Early stages of starvation: Persistent hunger. Searching constantly for food. Meowing more than usual Eating unusual things (grass, insects, crumbs, and more extreme things in some cases) Restlessness. Weight loss begins. Middle Stages: As fat reserves are used up, the body starts breaking down muscle. Obvious weight loss. Spine, hips, ribs become prominent. Weakness. Sleeping much more. Less interest in playing or exploring. Self-care such as combing fur decreases. Fur becomes dull, greasy, or matted. Difficulty jumping onto trees. Tires very quickly. Feels cold more easily because of fat loss. Late Stage: Energy is extremely limited here the cat will spend most of it's time lying down. Severe muscle wasting. Can no longer jump. Slow and unsteady walking Trembling legs May stumble or collapse after standing. Head held lower. Eyes appear sunken. Very little self-care/combing. Weak meow or stops entirely. Doesn't react much to sounds or other cats. Sleeps nearly all the time. Hunger may actually diminish because the body is shutting down. Final Days: Unable or unwilling to stand. Barely moving. Extremely weak. Slow to respond. Cold to the touch, especially ears and paws. Breathing quietly and sometimes more slowly. Unable to keep itself warm. May have difficulty swallowing. May be too weak to eat even if food is offered. Drifts in and out of counciousness. Final Hours: Lie on its side because sitting up is too difficult. Keep its eyes partly open. Blink slowly or not at all. Move very little. Respond only faintly to touch or voice. Have shallow breathing with pauses. Become unconscious before death. -- Around death, hunger will actually become less intense, because the body is shutting down. The cat may even be too weak to eat any food offered, if there is suddenly food the cat may want it mentally but lack the strength to eat, be too weak to chew, be too weak to swallow safely, and feel full after only tiny amounts. Muscle loss also affects nearly every movement. Things such as holding up your head, sitting, rolling over, lifting a paw, speaking, opening eyes all become incredibly difficult. Eventually breathing will as well. Another underestimated detail is that the cat will be /incredibly/ cold. As they have no more fat or calories, everything will become icy, even in warm places. The cat may eventually stop shivering, because shivering costs energy, which the cat no longer has. Producing body heat requires calories as well, which once again, the cat /does not have/. The cat may also become rather dirty and stop combing fur entirely (have to avoid saying the proper word for it because last time scratch flamed me), fur will very dull, oily, tangled and dirty fur, as near death, combing pretty much stops as it takes too much energy. -- details of starvation in humans (since cats are a little harder to find): Vision will become blurry and dim, sometimes with tunnel vision. This is added with inability to focus and difficulty judging the distance of objects or people. Sounds will also feel muffled, ringing, or far away. The body will be incredibly numb or 'heavy', with some people describing like limbs as feeling like they aren't really attached anymore because they're so difficult to move. The mouth may also become dry with cracked lips and very hoarse / scratchy voice (or meowing i guess) Since the heart is also a muscle, it weakens during starvation. Common effects include slow pulse, low blood pressure, dizziness, fainting, or an irregular heartbeat. heart rhythm problems are one of the reasons starvation can be fatal. starvation may also cause hallucinations, although this is not guaranteed. the person/cat may hear voices, smell food, see familiar people, or confuse dreams and reality. -- bodies are /extremely/ efficient. they like to fight death for a long time. at the very final stage, everything except the heart and brain are basically shut down just to try and keep those two organs functioning tldr: - heart problems - will feel /incredibly/ cold and icy, even in warm places - fades in and out of counciousness - won't even feel hungry anymore at the end because the body is shutting down - will be way too weak to eat even if offered - basically too weak to do anything - sitting, breathing, lifting limbs or head, talking, opening eyes all become difficult hope this was helpful added: in severe malnutrition, the stomach actually tends to bloat/get larger while the rest of the body is extremely skeletal.
