Hi everyone, for the last few days my cat has been having trouble eating his dry food; he often drops it back out of his mouth. No change in his behaviour though, he's still his usual crazy self, playing, drinking, and eating (lots of small meals but only a little bit at a time). I've checked his mouth and there are no red gums or blood. No visible weight loss and his stools look healthy. The sides of his teeth are a bit yellow, but I suppose that’s normal?
Thanks in advance, have a good day and see you soon!
Aurélien
Translated from French
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Hi everyone! I just wanted to give you an update. He was a bit out of sorts yesterday, but after a long nap in the evening, he woke up and started playing much more. I could tell he was feeling better; he’s been drinking, eating, and playing, and everything’s been fine since then. I’m still not sure what caused it, maybe just an upset tummy that made him a bit reluctant to eat his dry food, but he’s eating normally again now and is full of beans.
By the way, I feed him Royal Canin FIT 32 dry food.
Personally, I’d still check his teeth. You mentioned the sides look a bit yellow—could it be tartar? A bit of tartar buildup can really irritate the gums, especially with hard dry food.
I had that exact issue with wet food, so it’s definitely possible. After only having the same brand of chicken flavour, Luna eventually turned her nose up at it and wouldn't touch it anymore. Cats are perhaps a bit less fussy when it comes to dry food in general (at least I think so), but if we ate the same meal day in, day out, we’d get fed up with it eventually...
If you’re switching dry foods, just keep an eye on the percentages though (carbs and the like) so the difference isn't too big and your cat’s stomach can handle the change.
Okay, I don't think it's an infection (if it were, he’d have really foul breath—you’d definitely notice it!)
I’m leaning more towards your furball just getting bored of his dry food, which is exactly what happened with my Scarlett ^^
As @Karineg14 suggests, it might be a good idea to get a sample of a different brand of dry food and offer him a tiny bit to see if he'll eat it. If he does, that confirms my theory! You'll need to switch his food, but make sure you do a proper transition between the old dry food and the new stuff so you don't upset his tummy and give him diarrhoea 😌
Evening, have you tried giving him something else as a test? Some wet food, for example. I’m not sure if you already give him that, but give it a go – even if it means picking up a small bag of a different brand of dry food just to see. That way you'll know if the problem is his food or if you need to look into things further.
Hi, thanks for your helpful replies. Actually, there was some behaviour yesterday that could be seen as him 'sulking' – he bit the bag of dry food, but then again, he gets excited when I pick it up. Lately, he’s been enjoying scavenging through leftover pans and trying to eat off my plate, as if he’s looking for different flavours.
Regarding bad breath, it depends on how you’d define it, and I don't have any other cats to compare him with. To me, it just smells like typical cat breath... nothing nasty.
Mind you, cats can sometimes get bored of their dry food! That’s exactly what happened with mine: she used to love her kibble, and then almost overnight she started turning her nose up at it. It showed in similar ways to what you’re seeing: she’d spit it out, or go to her bowl often but only eat tiny amounts...
She’d just got fed up with eating the same flavour every day (and you can’t blame her ^^)
If her gums aren’t red, she isn’t drooling, and she’s still got an appetite, is drinking, playing and acting normally, I don’t really see what else it could be besides that...
Maybe you could give the vet a ring, just so they can tell you over the phone what might be causing it? And if needs be, take her in for a check-up just to be on the safe side and make sure it’s not periodontal disease.
Hi, thanks for your reply (let’s keep it informal! 🙂). He’s actually been on the same dry food for two and a half years (he’s two and a half now), and that’s exactly why I’m worried. He loves it—well, he used to, anyway. He isn’t exactly reluctant to go to his bowl; in fact, he seems really keen when he gets close, but it’s as soon as he starts eating that I can tell something’s wrong. I was thinking it might be an inflammation at the back of his throat that’s causing him pain, but he hasn’t really shown any signs of being uncomfortable (mind you, he’s never been the most expressive cat). At first, I thought it might be a cavity, but apparently, cats don't really get those?
Thanks and have a good day.
See you soon.
Maybe they’re too big? Some kibble is larger than others and harder to swallow.
You could try softening them by pouring a bit of warm water over them ;)
Does he seem to like them, or do you feel like he’s a bit reluctant to go to his bowl?
