Cat not eating

[Lou1982]

Hi all, wondering if anyone has any suggestions about what to do with my cat. We think she's about 9 but not 100%. At the moment she's not eating any cat food, we've tried various whiskas jelly & gravy varieties but she won't touch them. We resorted to giving her cold meat to try and get her to eat which she will eat for a bit but obviously don't want to continue down that track. Any advice welcomed

[Kay]

I'm not sure from your post if your cat is eating sufficiently if you give her what she wants, or if she isn't eating enough full stop

does she like dry cat food?

[Lou1982]

She's not really keen on dry food but will eat it sometimes. If we give her cold meat it's ok for a bit but then she won't even eat that. Example, we gave her thin cut ham one day and she ate it but the next she wouldn't eat it. We had turkey drummers for dinner tonight so she had one of them (well the inside bit) and she ate most of that so it's not like she's not eating, she's just not eating enough. Maybe she's just really fussy.

[fjm]

I would try a different brand, and different textures - some cats prefer pate foods, or just chunks in jelly, or just in gravy. If you are feeding her human food try to use meats that are low in salt and with not too much fat - chicken thighs with some of the skin taken off or minced beef, turkey, etc. Sardines in water, tuna in water, scrambled egg - all possible things to try. None of them are as easy to turn into a properly balanced diet as feeding a complete and balanced commercial food, though, so keep experimenting to find the ones she likes.

You don't say how long you have had her, and how long she has been refusing food - or whether she is allowed outside, where she may be finding other sources.

[alanc]

I have had success with Thrive Chicken when my Tilly needed encouraging to eat, but it is expensive.