Both cats suddenly not eating their usual food

[Amelia Cooper]

Over the last week or so both babies are eating very little of their usual food. I give them dry Sphynx Royal Canin which they love, always come running to the bowl when they hear the packet but now, nothing. They graze on it sometimes but they don't even finish one bowl full when before they would have two bowls a day. A bowl of food just sits there all day.

They are still eating their treats and if I offer them some cooked chicken etc.

 

[Kelnym]

Maybe the food has gone off?

 

[Amelia Cooper]

I checked the use by date but it says 2021. Could it still be off?

 

[Kelnym]

I checked the use by date but it says 2021. Could it still be off?

Yep.

I had to stop feeding my dogs Orijen because no matter what, after opening a new bag, they would stop eating it after two weeks.

It may not be unsafe to eat, but some kind of oxidative process may have made it unappetizing.

Perhaps try feeding them a different type of food or a new bag of food and see if the problem resolves.

 

[Yoda mom]

@Amelia Cooper , highly recommend contacting the company. I had an off experience with a bag of Halo sensitive cat food. I called them and they told me they never had a recall. turns out they did a soft recall after a "handful" of people reported the same problem. turns out there was some mold issues with one batch ( I posted a thread a couple of years ago about my experience.).
any vomiting, diarrhea ,increase water intake?


keep us updated, hugs n head smooches


@Kelnym , I also stopped Acana ( same manufacturer as Orijen... it actually smelled like rotten wet hay for some reason)

 

[Yoda mom]

@Amelia Cooper checking in for updates. hope to hear good news

 

[Amelia Cooper]

I opened up a new bag and they seem to be eating a little more now. Still not to their usual routine though. More grazing through the day.

 

[Condo commando]

How old are they?

 

[Toa and Ross]

My cats eats less too. I was wondering if this is caused by me being home allday and therefore maybe ruining their routine?

 

[Lanuesphynx]

Over the last week or so both babies are eating very little of their usual food. I give them dry Sphynx Royal Canin which they love, always come running to the bowl when they hear the packet but now, nothing. They graze on it sometimes but they don't even finish one bowl full when before they would have two bowls a day. A bowl of food just sits there all day.

They are still eating their treats and if I offer them some cooked chicken etc.

I will be honest.. i have worked in animal nutrition for 8 years and going. Royal Canin is one of the worst brands of food out there. If you look at the ingredients, it is almost all corn and grain fillers with very little protein. Cats specifically, unlike dogs, are carnivores. They need high amounts of protein, excluding beef and chicken. Duck, lamb, quail, rabbit, etc is great! If you can afford a raw diet by primal or stella and chewys, that is what i recommend. If not, pure vita, origin, acana, and canidae have high protein and/or raw coated kibble.

The main things that can help you know if the food you are feeding is good quality is looking at the ingredients. Make sure 90% of the first 5 ingredients is pure protein. Always. No fillers. And then look at the guaranteed analysis and look for a protein percentage of 28-32% protein.

Sphynx especially, being high energy, benefit and need a high protein and fat diet.

Please message me if you need help or having any other questions. But i can promise you they will chow down on the foods i am recommending and also highly benefit from them. I can explain specific benefits for each if you'd like. Good luck!

 

[Condo commando]

And then look at the guaranteed analysis and look for a protein percentage of 28-32% protein.

Good post and I agree with most of what you said but you forgot to talk about one thing that makes a big difference - water!

Canned foods are about 75% water so it leaves only 25% for solids. Let's assume a certain can has 10% protein. The % of protein is calculated based on the solid ingredients so you take 10 and divide by 25. This food is 40% protein.

Kibble has maybe 10% water leaving 90% solids. So if you have a bag that says 30% protein, the calculation is 30 divided by 90. This food is 33% protein.

If you just looked at labels, the can would say 10% and the kibble 30%, but in reality it's the canned food that has higher protein.

Canned food is going to have more protein 99.99% of the time. If somebody wants something easy to remember, remember that. But it does make sense to compare different cans with each other, or different bags of kibble with each other. You just can't compare canned to kibble. I hope I explained it well enough without getting too much into math. I would hate for somebody to think that kibble is better because it has a higher number on the label without realizing you have to use just the dry matter.

