My sweet kitty, Boots, doesn’t seem to be doing so great. We boarded him for 7 or 8 days last week while we were away. He’s never been away from us like that. I knew dogs sometimes don’t handle boarding so well but I thought cats were so independent, it would really matter . . but, we didn’t have a lot of choice because we were going to be gone. We boarded him at the vet, we trust the vet, so I know he was well cared for. Not long before we left, he had been throwing up and it looked like undigested food. I think he did that two or three times so I mentioned it to the vet. He checked Boots thoroughly and thought he might have a hair ball issue so he gave us some meds to give him.
Now, he doesn’t seem to be eating and he’s looking thin. I brush him every day and now it’s looking like he has dandruff — is is skin dry?
Did he not eat while he was boarded? Is he sick? Do I need to change his food?
We’ve always fed him the same thing. It’s a dry food . . I can’t remember the brand but it’s one of the better brands and is recommended by the pet store. I’m wondering if I should give him a canned food?
I called the vet and he said he would give it another week. He said he didn’t find anything wrong with him but if we want to bring him back, he’ll do more extensive blood work and he said we could change the food if we wanted to but he said sometimes changing the food can cause other digestive issues.
I’m kinda worried about him. He still seems playful and energetic but with him not eating and having that dandruff looking skin issue, I thought some of you more familiar with cats might offer some tips. Thanks!
Erin Bennett says
Did he check for a urinary infection? That’s what is a worry.
Is he eating any wet food at all?
katie z. says
We save wet food for treats or when our barn cats need persuasion to be put up at night. I don’t think one can would hurt him, and I probably would give it to him.
vivoaks says
If you know what he weighed previously, I’d check his weight again. Even a pound or two loss is a lot. The vet would know this. I’d be concerned too….
carolyn says
We have an elderly cat that is having similar problems. We are now giving him canned food in addition to dry and he has put on weight, his coat looks better and he seems to be feeling better. If Boots has an issue with the canned food, you will know pretty quickly because it will come back up. It’s worth a try!
Mandy says
We have a 17 year old cat who goes off his food from time to time and tends to get drier skin in the hot weather however if your concerned take him to the vet. Cats are easily stressed so it never hurts to take him back even if it’s just to put your mind at rest.
Dottie says
We had a couple of cats that had thyroid issues and needed to go on meds to control their TSH levels. We also had some male cats that needed to be on LOW ash content because they developed crystals in their urine. Even good/name brands sometimes have higher ash content which can cause problems (don’t think that affects the skin though).
Linda in NE says
Cats are obligate carnivores so that means they need to eat real meat and most commercial cat foods don’t have much of that in them. At least not any more. I always used to feed our cats dry food and they did fine, but that changed years ago. A couple of them started throwing up all the time and didn’t seem to be sick. For the ones we have now I did some research to find food that doesn’t have any corn, soy or other grain except maybe rice. I’ve been feeding them Rachel Ray dry food and twice a day they get some Rachel Ray wet food. Right now they seem to be liking the chicken the best. What they really LOVE is fresh raw fish, chicken or deer. Our vet said the fresh fish along with the mice they catch is the best diet possible for cats. Especially the mice because it is very high in the taurine that is very important in a cat’s diet. Sure hope your sweet boy gets to feeling better.
Sara Fridley says
Our 17 year old cat also gets dandruff worse in the summer, even though he is an indoor cat. We added a little wet food when he stopped eating well a couple of years ago and it made a lot of difference. He gets a little spoon of wet food in the morning and again in the evening. And if I’m cooking chicken or salmon he gets a bite or 2 of it before any seasoning is added. As a long-hair he used to throw up a lot of hair balls, but now doesn’t as often.
Robin Crittenden says
Get some wet food for him. Cats stress very easily. Dogs are more resilient. It may take another week but 2 to 3 days not eating is dangerous for cats. Give him wet because the moisture in food helps to hydrate. I have one cat who stayed at home while we were gone and it totally freaked him out. Hes a needy boy now. Always looking for us. Best wishes for that sweet boy. The dry skin will correct itself as he chills out again. He was probably scared to death in that vet facility.
Teri says
How is Boots doing? Any better? I don’t have any advice but sure hope he feels lots better.
dezertsuz says
Regan has cats. I have no clue when things go wrong. One of his developed a fish allergy, of all things. She was throwing up most of what she ate, too. When I don’t know what else to do, I do nothing.
Nelle Coursey says
When our dogs have a problem with constipation or not feeling well, we give them a little canned pumpkin. You might check on giving this to cats, but our dogs love it. We give them about a teaspoon-tablespoonful (depends on size of dog) per feeding and we feed them twice a day. They always get dry food.
cassews says
When I had my grandcat for a while, long story. The first week he got tuna because he wouldn’t eat and hair balls all over the place. We took him to the vet and he said he was stressed from being shuffled from house to house. So we just fed him canned /raw tuna along with his dry-not much and that helped his dandruff and his coat.
But to be on the safe side -take him back to the vet if after a week what the vet said didn’t help him at all.
Joyce says
I would add a little wet food in addition to his dry food. I would not change his dry food. A lot of cats do not like it when you change their food. Unlike humans they don’t like “variety” in what they eat.