My indoor-outdoor 3 year old cat is usually always hungry, but yesterday he lost his usual huge appetite. He has still been pretty much his normal, spunky, kitten-like self and still loves to run and play, but is a tiny bit sluggish. Yesterday he wouldn't eat his morning meal, but by evening we fed him his favorite of canned salmon cat food and he did eat it. But it's strange that he doesn't even want his treats which isn't like him. Could loosing his appetite be caused by worms? I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow.
This happened to my cat & it was only severe constipation. Once he went, he started eating again. The vet recommended "Laxatone". (the stuff made for hairballs) This worked miracles but it takes about 3 days to work. I've since found out (from the internet) that it's common for cats to get constipated, mostly because of hairballs. But the first thing a vet will check out when a cat looses it's appetite is a blockage in the intestines (where the small intestines meet the large intestines), this can be from a foreign object that's to large to pass or from something as simple as a hairball. This is why it's important to get the animal in to the vet RIGHT AWAY!
In our cat's case this loss of appetite has happened twice, one time he lost his appetite from a blockage (he ate something he shouldn't have) & he had to be operated on to remove it & save his life & the second time it was from simple constipation that was most likely caused from him being on antibiotics for 10 days (the antibiotics gave him a very loose stool) & when we stopped giving him the antibiotics his body must have been used to taking them & reacted in the opposite way & became constipated. In the first instance he not only lost his appetite, but on the second day he also became lethargic, whereas when he was just constipated, he lost his appetite, but he still acted normal with lots of energy. This came on suddenly & left just as suddenly (after 3 days of taking the Laxatone). The vet sold a tube of it for $8, but you can buy it online for less.
---> Cats are prey & predator animals. Animals that are "prey" will not often show pain because the animal that shows pain is the first to be hunted. This means Rabbits (which are prey & not predator) are going to be even less likely to show pain than a cat whereas a dog (which is only predator & not a prey animal) will be more likely to show pain than a cat ... It's all about where they fall in the "prey / predator" lineup. (so to speak)... I saw a vet talking about this on channel 9 & my vet also told be about this. She said that a cat or rabbit will walk on a broken or hurt foot, whereas a dog will limp. So keep this in mind when your cats, bunnies, birds & other "prey" animals get hurt. They will most likely hide it!
We have a cat that stopped eating (and she LOVES to eat). She was also spitting up white foam. The vet took an x-ray to rule out a foreign object or even an impaction/hairball. He did see an area of inflammation so he gave her an injuection of Prednisolone and put her on oral Pred. She started eating the next day and is back to her old self!
Also, I don't know if loss of appetite is a symptom of worms but if he's lucky and doesn't go outside then it probably wouldn't be worms.
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