cat won't eat...stress?

[chicknmania]

We have a male cat who is 1.5 (one and a half) years old. We've had him since he was a kitten. He grew up around our much older male cat, who is about 12 years old now. They get along well and always have, and play together. Yesterday, i received a gift of a female kitten for my birthday. She is only about 6 weeks old She is very active and unusually bold. Murphy, our young cat, was at first very afraid of her, then later curious. When she arrived yesterday, the cats all had limited exposure to each other. Murphy had no problem eating his dinner, and had a couple of treats too. We made a big fuss over both of our older cats all afternoon. Today, Murphy acts like he wants to eat, but can't. I know he is still stressed by the kitten, because he was outside and was reluctant to come in, but when she is inside, he is very interested in her and has tried to eat with her. She hissed at him when he tried to eat with her. We've tempted him with canned food and treats, and feeding him alone in another room,, but no dice. i know this is a serious problem. We confined the kitten in an unused room all night last night, and will for a few hours this afternoon too so our older cats can get a break, and again overnight, but I'm beginning to wonder if there could be something else wrong. Our other cat has no problem eating, and he just ignores the kitten as much as possible. He's been experienced with other kittens too over his years though, so he's used to them. Could this possibly be just due to stress? I'm reluctant to take him to the vet, because it will cause even more stress. And I really want to keep the kitten, so it's a problem. Thoughts?

 

[Folly's place]

It seems like he should be eating, regardless. Your new kitten should have kitten food by herself, and Murphy should be eating his own food by himself without being distracted/ harassed by the baby.
Something might really be wrong with him.
Mary

 

[WhySayWhat]

Cats hide illness well, then they go downhill very quickly. My avatar is my cat Baby, he passed away 2 1/2 years ago. He was fine one day and then he suddenly stopped eating and within a few days (start of a long holiday weekend), he was very sick and had to spend 36 hours at the Pet ER! He never did get better, his kidneys failed and was on lots of supportive medications to get him eating. If they stop eating, they develop Fatty Liver very fast. He went from 22 pounds down to less than 4 pounds in a matter of 4 weeks before I had to make the decision to let him go and be out of pain. I miss his fluffy butt. At 12 years old, he never lost his soft kitten fur.

 

[chicknmania]

I would take him straight to the vet. Cats metabolism is different from dogs so they will go downhill much faster without food. He could be sick or he could have a intestinal blockage from a hairball or eating something he isn’t supposed to. Either way not eating for more than 24 hours is usually a sign of serious illness.

Hes already been to the vet..last week. It was stress and that's all. He got some fluids and an appetite stimulant. He still didn't eat for another day after that but ok now

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I would take him straight to the vet. Cats metabolism is different from dogs so they will go downhill much faster without food. He could be sick or he could have a intestinal blockage from a hairball or eating something he isn’t supposed to. Either way not eating for more than 24 hours is usually a sign of serious illness.

 

[Peaches Lee]

Is he doing other things normally or not (drinking, urinating, defecating)? Definitely keep a close eye on him. Especially if he's urinating. You want to make sure that is happening because if not, if he's unable, this can be a life threatening situation. From what you describe he doesn't seem to be that bothered by the new kitten, so I would be very vigilant with him. Good luck!

 

[chicknmania]

It seems like he should be eating, regardless. Your new kitten should have kitten food by herself, and Murphy should be eating his own food by himself without being distracted/ harassed by the baby.
Something might really be wrong with him.
Mary

Our cats each have their own room to eat in and it has always been that way. Plus, the adult cats get a break from the kitten at night because she is confined to a separate room. We do this to give them a break and also to make sure she doesn't get into trouble while we're sleeping. The weird thing is, although he sometimes acts like he wants nothing to do with the kitten, other times he will play with her. He is still barely eating..a couple of licks...even with premium catfood and broth.. I learned that his sister, who is owned by someone else, also did this when new kittens were introduced..she quit eating and sulked. But only for a couple days. I'm trying to reach the vet, haven't been able to since yesterday.

 

[MasAhora]

We’ve had the same problem with a few fosters. One ended up spending 4 days at the vet on fluids and we nearly lost him.

The additional problem we have with rescue or trapped cats is that we do not know their history. For example we trapped one that we found later had a kidney problem and so reacted badly to the pain meds the vet prescribed after castration. Even though i halved the dosage (as a precaution) the poor thing died and I feel terrible. I now use a new rescue vet, who tried to save him, and she won't give pain meds for that very reason and she's on speed dial for a fluid drip.

 

[Folly's place]

Generally rescue groups go for 'the greatest good for the greatest number', so presurgical lab testing is not done, among other things. And then, issues are missed that matter. And avoiding pain medications is also cheaper; humane, not so much.
Mary

 

[MasAhora]

Generally rescue groups go for 'the greatest good for the greatest number', so presurgical lab testing is not done, among other things. And then, issues are missed that matter. And avoiding pain medications is also cheaper; humane, not so much.
Mary

I'm in rural Paraguay. The rescue people are volunteers who open their homes to abandoned animals without any government or NGO assistance. Few vets here can afford any of the equipment you see in a first world vet clinic. Everything is done with the best of intention, almost no money and a lot of experience showing what works out best for the animals involved. My rescue vet has 30+ dogs on her property needing homes and spends her nights tracking down abandoned dogs in terrible shape - I know I adopted 4 of them and one (Max) is pictured below having 100's of parasite pulled out of him and a partial ear amputation, for free, in her own time after she spent hours searching for him.

There is too much reliance on pain meds I've seen this in the first world and compared it to here and S.E. Asia.
Last year she sterilized more than 550 cats and dogs, most had no home to go to, she donated her time we donated money for sterilization gear and anesthetic. I also try to donate fuel money, we estimate she's been responsible for 2,000+ sterilizations since I met her 3-4 years ago.
Those who took the various animals in are usually poor. Some have dirt floors and no electricity or money for their own medicines. They feed the animals -often 20+ cats and a dozen or more dogs- before themselves... they truly are humane.

Limited pain meds are reserved for after major surgery like amputations, eye removal, car/motor bike accidents etc. I know because 5 of my animals (4 dogs and the one eyed pregnant cat below) I adopted from that same vet were found abandoned on roads with very serious (not minor) injuries and have had a leg amputation, an ear amputation, 3 broken legs fixed, an eye removed, etc, etc after being hit by vehicles/abused and she did it all for free.