Is it normal for a cat to make grinding noises while eating?

[bohemiancatsody]

I rehomed a cat from a rescue two days ago. They believe him to be 2 years old. He's a bold confident cat, a lap cat who rushes up to anyone who walks through the door to greet them. We love him already.

However he struggles to eat. If I can persuade him to eat he twists his head to one side and makes an alarming grinding sound. He's a tiny cat and very underweight.

The rescue had their vet clean the tartar off his teeth while he was having his neutering operation 4 days ago. They didn't mention any other problems with his teeth or eating.

I'm worried he might be in pain if he struggles to eat and we're in for a lifetime of problems and huge vet bills trying to help him going forward. Or is it too early to panic?

What sort of grinding sound? Our boy makes a massive chomping/crunching sound (like a comedy sketch of a cat eating) when he eats dry food, and he purrs while he eats. He was a stray kitten living in a shed and is delighted to get fed in his own home! Our previous girl hoovered her food so fast there was no sound.

Also just re-reading your op, our boy barely ate for the first few days he was here. He had food and used the litter tray “in secret” when we were in bed. Apparently he was the same in foster.

Now (a year on) he politely waits for me to finish my breakfast so he can lick the bowl, and we know never to ever leave a chicken resting on the side.

I would contact the rescue and ask for their advice. He could just be very sore where they cleaned his teeth or he could have cracked one and it's not sitting right. Have you tried him on a pouch of wet food to see if he still has difficulty in eating?

I would probably give him some metacam for a few days as his gums might be inflamed and sore from the dental. I my girl is a noisy eater.

There is a sort of horrible growly chomping noise some cats who hunt make when they are eating their prey. <shudder> Could he have been fending for himself and now does it for all food? Or has he had to defend his food from other cats?

It needs to be checked urgently by a vet. Have you registered him at your vet’s? Hopefully you’ve already sorted insurance out?

He does eat some food in secret in the night but he seems to think the food on our plates is his to share. He doesn't think much of cat food, will eat a little but mostly pick out the dreamies. He won't touch wet cat food.

He was a house cat, never been out of the house not even to the vets for microchip or vaccination. If he was sharing food from his owner's plate that might explain the tartar on his teeth maybe (wrong diet for cat)?

I'll speak to the rescue vets tomorrow, see what they suggest. He's eating enough food to be active and curious so not an emergency. Still waiting for the insurance to come through, the rescue automatically sign you up for one month free. Not sure if his teeth would be a pre-existing condition though?

I'd really like to keep him, he's such a gentle friendly little cat. I need to make sure I can meet his needs though.

Many thanks for all your advice, it's very useful.

He maybe just doesn’t like the food you’re giving him? We went through every wet food with our boy - from Whiskas (which was what he had in foster) through to fancy pants raw stuff like Katkin, and everything in the middle. He’s now on Sheba which he sometimes eats all up, and sometimes just licks the gravy off. (He has RC biscuits too so not starving!)

I had a few days at the beginning when I thought he was eating nothing/would actually starve but he was always tempted by some tinned tuna. He went through a phase of breaking into the green kitchen waste caddy for scraps too which was quite unsavoury!

Teeth weren’t covered by our insurance for our previous cat and cost a small fortune when she needed some out. Our current policy just renewed and it covers accident teeth but not natural teeth - eg if his teeth were knocked out by a car, yes, if they just got decay, no, I can’t think how else to explain it!

My cat chomps when eating dried food and frequently drops it on the tray. He's a messy bugger and has even dropped the biscuits mid chomp if a noise startles him. If i scratch his back when he's eating he eats faster like a feline hungry hippos game.

The grinding and the turning the head to one side sounds like a tooth issue to me, unfortunately.

I had a cat that did this - he made a grindy "nom nom nom" sound when he ate, it was just one of his quirks.