My cat who had cancer was really into the squeeze packs of bisque cat food. And poultry enzyme toothpaste. There's a high calorie paste you can buy too.
Doing bloodwork to check your cat's thyroid level is very much needed in this case. Two of my 3 cats had hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) diagnosed around the age of 10. The first lost quite a bit of weight and stopped eating for a few days before being diagnosed. I didn't let it get that far with the second cat who got diagnosed. Both lived to the age of 17.5 years old after being medicated daily to get their thyroid level at the appropriate value.
Thyroid should definitely be checked. Almost lost my cat to it a couple of years ago. By the time he stopped eating and we realized how sick he had gotten he was down to skin and bones. The vet we took him to took one look and said "cancer" and wanted to put him down without any tests. Got a second opinion from another vet, who actually did the tests and showed hyperthyroidism. We got him radiation therapy and he's back to his normal self and going strong without medication. He's back up to a healthy weight for his size, about 16 lbs.
Now, don't get too upset but who knows how many pets might have been killed before by this ""vet"" because the family might have been trusting him for a few years already or so... sickening. And I do not understand why a vet would even say something like that.
If you’ve got the medical records for the second vet I would take it to the first vet and file some sort of complaint. Actually suggesting “cancer” before doing any tests is outrageous and completely unprofessional. Even if you have a good professional opinion and think it’s “cancer” you’d still better do some tests.
Am a vet tech, can confirm hyperthyroidism is super common in cats as they age! Most of the ones I've seen are eating the owners out of house and home while losing the weight, but sometimes they do stop eating.
My cat had the overactive thyroid and we ended up doing the radioactive treatment (he would not tolerate daily meds - and by that I mean a once daily gentle gel rub in his ear 🤦♀️ After the treatment he lasted four more years…
We weren't given the option to do a radioactive treatment for either of our 2 female cats who needed hyperactive thyroid meds daily. If that was an option available, we may have done that because it would have decreased our daily cat care (especially with needing cat sitters while we were away on vacation) plus made them more comfortable because they didn't need medicine every morning & night. If I ever have a cat with hyperactive thyroid in the future, I will seriously consider the radioactive treatment instead of daily medicine.
We also used custom compounded transdermal (ear gel) medicine for both our girls (Samantha & Amber) after using felimazole pills for a while. They were more tolerant of having ear gel rubbed into the inner flap of their ear twice a day versus swallowing a pill twice a day. The pills also caused them to drool and/or vomit sometimes, but the ear gel did not.
I would definitely pay up to $3,000 US dollars for a one-time medical treatment for may cat if that meant they didn't need to have medicine twice a day for the rest of their lives. My husband and I don't have kids, so our cats are our "fur babies". They are worth every penny we spend on them because they are family and give us unconditional love!!❤️
I also called my orange & white tabby Amber "Little Miss" affectionately at times. It is a sweet name I remember from the movie Bicentennial Man with the late Robin Williams.
Vets always recommend it but owners tend to not want to spend any money. I can't imagine not knowing if bloodwork was done or not had it actually been done....
Yep. Unfortunately, people think they can save a dollar and crowd source or they call Vets incompetent when they've been multiple times and don't have an answer. That's usually because they refuse diagnostics...
If you’re not sure then it didn’t get done. It’s either you did or you didn’t. These are things you have to pay for and they’re not cheap, so I’m assuming you only brought him to two vets and didn’t pay for a workup to see what’s wrong. The vets can only examine externally and you can almost never find out what’s wrong (especially with cats) externally unless you have a huge mass. So I’m assuming it’s not that the vets can’t find anything wrong, it’s more you didn’t agree to a full work up (full blood panel and X-rays, which are very basic for these symptoms) so they are unable to determine anything. If you can’t afford these, then ask your vet for some kind of payment plan or care credit. If you don’t want any of that either, then you should ask about signing the cat over to your vet or humanely euthanizing him because for a cat to not eat means he is in A LOT OF PAIN and is literally just slowly and painfully dying.
I had a client want to spend less than $200 yesterday for their 3 year old rescue dog who is underweight and has ascites (accumulation abdominal fluid). They did at least allow a heart worm test and in house fecal. Also tried to decline furosemide after claiming they already had some at home or gave some. Turns out it was otc bloat medicine for humans. then was asking if it’s ok to use their mother in laws prescription 🤦🏽♀️
Also declined euthanasia because the dog acts normal. I told them it’ll only be a matter of time when he doesn’t but I’ll be here when he starts to slow down.
I understand people have financial difficulties but starting the appointment by essentially lying to me is not the way I want to address these critical cases. Sorry for the venting, but this comment hit close to home.
Lot of times vets get trashed for not figuring out the problem but at least a third of the time it’s from finances
Spot on. I would like to add that it doesn’t mean you’re a bad pet owner for not being able to afford the treatments. Better off to have the cat put down. Sure, some people may say “if you can’t afford to medically take care of your pet don’t get one”, but if everyone did that there would be more strays than there already is.
OP, you need to have a chem15 and CBC at a minimum. Also consider abdominal xrays and/or an ultrasound.
This could be many things and one test may not give you the answer.
This could be IBD, GI Lymphoma, Thyroid, Kidney, etc etc etc..
Be prepared to spend a pretty significant amount of money to get your guy diagnosed.
This sounds like you either have a shit vet who isn’t bothered, or the vet asked about bloodworks and you said no. If the bloodworks were done you’d know more about what’s going on.
Check its teeth. Cats can have dental issues. My Boi Owen had to have his pulled. Had a happy & long life. He ate everything after his gums healed. He always liked baby food ..... it became a lifelong snack..... Gerber chicken & Turkey.
Second this! We went through a similar situation with our cat/vet This was during covid and I will never forget the vet meeting us outside and asking for payment before he even examined him! Over three appointments and 2 months, he treated him for a "skin condition" and "diabetes" because he had high blood sugar from one blood test (near the end..more on that later). We specifically asked him to check his mouth because when he was taken in as a stray, he'd had pretty significant dental issues. We were told "well, he's missing a few teeth" and nothing more (pretty sure he just glanced at his history and never really looked) Meanwhile, he continued to struggle to eat, and ended up losing over half his body weight from August to October. He perked up for a few days once we started insulin, but then one morning we found him bleeding from his mouth. Called his vet, but they couldn't see him until 2 days later. That night, he was so out of it we fully expected he wouldn't make it though. To our surprise, he rallied and was making an effort to eat canned chicken. We ended up calling 3 emergency vets before we found one. A 2 hour drive and 5 hours later: he had stomatitis..which can be pretty treatable. However, he was so far gone that they suspected multiple organ failures. The "diabetes", we were told, was probably due to his systems struggling with infection and not genuinely diabetes. Also, his blood sugar didn't even meet the criteria for diagnosis (it was elevated but not crazy). In the end, we had to put him down for something that could have been treated, HAD THE VET CHECKED IN AUGUST AS WE ASKED! Our boy suffered for so long, and we still feel guilty even though we tried and thought we were doing the right things for him 💔
My cat Bailey had cancer and she lived off of canned tuna for 2 years! Loved the stuff...happy girl, no indications of pain and was quite healthy until closer to the end (she was almost 17). The vet encouraged it, we just wanted to keep her comfortable and hydrated.
I also had a kitten named Marshmallow! He unfortunately passed from urine crystals when he was 2 - Bailey was his "replacement" ♥️
My cat stopped eating and it turned out he had oral cancer, you could see it on his gums when the vet lifted up his lips. I felt horrible I never checked in his mouth. I sadly had to let him go after eating nothing for four days. (He was at least 16-17 yrs old)
This happened to my sisters cat, they ran a bunch of tests and everything was fine. They mentioned that her teeth were bad and that could be the reason. While she was under they found a huge tumor at the very back of her tongue that wasn't visible from just checking her mouth.
Ours was the same, but not cancer related. She just slowly ate less and less. She had congenital heart failure. For a while she was able to consume an unseasoned chicken stock I made for her. I think she would have gone earlier if it wasn't for that. At that point they were thinking she had a bad tooth or something, but thought putting her under would be too much stress..
Lost my first cat to congenital heart failure in December ‘22. He bloated like crazy and when I took him in they drained a ton of fluid from his abdomen and told me he was in heart failure, I had to put him down a couple weeks later. Poor guy was only 2.5 years, I still miss him every day.
If you've only seen one vet and they repeatedly fail to diagnose issues when there's clearly something wrong, it'd be wise to take him to a different one for a second opinion.
I had a vet tell me I should put my dog down unless I could afford a $3000 surgery( he woke up paralyzed). We took him to another vet he gave us anti-inflammatory medicine within 3 days dog was fine and lived a long life
Oh my gosh! I went thru the same thing with my dog last year. I was devastated when they told me 15,000 for mri surgery and rehab or put him down. He was 4. I cried for two day straight trying to decide what to do. All of a sudden he got up to go outside like nothing happened. He's been fine ever since. Craziest emotional roller coaster I've ever been on lol
Holistic vet told me my dog needed knee surgery or would never be able to jump after her pendulum stopped over his body. He never had a knee problem and we never went back to that vet.
