My Cat Has Stopped Eating from her Dish & Will Only Eat Out of My Hand!

I'm puzzled by this... my 3 yr. old female (Graycie) stopped eating her food from her dish about 4 weeks ago. The only way she'll eat is if I put the food in the palm of my hand & she eats from my hand.

I do this for a few mins. then my back hurts so I stop. She will several times later in the morning or evening (she gets fed twice a day) come & meow at me to follow her to her dish. I do this & I see that she wants to have a few more nibbles, so I get a spoon & spoon her food into my hand & she eats again.

What is this about & how can I correct it. I've tried to leave her alone to eat on her own but she will not.

I am worried as I need to stay away overnight & I'm worried she's not going to eat without me there to hand feed her.

---

My Thoughts:

My initial thought is that if she's not eating out of her bowl at all, then there is something wrong. I would check with the vet to be sure. If your cat is healthy, she'll eat when she's hungry. Cats often like to nibble at their food, go away, and then come back to it again, but I would be concerned as to why she wants you to feed her.

Some cats like the attention, and they often will eat out of your hand. This is especially true with treats or special meals like albacore tuna, but this is something all together different.


If this happened to me, I'd have to ask myself what's wrong. Have you noticed any other changes in her? Is her weight steady? Is she as active as always? Overactive?

Right before this started, did you change food bowls? Change position of the bowls? Move the litter box?

Have there been any other major changes in the house? Any changes of normal routine or time spent with her or at home? Any change in routine can sometimes trigger odd behavior.

Are you cleaning the bowls with the same cleanser as always? Are they being rinsed the same as before? Is she drinking normally?

If she has a favorite treat, you might try putting that into her bowl (after thoroughly cleaning and rinsing it) and see how she reacts. Most cats (not all) love tuna or salmon or sardines. Crack a can of that and put a couple of mouthfuls in her bowl. If she goes for that, then next time you could try putting a little juice from the tuna can into the bowl with her food to encourage her to eat from the bowl.

Cats make excellent trainers. Over the years, I have allowed myself to be trained into performing certain behaviors. If she's doing this just to get attention, then I would say she has successfully trained you and is probably telling all the neighbor cats how smart her human is!