My cat wont eat anything.

My cat recently stopped eating and is rapidly loosing weight, after numerous visits to the vets nothing has helped and they admit they have no idea whats causing it as his blood tests are normal. Someone told us that a cat with similar problems on the TV show animal hospital turned out to have throte ulcers. What is the best way to find out if that is the case for my cat and what treatment does he need? I figure it means another visit to the vets but any other help or insight you have would be greatly appreciated.

have the check to make sure he doesn't have a blockage in his stomach? One of my dh friends cats got into bleach some how and it burned the poor kitties throat. He got really really thin. I don't remember what the vet did. It is weird that they haven't found anything. have you tried a different vet? how old is the kitty?

Andrew-

Has the vet ruled out gum disease? Is the cat drooling?

Was kitty obese prior to dropping all that weight? Have they ruled out a throat obstruction? Is the cat sneezing or congested? Because if a cat can't smell, he won't eat.

You can try a few things. Add just a tiny bit of garlic to the wet food and heat the food in the microwave (cover it with a damp paper towel first) for about 30 seconds.

If the cat is a stray, you can add a very small amount of organic catnip to his food. But if he is a domesticated breed, do not do this!

Try boiled chicken moist with broth, shredded cheese, cottage cheese, plain yogurt.

If he was initially plump before he lost this weight, you want to talk to your vet about Hepatic Lipidosis. It basically is when the cat has lost so much weight, that internally the cat's body forces the cat to metabolize it's own body fat rather than the energy from the food (since there is no food to speak of)and this just compounds the problem because the body thinks it is full and the cat will continue to not eat- then the liver becomes invaded by these fat cells and it is downhill all the way from there.

At this point, try anything you can think of to get this cat to eat.

Hes 17 years old, he was always a big cat but I never really thought of him as overweight. His nose isn't running and hes not drooling, his gums and teeth look ok and the vet says his blood test results were really good for a cat of his age. They didn't x-ray him or anything to see if there was anything inside him though. I really think its something to do with his throat. He sleeps alot more now and seems to like the floor better than a chair for some reason. He wants to eat, he asks for food but then doesn't eat it, or eats a little bit then wanders off. Thank you for the advice, it is most welcome. I will try those things with him as soon as I get home.

One symptom of a throat obstruction is when the cat swallows, it lurches his neck up in a swooping motion. FYI But there are other subtle signs as well- good luck! It could also just be advancing age-elderly cats frequently have dropping of weight as a result of internal problems.

Andrew: Good luck! I don't have anything to add except for I agree with hissy's last statment about the advancing in age, that was my first thought once you mentioned the cat is 17.

Hissy:
Qoute - "If the cat is a stray, you can add a very small amount of organic catnip to his food. But if he is a domesticated breed, do not do this!"

I'm curious now, could you explain this a little better? As in what is the purpose of this, and why it's ok for strays but not a desticated cat?

Thanks!