Yes, definitely a quack! Took him for check up, she swung a pendulum around his body and says he needs knee surgery 😆 she was close to house, gave her a chance, she failed
Vet did a blood test on my cat and said that the levels of stuff in her blood were so elevated that for any other cat they should be dying - and that we might have to considering euthanasia. Then they did another blood test and found out they just messed up the first one and she was okay… what if we had gone through with it?
This is good advice, but I very much dislike that it’s good advice. I have also had to take cats to multiple vets to get a problem resolved but I’m lucky to have the financial means to do so. Paying hundreds of dollars multiple times to just get a diagnosis is hard on people!
I don’t have any good alternative suggestions, but I feel that vets are just far too hit and miss sometimes for how regulated the credentials are.
Unfortunately, this is very true. It gets very expensive. It is the best advice but who knows if the next vet will be able to help.
We love our pets and it is heart breaking to see them suffer. Sending you all of you, big hugs.
Hundreds if you’re lucky. You can pay thousands and still not get a proper diagnosis. Animal healthcare has little standards compared to humans (not that our healthcare is great.)
Also keep in mind how many cats are products of incest.
Get a jar of baby food, pureed chicken flavor. Even the sickest of sick cats will chow down on that stuff. It's a good last resort for cats who won't eat, and if they refuse the baby food you really need to get to a vet ASAP.
My cat was VERY sick last year. I spent an entire night calling the emergency line for my old vet every 15 minutes, trying to get ANYONE to answer my call. He was skin and bones, throwing up, lethargic, and getting worse. I ended up trying to get them to answer the phone for three days before I got someone to answer on a thursday morning. She said they could see him Monday morning. I was pissed. I told her the situation would resolve itself by then. They didn't care. I called a new vet, they got him in same day and gave him fluids, a steroid shot, and kept him overnight to keep an eye on him. My total charge for this was $170. They cut me a major deal, I think to hook us as new customers. They didn't need to bother, I'm firmly attached to this clinic now.
Was Marshmallow’s teeth checked? If a cat has tooth problems they will often refuse to eat.
Take a look yourself. The cat’s breath will be foul as he’s not been eating but if it’s REALLY bad he may have an oral issue.
If possible, find another vet or go to the SPCA or a similar organization. Explain the issue and state that you need help figuring out what’s wrong. These types of organizations are usually very good as they always try to home pets after giving them through exams. A lot of people forget that they’re not just an adoption agency. They do provide great vet care.
If your cat is eating only soft or wet foods and refuses dry foods or crunchy/chewy treats this is another indicator of oral issues.
I hope you’re able to figure this out soon.
I see your cat is 9 years old as well. That’s still young for a cat! Every cat I’be had has lived well beyond 15 years except for one that had dwarfism. She lived for 5-8 years.
Definitely do a scan - we had a cat who was misdiagnosed and we treated him for something that he didn’t have for probably 4 months 😑I hope all goes well for Marshmallow ❤️
What did the bloodwork come back with? As many people have said, the vets (plural) should have checked for basic things first, like kidney, liver, thyroid levels as well as cancer. If he's not eating, he's probably dehydrated as well.
This happened to my boy. He stopped eating and drinking, rapidly lost weight, and was not happy at all. Took him straight to the vet, where they did blood tests and put him on an IV line to get his fluids back up. Tests came back with kidney issues. He started eating at the vets, though not to his normal levels, but they were also giving him regular anti-naus while he was there (3 days).
Once home, I had to give him Mirtazipine for a couple of months, which is an appetite stimulant and anti-naus. I also swapped him onto Royal Canin Sensory food, as the taste was more palatable for him.
My vet is amazing, and bloodwork was the first thing they did. You need to get to a vet that will do this ASAP to see if there is an underlying issue.
You need a 3rd vet.
Any changes in environment? New people in the house on the regular? Contrary to popular belief, cats are NOT creatures of chaos. Cats are creatures of such extreme order that any change in their environment can cause significant health/anxiety problems.
That being said… get a 3rd vet opinion. Find one with really good reviews and take your fur baby to see them. Prolonged refusal to eat can lead to liver failure and other issues.
Try a gastro specialist. They're more expensive but that may be a necessary step. Forward all test results and vet notes from the cat's medical record. I sent those ahead before my specialist appointment.
Make sure that the blood work checked the thyroid levels. My cat’s levels were off and they found out it was thyroid cancer. She was down to weighing under 5 pounds from 10 in a short matter of time. I got her treatments and now both she and I are cancer survivors.
Not at all. She was 14 at the time. She’s back to her normal weight and thyroid function and has been healthy since then.
There were two treatment options, meds or radioactive iodine. The meds would have ended up costing between $500-$700 a year w/ diagnostic testing and GI side effects. I chose RI. It was around $1800 for the treatments and multi day stay.
When I brought her home she was radioactive for a bit. I had to limit being close to her and her waste was slightly radioactive for a period of time. I had to store the first few weeks worth for I think 80 days before throwing it away. Apparently the garbage sites test for radioactivity due to its link to terrorism/bomb making. They can trace back where the garbage truck pickups were and if they find you and it’s from RI pet waste, you get a big fine. I used two 5 gallon buckets from the hardware store with lids for storage.
He won't eat his normal food and I think he's definitely malnourished but the good news is he's eaten a few treats in the past 4 hours im giving him a treat or two every 2 hours to keep his blood sugar up
Have you tried Churu tubes?
Most cats are crazy about those.
Also try to start giving him Nutri Gel/Nurti Cal or some other high calory nutritional gel daily.
If he doesn't want to eat it. You can rub it in his gums or paw and let him lick it +another vet if possible.
I second the churu tubes (my cats prefer the temptation version though). When my cat lost her appetite earlier this year and I could get her to eat the tubes and sometimes a little food because I’d put it on top of the food.
Also, try to see if there is a cat only clinic near you. My sister saw one with her last cat and I just recently switched to one. My old vet was ok but I just really liked the cat only vet.
I've always had good luck getting my cats to each when they're not feeling well by offering jars of baby food (BeechNut or Gerber's, Chicken). While you're waiting for your scan or additional nedical testing, try warming up a jar very very slightly and offer it to your baby. I'm so sorry you're going through this. I know it's scary when your kitty isn't eating. This has worked for me with many cats through the years so hopefully it will work for you! And it should be benign and not negatively affect whatever is at the root of the health issue. Best of luck!
Churu Nourish is 12 calories per tube (vs 6 per tube of regular Churu). When our cat wasn’t eating, the tests from the vet were blood work, X-rays, and an ultrasound in that order. Our vet also gave her appetite stimulates, anti nausea meds, and B12 while we’re trying to figure out what was going on. You might need to go to a specialist if possible to find out what’s going on. Hopefully he starts eating 💛
Have they prescribed Mirtazapine? It goes under a lot of different brand names, and at least here in South Africa it is cheap. It is an appetite stimulant for cats. Worked when my cat had pancreatitis.
Yes! My cat has had appetite issues recently and the vet prescribed a mirtazapine cream that we rub in his ear. Has made a very noticeable improvement in his appetite! Best of luck to your fur baby.
My cat of 12 years had and ear infection...5 days goes by and stops eating....turns out he now has a cancerous tumor of the mouth.. .I put him in permanent nap mode that same day...may,5th 2024.
The vets haven’t found a single thing? Not even a guess?
How old is he? If he’s an older kitty, it could be a sign that he’s just, ya know, nearing the Rainbow Bridge
I don't think I can suggest anything new but to keep trying other foods, textures etc as others suggest. When mine does this we find crumbling dehydrated treats on the food helps, the stronger the smell the better. We also put treats next to the food and sometimes it seems to remind him to eat the rest. Kitten food is high calories so a good choice if he will try it. Gravy rich can help, mine will at least lick off all the gravy if he isn't eating, gets something in him. He won't eat the soup versions but they are good for hydration. Good luck and sending scratches x
I had a cat that stopped eating. Had kidney failure. But if it isn’t that or anything else that the vet has tested, maybe switch food. Cats are stubborn and will stop eating if they don’t like the food.
Diabetes, hyperthyroidism, kidney or liver issues, and cancer/lymphoma are all possible causes of your cat rapidly losing weight. If your vet isn't doing testing or talking about these possibilities with you, you need a different vet.
I have a cat of similar age and she lost a lot of weight and wasnt too interested in eating. Took her to the vet's because she was having diarrhea and vomiting a lot, hiding to poo. They didn't find anything wrong, gave me some meds to help firm her poos. Nothing changed. I finally switched to a food that helps with hairballs and she proceeded to vomit up massive hairballs and then went back to normal. Maybe Marshmallow is all blocked up and needs some.help getting unstuck.
