If your kitty is refusing to eat anything you put in front of them, are you simply dealing with a picky eater, or is there an illness behind the lack of appetite? If your cat isn't eating, keeping reading to learn some reasons why this may be, and to find tips on how to approach the various scenarios. If you need more tips on how to keep your cat healthy, or to find the expert who can assess your pet's health, do not hesitate to contact a local vet on our directory today!

In the meantime, here is an overview of several different reasons that could be behind your cat's lost appetite, which include:

• Sickness
• Recent vaccinations
• Disorientation, such as during travel or going somewhere new
• Pickiness

Anything from a toothache to outright kidney failure can be signaled by a vanishing appetite. Keep an eye out for any further symptoms, or if in doubt, simply go to a veterinarian to see if your cat is ailing, and to find out how you can still get them the nutrition that they need. This could mean changing their food, or perhaps appetite stimulant medication. Hopefully, your cat is well though, and in fact, they may be simply getting over a trip to the vet. To clarify, vaccinations can sometimes cause a minor side effect of appetite loss. But that is a small price to pay for potentially life-saving treatment. There are also times when your cat's appetite will be thrown off by a change to their normal routine, a violation of the familiar. Your cat may also still be suffering the lingering effects of motion sickness if they have recently been on a plane or in a car.

Of course, many pet owners end up discovering that their cat is a persnickety eater. They may appear sick, but if your vet has given them a clean bill of health, then maybe your cat is picky, anxious, or depressed. Changes can be hard on your cat for the long-term, or your cat may simply be slow to adapt to a new food you introduced to their diet. If your cat is picky, there are experts who suggest that you change out your cat's food in a rotation, choosing different brands each time, making the change about two to four times every year, taking several weeks to transition your cat by mixing the food together in a shifting ratio (see an example in the next section). This could help your cat be less picky, and it can also protect them from becoming allergic to foods or suffering intestinal issues.

A Note on Giving Human Food to Your Cat

Some foods, such as canned tuna or liver, can increase appetite in cats, but you do not want to give them too much of this, as it can create nutritional imbalance or deficiencies. Ideally, you should wean your cat off of human food altogether. Try feeding your cat brand canned food, perhaps heating it up or mixing it with fish oil, broth, or cooked egg. If this does not entice your cat, you could try putting fresh food out, and if the cat won't eat it until later, it will grow stale, teaching them to steer away from human food.

If you need to change your cat's diet from primarily human food to cat food, then you will need several weeks of mixing human food (their favorite kind) with cat food. Gradually, you can decrease the amount of human food and start adding more cat food, until eventually, your cat is on a true cat food diet.