My cat is hungry but eats very little

We have have been blessed to be owned by our 8 year old orange Persian. His name is Garfield, and I rescued him while he was on the way to the local shelter. He was one year old when we got him, and was in very poor shape. He only weighed around 5 1/2 pounds when he came home with me, was horribly matted & dirty, had infections in both eyes, and was totally emaciated - but had the sweetest nature of any cat I have ever been around. I loved him from that moment on. After about a year, his weight went to about 11 lbs, and has been happy and healthy until about six months ago.

His January check up revealed that his weight had fallen to 10 lbs., but his blood work indicated that he was very healthy. Since the beginning, he did not eat on his own, and still eats very little by himself. The majority of his food intake is by feeding him single pieces of dry food by hand, until he is satisfied. The vet claims that he is just spoiled, and that may be the case, but we don't mind.

We took him to the vet yesterday, and his weight has fallen to 9 lbs. The vet took blood, to check on hyperthyroidism, and will let us know the results tomorrow. He seems to be hungry all the time, and wants to eat, but when we try to feed him he eats very little. We have tried various wet foods, but he just licks the gravy, and leaves the food. He will take maybe 30 - 40 pieces of RC Persian 30 or Iams regular from me when I arrive home from work. I switched from Iams regular to RC Persian 30 about three weeks ago, and he seemed to like it at first, but now does not eat much of it.

I tried Purina kitten food, and he liked it, even ate some of it himself, but read that it could cause kidney and other health problems, so I quit feeding it to him.

While combing him, I saw what looked to be a very small grain of rice on his rear end about three weeks ago, and yesterday, the vet gave him medicine for tapeworms, but she does not think that this is the entire cause for the weight loss & non eating.

We do not have any children, but we love Garf as though he were our child. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

the "grain of rice" sounds more like roundworms. You might want to call the vet and make sure that garfield was given something for roundworms as well as tapeworms (it's two different medications, actually) a common one for roundworms is piperazine. for your kitties recovery.

Tapeworms can actually make a cat loose weight...I have one cat that goes outside and gets tapeworm every summer..and looses weight....every summer..He eats mice and he does get fleas during the summers...I know if tapes are bad enough they can make the cat sick eventually...I do treat my cat with tapeworm meds and revolution for fleas and heartworm...but he still gets them in the summer...

The grains of rice are tapeworm segments, not roundworms. Has your vet done a fecal? Also, have they checked for mouth problems?

Have you tried other brands of food? Wellness Core is very smelly, and the kitties here love it but it is too rich for their systems...but it may be something to try to see if your kitty will eat it. Some stores will let you have sample packs of different foods, maybe that is an option to find one your cat likes.

It does sound like there is something wrong (aside from being spoiled). Even if its tapeworms, that usually causes weight loss but not not eating.

I hope you can figure something out with your vet....please keep us updated.

I'm also thinking that he may have dental issues.

I can't offer any suggestions but a lot of Prayers and go out to Garfield that he will get better soon.

Thanks for all of your replies! I switched Garfield's food back to Iams regular today, and he ate three times as many kibbles as he did yesterday!

I do not know if it was just a preference for the Iams over the RC, or if the tapeworm medication has helped him. I sure hope he continues to eat like this, because his weight will come back pretty soon.

Thanks again, and I will continue to provide updates on his weight and condition.