Fussy or poorly?

[Judystilldreamsofhorses]

Our cat is SO fussy, but also greedy - she wolfs down her food super-quickly, and practically licks the dish clean. Over the last few days she has not been clearing her plate in her usual fashion. She’s 100% fine otherwise, currently sitting up on the shed roof, climbing trees earlier, clambering on my head at 6am, and begging for treats/scraps which she eats with great relish. Should I be concerned? Vet, or keep an eye on? (It has been unusually hot here over the last few days if that makes any difference.)

My DP says she’s fine and I am being daft, but she went off her food earlier in the year, and it turned out she needed dental work. Then she was excited to get her food, but would just sniff it and walk off, and was refusing treats/ham - she had a couple of days of not eating as much, then suddenly was having to be tempted with tinned tuna between ringing the vet and her appointment. She did have really, really horrible breath then, which she doesn’t now.

She gets wet food twice a day, and always has dry available but doesn’t eat it that often. On Saturday night she was munching a load of biscuits, and the treats she gets are those Denta-bite things. It can’t be her teeth again, surely?

I caught her with a mouse in the garden earlier tonight - she doesn’t tend to eat what she catches, and isn’t a frequent hunter as far as we know, she just chucks them around and “plays” with them.

TL:DR - cat hasn’t finished all her food during a warm spell, but is otherwise a holy terror as ever. She’s fine, right?

Mine is eating much less staying out at night and sleeping under the patio table in the day. I would say it is the heat. She brings in the mice and plays with them in our bedroom at night which is annoying though.

Thank you for replying, that makes me feel better. The poor mouse is on the lawn, and she is nipping out to give it some playtime every now and again. DP has gone to bed with a rotten cold, so if she brings it in I am on my own - he usually deals with bodies! I bet she will be a right pest to get in when I go to bed. 🙁

Cat's appetites can vary a lot. Mine eat a lot less when it's warm and it's been really hot here.
I would say the key thing to look out for is if she seems excited and interested in her food but then does not eat it. That could indicate pain, like you explained she did earlier this year.
But if she is just less interested in food that is fine, especially if she seems herself otherwise.

After posting this thread she came in from her murdering, and immediately scoffed a load of biscuits, then today cleared every last scrap of breakfast and dinner. She seems to have gone right off one of the four flavours of food she deems acceptable, so I think that’s partly it. (We had a period a couple of years back when she just wouldn’t eat one of the other ones at all - which she now belts down - and we ended up with a huge Brexit Style stockpile of it. Then suddenly one day i gave her it by mistake and she LOVED it!)

I feel like a bit of an idiot now, but thank you so much for the replies! What a wee madam she is.