining, so a cat with hepatic lipidosis may not even appear to be ill at first. But there are some signs to look for:
- Cat is not eating
- Excessive and rapid weight loss
- Vomiting
- Lethargy
- Jaundice (yellowing of the skin or around the eyes or mouth)
Unfortunately, by the time these signs are clearly noticeable, the disease may have been present for some time. While it is treatable if caught early, the best course of action is to notice immediately when your cat stops eating. If your cat stops eating for more than 24 hours, the safest course is to take them to the vet.
In Ken’s case, by the time he took Berkley to the vet, it was almost too late. She had to have a feeding tube inserted, but even with that drastic treatment, Ken was told there was only a 25% chance she would survive.
The low odds were due to the fact that the fatty liver disease had caused liver failure. Because Berkley was on the verge of liver failure, there was a significant chance the treatment wouldn’t work.
Hepatic lipidosis is the result of not eating. Once the disease takes hold, it becomes the reason the cat cannot eat. In Berkley’s case, it was likely trauma that caused her to stop eating. However, there are other common reasons a cat might lose interest in food.
A move to a new house, the addition of a new pet or baby to the household, or any number of medical conditions are some of the more common causes. If the cause is medical, a vet’s assistance will be required to resolve the problem. Even if the cause is psychological, it’s important to find a way to get the cat eating again as quickly as possible, or it can quickly turn into a medical issue like hepatic lipidosis.
Berkley was hospitalized for two weeks. Once she came home, she had to be fed through a tube for several weeks before she began showing interest in eating on her own. Had she been brought to the vet sooner, the treatment may have been less drastic, and she could have been coaxed into eating through simpler measures.
Getting advice from a vet is always the best course of action when a cat isn’t eating. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, and at the very least, your vet can give you advice on how to stimulate your cat’s appetite. They can also provide follow-up care if your efforts to get your cat to eat fail.
Don’t take any chances. While there’s advice online about how to get your cat to eat, waiting too long to visit the vet means you’re gambling with your pet’s life.