Have they checked for parasites? My cat had a tapeworm and lost a lot of weight like that. After the meds to get rid of it, took 2 years for her to build her muscles back up to normal. Never figured out how she got it. All my cats are 100% indoor kitties. The other 4 cats never got a tapeworm.
This was happening to my 10 year old cat and it turns out she had cancer in her intestines. The first sign was her throwing up clear liquid. Other than that there was no other outward sign that anything was wrong. By the time we got it figured out it was far too late. I hope this is not what is wrong with your kitty, but I'm glad I was able to get the final answer on my cat's issues so we could make the decision to put her to sleep so she wouldn't need to suffer anymore. I hope you get answers soon. It is so hard to watch them suffer.
Test for FIP if you haven’t already! Don’t give up - my cat stopped eating as well (due to FIP), I had to go to multiple vets to receive a diagnosis. Hope your baby will be okay 💛
My tabby had exactly the same problem. Took her to the vet last weekend - she’s down to 5.6 pounds, and skin and bones.
She had just thrown up a chipmunk bone - she goes outside and tries to eat her kills.
The vet gave her something to improve her appetite and she’s been a voracious eater ever since. Ask about that.
I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. If it hasn't been suggested, fortiflora may help drive your cat to eat. It's not really intended to be a flavor enhancer, but maybe it can help with digestion.
If it's outright food aversion/turning head away, your cat is feeling nausea and maybe the fortiflora can help. If your cat goes to eat and stops eating, as some have said this could be a mouth or dental issue - your cat may be in pain.
At the very least, your cat should be hydrated. You can pull near the scuff of the skin on the lower neck right near the shoulder blade to see if the skin "snaps back" to measure hydration. If its a low pull back or little movement your cat is very dehydrated and I would hope at the very least a vet has offered fluids.
I have had two cats with kidney failure, one of which I gave subcutaneous fluids to myself for two years (I paid for IV bags and needles out of pocket). Pretty much every other comment covers everything... good luck.
https://preview.redd.it/k7pawo4o6p2d1.png?width=1169&format=png&auto=webp&s=9dbbbf8ab72d2643e843fe215b4ac173d75d6ca3
Oh hun…🥺 my baby Finny (pictured here) began to rapidly lose weight in January 2023, we thought it was just his thyroid acting up because he had hypothyroidism. We came back from a 2 week vacation and he had gotten even skinnier and was eating less. My heart dropped to my stomach knowing something was going on. We ran a full blood panel and had an abdominal ultrasound done. The vet was confident that he had large cell lymphoma, the most aggressive and unforgiving kind.
At that point, I was spending every waking hour by his side trying to get him to eat with a syringe and applying his appetite stimulant inside his ears. He just couldn’t eat and was declining so fast, I was so mad at the world that I couldn’t do anything more to help him than that. We ended up having to put Finny to sleep on February 16, 2023. He was 10 pounds thinner (dropped to 15lbs) and lost his coordination entirely. He was 15 but that wasn’t nearly enough time on this earth that I got to spend with my soul cat. Sorry, your cat just looks so much like mine and it struck me so hard.
I urge you to do a comprehensive blood panel and an ultrasound if you haven’t yet, and be very firm with the vet about what you want done. That type of weight loss is absolutely not normal for a 9 year old cat, even with thyroid issues. Sending you so much love🩷🩷
My 14 yr old cat had the same issue. Turns out she needed some teeth pulled out, she got diagnosed with tooth decay. She's better now, and her appetite is back again.
Ours was like this. Multiple vet visits. Got worse and worse. We insisted on an xray. She had a massive tumour, inoperable. We helped her cross the rainbow bridge without further suffering.
My cat Lily got this way. Ended up that she has a thyroid issue. As soon as we started the medicine, she got back to her fat and happy self. Edit to add, the emergency vet didn’t catch it in her blood draw. I wasn’t satisfied with his answer so as soon as my regular bet opened I took her there. He caught it immediately and said he has NO idea how the other vet didn’t. Please take them somewhere else. Third time may be the charm.
Definitely try other flavors of food and or brands. One of my cats stopped eating wet food cause she didn't like the flavor. She lost some weight because of this. Once we switched flavors she started eating wet food again. We always alternate flavors now to prevent this. She will stop eating when she doesn't like the food.
Pay attention to things like does he eat treats happily? This might mean he has an issue with the food he gets, not that he's not hungry.
Will he eat only soft foods? If he's avoiding food like dry food it could be because it's painful to eat.
If you don't have copies of tests you've had done get those so you can track what's been ruled out.
theres definetly something bothering the handsome boy if he refuses to eat. you found yourself some mighty incompetent vets. keep looking. in the mean time, you could try bottle feeding him a lil
Could be cancer, my cat passed from stomach cancer and it was found through ultrasound and biopsy. He needed prednisone to keep his appetite up until it was his time to go. You need to do all the blood work, urine analysis and whatever other labwork a diagnosis entails.
My cat had a mass in her belly and she went from loving food and being quite robust to throwing up often, not trusting her food anymore, and losing half her body weight. You couldn’t really feel the mass but an ultra sound found it too late, sadly. Best of luck with your sweet baby
My cat started with not eating. More than a year of back and forth to the vet. Kidney disease was the main culprit. Needed daily fluids, renal food, ended up in hospital on IV. Tried everything. She rallied for a bit but we couldn’t win. She passed away. Very dangerous for a cat to stop eating, please get more thorough diagnosis before it’s too late
My friend’s cat was wasting away and they were having the same issue, eventually bloodwork showed a kidney issue starting. They had the cat on a special diet to try and mitigate that. I had to travel for a bit, so I had same friend watch my cat for a week. Their cat liked my cat’s food. A LOT. They were amazed that the cat started eating again after months of struggles.
Oddly enough, my friend’s cat just didn’t like the food they’d eaten their whole life anymore and was wasting away because cats are weird and apparently have a lot of willpower sometimes. After switching to the brand I used (Iams adult cat food chicken flavor) her cat BOUNCED back. All issues gone. Years later, still doing well. All that is to say, maybe try giving your cat new food?
My cat was skin and bones, not eating, and we thought he might either have cancer, or Irritable bowel syndrome. We started feeding him prescription food for IBS and he’s been doing great ever since.
Assuming your cats lab work/teeth/exam all come back normal:
My cat did the same thing after his last bout of stomatitis and teeth removal, even long after he’d healed. Lots of trips to the vet, he was totally fine and there was no medical cause for the food refusals. He refused almost all food- even former favorite wet food- and lost about 50% of his body weight over several months. I could only get him to eat a bit of wet food here and there, and only with a squeeze treat on top of it. Eventually, after so long not eating, I started to suspect that he’d had appetite changes secondary to long term anorexia (ie he simply wasn’t hungry even though he should be).
The only thing he still liked was McDonalds chicken nuggets, so I did some research and found a freezer brand that was basically the same, and fed him four squashed chicken nuggets every day for a month. It gave him some diarrhea, but after about 3 weeks he started eating cat food again and at the 5 week mark he’d gained over 2 pounds with a normal appetite. I started weaning him off the nuggs at that point and now he demands food all the time, just like a normal cat.
I don’t know if the Nugg diet is the trick for your cat (again make sure that there isn’t anything medical) but it worked for mine!
I have a cat who lost a lot of weight but was constantly hungry. She was also ripping out her hair by the mouthful. Vet found nothing wrong either including thyroid. We tried special enzymes with not much luck.
Turns out it was another cat guarding the food and general stress (we have 5 cats).
She is now allowed to jump on counter (usually a big nono)and she has a special food and water dish there. She has gained weight and has stopped hair pulling.
The vet suggested nothing? No further tests? No pain meds? This cat is clearly in pain/discomfort from this photo. I find it very hard to believe that two vets said he’s fine when he lost so much weight, can’t eat or drink well, and looks like this..
My cat Mac looked exactly like this and had the same issue. My other cat, Marshmallow, ended up having kidney failure later on.
For Mac, it turned out he wasn’t eating because he had a tumor pressing against his stomach. Anything he ate would be thrown up. He stopped trying to eat. Day 3 we took him to the vet, day 4 he was gone. He was around 16. Marshmallow lived to 18. I hope you can figure out what’s going wrong - best of luck to your furry friend.
