Pouka is a 1 year old cat I adopted. In the last three months he’s gotten progressively thin and refuses to eat. I took him to my local vet and he was diagnosed with anemia, and his red blood cell count was a 3rd below what it should be. We also thought he had some kind of mineral deficiency, since he was eating dirt and even the litter out of his box. After administering an antibiotic as prescribed, he went from eating small amounts of tuna and red meat to eating nothing at all. His feces is rock hard and he only uses the litter box about once a week. I have no idea what could’ve caused this, but I’m worried because I’ve lost cats before that were close to his age. He’s very weak now, and I’m afraid I might have to let him go, but if there’s any chance I can give him a fight for life I will.
When a cat doesn’t eat, it can be very worrisome. It is important that a cat get their daily nutrient requirements including food and water for the day. There are lots of different diets you can try such as baby food, chicken broth, and gravy to try and encourage your cat to eat. There is also what is known as a recovery diet that is fed to critically ill patients such as Hill’s A/D (a prescription diet) that can sometimes get them to eat. There are also medications such as Maropitant that can serve as an appetites stimulant to get cats to eat. We have an article focused on what to do when a cat doesn’t want to eat here: https://www.vetbabble.com/cats/food-and-diet-cats/help-cat-wont-eat/
However, the most important thing is to make sure there is not an underlying illness making your cat not want to eat. Anemia and mineral deficiencies can be secondary to malnutrition and not eating enough, but it could primary anemia or a sign of something else. It is important to keep in close contact with your vet and schedule a follow-up visit if their antibiotic treatment originally prescribed is not working. Your cat may be critically ill and need additional therapies such as fluid therapy or other medications such as an appetites stimulant to help him eat, and a veterinarian can help assess whether these treatments are necessary and perform them as well.