APPETITE (Lack of interest)

[CattiPaws]

Hi Folks,

I've got this 10month old Maine Coon who has, this last 2 weeks, seemed to be eating less and less compared to what he used to... The other three cats just plough through all the food and seem if anything a bit over weight whereas the Maine Coon is a bit skinny now (I can feel his backbone).

I used to give him an extra feed per day... some tuna or high quality moist food but he hardly touches it.

Other than that hes seems as healthy, active and playful as ever.... What do you suggest i do to try to get him to eat better?

[laurief]

First, stop feeding tuna. Tuna is a high mercury fish, and it is possible to give a cat mercury poisoning feeding too much of it. You shouldn't feed your cat ANY kind of fish more than once a week.

Second, at 10 mos, your boy is now pretty much grown in terms of his skeletal structure, so his body's growth has slowed considerably. That may account for his diminished appetite. Still, he shouldn't be getting bony. I prefer to feed kittens 3-4 times a day until their first birthday, then graduate them to 2 meals a day when they reach adulthood. If your boy is eating at least 3 meals a day and is still losing weight, it's time to take him to your vet and have him checked out, including his mercury level.

What are you feeding him?

Laurie

[CattiPaws]

Hi,

I don't feed tuna that often.. usually a tin twice a week between 4 cats as a treat.... Their main diet is James Wellbeloved turkey and rice... Also give them Royal Cain Maine Coon food.

The foodos always left out and the bowls are always full so the cats can come and go to eat as they please.

My Maine Coon seems to be getting thin through lack of eating as he never seems to be enthusiastically tucking into meals like he used to be.

[saitenyo]

My cat started eating a little less when he reached 8 months, so they do tend to eat less as they age, but as laurief said, the fact that he's getting so skinny concerns me.

It's possible he just got finicky and doesn't like the food anymore. I rotate flavors with my cats (giving them a total of 3 different brands, with 3 different flavors of each) to give them some variety. I imagine some of them probably get bored of the same thing every day. This also helps avoid finicky behavior, allergies, and keeps them from getting too much or too little of a particular ingredient.

He may also be having problems with those particular brands of food. They're both pretty high in carbohydrates, including the infamous simple-carb-filler, corn. Some cats just cannot digest grain very well, so you may want to try switching him to a more nutritionally-complete high-protein brand.

You should probably still take him to the vet though to make sure nothing else is wrong. Refusing to eat could also be a sign of illness.

[CattiPaws]

The Vet gave my Maine Coon a good checking over and couldn't find anything wrong with him. He suggested that the moving around of furniature in my house could be upsetting him and suggested Feliway to settle him down

[Leivies_Lavish_Cat_Lounge]

Tuna is high in mercury? WHy does WIC provide it then, lol!