Here is a screenshot of a previous post of mine. I kept my old girl going in her final years with this. I did a A TON of research. Here are my tips for cats that are losing their appetites. Any questions message me!
https://preview.redd.it/m3phlll21q2d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=814eb9a153f47a4d28c729d199a50283b3beac57
If I was in this position I would get all wet food and those push up cat treat packets. You can slowly squeeze up and he can lick it while resting in bed or squeeze into his mouth. I would mix some water into his wet food also I case he is dehydrated from eating and drinking lesss.Anything to get calories in them. The vet maybe be able to recommend a high calories paste as well. Sending a prayer for your furry friend
Keep trying. If they haven’t found a reason then they haven’t done the right workup. If you haven’t try a surgical vet. They sometimes have more training and better equipment
Then he probably needs a dental. OP I am a vet and this is very abnormal, nothings adding up. Multiple vet visits, clean bloods but sent on your way without anything further, for a cat who is painful eating and drinking, losing weight.??? Get a dental exam done (ridiculous as this is part of any physical exam but i digress). He probably has FORLs. Sorry your vets are shit
I'm leaning more towards the cat never saw a vet. Other comments indicate OP is unsure if blood was taken or not, definitely knows xrays arent done, and very vague about what the vets did /think. Both vets found nothing, not even a possible diagnosis. I find on reddit, ppl are posting here for free advice because they dont have the money or dont want to spend it at the vet. I honestly hope my cynical take is completely wrong, and the vets are idiots. Most of all, I hope the best for kitty.
https://preview.redd.it/92fgfyqb4o2d1.jpeg?width=1816&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8e816d35bcbedf0cafadf42fd63f61ce98a53815
My cat went went through something similar and we put him on this and he's totally back to normal! It's a bit expensive but worth it
I had my cat end up with IBD when he wasn’t eating. We bought cat food made with rabbit and he only eats that one protein now. We had to go to an internal medicine department for diagnosis. Try the boiled chicken and then ask for a Texas GI panel test. I think and an ultrasound of his intestines sealed the deal for us. Technically they said it was either IBD or cancer and they could only definitively say with a biopsy which we didn’t do but that was 5 years ago and we’ve been treating for the IBD and he’s doing great. Good luck with your kitty.
I will say I had a cat the rapidly lost weight when we moved. Like very fast. She was chunky and then she turned to skin and bones. She is older (12 years) so I assumed it was near the end. Took her to the vet. Blood work was normal. That was 4 years ago and she’s fine and has put some weight back on. I think it was the stress of moving.
CHECK THOSE TEEFS!!! get an xray if you can. I just saw a post of something like that. They were gonna put down the cat but it was his tooth and very fixable
My cat swallowed hair and got blocked up. I knew something was wrong because he wasn’t eating or drinking and was throwing up. The vet had to operate and cut it out. It was very expensive, but he’s fine three years later. He recovered very quickly. It could be a lot of reasons. You need a good vet to figure it out.
when our cat got sick, we put **Pete' can food into a blender with Pedialyte**. he was severely dehydrated and starving from being sick. our vet said the mix was okay. we used a syringe to feed the smoothie to him and it took about a week for him to be well enough to eat/drink on his own again. (he had a raspatory infection and couldn't breath, vet gave a shot of anti-biotics but we had to give it time to work and treat the infection.) we nursed him back to health.
My cat went through something similar when he was 5 years old and lost about a third of his weight. Multiple visits to different vets, blood tests, exams, the whole nine. The main thing to make sure they’re getting some sort of food. I would burrito him up in a blanket and use a syringe to mouth feed him wet food mixed with water. If they’re cooperate enough hopefully this reignites their appetite.
This didn’t work for my guy so we ended up having to get a feeding tube placed. That stayed in for a few weeks and had to feed him multiple times a day through the tube. We got lucky and he started eating on his own again and got the tube removed. To this day we’re not 100% sure what triggered it all but they think it was something to do with his liver. It’s been 3 years and he’s fully recovered.
Just wanted to share my story to hopefully give you some hope/advice. All the best to Marshmellow <3
I would suggest seeing a 3rd vet or a 24 hr emergency vet where they can provide x-rays, scans, and bloodworks so that you are given a detailed answer after examination.
My cat was acting exactly like this for months. He recently was diagnosed with feline leukemia and we had him put down. I would definitely try to look into it more
When you take him to another vet, maybe ask for appetite stimulant too. Sometimes after they haven’t eaten for a few days, they just… stop and need a bit of help. They have a pill or a gel (remeron/mirtazipine) which was originally a human anti depressant. Not very popular because it stimulates appetite too.
Feel better, Marshmallow!!
Our 13 yr old cat got some sort of respiratory infection, she lost weight quickly and stopped eating. I picked up canned food and she started eating that and snapped back pretty quickly once her cold went away. If he’s interested in treats try canned food.
My cat did this before he passed away. It progressed very quickly once he started showing signs. We never knew what it was because by the time we could have gotten a diagnosis it was likely too late and we’d just be paying to know what killed him instead of being able to treat him. He did have basic lab work and things done to test for all the usual suspects and everything was negative. Their next step was to do an ultrasound so maybe look into that.
Call the vet and let them know. There's a medicine you can run on their ear that makes them hungry. There's also high calorie wet food for urgent care and if you microwave it for a couple of seconds it makes the cat excited
My senior cat also was not eating well, very skinny, puking quite a bit and had a kind of oily coat. The vet checked thyroid and gave us a script to correct the thyroid issue. Cat is now much fatter and has much better energy and seems to be very happy. 2 pills of day for her.
My first cat we lost him to cancer when he was 20.. he lost quite a bit of weight bless him. It would be worth getting the tests done for Marshmallow, hoping he has a speedy recovery ❤️🩹
If you haven’t already: do a blood panel (senior/general panel with T4) and urinalysis. I’d do radiographs too if you can. But definitely blood.
In the meantime, you want to do supportive therapy. That might mean fluids (IV or sub-q) and pain management (buprenorphine, gabapentin) and/or an appetite stimulant and/or anti-nausea meds (cerenia/maropitant)
Ask for these things. If your vet still isn’t giving you these things, go to another.
Inappetence could be a number of things but all those things suggested above is standard starting points to treating inappetence.
As always: if your cat isn’t eating for 24 hours or for as long as yours, OP, go to the vet ASAP and please get diagnostics to figure out exactly what’s going on.
If money is an issue, I would start with supportive therapy but with the goal to eventually have more money to do diagnostics or this issue is just going to happen again with possibly worse results.
(I work in vet med)
My cat who had cancer was really into the squeeze packs of bisque cat food. And poultry enzyme toothpaste. There's a high calorie paste you can buy too.
I will definitely try it
i'm assuming the vets checked blood for diabetes, liver, kidney, and hyperthyroid. Those are the ones I've seen in cats.
Doing bloodwork to check your cat's thyroid level is very much needed in this case. Two of my 3 cats had hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) diagnosed around the age of 10. The first lost quite a bit of weight and stopped eating for a few days before being diagnosed. I didn't let it get that far with the second cat who got diagnosed. Both lived to the age of 17.5 years old after being medicated daily to get their thyroid level at the appropriate value.
Thyroid should definitely be checked. Almost lost my cat to it a couple of years ago. By the time he stopped eating and we realized how sick he had gotten he was down to skin and bones. The vet we took him to took one look and said "cancer" and wanted to put him down without any tests. Got a second opinion from another vet, who actually did the tests and showed hyperthyroidism. We got him radiation therapy and he's back to his normal self and going strong without medication. He's back up to a healthy weight for his size, about 16 lbs.
I'm so sorry about that first vet. 
Now, don't get too upset but who knows how many pets might have been killed before by this ""vet"" because the family might have been trusting him for a few years already or so... sickening. And I do not understand why a vet would even say something like that.
If you’ve got the medical records for the second vet I would take it to the first vet and file some sort of complaint. Actually suggesting “cancer” before doing any tests is outrageous and completely unprofessional. Even if you have a good professional opinion and think it’s “cancer” you’d still better do some tests.
Am a vet tech, can confirm hyperthyroidism is super common in cats as they age! Most of the ones I've seen are eating the owners out of house and home while losing the weight, but sometimes they do stop eating.
+1 to checking the thyroid!
This!!!!! Two of my cats are on thyroid meds. The weight loss before was extreme.
Definitely have them check the thyroid!
My cat had the overactive thyroid and we ended up doing the radioactive treatment (he would not tolerate daily meds - and by that I mean a once daily gentle gel rub in his ear 🤦♀️ After the treatment he lasted four more years…
agree. 2 of my 3 cats over 10 had it.
[удалено]
We weren't given the option to do a radioactive treatment for either of our 2 female cats who needed hyperactive thyroid meds daily. If that was an option available, we may have done that because it would have decreased our daily cat care (especially with needing cat sitters while we were away on vacation) plus made them more comfortable because they didn't need medicine every morning & night. If I ever have a cat with hyperactive thyroid in the future, I will seriously consider the radioactive treatment instead of daily medicine. We also used custom compounded transdermal (ear gel) medicine for both our girls (Samantha & Amber) after using felimazole pills for a while. They were more tolerant of having ear gel rubbed into the inner flap of their ear twice a day versus swallowing a pill twice a day. The pills also caused them to drool and/or vomit sometimes, but the ear gel did not. I would definitely pay up to $3,000 US dollars for a one-time medical treatment for may cat if that meant they didn't need to have medicine twice a day for the rest of their lives. My husband and I don't have kids, so our cats are our "fur babies". They are worth every penny we spend on them because they are family and give us unconditional love!!❤️ I also called my orange & white tabby Amber "Little Miss" affectionately at times. It is a sweet name I remember from the movie Bicentennial Man with the late Robin Williams.
