Cat not eating in this heat

[ClaireEclair]

Getting a bit worried about our girl. She’s gone off the good she usually loves. We tried different flavours, brands, dry food (she ate a little of it). we also tried the cat soup from canagan and other different brands that she sometimes takes a liking too.

She was eating the Encore loins which was something but this morning she’s even turned up her nose at that and has gone out.

She seems okay in herself. Still quite lively and bright eyed. Should we take her to the vet for a check up or is this normal in the heat?

I should add she is drinking water.

Both of mine have been exactly the same. They’re slightly interested in food around 6am and will eat a bit later in the evening but throughout the day I’m chucking food away so have given up now and let them guide me.

My pair aren’t even lively but just sleeping wherever they find a cool spot - I shouldn’t worry at this stage and i’m sure she’ll go back to eating once it cools down.

My cat is nearly 8 and is also eating less in the heat and just preferring to sleep, as long as she's eating a small amount of something and staying hydrated with plenty of water she should be fine. Their appetite should return one it cools down and they are more active.

Thank you both. She ate half of an encore chicken loin so that’s promising.

As long as she’s drinking water she'll be fine. Mine are still eating a bit of encore dried food but not a lot.

i'm sick of throwing away stinky wet food they won’t eat so have stopped for now, they seem happy enough

they also seem to be spending the days sleeping in a bush in the dirt which seems to cool them down

Thanks for posting this thread @ClaireEclair and thank you to everyone who has posted on it too. You have made me feel relieved! My almost 18 y.o. cat is eating only about a third of what she normally eats! Although she is drinking water OK. She is an old girl, and rather thin. (We have had her checked at the vets recently, and they say she is healthy but just a very old lady!)

She is bright eyed and full of beans most days, and healthy with a shiny coat, but for the past week, she is hardly eating. I was getting worried, but after this thread I think I will relax a little bit! She is also finding little cool dark spaces. In the small boxroom in our house, (north facing!) we have an old chair in there and she sleeps under that half the day (and night!)

I'm tempted to follow my cats to see the bush they sleeping under and following them

Our girl is also sleeping under a bush in the garden all day and when she comes out she is very cool.

Update. Today she’s only eaten a few dried treats. Have tried tinned tuna in spring water, boiled chicken (cooled down) and her usual cat food. No interest at all. We’re going to try again when the sun goes down but if she’s not eating first thing tomorrow we’re taking her to the vet.

My cat is the same. Usually she reminds us to feed her, even if she's been out all day, she'll appear out of nowhere and stare at whichever human is about until we stop what we're doing, then she leads us into the kitchen.

However, it's been very hot over the last couple of days and she's mostly ignored her food that we put out. She has spent most of the day sleeping in her stretched out position or hiding in the den in the garden where it's cooler.

If your cat is drinking water, then that's a good sign. Has she vomited at all? If not, then I wouldn't be worried just yet.

Hope she's OK @ClaireEclair Our cat didn't eat anything from 9pm yesterday to 7pm tonight! She ate part of a cod in batter that we had for tea! (Not the batter, just the cod,) and she wolfed it down. Quite a chunky amount! I was about to take her to the vet tomorrow if she hadn't eaten by first thing tomorrow morning, but she did fortunately. (She has been asleep for much of the time though!)

Hope your little girl eats something in the morning - or maybe leave something overnight and hopefully she eats that.

My cats eat a lot less in the heat. They also disappear in bushes for hours. They are eating but probably half what they normally do and at a much later time than they'd normally get hungry.

My cat is also eating very little at the moment, she has occasional dry food and is partial to a lick-e-lix yoghurt snack but is rejecting her normal food. I think she will eat properly when ready but I'm keeping a close eye on her for any signs of dehydration any she has had some water

Oh I am glad to hear this! My old cat is nearly 19 and I was going to start a thread about him not eating and finding odd strange places to sleep. He is drinking lots though and seems alert and happy when he can be bothered to stir. Luckily someone will be home with home with him all this week and the temperature is due to drop to a more reasonable level after the horror that tomorrow is meant to be.

Completely normal for cats not to eat in hot weather. No need to take to the vet. They will restart again when it gets cooler. They aren't expending energy, just sleeping, so need very little at the moment. No different from humans.

I’m keeping the food in the fridge and mine has eaten a bit less but had a bit at usual mealtimes. And lots of water. And a teaspoon of plain yoghurt. (And no she’s not sleeping all day but demanding as much attention as usual - possibly because I discovered she likes to be sprinkled with water and brushed when it’s hot!)

My two are not eating their wet food either, just some dry biscuits and water.

Thanks everyone. I got up early today to see if eating at a cooler temp would work but no. Have also tried plain yoghurt. She just turns her little nose up at everything. Definitely going to the vet today. She still seems lively which is odd. She was outside on the wall when I woke up and immediately ran in to see me.

Update, vet doesn’t think it’s the heat. She says she seems to have pain in her abdomen. It might be an infection. She is hydrated, has a nice pink nose but a slight temp. We have to keep her in to monitor her toilet habits. She won’t be happy about that. She’s been given an injection to help with pain and feeling sick and should want to eat in 2 hours. We have to bring her back in for blood tests and a scan if she’s still not well tomorrow.

How is she today? Hope she’s eating bit better

Thank you so much for asking. She seems much better. She is eating but not back to her usual wet food yet. Back on the encore tuna loins which isn't great nutrition wise but she is also eating dry food and drinking water.

She meowed for food last night which is when we knew she was feeling better. She's off out looking for trouble now. So so relieved! And glad it's cooler too.

Mine has been eating lots of Lick e Lix, only thing he's been interested in recently. I add a bit of water too so it's a bit more liquid for him.

I still manage to eat (too much sometimes) even when it's hot (more's the pity!) 😆

But yeah you're right, cats don't eat much at all when it's really hot. I have looked this up, and as you say it's because they are not expending so much energy.

I had 2 cats until 5-6 years ago, (one died aged 15) and I don't recall them ever being like this before. Either I didn't notice, or it's because my cat now is old - nearly 18, and the heat is bothering her more. (Or both of the above!)

It's cooled down for the past 2 days and she is still eating very little, probably a quarter of what she normally eats now (down from a third,) but she is drinking, and seems OK. She ate a bit of tuna last night at around 9pm, and was quite active last night after 9pm, and was outside til midnight tootling around and playing with the hedgehogs! 😄 Today though, I got up at 8am, she had a small amount of food, and shot into the spare bedroom again, and has been asleep under the chair in there since. (It's the coolest room in the house!) Oh, she has been eating some dry food too.

She used to sleep (hidden) in the bushes, and so did her sister who died 5-6 years ago, but she is favouring sleeping under the chair in the spare bedroom, in the back/north facing.

Even though the temperature has cooled down, it's still quite warm, and it's very warm in the house. It hasn't dropped below 23 degrees C in the house and feels quite stuffy, (even overnight/first thing in the morning it's 21C!) And it's especially warm in the south facing, and west facing rooms. The north facing spare bedroom is about 20 C...

My kitty is old, and it is warm, so I think that's why she is struggling. Still keeping an eye on her - but she doesn't appear to be at the stage of needing the vet yet.

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Glad to hear your cat is OK @ClaireEclair

Yes, I have been glad too, to hear people stating similar experiences with their cats.

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