When the cat is healthy and feels comfortable living in the house with the owners, then there is no reason to force her to eat. Sometimes a pet is so passionate about food that it begs for it even more often than it really needs it. Usually such cats always have a variety of food in a bowl, which they do not even eat completely. Therefore, an animal in a normal state of health will always be interested in getting more goodies, and there will be no reason to force her to eat.
Causes of decreased appetite in cats
If a beloved domestic cat suddenly stops eating well or refuses to eat at all, this immediately alarms the owners. There may be various reasons why your pet does not eat food. The most commonplace reason is that the cat is overfed, and his body requires unloading. This is the most harmless reason, and usually does not have bad consequences. But most often cats eat poorly due to weakness and malaise, a clogged nose (the animal does not hear the smell of food), and also because of stress. Stress can be caused by a sudden rearrangement of furniture, a move or a lack of attention to the animal.
A caring owner will immediately discover that something is wrong with the cat, if he has not touched food for a whole day. When a cat does not eat for more than two days, this is an indicator of a serious illness that needs to be treated. The most unpleasant thing is when the pet refuses food and water completely. He can seriously lose weight and become very weak. This cannot be left just like that, therefore, often in veterinary practice they resort to the fact that the animals are forced to feed.
Force feeding
In this case, you cannot think that the cat will start eating itself in a couple of days. He will most likely need serious help and see a doctor as soon as possible. The most important thing is to understand why the animal stopped eating, became lethargic, and lost interest in life. It is important to carry out all the necessary research and even an ultrasound of the abdomen, since abdominal pain, dysfunction of organs, and abscesses in the oral cavity can become the reason for refusal to eat. Force feeding includes:
1. Special diets
The result of the examination enables the doctor to immediately prescribe the correct nutrition, a diet that will need to be strictly observed. But if the cat already eats poorly, then specialized food is unlikely to be to his taste. If a very small kitten falls ill, then it will even have to be woken up specifically in order to feed it. Alternatively, you can try finger feeding the baby, but you need to do it carefully, do not push your finger down his throat, but show a little more patience. Then the kitten will lick the food itself.
It is worth knowing that a very small kitten, which has not yet turned six months, will not live a day without food. Therefore, along with patience, you need to be persistent if you want to help your baby survive. An adult cat can live for two days, but this is all relative, because there are different diseases, more complex and mild.
2. Syringe feeding
For feeding through a syringe, the doctor prescribes veterinary pates, which are well diluted with water. If the food is dry, it should only be soaked in boiled, warm water. Before starting to feed, the food itself must also be warmed up, because it is its warm state that increases the aroma and can induce the kitten to try. To force feed a pet through a syringe, you need to hold the kitten by the head, and gradually inject food with a syringe without a needle.
3. Feeding solid food
You need to watch the cat for a while. If the body positively perceives the portion of food that it managed to inject forcefully through a syringe, then after a while you can give it more. If the diet is not too strict, then you can switch to homemade food – semolina, warm broths, dairy products. If, with this feeding, the cat still does not eat itself after a couple of days, then you can also force-feed it, but use solid food for this.
You can use regular adult and kitten food, but soak it a little in milk for easy swallowing. Pieces of fish without bones, minced meat, soft pieces of white bread are suitable. To do this, you need to take the cat under the left hand, unclench its teeth, and push a small piece from the side with the right. Then help her clench her jaws – most likely the cat will swallow the food. You should never mix drugs in food – the animal will hear a foreign smell, and this can further repel it from eating.
In order for the cat to recover as soon as possible and begin to eat on its own, it is advisable to accompany each meal with pleasant emotions – to talk and stroke gently with her. Then the pet’s health will recover faster.
