How long will a Cat live without eating?

Question

I asked another question similar to this and you can look at it and answer it if you'd like but anyway, to reply to the answers of posters in my other question no my cat did not get into anti-freeze and no he does not have cancer. He just simply won't eat. He was given fluids at the vet and his last bag of fluids was given on Monday. We have also tried giving him baby food, tuna, turkey, cheese, and canned cat food and he won't even smell the food so I'm not sure if its possible but I think he can't smell anything which makes him not want to eat. Is this possible and what do I do? and also the question above, How long will a Cat live without eating? Any help is appreciated!

I asked another question similar to this and you can look at it and answer it if you'd like but anyway, to reply to the answers of posters in my other question no my cat did not get into anti-freeze and no he does not have cancer. He just simply won't eat. He was given fluids at the vet and his last bag of fluids was given on Monday. We have also tried giving him baby food, tuna, turkey, cheese, and canned cat food and he won't even smell the food so I'm not sure if its possible but I think he can't smell anything which makes him not want to eat. Is this possible and what do I do? and also the question above, How long will a Cat live without eating? Any help is appreciated!

To answer to the posters we have tried to feed him and he will eat a little through a suringe but nothing else. We're not starving him. We're trying to do our best. I'm just looking for other methods of feeding him.

Yes, the vet checked for everything and is out of ideas. My cat's case has puzzled him and we also took him to an emergency vet which didn't know what was wrong with him either. To see more info on the situation look at my other question I posted about an hour ago about my cat vomiting and not eating.

Answer 1

Cats cannot go very long without eating, because after a few days, they begin to develop "hepatic lipidosis"...also called fatty liver disease. They turn yellow, and start to die. They rarely recover from it, and the treatment is usually a feeding tube. I guess I would see the vet again, or another vet. He cannot live on fluids forever.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Your cat will go into liver failure and die if he goes more than 2 days without eating. Obviously, your vet needs to continue to try and find out what's wrong, but until then you have to get him to eat. You have 2 options. You can either try buying a high calorie food, such as Hill's Prescription Diet A/D, and force feeding him small amounts using a syringe (no needle). Mix the A/D with a little water and gently squirt it down his throat. There are also supplements you can buy from your vet or at the pet store, such as Nutri-Cal, that you can use to supplement his diet. If none of these things work, your vet will need to put a feeding tube in until he starts eating again. Talk to your vet about these options, but if he hasn't eaten in a couple days, you need to force feed him something tonight or he may die. And yes, many times cats won't eat when they can't smell their food so hopefully he just has an upper respitory infection (although he should have other symptoms). I hope everything goes ok and you find out what's wrong with your cat.

Can you please list what all tests have been done and if any results were at all abnormal? If you do I will try to give you more ideas. Thanks.

Answer 4

Unlike humans and dogs, cats cannot go for more than a day or two without eating before developing a life-threatening liver condition called Hepatic Lipidosis or Fatty Liver Disease. If caught early, this condition can be reversed by force feeding or tube feeding.

If your cat is cooperative enough, you may be able to use a syringe to feed your cat with a high-calorie food especially made for this purpose and available at your veterinary hospital. Usually Hill's Prescription a/d or Eukanuba Maximum Calorie foods are used. The clinic can provide you with the supplies needed and demonstrate how to syringe feed.

If syringe feeding is not possible, then your kitty may need a feeding tube. These tubes must be placed while kitty is under general anesthesia. The same two foods listed above can be used to feed kitty via the tube in her esophagus. Again, the clinic will demonstrate how to do the feedings. This is usually the preferred method for treating hepatic lipidosis.

Of course, the reason kitty stopped eating in the first place must be dealt with. Hopefully it is simply a bad upper respiratory infection that caused kitty to stop eating. If it is something more serious such as kidney failure, then the risks and cost of surgery to place a feeding tube may not be worthwhile if it cannot give kitty a reasonably good quality of life.

Good luck whatever you choose to do.

Answer 5

There is a product called Nutri-Cal that you might be able to get from your vet or another vet's office. It's a sort of gel/paste that comes in a tube. It's high in calories and dogs/cats seem to like it pretty well. I work for a vet and he prescribes it for animals that won't eat for whatever reason. Ask your vet if he/she thinks this could help. It's not a substitute for your cat's regular diet but will help get some nutrients in him and maybe help make him feel better.
Canned a/d from Hills Science Diet is also high in calories and dogs and cats seem to like it pretty well.
I'm not sure how long a cat can live without eating. It probably depends on several factors.

Answer 6

We are dealing with a 16 year old cat who lost half her body weight last winter. The vet did blood work and said her organs are working properly. She has had antibiotics and a shot and prescription diet which she would only lick. We have tried home made cat food, several different foods with gravy and she just licks around on them. We have even used a dropper and she still is not interested. At her age I say let nature take it's course. I love her but when it is time to let her go don't prolong it by making her miserable. I think when a person does this they are being selfish and not thinking of the animal at all. They are ready to go.

Answer 7

I may have answered this previously - but not sure. Did they check for feline CRF? This is becoming far too common in cats - and the first symptom is almost always a lack of or complete loss of appetite. There's a food that is given out by vets from Prescription Diet that is so intensely strong in smell that most cats with this kind of lack of attention to food are given to stimulate them to eat. I can't recall the formula ... possibly D/S ... but your vet should know what I'm talking about if you tell him its by Prescription Diet (I believe that's the same company as Science Diet) and its for cats that have lost their appetite.

My WilyBeth was given this the last 24 hours before her feline CRF was diagnosed and she gobbled it so much she threw up once from being so piggish. I highly recommend trying this next!

Answer 8

Is she currently on dry food? Try wet food! If she doesn't go for that I would take her to the vet the very next day. I don't know how long they can go without food, but I do know that if they go without food for more than two days it MAY cause liver damage. I would suggest taking her to the vet ASAP!

Answer 9

Music enables you to eat more. According to a work by the journal Psychology along with Marketing, soft, classical tunes encourage that you take time over your food, so you consume more food. So, switch off – silence will always make you more aware of what you’re investing in your mouth.

Answer 10

First of all, is he not eating or not eating or drinking? Big difference in time- without food is about a week less if they are sick or skinny. The fluids your vet gave hopefully had electrolytes in them to help with that. Without water or fluids? a few days. What is the deal with your cat....did they do an X-ray? Please give me more info or email me@ [e-mail]