Seeking feedback - cat won't eat

Seeking feedback about cat that won't eat....history is stopped eating about two weeks ago, have been to vet 4 times....blood work normal and no hypothyroid problem.  Vet gave her convenia as she had slight fever.  Have been assist feeding her.  Now have her on prednisolone on vet's advice to get her to eat (he gave her a steroid shot last thursday  that perked her up and she sort of ate but it didn't last).  Haven't done Xray or more yet....as have spent $500 already and just don't have money.  My vet says in older cats....(she is 14) not eating is often sign of heart problems or cancer....concern is I've been reading that steroids are bad for the heart.  Have been giving prednisolone for three doses so far and no improvement really....she will eat a few licks if I take her some canned food, but that's all.  Tried cyproheptadine, appetite stimulant -- it didn't work.  She coughs some.  Looking back, I think she's been declining for a while. She doesn't seem to be in pain, but of course doesn't have much energy.  I seem to have run out of options unless I choose to do more tests.  Except haven't tried mirtazapine....anyone have experience with this?

Have you been force feeding your cat? I couldn't tell from your post -- what "assist feeding" means -- but if you haven't, please start doing so now. If you don't, your cat will develop something called hepatic lipidosis, aka fatty liver disease, and she will develop liver failure and die.

http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/fatty_liver.htm

The cause of fatty liver disease is not eating, and the cure is eating! So it's inexpensive to treat (no real medications) but it's time consuming and stressful, especially at first. You HAVE to feed her what she needs daily for nutritional requirement. Many suggest Hills' Prescription Diet food while a cat is sick -- you can get this from your vet.

http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-feline-ld-feline-hepatic-health-canned.html

You have to mix it with water, put it into syringes, hold her down, and squeeze it into the back of her throat. Small feedings multiple times a day are best. Here is a thread with one person's experiences and advice. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/239642/hepatic-lipidosis-home-remedy-of-force-feeding

Anyway -- sorry if you HAVE been force feeding her already, but I needed to let you know.

As for her other issues, I don't have any experience with those, but I know that when people see "cat won't eat" in the title they're willing to provide advice. Someone will probably be on today to give more advice and experiences.

Anyway, WELCOME TO TCS!!!!! I hope we can help you. If you need help navigating the site, please send me or a moderator a personal message by clicking our username.

I'm sorry to hear that you are going through this. These are times when you wish they could talk and tell you what is wrong.

I'm not familiar with mirtazapine, but did a google search on it. It's an antidepressant, and unless your vet thinks that stress is causing her to not eat, then I would be surprised that they would prescribe it. Is that what they are trying to do?

Of all the steroids used with cats, prednisone seems to be one of the better ones, as cats don't have as many adverse reactions to it does in humans and dogs. I'm guessing that the steroid shot that your vet gave her was dexamethasone, which in my experience is harder on cats than pred.

When a cat stops eating, there is something physically wrong, and as Katie pointed out, the longer they don't eat, the more life threatening it becomes. It really comes down to your choice on how to proceed from here. Even if you start force feeding her, you don't know what is making her ill and you are only treating the symptoms, not the cause. If you don't find the cause, her health will most likely keep declining. She needs more tests if you want to turn her around, but realize that you might find out that she has a terminal illness. Personally, I will always do what I can to find out what is wrong with them, otherwise I will forever second guess myself if there was something easy that I could have done to help them. If you have a good relationship with your vet, they should be able to help you work through your decision on what to do.

Sending hugs to help you work though this decision.