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Help! My 8-week-old kitten won't eat or drink after coming home.
Updated on September 23rd, 2025
My wife picked up an 8 week old kitten on Friday evening and she hasn't eaten or drank anything that we know of. She is having bowel movements and peeing. What can we do to get her to eat and drink?
4 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Answered By Vanessa Yeager DVM MPH
Veterinarian
Published on June 11th, 2018
There can be many causes for decreased appetite. If you just got her on Friday, it may be the move has stressed her out a bit and she needs a few days to adjust. However, there can be other causes such as viral, bacterial, or parasitic infections that may cause decreased appetite potentially.
It is good to hear she is having normal bowel movements and is urinating, however. You can try heating up her food a bit to bring out the flavor and try feeding small amounts frequently.
If a couple more days go by and she still has not eaten, I would recommend she see her veterinarian just to make sure there is nothing more serious going on.
I hope this helps!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpfulRelated Answers from Veterinarians
Answered By Megan, DVM, CVA
Veterinarian
Published on January 10th, 2019
Poor Maanu. Yes, you can try to entice her to eat with some egg. A plain scrambled egg is usually best. You can also try some plain boiled boneless, skinless chicken or canned tuna in water is also a good option. There are so many things that can cause a decrease in appetite in kittens like parasites, toxins, viral or bacterial infections, foreign bodies, intestinal obstructions and so much more. If she isn't starting to perk up and eat, I strongly recommend to find a vet to take a look at her to find out what type of treatment she may need. I hope this helps and she starts to feel better really soon.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS
Veterinarian
Published on June 23rd, 2018
Yes, this lack of appetite could be from stress as well as the vaccines. You can see a decrease in appetite when a kitten has vaccines, and add to it a new home and an introduction to a dog. I would try offering her some boiled white meat chicken (no bones) to try to tempt her to eat. You can also gently warm some really smelly wet food such as sardine or fish based. If she refuses to eat those things, then take her into the vet as soon as possible. When a cat doesn't eat going on 72 hours, they develop a fatty liver which is fatal without treatment. That needs to be avoided, which is why I say to take her into a vet asap. Best of luck, I hope this helps!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM
Veterinarian
Published on April 15th, 2019
She may have had some sort of infection (such as an upper respiratory infection) that caused her to have a transient decrease in appetite. Sometimes you don’t see many other symptoms. I would definitely recommend keeping a close eye on her however and seeing your vet right away if she seems to be losing weight again.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful