My cat went on a hunger strike for Xmas

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

First a little background: Maceo is 2.5 years old, has 25 toes and is very lion-like, fluffy, and light orange. I’ve had him since he was 8 weeks old and no one has ever harmed or traumatized him, though he literally never saw another human being for the first year of his life, until we moved. Previous cat sitters just put down food and left, and never saw him. He’s always been thin and a picky eater, and never eats a whole lot, though he shows a lot of enthusiasm for the food he does eat. He’s quite skittish (if you stand up suddenly around him or he hears a loud noise, he bugs out). Very shy around strangers, he will hide for hours and hours even when I’m around, though he will eventually show himself if people are here for long periods of time.

I was away from 12/23 until yesterday, 12/27. I just spoke to my cat sitter over Xmas, and she said Maceo did not eat the entire time. Last time she came in over Thanksgiving, I told her to put food out in my bedroom and then close the door, and he did eat it. This time, however, he did not. She couldn’t just put food down and leave because Harley, my FIV+ cat, has in the past year developed severe food allergies and cannot eat the other cats’ food because it will make him violently ill all over my house. She even put a bowl of Harley’s high-quality special formula wet food for Maceo, to no avail.

I know it’s really bad for a cat to go without eating for any period of time. I used to think that eventually, a healthy kitty would get so hungry he’d set aside his skittishness and just eat already. Not Maceo, apparently, though when I got home he was all over me and ate quite a bit, so I know he’s not sick. He did this once before when we moved, but I was able to pry him out from the hole he bored into my boxspring (!!!) and got him to eat after 3 days of hiding and fasting.

Clearly I have a dilemma now. What if I go away for a week? Would he really starve himself that long? Could he pull a Bobby Sands on me and starve himself to death? I left the cat sitter with wet food and treats to entice him, but they did not work this time. I would bring him with me, but obviously that’s not always an option, and as you may have guessed, he does not travel well. He freaks out in a cat carrier and hurts himself.

What should I do? Cat lovers and vet type people, help me!

2

I would take him to the vet if you could. When a cat stops eating, it could be an indicator of illness. Does the cat have any other symptoms?

Last summer we had a cat that stopped eating. He also could not move his pupil in his right eye. This later turned out to be from haviny lymphoma (cancer) which spread to his entire body…we had to put him to sleep, unfortunately :frowning:

So get kitty to the vet ASAP!

3

Normally, I’d be the first to be haring off to the vet at the least sign of trouble, but I know Maceo. He’s just being his usual, skittish, freakball self. Trust me, in general, he has not stopped eating, it was just because he didn’t want to deal with the cat sitter. Since I’ve been home, he’s been his usual self, except extra affectionate and snuggly because no one has pet him in 4 days. He is physically totally fine-- it’s pure perverse stubbornness. Thus, I am worried about what will happen if I go away for a week or something-- could he literally starve himself to death? What can I do to prevent this from happening? Would boarding him cause him more stress (I know he would totally hate it) than it’s worth, or is it necessary in this case?

4

If he’s not overweight then he’s less at risk for hepatic lipidosis which cats can develop if they go without eating for a few days. Since he’s eating now for you he’s probably okay but he does not sound like a good candidate for leaving for a week that’s too long to go without eating.

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Do you think maybe he would be enticed by tuna or something? Has anyone else’s cat behaved this way? What did you do? I have no plans for going away for a week, but I might want to someday.

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IANAV, but IIRC it is far more serious if a kitty doesn’t drink water than if they go on a mini-hunger strike. What you’re experiencing is some kitty psychosis, because you are his human, and he’s pissed off that you left him. I’d make an extra effort to socialize Maceo to another human-type, preferably the person who will be caring for him in your absence. He may still get angry that you’ve gone away, but another safe person can provide him comfort. Good luck.

7

I’m sure he was drinking water. My cats are so spoiled, they get bottled water (my water here is really hard and takes like sulphur, so none of us drink it). Maceo is socialized with my friend who often catsits (to the point where he will actually sit on her lap!), he when people hang out here for several hours, he comes out and sits near us, but on the holidays most of my friends go out of town. The cat sitter who has been coming in is a hired gun, so there’s no way I could get her to sit around and hang out with him for hours. Thus, I guess I’m screwed unless I can get one of my friends to cat sit, I guess. Bummer.

8

It sounds like you fella needs some socialisation with other humans, and maybe even other cats.

Right now you are his entire world, when you leave, so does his life, as far as he is concerned.

Cats can stop eating just because they are ‘that way out’, I made the mistake of getting Whiskers pouches food which happened to be on a half price offer, but when it ran out one of my cats wouldn’t eat anything at all for three days and only reluctantly came around to eating her normal stuff, which isn’t particualarly cheap nasty stuff either.
It’s takne her nearly two weeks to accept she isn’t getting any more of the pouch stuff except as an occasional treat.
Damn stuff must be full of kitty coke or something, it costs twice as much , easily, to feed her on that stuff.

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He lives with 3 other cats and gets along fine with them. As for people, a lot more people have been around since I moved back to my town, and he will come out for them when they’ve been here for a few hours. He hides at first, when they get here, and then comes out when things have quieted down. I don’t know how to make him come out sooner, because the cat sitter will not stay here for hours waiting for him to feel comfortable enough to show himself.

Maceo is picky about food too. He turns up his nose at pretty much anything that he’s made to eat that none of the other cats is eating. That’s why he’s eating diet food right now, when he’s so skinny-- that’s what the other cats eat, and he won’t be treated differently. Willfull little maniac, he is.