Help. My Cat Barely Eats

My cat is seven years old. A few months ago, about sometime in early March, I noticed my cat was a bit smaller and wasn't eating much. I took her to the vet, but they couldn't find anything wrong with her. She had lost some weight and they offered to do blood tests, but I couldn't afford it (and still can't) and they said she probably has FIV, which blood tests wouldn't be very conclusive of anyways. Thing is, I've looked into FIV, but it doesn't sound like she has it.

She (Cocoa) will mostly only eat wet food and mostly will only eat fish. She didn't do this before. She was fine with other flavors and eating dry food. She will only eat a few bites then be done with it. I had another cat (Marilyn) who died back in September with similar symptoms. But Marilyn would eat, she was just still losing weight because she had an inoperable tumor in her colon and I had no choice, but to put her down. She was just getting so skinny and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I got a Comfort Zone outlet spray to see if it was depression, but it has little affect on her. (I do have another cat, but she doesn't appear to be displaying any symptoms) I also recently got some digestive cat supplements for her, but problem is, even if I only had a teeny bit of something to her food, she will refuse it. This includes powder cat milk supplements. She's also vomiting a bit, including hairballs. And when she goes to the bathroom, mostly just gas comes out. She's always had problems with gas. I'm just wondering what else I can try and ways I could get her to eat.

I'm wondering whether she might have IBD. Certainly, the weight loss, vomiting and litterbox issues make it a possibility. Hopefully someone with experience of the disease will be able to chime in with some advice.

I'm attaching links about IBD, and also one about FIV, as your vet thinks that's a possibility.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/inflammatory-bowel-disease-in-cats

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/fiv-in-cats

Honestly, if she isn't eating much at all, it could be almost ANYTHING.  She really need a Vet visit, with a blood test run to find out if maybe she has an infection somewhere, kidney disease, diabetes, IBD, mouth issues...could be she has ulcers in her mouth and it's just hard to chew.  Could be just about ANYTHING, as I said. 

If you can't afford a Vet visit, maybe this article will give you some ideas:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/155462/cant-afford-a-vet-please-read

Of course, there is always friends and family to ask if they'll help you, because not eating enough is not good.  And if you find out it's something really serious, then at least you'll know and can then try to figure out what to do at that time.  But it might be something pretty easily "cured".   

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to try to take her to the vet's again, though there isn't much they can do since they can't figure out what's wrong with her, which is why they said FIV. I'm not be able to take her until next week. Does anyone have any suggestions on ways to make her food more appetizing until then?

You can always try using toppers on her wet food, like tuna juice, crushed Temptations, parmesan cheese (from the green can), see if she'll eat baby food (meat and  broth only, no onions or seasonings)  If she likes chicken, then get chicken baby food.  If she likes beef, then get beef, etc.  It also comes in turkey and ham (different brands come in different flavors) 

If you borrow money or check into Care Credit or do something else from that link above, then they CAN possibly figure out what is wrong.  At the very least, they can run blood test to determine whether or not she really does have FIV, because if she does, if you read that article Columbine posted, you will see that FIV cats tend to have issues with their mouth and gums, which would definitely effect her eating

Here is a thread about how another of our members treats her cat with FIV.  She has several other cats in her household too.  She brought Chumley in knowing he was FIV, even though she already had many other cats    http://www.thecatsite.com/t/259351/how-i-am-treating-chumleys-fiv#post_3755696