Weight gain and appetite stimulation - poorly cat...

Our girl is over 21, the vet has determined that she has liver disease... Could be cancer, fatty liver etc, but at her age further investigation, including anaesthetic is too dangerous.

As a result we don't know what's 'really' wrong with her, bar nausea and loose bowel movements. These have reduced greatly since she's been receiving a 5 weekly steroid injection.. however this month it wore off a few days early...her nausea has been so bad we have been struggling to get her to eat more than a few teaspoons of wet food a day, the last few days...

Her weight also dropped from 2.7kg to 2.45kg in the last 5 weeks, even though we felt she had been eating better. We had tried her with some soft kitten meat, and when I mentioned this to the vet, they thought it was too high protein and might have contributed to weight loss.. which I though was a bit strange tbh.

She gets cat milk, roast chicken, salmon and occasional tuna, her main diet is soft meats with a few kibbles... She usually drinks well..

Is there any tips or advice that might help? We give her some nutrient paste each day too. I know she is old, and people often say 'oh but she's had a good life's etc, but it doesn't mean we don't want to try all we can [emoji]128522[/emoji]

I should add we do the standard warming of food, occasional slurry etc, also I'm UK based.

Is she on any anti nausea medication? The standard is 1/4 tab of 10mg of plain pepcid once a day. There are other anti nausea medications that work very well, my cat uses cerenia which needs to be picked up at the vets office. There are also appetite stimulants that the vet can give you. Sometimes a little B12 and fluids can help perk them up a bit too.

Plus, there are meds to help with liver function.  Denamarin, Sam E, Milk Thistle, Vitamin E, etc.  Most of these do not even require a prescription.  How about prescription food, that is used for cats recovering from illness.  Does your Vet think THAT would be good.  They usually carry it in house. 

My old girl has kidney disease, which also effect the appetite, and on and off liver issues.  I always know when her liver is acting up, because her appetite gets even worse.  But she is on the Pepcid, as mentioned above, AND she is also on an appetite stimulant, Mirtazipine.  What I have found works for her to get her to eat more is to actually feed her small meals, but several times a time, maybe 7 - 10 meals per day.  (including in the middle of the night).  For the middle of the night feeding, I put a small serving of wet food in the freezer a couple of hours before we go to bed.  Then I take it out of the freezer and slip the bowl into a small ziploc bag and set it on my nightstand.  When she comes and wakes me up, I take it out of the bag and set it on the bed, where she chows down.  From then on out until morning, when she wakes me up to eat, all she gets is either dehydrated raw, or Temptations....up to her as I keep both in ziploc bags under my pillow.  

BUT, as long as your guy is nauseated, he isn't going to eat .  That has got to be addressed.  My girl gets the Pepcid because with kidney cats they are famous for getting over-acidic tummies, which causes just a clear frothy throw-up, usually just first thing in the morning.  Is this what is happening with your guy, or is he throwing up more?  If more, then I would say he needs an anti-emetic like Cerenia, vs Pepcid, or possibly along WITH Pepcid.  

Have they given him any antibiotics?  When my girls liver acts up, that's the first thing they do, and she always perks up again.  AND, we don't know what's wrong with her liver and are not going to do further investigation because she's already got the kidney disease. 

Is that cat milk you are giving nutritionally complete.  I also give that to my girl, and discovered that some are nutritionally complete, and some aren't.  Additionally, are you giving him probiotics?  It might help with the diarrhea.  depending on what is really causing it. 

You might try giving him some lightly scrambled eggs.  The yolks, particularly, are pretty high in calories.  He might like them, he might not.  Also, have you ever used FortiFlora?  It's also known as Kitty Krack as it's irresistible to most cats.  You just sprinkle it on their food and they dive right in (usually).