dturm wrote:
darsben1 wrote:
CAT will not starve itself. Put out food leave it there if cat is hungry it will either eat or hunt.
I disagree with this philosophy or feeding technique in cats.
Fatty Liver (Hepatic Lipidosis)
A fatty liver can develop in as soon as two weeks with an appetite reduction of 50-75 percent.
The so-called fatty liver is one of the most common causes of liver failure in cats and it stems from the basic design of the cat. Cats evolved as predators of small birds and rodents, eating multiple small meals throughout the day. Their physiology is geared towards a completely carnivorous diet and with the presupposition that cats would live lean and never have the opportunity to develop extensive fat stores.
Of course this all changed when cats become domestic. The modern housecat has every opportunity to become overweight and while this may not be of disastrous consequence on a day to day basis, should the cat get sick or lost and stop eating, a big problem erupts. The fat stores mobilize. Normally, in starvation, fat is moved from the body's storage depots to the liver for processing into lipoproteins but the feline liver was never intended to handle huge amounts of mobilized fat. The liver becomes infiltrated with fat and fails. Complicating matters are the high dietary protein requirement that is unique to cats; protein malnutrition develops very fast when cats do not eat.
The real question, is the cat maintaining weight and otherwise normal. If so, your expectations regarding feeding may be off.
Doug, DVM
I agree with this. Some cats will indeed starve themselves - even with no underlying health issue - and it can be very dangerous because by the time you realize there is something really wrong, the cat has given up and can't be turned around.
She may just be a nibbler by design and will eat a little bit here and there but never a "meal" - that can make it hard for us to know if they're really eating or not. Also, some ex-feral/homeless cats won't eat with people around - they have learned that people near food means being grabbed/caught/etc., and so they wait to eat until you're gone.
With her being only a year old, it may be difficult to tell if she is eating enough or not (their physique is changing at this age), so weighing her regularly until you're sure she's eating properly is a good idea - you'll catch a potential problem sooner.