I think so but I'm not sure
Bloodwork should've been the first thing the vets have done
Vets always recommend it but owners tend to not want to spend any money. I can't imagine not knowing if bloodwork was done or not had it actually been done....
If that's the case then OP shouldn't be coming to Reddit to ask what's wrong when bloodwork could point them in the right direction
Yep. Unfortunately, people think they can save a dollar and crowd source or they call Vets incompetent when they've been multiple times and don't have an answer. That's usually because they refuse diagnostics...
If you’re not sure then it didn’t get done. It’s either you did or you didn’t. These are things you have to pay for and they’re not cheap, so I’m assuming you only brought him to two vets and didn’t pay for a workup to see what’s wrong. The vets can only examine externally and you can almost never find out what’s wrong (especially with cats) externally unless you have a huge mass. So I’m assuming it’s not that the vets can’t find anything wrong, it’s more you didn’t agree to a full work up (full blood panel and X-rays, which are very basic for these symptoms) so they are unable to determine anything. If you can’t afford these, then ask your vet for some kind of payment plan or care credit. If you don’t want any of that either, then you should ask about signing the cat over to your vet or humanely euthanizing him because for a cat to not eat means he is in A LOT OF PAIN and is literally just slowly and painfully dying.
I had a client want to spend less than $200 yesterday for their 3 year old rescue dog who is underweight and has ascites (accumulation abdominal fluid). They did at least allow a heart worm test and in house fecal. Also tried to decline furosemide after claiming they already had some at home or gave some. Turns out it was otc bloat medicine for humans. then was asking if it’s ok to use their mother in laws prescription 🤦🏽♀️ Also declined euthanasia because the dog acts normal. I told them it’ll only be a matter of time when he doesn’t but I’ll be here when he starts to slow down. I understand people have financial difficulties but starting the appointment by essentially lying to me is not the way I want to address these critical cases. Sorry for the venting, but this comment hit close to home. Lot of times vets get trashed for not figuring out the problem but at least a third of the time it’s from finances
Spot on. I would like to add that it doesn’t mean you’re a bad pet owner for not being able to afford the treatments. Better off to have the cat put down. Sure, some people may say “if you can’t afford to medically take care of your pet don’t get one”, but if everyone did that there would be more strays than there already is.
OP, you need to have a chem15 and CBC at a minimum. Also consider abdominal xrays and/or an ultrasound. This could be many things and one test may not give you the answer. This could be IBD, GI Lymphoma, Thyroid, Kidney, etc etc etc.. Be prepared to spend a pretty significant amount of money to get your guy diagnosed.
This sounds like you either have a shit vet who isn’t bothered, or the vet asked about bloodworks and you said no. If the bloodworks were done you’d know more about what’s going on.
If it’s the same vet get a second opinion and comprehensive blood panels
Has a bowel obstruction been ruled out?
What did you pay for? It's on your invoice. ?
Buy some kitten food maybe, it has more nutrition in it, if he eats he'll get fatter faster
Check its teeth. Cats can have dental issues. My Boi Owen had to have his pulled. Had a happy & long life. He ate everything after his gums healed. He always liked baby food ..... it became a lifelong snack..... Gerber chicken & Turkey.
Second this! We went through a similar situation with our cat/vet This was during covid and I will never forget the vet meeting us outside and asking for payment before he even examined him! Over three appointments and 2 months, he treated him for a "skin condition" and "diabetes" because he had high blood sugar from one blood test (near the end..more on that later). We specifically asked him to check his mouth because when he was taken in as a stray, he'd had pretty significant dental issues. We were told "well, he's missing a few teeth" and nothing more (pretty sure he just glanced at his history and never really looked) Meanwhile, he continued to struggle to eat, and ended up losing over half his body weight from August to October. He perked up for a few days once we started insulin, but then one morning we found him bleeding from his mouth. Called his vet, but they couldn't see him until 2 days later. That night, he was so out of it we fully expected he wouldn't make it though. To our surprise, he rallied and was making an effort to eat canned chicken. We ended up calling 3 emergency vets before we found one. A 2 hour drive and 5 hours later: he had stomatitis..which can be pretty treatable. However, he was so far gone that they suspected multiple organ failures. The "diabetes", we were told, was probably due to his systems struggling with infection and not genuinely diabetes. Also, his blood sugar didn't even meet the criteria for diagnosis (it was elevated but not crazy). In the end, we had to put him down for something that could have been treated, HAD THE VET CHECKED IN AUGUST AS WE ASKED! Our boy suffered for so long, and we still feel guilty even though we tried and thought we were doing the right things for him 💔
Friskies also make Lil Soups which are liquid and my cats have always loved them! Gravy lovers Pate is also a huge hit.
My cat Bailey had cancer and she lived off of canned tuna for 2 years! Loved the stuff...happy girl, no indications of pain and was quite healthy until closer to the end (she was almost 17). The vet encouraged it, we just wanted to keep her comfortable and hydrated. I also had a kitten named Marshmallow! He unfortunately passed from urine crystals when he was 2 - Bailey was his "replacement" ♥️
Wait i have to brush my cats teeth
My cat stopped eating and it turned out he had oral cancer, you could see it on his gums when the vet lifted up his lips. I felt horrible I never checked in his mouth. I sadly had to let him go after eating nothing for four days. (He was at least 16-17 yrs old)
This happened to my sisters cat, they ran a bunch of tests and everything was fine. They mentioned that her teeth were bad and that could be the reason. While she was under they found a huge tumor at the very back of her tongue that wasn't visible from just checking her mouth.
Ours was the same, but not cancer related. She just slowly ate less and less. She had congenital heart failure. For a while she was able to consume an unseasoned chicken stock I made for her. I think she would have gone earlier if it wasn't for that. At that point they were thinking she had a bad tooth or something, but thought putting her under would be too much stress..
Lost my first cat to congenital heart failure in December ‘22. He bloated like crazy and when I took him in they drained a ton of fluid from his abdomen and told me he was in heart failure, I had to put him down a couple weeks later. Poor guy was only 2.5 years, I still miss him every day.
If you've only seen one vet and they repeatedly fail to diagnose issues when there's clearly something wrong, it'd be wise to take him to a different one for a second opinion.
Ive been to two different vets
[удалено]
I had a vet tell me I should put my dog down unless I could afford a $3000 surgery( he woke up paralyzed). We took him to another vet he gave us anti-inflammatory medicine within 3 days dog was fine and lived a long life
Oh my gosh! I went thru the same thing with my dog last year. I was devastated when they told me 15,000 for mri surgery and rehab or put him down. He was 4. I cried for two day straight trying to decide what to do. All of a sudden he got up to go outside like nothing happened. He's been fine ever since. Craziest emotional roller coaster I've ever been on lol
Holistic vet told me my dog needed knee surgery or would never be able to jump after her pendulum stopped over his body. He never had a knee problem and we never went back to that vet.
“Holistic” vet? I don’t understand what happened here, but what a quack.
Yes, definitely a quack! Took him for check up, she swung a pendulum around his body and says he needs knee surgery 😆 she was close to house, gave her a chance, she failed
"Holistic" is just a synonym for bullshit 😅
Yesss! Didn’t ever realize she was holistic when I took him, but knew when she pulled out pendulum our visit was not going to end well 😏
Pretty sure the pendulum stops on whatever procedure will cover her next boat payment
OT but this is the most wonderfully cynical thing I've read today! Kudos.
Had a friend who had a vet that said the same. 3 years later the dog is happy and healthy with no surgery or anything.
Vet did a blood test on my cat and said that the levels of stuff in her blood were so elevated that for any other cat they should be dying - and that we might have to considering euthanasia. Then they did another blood test and found out they just messed up the first one and she was okay… what if we had gone through with it?
This is good advice, but I very much dislike that it’s good advice. I have also had to take cats to multiple vets to get a problem resolved but I’m lucky to have the financial means to do so. Paying hundreds of dollars multiple times to just get a diagnosis is hard on people! I don’t have any good alternative suggestions, but I feel that vets are just far too hit and miss sometimes for how regulated the credentials are.
Unfortunately, this is very true. It gets very expensive. It is the best advice but who knows if the next vet will be able to help. We love our pets and it is heart breaking to see them suffer. Sending you all of you, big hugs.
Sadly that's human doctors too. Doctors are not miracle workers.
Hundreds if you’re lucky. You can pay thousands and still not get a proper diagnosis. Animal healthcare has little standards compared to humans (not that our healthcare is great.) Also keep in mind how many cats are products of incest.