 

[Lanuesphynx]

Good post and I agree with most of what you said but you forgot to talk about one thing that makes a big difference - water!

Canned foods are about 75% water so it leaves only 25% for solids. Let's assume a certain can has 10% protein. The % of protein is calculated based on the solid ingredients so you take 10 and divide by 25. This food is 40% protein.

Kibble has maybe 10% water leaving 90% solids. So if you have a bag that says 30% protein, the calculation is 30 divided by 90. This food is 33% protein.

If you just looked at labels, the can would say 10% and the kibble 30%, but in reality it's the canned food that has higher protein.

Canned food is going to have more protein 99.99% of the time. If somebody wants something easy to remember, remember that. But it does make sense to compare different cans with each other, or different bags of kibble with each other. You just can't compare canned to kibble. I hope I explained it well enough without getting too much into math. I would hate for somebody to think that kibble is better because it has a higher number on the label without realizing you have to use just the dry matter.

Yes, this is all true, if we are talking about canned food. But not everyone can afford to feed the amount of canned food they would need. And in my opinion, if you have the money to do that, you should be feeding raw which is the ideal diet for a feline.

 

[Condo commando]

I was trying to be nice because you took extreme liberty when talking about protein percentage. So now we are talking affordability? LOL thanks for the tip.

 

[Lanuesphynx]

I was trying to be nice because you took extreme liberty when talking about protein percentage. So now we are talking affordability? LOL thanks for the tip.

I took the comment nicely. I did not mean to sound harsh. I am sorry if it came off that way. Canned food alone is expensive and actually extremely bad to feed alone. And i was simply saying if you are concerned on moisture, raw diet is better overall for teeth compared to canned.

 

[Condo commando]

Apology accepted. Now you said something else that I would like for you to help me understand, why do you believe that canned food is extremely bad to feed alone?

 

[Lanuesphynx]

Apology accepted. Now you said something else that I would like for you to help me understand, why do you believe that canned food is extremely bad to feed alone?

The concentration on their teeth when only eating canned food is not good for their teeth and gums and has shown dmaage over time. Kibble is worried to not show enough concentration of moisture, your specific concern that you stated even though if fed appropriately with adding canned to their diet is being perfectly healthy option, which is your concern. And then raw food has shown to actually help their teeth and gums significantly.

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Food choice can be a “hot topic.” Many people have their thoughts about dry vs wet and raw. One thing many people think is that dry is better for their teeth, but in many cases cats don’t even chew dry food they just swallow it. Their teeth weren’t developed for chewing like humans, their teeth were made to rip and tear. Just like with humans, genetics plays a huge role. We feed ours wet and dry and I can physically see the difference in the build up of tartar between them all...they all are different.

 

[Condo commando]

The concentration on their teeth when only eating canned food is not good for their teeth and gums and has shown dmaage over time.

The concentration of what??? If you mean tartar, there is going to be tartar no matter what food we give them.

Kibble is worried to not show enough concentration of moisture, your specific concern that you stated even though if fed appropriately with adding canned to their diet is being perfectly healthy option, which is your concern.

My concern was that I didn't want someone to think they could compare the protein % of a label of dry food to a label of canned food.

Let's agree to disagree because I can tell you are set in your beliefs but I am not of the same mind (ie, I need more reasoning and logic).

 

[Lanuesphynx]

The concentration of what??? If you mean tartar, there is going to be tartar no matter what food we give them.



My concern was that I didn't want someone to think they could compare the protein % of a label of dry food to a label of canned food.

Let's agree to disagree because I can tell you are set in your beliefs and I'm not of the same mind.

Yes, i didn't realize that is all you meant. Do not compare wet food to dry in percentage. I will agree to disagree on feeding only wet food.

 

[Condo commando]

Aaaaand we're back to regular programming

 

[Condo commando]

My cats eats less too. I was wondering if this is caused by me being home allday and therefore maybe ruining their routine?

Maybe it's nature.....get older and your metabolism slows down.....

 

[Yoda mom]

@Amelia Cooper , checking in, Hugs n head smooches

 

[Amelia Cooper]

Thank you. Both are back to their normal eating habits now.