Sick cat won't eat

[curliq]

My cat is sick and undergoing lots of tests to find out the cause. Lately he has stopped eating. I can only get him to eat canned tuna and catsip milk and he seems to be growing tired of those too. He usually turns up his nose at any wet food but he doesn't even want his dry food anymore. Does anyone have any other ideas on something my cat will find tasty? He is losing weight and I'm worried he will starve himself before we find out how to treat him. Thanks!

 

[pushylady]

Is he not eating anything at all, or just being really fussy? It's so important that cats don't go for too long without eating. Obviously if he's feeling sick his appetite will be affected though. Have you tried something smelly on top of his food like bonito flakes? They work for my fussy cat. You could sprinkle them on his kibble or wet to get him started. Or even crush up a Temptations treat as a topper (I do this sometimes).
I hope you get some answers from the vet so that you can get him on track to getting better.

 

[missmimz]

Is he vomiting? Sniffing his food and walking away? Did you tell your vet he wasn't eating? Try baby food without onions or garlic. 

 

[paiger8]

What are his symptoms? 

He might be nauseous and that's why he's refusing to eat. Is he drooling or licking his lips?

 

[curliq]

He is not vomiting, drooling or licking his lips. He is just listless and lethargic. He sometimes will eat a few bites then walk away and sometimes he just doesn't care to even look at the food. Today I got him a different dry food and he ate a little more, plus he had a few bites of chicken. I also tried ice in his water bowl at my dad's suggestion and he drank more than usual. But he's like a skeleton, he really can't lose much more weight. My vet knows but she can't get him in for a bone marrow biopsy for 2 more weeks so I'm ready to try anything.... Thanks for the suggestions, I will see if they work for him.

 

[missmimz]

What other tests have been done? Blood work etc? Why didn't she give him an appetite stimulant? Try getting him to eat wet food over dry food. Did you try baby food without onions or garlic? 

 

[curliq]

To answer your question, she's done several different blood work tests, a flea and tick panel, X-ray and ultrasound. The only think we know so far is his red blood cell count and platelet count are low. I've tried cat treats. What kind of baby food?

 

[paiger8]

To answer your question, she's done several different blood work tests, a flea and tick panel, X-ray and ultrasound. The only think we know so far is his red blood cell count and platelet count are low. I've tried cat treats. What kind of baby food?

Plain meat baby food. Chicken or turkey work well. 

How much is he eating? Has your vet recommended syringe feeding him?

 

[missmimz]

To answer your question, she's done several different blood work tests, a flea and tick panel, X-ray and ultrasound. The only think we know so far is his red blood cell count and platelet count are low. I've tried cat treats. What kind of baby food?

Kidney, thyroid, urinalysis, all normal? 

 

[curliq]

Yes those values are normal. His spleen and liver are just slightly enlarged.

 

[j_eden]

Something similar was happening to my older kitty for a few days. You know what finally got him to eat? I syringed him 20-30ml of water to see if he could keep it down (not all at once), then waited a while and force fed him very mushed up/liquid-y wet food. I had to wrap him up in a blanket to do this and you really gotta gauge how much they can take and how much it stresses them out. Be careful to read him well while you do this, and using your finger to make little globs of the wet food and placing it more towards the roof of the mouth so they don't choke. With a finger it makes it easier to do really really small amounts to see if he can keep it down. But then again, that's why I think doing water first helped prep his stomach.

Other techniques of assisting feeding involve mixing the wet food with water/a savory liquid and syringing that, but you gotta gauge their comfort level and how much they fight you. 

As for baby food, I was reading to look for just meat based ones. The woman in the video I was watching used Gerber's turkey formula which was just turkey and turkey gravy. Avoid anything with onions though!

 

[lisahe]

More on baby food: we fed Beechnut Classics (these), in chicken and turkey, to our cat when she was recovering from getting very sick eating a plant. With a little dust from treats (Pure Bites) they made a great first meal for her. (And her sister loved them, too!) If you have homemade meat broth of some sort (made with just meat and water) that might be good to add, as a thinner, either to make the food easier to lap up or to use a syringe.

@missmimz mentioned appetite stimulants, which are definitely worth asking about if your cat didn't already get one. (Edwina got one and, though I can't be sure what worked best, I suspect they helped her since she recovered her appetite fairly quickly.)

I hope you're able to get to the bottom of your cat's illness soon.

 

[happypet6]

We just went through this with our 3 lb Baby, and that's what her normal weight is. Obviously,she can't afford to lose any weight. She was diagnosed with a URI and tested positive for feline leukemia, so this has been a real battle. She's been on a powerful antibiotic, which has really cleared up the URI, but she lost her appetite. Since we were giving her meds with a syringe, we decided to water dowm her food a bit and use a larger syringe for her feedings. Wasn't easy, but it did work. She's now eating on her own and even begging for food. I understand, from much research and speaking with great folks at Chewy.com, that Orijen food often works with kitties that won't eat. So hard to watch our bsbies feel badly. I wish you the best with your furbaby.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Nutri-Cal for cats is one way a lot of vets recommend to entice a sick cat to ingest some calories.  Baby food that does not contain any garlic or onion is another; I've used Gerber chicken, turkey, beef, and lamb with success in the past.  I would never feed any pork products to cats, or anyone else, because they are of low quality and can be impure. There are also several liquid diets that vets prescribe for sick cats; you might ask you vet, and/or look on DrsFosterSmith.com to see what they have.  They deliver, by the way. 

  Please keep us updated and your cat has my heartfelt *PRAYERS* and wishes of wellbeing.