I have NO idea what happened between noon and 6 pm today, but Pearl is
afraid of dishes! I went to feed her as usual and she was ultra cautious
about approaching her dish and she finally got her nose to the food and then
jumped back and wouldn't eat. Now, she had a furball come up a bit later so
I thought "OK, an unusual reaction to wanting to hork up a hairball but this
must be the problem," She did then later eat some dry out of the "fav" dish
by the big cat TV, but even that was kind of "peck peck" in nature. So I
tried some chicken juice and chicken in a smaller dish. No go. I put it on
the bare floor and she ate it. So I put some in a dish like the dry food is
in, and she moved away from it, just like when they are afraid of something.
So now later I open a can of fancy feast thinking "this will do it". Nope.
She wanted it. She meowed for it, but she acted afraid of the dish. I tried
a bigger one, a flatter one, a green one. No go. Finally she was sitting on
the carpeted base of the cat tree in the kitchen and so I just stuck a lump
of the food right on the carpet. She was a tad cautious about going to eat
it (like the food might jump up and bite her) but once she took a bite, she
at the whole little pile down. Now, what happened to her????? Why is she
suddenly afraid of wet food on a dish? Did she accidentally bop herself with
one today or something? Pearl is a very outgoing cat and not very skittish.
I just cannot figure it out. It is just the most bizzare thing. I really
really hope she gets over this.
mlbriggs - 11 Jun 2005 05:56 GMT
> I have NO idea what happened between noon and 6 pm today, but Pearl is
> afraid of dishes! I went to feed her as usual and she was ultra cautious
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> It is just the most bizzare thing. I really really hope she gets over
> this.
Possibly a bug of some kind was in her dish -- just a thought.
Karen - 11 Jun 2005 14:28 GMT
Well, I'm not sure, but I think maybe a bad tooth? She's always had
impeccable teeth. SHe does finally go and eat, but I've seen her jump
slightly while doing that. Can a cat bite their tongue? I will make an
appointment to get her seen Monday.
Marina - 11 Jun 2005 06:02 GMT
> I have NO idea what happened between noon and 6 pm today, but Pearl is
> afraid of dishes! I went to feed her as usual and she was ultra cautious
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> I just cannot figure it out. It is just the most bizzare thing. I really
> really hope she gets over this.
That is really strange. Can she have been bitten by some bug? But why
associate it with the dish? Nikki had an aversion to bowls for a while,
but she would happily eat off a flat plate, and later she decided bowls
were alright again. Wish they could talk and explain these things to us.

Signature
Marina, Frank and Miranda. In loving memory of Nikki.
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki
Jo Firey - 11 Jun 2005 08:16 GMT
>I have NO idea what happened between noon and 6 pm today, but Pearl is
> afraid of dishes! I went to feed her as usual and she was ultra cautious
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
> I just cannot figure it out. It is just the most bizzare thing. I really
> really hope she gets over this.
Something hurt or scared her or tasted bad that was in her food bowl. I
don't know it ants or roaches will bite. More likely there was a sliver
bone in her food and it speared her in the mouth. Or a rock and she bit
down and hurt a tooth. Or even she had a flea and it bit her while she was
eating. Their logic is not our logic.
Jo
Adrian - 11 Jun 2005 11:20 GMT
> I have NO idea what happened between noon and 6 pm today, but Pearl is
> afraid of dishes! I went to feed her as usual and she was ultra
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> not very skittish. I just cannot figure it out. It is just the most
> bizzare thing. I really really hope she gets over this.
The only thing I can think of, maybe she was stung or bitten by an
insect hiding in her dish. Snoopy is very afraid of all flying insects
so I suspect she must have been stung sometime.

Signature
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera)
A house is not a home, without a cat.
Smokie Darling (Annie) - 11 Jun 2005 14:29 GMT
> I have NO idea what happened between noon and 6 pm today, but Pearl is
> afraid of dishes! I went to feed her as usual and she was ultra cautious
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> I just cannot figure it out. It is just the most bizzare thing. I really
> really hope she gets over this.
This will sound stupid (I'm getting good at that), have you changed
your dish soap? Here is my experience with cats afraid of their food
dishes:
My Barnabus has a two sided dish, one side always has dry, the other
gets a bit of dry mixed with a teaspoon of tuna and hot water for
dinner. Every other day, I wash the dish out even though it never
appears dirty. I noticed that Barnabus started acting weird around his
dish (like you describe), and he's my big boy who adores his "stinky"
(what we call their food). Could not figure it out. My DH figured it
out. I had changed the dish soap I was using. I always rinsed really
well, but apparently the soap was leaving a "flowery" scent on the
porous plastic dish. I went back to the "old" dish soap and he was
fine again.
Smokie Darling (Annie)
Karen - 11 Jun 2005 17:04 GMT
>> I have NO idea what happened between noon and 6 pm today, but Pearl is
>> afraid of dishes! I went to feed her as usual and she was ultra cautious
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>
> Smokie Darling (Annie)
Hmm. I did indeed get a different kind, although, breakfast and a snackie at
lunch did not produce this behaviour and it was the same dish. I'll have to
switch back, but we have an appointment Mon. just to give her mouth a look
see and make sure nothing is up there.
Smokie Darling (Annie) - 11 Jun 2005 17:24 GMT
> >> I have NO idea what happened between noon and 6 pm today, but Pearl is
> >> afraid of dishes! I went to feed her as usual and she was ultra cautious
< <snipped for brevity> >
> > This will sound stupid (I'm getting good at that), have you changed
> > your dish soap? Here is my experience with cats afraid of their food
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> switch back, but we have an appointment Mon. just to give her mouth a look
> see and make sure nothing is up there.
I thought I had mentioned <re-read my post... Oops <<blush>>>... It
wasn't right away with Barnabus either, but a couple of days (couple of
washes). I think it must have "built up" the scent and put him off his
food (out of any dish that I had washed with the scented soap).
As to TED visit, very, very good. Just in case she did get something
(bug bite/sting) from her dish.
Smokie Darling (Annie) - who, it seems, would forget her head if it
weren't attached. Obviously forgot to put the brain in gear though
(sorry about that).
W. Leong - 11 Jun 2005 18:55 GMT
> This will sound stupid (I'm getting good at that), have you changed
> your dish soap? Here is my experience with cats afraid of their food
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Smokie Darling (Annie)
I just use hot water to wash out Rusty's dishes. Don't use any dish soap.
I am always afraid the any soap residue is bad for him. I also use a
dish cloth exclusively for his dish and I wash his dish seperately from
mine.
Winnie