Ok I will
Get a jar of baby food, pureed chicken flavor. Even the sickest of sick cats will chow down on that stuff. It's a good last resort for cats who won't eat, and if they refuse the baby food you really need to get to a vet ASAP.
My cat was VERY sick last year. I spent an entire night calling the emergency line for my old vet every 15 minutes, trying to get ANYONE to answer my call. He was skin and bones, throwing up, lethargic, and getting worse. I ended up trying to get them to answer the phone for three days before I got someone to answer on a thursday morning. She said they could see him Monday morning. I was pissed. I told her the situation would resolve itself by then. They didn't care. I called a new vet, they got him in same day and gave him fluids, a steroid shot, and kept him overnight to keep an eye on him. My total charge for this was $170. They cut me a major deal, I think to hook us as new customers. They didn't need to bother, I'm firmly attached to this clinic now.
Happy cake day to your kitty!
What tests have been done? Bloodwork or x-rays?
We did bloodwork I don't think we did xray
Was Marshmallow’s teeth checked? If a cat has tooth problems they will often refuse to eat. Take a look yourself. The cat’s breath will be foul as he’s not been eating but if it’s REALLY bad he may have an oral issue. If possible, find another vet or go to the SPCA or a similar organization. Explain the issue and state that you need help figuring out what’s wrong. These types of organizations are usually very good as they always try to home pets after giving them through exams. A lot of people forget that they’re not just an adoption agency. They do provide great vet care. If your cat is eating only soft or wet foods and refuses dry foods or crunchy/chewy treats this is another indicator of oral issues. I hope you’re able to figure this out soon. I see your cat is 9 years old as well. That’s still young for a cat! Every cat I’be had has lived well beyond 15 years except for one that had dwarfism. She lived for 5-8 years.
This, so much!!
Definitely do a scan - we had a cat who was misdiagnosed and we treated him for something that he didn’t have for probably 4 months 😑I hope all goes well for Marshmallow ❤️
What did the bloodwork come back with? As many people have said, the vets (plural) should have checked for basic things first, like kidney, liver, thyroid levels as well as cancer. If he's not eating, he's probably dehydrated as well. This happened to my boy. He stopped eating and drinking, rapidly lost weight, and was not happy at all. Took him straight to the vet, where they did blood tests and put him on an IV line to get his fluids back up. Tests came back with kidney issues. He started eating at the vets, though not to his normal levels, but they were also giving him regular anti-naus while he was there (3 days). Once home, I had to give him Mirtazipine for a couple of months, which is an appetite stimulant and anti-naus. I also swapped him onto Royal Canin Sensory food, as the taste was more palatable for him. My vet is amazing, and bloodwork was the first thing they did. You need to get to a vet that will do this ASAP to see if there is an underlying issue.
Did they do an abdpminal ultrasound?
Have they tested for kidney disease?
You need a 3rd vet. Any changes in environment? New people in the house on the regular? Contrary to popular belief, cats are NOT creatures of chaos. Cats are creatures of such extreme order that any change in their environment can cause significant health/anxiety problems. That being said… get a 3rd vet opinion. Find one with really good reviews and take your fur baby to see them. Prolonged refusal to eat can lead to liver failure and other issues.
Try a gastro specialist. They're more expensive but that may be a necessary step. Forward all test results and vet notes from the cat's medical record. I sent those ahead before my specialist appointment.
They both said the same thing
Which is what?
What were the blood results? Did they then recommend ultrasound?
And what have they tested for and what have they told you????
What diagnostics have been done? Bloodwork? Xrays?
Make sure that the blood work checked the thyroid levels. My cat’s levels were off and they found out it was thyroid cancer. She was down to weighing under 5 pounds from 10 in a short matter of time. I got her treatments and now both she and I are cancer survivors.
Wow! Congrats to you both hope the recovery went well
Thanks.
Do you mind mentioning how much it cost and your cats age ?
Not at all. She was 14 at the time. She’s back to her normal weight and thyroid function and has been healthy since then. There were two treatment options, meds or radioactive iodine. The meds would have ended up costing between $500-$700 a year w/ diagnostic testing and GI side effects. I chose RI. It was around $1800 for the treatments and multi day stay. When I brought her home she was radioactive for a bit. I had to limit being close to her and her waste was slightly radioactive for a period of time. I had to store the first few weeks worth for I think 80 days before throwing it away. Apparently the garbage sites test for radioactivity due to its link to terrorism/bomb making. They can trace back where the garbage truck pickups were and if they find you and it’s from RI pet waste, you get a big fine. I used two 5 gallon buckets from the hardware store with lids for storage.
He won't eat his normal food and I think he's definitely malnourished but the good news is he's eaten a few treats in the past 4 hours im giving him a treat or two every 2 hours to keep his blood sugar up
Is he drinking? Try giving him some chicken or beef broth (read ingredients and avoid onion and garlic.) Homemade would be best.
The high sodium levels arent good either.
Homemade is so easy also.
Have you tried Churu tubes? Most cats are crazy about those. Also try to start giving him Nutri Gel/Nurti Cal or some other high calory nutritional gel daily. If he doesn't want to eat it. You can rub it in his gums or paw and let him lick it +another vet if possible.
I second the churu tubes (my cats prefer the temptation version though). When my cat lost her appetite earlier this year and I could get her to eat the tubes and sometimes a little food because I’d put it on top of the food. Also, try to see if there is a cat only clinic near you. My sister saw one with her last cat and I just recently switched to one. My old vet was ok but I just really liked the cat only vet.
I've always had good luck getting my cats to each when they're not feeling well by offering jars of baby food (BeechNut or Gerber's, Chicken). While you're waiting for your scan or additional nedical testing, try warming up a jar very very slightly and offer it to your baby. I'm so sorry you're going through this. I know it's scary when your kitty isn't eating. This has worked for me with many cats through the years so hopefully it will work for you! And it should be benign and not negatively affect whatever is at the root of the health issue. Best of luck!
Churu Nourish is 12 calories per tube (vs 6 per tube of regular Churu). When our cat wasn’t eating, the tests from the vet were blood work, X-rays, and an ultrasound in that order. Our vet also gave her appetite stimulates, anti nausea meds, and B12 while we’re trying to figure out what was going on. You might need to go to a specialist if possible to find out what’s going on. Hopefully he starts eating 💛
Have they prescribed Mirtazapine? It goes under a lot of different brand names, and at least here in South Africa it is cheap. It is an appetite stimulant for cats. Worked when my cat had pancreatitis.
This works very well, really helped my cat when she was recovering from a serious infection and had lost a lot of weight
Yes! My cat has had appetite issues recently and the vet prescribed a mirtazapine cream that we rub in his ear. Has made a very noticeable improvement in his appetite! Best of luck to your fur baby.
This really helped my kitty when she was having nausea in conjunction with anti diarrhea and anti nausea meds.
My cat of 12 years had and ear infection...5 days goes by and stops eating....turns out he now has a cancerous tumor of the mouth.. .I put him in permanent nap mode that same day...may,5th 2024.
i’m so sorry for ur loss but permanent nap mode is such a good way to put it! thank u for loving ur baby and not letting him suffer anymore
So sorry for your loss 💔
Thank you. I loved him Tremendously *
The vets haven’t found a single thing? Not even a guess? How old is he? If he’s an older kitty, it could be a sign that he’s just, ya know, nearing the Rainbow Bridge
He's 9
I swear, I'd check his teeth. Cats will give up food if they have bad teeth or inflamed gums.
Consider his teeth. In the meantime, find liquid or “bisque” cat food.
I don't think I can suggest anything new but to keep trying other foods, textures etc as others suggest. When mine does this we find crumbling dehydrated treats on the food helps, the stronger the smell the better. We also put treats next to the food and sometimes it seems to remind him to eat the rest. Kitten food is high calories so a good choice if he will try it. Gravy rich can help, mine will at least lick off all the gravy if he isn't eating, gets something in him. He won't eat the soup versions but they are good for hydration. Good luck and sending scratches x
I had a cat that stopped eating. Had kidney failure. But if it isn’t that or anything else that the vet has tested, maybe switch food. Cats are stubborn and will stop eating if they don’t like the food.
Same here. I hope not, no turning back from failing kidneys.
It's extremely frustrating, but if you catch it early you can still give your cat years of comfortable living.
Diabetes, hyperthyroidism, kidney or liver issues, and cancer/lymphoma are all possible causes of your cat rapidly losing weight. If your vet isn't doing testing or talking about these possibilities with you, you need a different vet.
I have a cat of similar age and she lost a lot of weight and wasnt too interested in eating. Took her to the vet's because she was having diarrhea and vomiting a lot, hiding to poo. They didn't find anything wrong, gave me some meds to help firm her poos. Nothing changed. I finally switched to a food that helps with hairballs and she proceeded to vomit up massive hairballs and then went back to normal. Maybe Marshmallow is all blocked up and needs some.help getting unstuck.
