Anorexia

In veterinary medicine, anorexia means loss or absence of appetite, not a psychiatric disorder as in humans, with hyporexia describing an animal eating less than usual and anorexia an animal no longer eating at all. It is a common, non-specific clinical sign that accompanies very many diseases, and it can result from pain, infection, digestive trouble, organ disease, stress or simply an unpalatable food (veterinary literature). In cats, prolonged anorexia is especially concerning, because food deprivation can promote hepatic lipidosis, a serious accumulation of fat in the liver, so any lasting refusal to eat, particularly in a cat, warrants prompt veterinary advice (feline hepatic lipidosis literature). Management first aims to identify the underlying cause, then to support intake, sometimes through appetite stimulation or nutritional assistance prescribed by a vet. Monitoring how much is actually eaten helps catch a decline early, and appetite is a sensitive indicator of general health, so a sustained change should never be ignored even when the animal otherwise seems comfortable. The marker: anorexia is a warning sign, not a diagnosis, and the cat's vulnerability to liver complications makes it the more urgent case. It is the mirror image of [polyphagia](/glossary/polyphagia) and is often assessed alongside [dehydration](/glossary/dehydration) and changes in [body condition score](/glossary/body-condition-score) in the [Petipedia glossary](/glossary).

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