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Why cats stop eating: the causes, sorted
Physical causes: eating hurts or nausea wins
- Cornell links dental pain with food refusal. iCatCare notes that eating differently, such as dropping food or chewing on one side, can be a sign of a problem. Ask your vet to examine the mouth; these signs alone do not identify the cause.
- Kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease is on Cornell's list of conditions behind appetite loss, and nausea is a frequent companion of it. Older cats drinking more and eating less deserve a blood panel.
- Cornell lists pancreatitis among the conditions that can cause appetite loss. A vet must investigate the cause rather than diagnosing it from eating behavior alone.
- Foreign bodies and blockages. A swallowed object can stop eating suddenly; this often arrives with vomiting or retching.
- Cancer and other liver disease. Both appear on Cornell's hepatic lipidosis cause list, since those cases are usually secondary to another condition.
Systemic causes
Cornell's list of conditions that can precede appetite loss and fatty liver risk includes diabetes and hyperthyroidism - two of the most common diseases of middle-aged and older cats. Hyperthyroid cats famously eat more while losing weight, but the picture shifts as disease progresses or if other illness stacks on. The point is not to match your cat to a disease from a webpage; it is that the vet's diagnostic net for "not eating" is wide, and bloodwork plus examination is how it gets narrowed.
Environmental and behavioral causes
Cornell lists new food and changes involving other animals among possible reasons for food avoidance. iCatCare also describes stress, illness, pain and nausea as possible contributors. These possibilities are not a home diagnosis; a vet needs to investigate the cause.
How to help the vet find it
You are the sensor network. Before the appointment, note: when the appetite changed, whether it was sudden or gradual, what else changed in the household that week, whether the cat still drinks, whether there is vomiting, drooling or hiding, and whether the cat approaches food at all (interested but won't eat points somewhere different than indifferent). The appetite log structures exactly this and prints for the visit. If any emergency sign shows up, skip the logging and go.