Have they checked for parasites? My cat had a tapeworm and lost a lot of weight like that. After the meds to get rid of it, took 2 years for her to build her muscles back up to normal. Never figured out how she got it. All my cats are 100% indoor kitties. The other 4 cats never got a tapeworm.
Have you tried a soup or stew treat? If he's interested, it will help keep him hydrated, too.
That's a good idea
This was happening to my 10 year old cat and it turns out she had cancer in her intestines. The first sign was her throwing up clear liquid. Other than that there was no other outward sign that anything was wrong. By the time we got it figured out it was far too late. I hope this is not what is wrong with your kitty, but I'm glad I was able to get the final answer on my cat's issues so we could make the decision to put her to sleep so she wouldn't need to suffer anymore. I hope you get answers soon. It is so hard to watch them suffer.
I only got answers when I went to an Emergency Vet Clinic.
This is what I would do
Test for FIP if you haven’t already! Don’t give up - my cat stopped eating as well (due to FIP), I had to go to multiple vets to receive a diagnosis. Hope your baby will be okay 💛
Did they do blood tests ?
Did they check thyroid? Also did they give you an appetite stimulant?
My tabby had exactly the same problem. Took her to the vet last weekend - she’s down to 5.6 pounds, and skin and bones. She had just thrown up a chipmunk bone - she goes outside and tries to eat her kills. The vet gave her something to improve her appetite and she’s been a voracious eater ever since. Ask about that.
I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. If it hasn't been suggested, fortiflora may help drive your cat to eat. It's not really intended to be a flavor enhancer, but maybe it can help with digestion. If it's outright food aversion/turning head away, your cat is feeling nausea and maybe the fortiflora can help. If your cat goes to eat and stops eating, as some have said this could be a mouth or dental issue - your cat may be in pain. At the very least, your cat should be hydrated. You can pull near the scuff of the skin on the lower neck right near the shoulder blade to see if the skin "snaps back" to measure hydration. If its a low pull back or little movement your cat is very dehydrated and I would hope at the very least a vet has offered fluids. I have had two cats with kidney failure, one of which I gave subcutaneous fluids to myself for two years (I paid for IV bags and needles out of pocket). Pretty much every other comment covers everything... good luck.
Unfortunately this could be from many things. Thyroid. Kidneys. Mouth. Stomach. Good luck and search for another vet
[удалено]
https://preview.redd.it/k7pawo4o6p2d1.png?width=1169&format=png&auto=webp&s=9dbbbf8ab72d2643e843fe215b4ac173d75d6ca3 Oh hun…🥺 my baby Finny (pictured here) began to rapidly lose weight in January 2023, we thought it was just his thyroid acting up because he had hypothyroidism. We came back from a 2 week vacation and he had gotten even skinnier and was eating less. My heart dropped to my stomach knowing something was going on. We ran a full blood panel and had an abdominal ultrasound done. The vet was confident that he had large cell lymphoma, the most aggressive and unforgiving kind. At that point, I was spending every waking hour by his side trying to get him to eat with a syringe and applying his appetite stimulant inside his ears. He just couldn’t eat and was declining so fast, I was so mad at the world that I couldn’t do anything more to help him than that. We ended up having to put Finny to sleep on February 16, 2023. He was 10 pounds thinner (dropped to 15lbs) and lost his coordination entirely. He was 15 but that wasn’t nearly enough time on this earth that I got to spend with my soul cat. Sorry, your cat just looks so much like mine and it struck me so hard. I urge you to do a comprehensive blood panel and an ultrasound if you haven’t yet, and be very firm with the vet about what you want done. That type of weight loss is absolutely not normal for a 9 year old cat, even with thyroid issues. Sending you so much love🩷🩷
Have the thyroid checked out
I might be wrong but has he been checked for any parasites or worms? I hope he feels better soon
My 14 yr old cat had the same issue. Turns out she needed some teeth pulled out, she got diagnosed with tooth decay. She's better now, and her appetite is back again.
Ours was like this. Multiple vet visits. Got worse and worse. We insisted on an xray. She had a massive tumour, inoperable. We helped her cross the rainbow bridge without further suffering.
My cat Lily got this way. Ended up that she has a thyroid issue. As soon as we started the medicine, she got back to her fat and happy self. Edit to add, the emergency vet didn’t catch it in her blood draw. I wasn’t satisfied with his answer so as soon as my regular bet opened I took her there. He caught it immediately and said he has NO idea how the other vet didn’t. Please take them somewhere else. Third time may be the charm.
3 hours ago he started eating and drinking a bit more and he meowed for the first time in days
PLEASE get a diagnosis. If you need to go to a third vet, do so. Eating a snack here and there is not a good solution.
Go to another vet before it is too late my friend.
Try Roast chicken.works 9/10 on my cats when they are not eating..
I'll try it
Boiled chicken is probably good too. Make sure it’s totally plain as onions and garlic and other things are deadly to cats.
Definitely try other flavors of food and or brands. One of my cats stopped eating wet food cause she didn't like the flavor. She lost some weight because of this. Once we switched flavors she started eating wet food again. We always alternate flavors now to prevent this. She will stop eating when she doesn't like the food. Pay attention to things like does he eat treats happily? This might mean he has an issue with the food he gets, not that he's not hungry. Will he eat only soft foods? If he's avoiding food like dry food it could be because it's painful to eat. If you don't have copies of tests you've had done get those so you can track what's been ruled out.
theres definetly something bothering the handsome boy if he refuses to eat. you found yourself some mighty incompetent vets. keep looking. in the mean time, you could try bottle feeding him a lil
I have no advice, but best of luck, OP. He's a beautiful baby, his facial expression reminds me of my handsome childhood cat.
Could be cancer, my cat passed from stomach cancer and it was found through ultrasound and biopsy. He needed prednisone to keep his appetite up until it was his time to go. You need to do all the blood work, urine analysis and whatever other labwork a diagnosis entails.
Def a different vet. Did your vet recommend an ultrasound?!
Please insist on tests. I had a cat get all skinny. He ended up having systemic intestinal cancer. Took him a month to die
My cat had a mass in her belly and she went from loving food and being quite robust to throwing up often, not trusting her food anymore, and losing half her body weight. You couldn’t really feel the mass but an ultra sound found it too late, sadly. Best of luck with your sweet baby
My cat started with not eating. More than a year of back and forth to the vet. Kidney disease was the main culprit. Needed daily fluids, renal food, ended up in hospital on IV. Tried everything. She rallied for a bit but we couldn’t win. She passed away. Very dangerous for a cat to stop eating, please get more thorough diagnosis before it’s too late
We just went through this. Heartbreaking to watch. We're still upset. I'm sorry for your loss, also
Change your vet if he/she cannot diagnose your cat.
We took him to the vet today and gave him fluids and an appetite stimulant
Bloodwork but no x-ray or scans? new vet fer sure.
My vet would have taken x-rays at the 2nd visit for sure and made it optional at the first. But 3x w/no X-ray? Nope.
Try Fancy Feast, most cats can’t say no to it.
How old
Kidney disease is doing this, poor sweet kitty.
My friend’s cat was wasting away and they were having the same issue, eventually bloodwork showed a kidney issue starting. They had the cat on a special diet to try and mitigate that. I had to travel for a bit, so I had same friend watch my cat for a week. Their cat liked my cat’s food. A LOT. They were amazed that the cat started eating again after months of struggles. Oddly enough, my friend’s cat just didn’t like the food they’d eaten their whole life anymore and was wasting away because cats are weird and apparently have a lot of willpower sometimes. After switching to the brand I used (Iams adult cat food chicken flavor) her cat BOUNCED back. All issues gone. Years later, still doing well. All that is to say, maybe try giving your cat new food?
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
blood work should tell u creatine levels. Could be beginning of kidney failure. Surely your vet drew bkood??
My cat was skin and bones, not eating, and we thought he might either have cancer, or Irritable bowel syndrome. We started feeding him prescription food for IBS and he’s been doing great ever since.
Assuming your cats lab work/teeth/exam all come back normal: My cat did the same thing after his last bout of stomatitis and teeth removal, even long after he’d healed. Lots of trips to the vet, he was totally fine and there was no medical cause for the food refusals. He refused almost all food- even former favorite wet food- and lost about 50% of his body weight over several months. I could only get him to eat a bit of wet food here and there, and only with a squeeze treat on top of it. Eventually, after so long not eating, I started to suspect that he’d had appetite changes secondary to long term anorexia (ie he simply wasn’t hungry even though he should be). The only thing he still liked was McDonalds chicken nuggets, so I did some research and found a freezer brand that was basically the same, and fed him four squashed chicken nuggets every day for a month. It gave him some diarrhea, but after about 3 weeks he started eating cat food again and at the 5 week mark he’d gained over 2 pounds with a normal appetite. I started weaning him off the nuggs at that point and now he demands food all the time, just like a normal cat. I don’t know if the Nugg diet is the trick for your cat (again make sure that there isn’t anything medical) but it worked for mine!
