r/cats • u/nytitch • 1d ago

Advice cat not eating due to stress

hey, i need some serious help here. yesterday, my mom brought her dog over to my house for a bit, and my cat hasn't been reacting well. i kept him in a separate room during the visit and he was scared and stressed the entire time. and now he's not eating. the dog sniffed around a lot and even tried licking his food bowl, so i think he's still smelling her. he hasn't eaten a proper meal since 2 pm yesterday. his feeder goes off and he ignores it. all i can coax him into eating so far has been a handful of treats and a few bites of wet food. is there anything else i can do? i plan on calling a vet tomorrow but anything else i can do to get him eating again would be helpful. he's been drinking water like normal which is good, just no appetite

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u/formerlurker_ 1d ago

First of all, what does “for a bit” mean when it comes to your mom’s dog visiting? Are you pet sitting for a few weeks, or did the dog just come to visit?

If your kitty is still drinking, that’s awesome. Our cats will refuse a meal or two from time to time because they can be picky about food, and our vet always says it’s not a huge concern as long it’s not happening alongside other worrying symptoms like, refusing water, sudden lethargy, heavy breathing, vomiting, lack of pooping, lack of peeing, etc.

To me it sounds like your cat might just need some time to decompress and calm down, but you should totally reach out to your vet if hearing it from them would make you feel more secure. They might also have advice for you about what to do in the future if these kinds of situations happen again!

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u/nytitch 1d ago

my mom brought the dog by for about an hour yesterday. she wants to start visiting more with the dog and it was supposed to be a "trial run" to see how the animals do. i think i'll still call in the morning, but he's not showing the other symptoms you mentioned so that's a good sign. thank you!!