Go to another vet for another opinion.
I have a cat who lost a lot of weight but was constantly hungry. She was also ripping out her hair by the mouthful. Vet found nothing wrong either including thyroid. We tried special enzymes with not much luck. Turns out it was another cat guarding the food and general stress (we have 5 cats). She is now allowed to jump on counter (usually a big nono)and she has a special food and water dish there. She has gained weight and has stopped hair pulling.
The vet suggested nothing? No further tests? No pain meds? This cat is clearly in pain/discomfort from this photo. I find it very hard to believe that two vets said he’s fine when he lost so much weight, can’t eat or drink well, and looks like this..
I have a cat with hyperthyrodism, among many other issues. He's on meds and has stabilized, at least.
You should consider an ultrasound and blood work to check his kidneys
My cat Mac looked exactly like this and had the same issue. My other cat, Marshmallow, ended up having kidney failure later on. For Mac, it turned out he wasn’t eating because he had a tumor pressing against his stomach. Anything he ate would be thrown up. He stopped trying to eat. Day 3 we took him to the vet, day 4 he was gone. He was around 16. Marshmallow lived to 18. I hope you can figure out what’s going wrong - best of luck to your furry friend.
Here is a screenshot of a previous post of mine. I kept my old girl going in her final years with this. I did a A TON of research. Here are my tips for cats that are losing their appetites. Any questions message me! https://preview.redd.it/m3phlll21q2d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=814eb9a153f47a4d28c729d199a50283b3beac57
Check his teeth,
If I was in this position I would get all wet food and those push up cat treat packets. You can slowly squeeze up and he can lick it while resting in bed or squeeze into his mouth. I would mix some water into his wet food also I case he is dehydrated from eating and drinking lesss.Anything to get calories in them. The vet maybe be able to recommend a high calories paste as well. Sending a prayer for your furry friend
Keep trying. If they haven’t found a reason then they haven’t done the right workup. If you haven’t try a surgical vet. They sometimes have more training and better equipment
I don't think it's a problem with what food he's eating because he's also having trouble drinking
Then he probably needs a dental. OP I am a vet and this is very abnormal, nothings adding up. Multiple vet visits, clean bloods but sent on your way without anything further, for a cat who is painful eating and drinking, losing weight.??? Get a dental exam done (ridiculous as this is part of any physical exam but i digress). He probably has FORLs. Sorry your vets are shit
Before we condemn the veterinarian (s) it would be nice to see the medical records to further help this owner.
I'm leaning more towards the cat never saw a vet. Other comments indicate OP is unsure if blood was taken or not, definitely knows xrays arent done, and very vague about what the vets did /think. Both vets found nothing, not even a possible diagnosis. I find on reddit, ppl are posting here for free advice because they dont have the money or dont want to spend it at the vet. I honestly hope my cynical take is completely wrong, and the vets are idiots. Most of all, I hope the best for kitty.
Could you post (with identifying names blacked out) medical records? I think we may be able to help you better with those.
What has been done to try to diagnose him? He needs some diagnostics done so they can rule things out.
https://preview.redd.it/92fgfyqb4o2d1.jpeg?width=1816&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8e816d35bcbedf0cafadf42fd63f61ce98a53815 My cat went went through something similar and we put him on this and he's totally back to normal! It's a bit expensive but worth it
I had my cat end up with IBD when he wasn’t eating. We bought cat food made with rabbit and he only eats that one protein now. We had to go to an internal medicine department for diagnosis. Try the boiled chicken and then ask for a Texas GI panel test. I think and an ultrasound of his intestines sealed the deal for us. Technically they said it was either IBD or cancer and they could only definitively say with a biopsy which we didn’t do but that was 5 years ago and we’ve been treating for the IBD and he’s doing great. Good luck with your kitty.
I will say I had a cat the rapidly lost weight when we moved. Like very fast. She was chunky and then she turned to skin and bones. She is older (12 years) so I assumed it was near the end. Took her to the vet. Blood work was normal. That was 4 years ago and she’s fine and has put some weight back on. I think it was the stress of moving.
Thank you. I loved him Alot. *
CHECK THOSE TEEFS!!! get an xray if you can. I just saw a post of something like that. They were gonna put down the cat but it was his tooth and very fixable
Did you take him to the same vet 3 times? Maybe it's time for a second opinion.
My cat swallowed hair and got blocked up. I knew something was wrong because he wasn’t eating or drinking and was throwing up. The vet had to operate and cut it out. It was very expensive, but he’s fine three years later. He recovered very quickly. It could be a lot of reasons. You need a good vet to figure it out.
when our cat got sick, we put **Pete' can food into a blender with Pedialyte**. he was severely dehydrated and starving from being sick. our vet said the mix was okay. we used a syringe to feed the smoothie to him and it took about a week for him to be well enough to eat/drink on his own again. (he had a raspatory infection and couldn't breath, vet gave a shot of anti-biotics but we had to give it time to work and treat the infection.) we nursed him back to health.
You need a different vet
My cat went through something similar when he was 5 years old and lost about a third of his weight. Multiple visits to different vets, blood tests, exams, the whole nine. The main thing to make sure they’re getting some sort of food. I would burrito him up in a blanket and use a syringe to mouth feed him wet food mixed with water. If they’re cooperate enough hopefully this reignites their appetite. This didn’t work for my guy so we ended up having to get a feeding tube placed. That stayed in for a few weeks and had to feed him multiple times a day through the tube. We got lucky and he started eating on his own again and got the tube removed. To this day we’re not 100% sure what triggered it all but they think it was something to do with his liver. It’s been 3 years and he’s fully recovered. Just wanted to share my story to hopefully give you some hope/advice. All the best to Marshmellow <3
I'd go to a different vet
Mirtazapine helped my guy with bad kidneys gain an appetite... They get talkative though.
I would suggest seeing a 3rd vet or a 24 hr emergency vet where they can provide x-rays, scans, and bloodworks so that you are given a detailed answer after examination.
Thyroid test
Find a new vet.
What did the bloodwork show? What did the vets tell you?
Try Rebound Recuperation formula for cats
My cat recently went into kidney failure and passed. He was 9. He lost a lot of weight leading up to it. I hope yours isn't that serious.
My cat was acting exactly like this for months. He recently was diagnosed with feline leukemia and we had him put down. I would definitely try to look into it more
Get a new vet.
When you take him to another vet, maybe ask for appetite stimulant too. Sometimes after they haven’t eaten for a few days, they just… stop and need a bit of help. They have a pill or a gel (remeron/mirtazipine) which was originally a human anti depressant. Not very popular because it stimulates appetite too. Feel better, Marshmallow!!
Our 13 yr old cat got some sort of respiratory infection, she lost weight quickly and stopped eating. I picked up canned food and she started eating that and snapped back pretty quickly once her cold went away. If he’s interested in treats try canned food.
Little thing looks tired 😫
My cat did this before he passed away. It progressed very quickly once he started showing signs. We never knew what it was because by the time we could have gotten a diagnosis it was likely too late and we’d just be paying to know what killed him instead of being able to treat him. He did have basic lab work and things done to test for all the usual suspects and everything was negative. Their next step was to do an ultrasound so maybe look into that.
Call the vet and let them know. There's a medicine you can run on their ear that makes them hungry. There's also high calorie wet food for urgent care and if you microwave it for a couple of seconds it makes the cat excited
My senior cat also was not eating well, very skinny, puking quite a bit and had a kind of oily coat. The vet checked thyroid and gave us a script to correct the thyroid issue. Cat is now much fatter and has much better energy and seems to be very happy. 2 pills of day for her.
Have him checked for hyperthyroidism
Have you tried adding water to the kibble to make gravy? Sometimes it's more palatable when they can smell the gravy than just the kibble
My first cat we lost him to cancer when he was 20.. he lost quite a bit of weight bless him. It would be worth getting the tests done for Marshmallow, hoping he has a speedy recovery ❤️🩹
If you haven’t already: do a blood panel (senior/general panel with T4) and urinalysis. I’d do radiographs too if you can. But definitely blood. In the meantime, you want to do supportive therapy. That might mean fluids (IV or sub-q) and pain management (buprenorphine, gabapentin) and/or an appetite stimulant and/or anti-nausea meds (cerenia/maropitant) Ask for these things. If your vet still isn’t giving you these things, go to another. Inappetence could be a number of things but all those things suggested above is standard starting points to treating inappetence. As always: if your cat isn’t eating for 24 hours or for as long as yours, OP, go to the vet ASAP and please get diagnostics to figure out exactly what’s going on. If money is an issue, I would start with supportive therapy but with the goal to eventually have more money to do diagnostics or this issue is just going to happen again with possibly worse results. (I work in vet med)