This is the second of our cats to do this (interesting - both are/were our only females). She never used to be very fussy, but over the last 3-4 months she has become so. I thought she was just trying to be a "princess," but she got fussier and fussier, and now virtually eats nothing except a small amount of tuna (not cat food, but regular cans/packets of tuna processed for human consumption). Her blood work shows nothing out of the ordinary. I'm trying hand-assist feeding (using watered-down baby food and an infant's oral medicine syringe) but her eating trigger hasn't reset yet. She's an 8-year-old we adopted at the age of 2 from a shelter - we were told she's half Siamese, though she looks like a basic black shorthair. (She's plenty vocal, though - perhaps one clue about her background.) Has always been healthy up until now. The vet suspects cancer because a steroid administered Thursday didn't seem to make any difference - and if she had inflammatory bowel disease, it would apparently have made a huge difference.
Anyone been through this before - and if so, what did you do? Thanks in advance for any help/ideas. We hate to lose her so fast - she's such a loving cat, and we just lost our other one in February, due to old age.
2007 Toyota Tundra CrewMax 5.7L V8 w/ tow pkg, Equal-i-zer
2008 Flagstaff 831RLSS
What about x-rays? That might provide a clue. Not sure what other diagnostics Doug might suggest, but if there's a mass an x-ray will sometimes show it.
susan
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a wabbit, Fuzzy Wuzzy had a dandelion habit! RIP little Wuz... don't go far.
kknowlton wrote: (She's plenty vocal, though - perhaps one clue about her background.) Has always been healthy up until now. The vet suspects cancer because a steroid administered Thursday didn't seem to make any difference - and if she had inflammatory bowel disease, it would apparently have made a huge difference.
Anyone been through this before - and if so, what did you do? Thanks in advance for any help/ideas. We hate to lose her so fast - she's such a loving cat, and we just lost our other one in February, due to old age.
When our two were 18 & 16, they both started to lose weight pretty rapidly. I went through a lot of different types of canned cat food trying to get them eating. Sometimes all I had to do was just switch brands even if it was a brand that they had rejected earlier. Also they would never eat ANY canned cat food that had been refrigerated, even if I heated it or let it come to room temperature.
Dave & Kathy
2007 Monaco Knight 40PDQ towing 2003 Odyssey
Fulltime since October 2007
Before you give someone a piece of your mind, make sure you can get by with what will be left.
We'll probably get an x-ray done; the vet said that works well for the chest area, not so well for the gut in cats. Thyroid tested in normal range, but slightly high. Liver is ok (I was worried about hepatic lipoidosis; our earlier cat that stopped eating gave herself a nasty case of that.)
Is she having any vomiting or diarrhea? If not, why does the vet suspect IBD?
One of my cats has suspected IBD (vet was satisfied that she has it based on barium x-ray series; we never did the intestinal biopsy that's needed for a definite diagnosis). When she had her crisis right before diagnosis she was throwing up everything. It took quite awhile for her appetite to return, even though she was on a high dose of steroids. There certainly was no huge difference in just a few days.
Have you tried Nutri-Cal? I's a high-calorie supplement that will jump start an appetite sometimes. Available in almost all pet stores.
Me and the DH
Two boys and two dogs (and two cats who prefer to stay home)
2008 Forest River Georgetown 350DS (bunkhouse model)
2001 Honda CR-V
Sometimes they quit eating for some reason and you need to jump start their appetite. I've used chicken or turkey flavored baby food, or a strong fishy cat food mixed with a little water in a blender. Keep trying anything to get them started eating again. Or you could force feed her. There is medication to stimulate appetite too.
Maybe a different vet if this one is out of answers?
I would have thought low thyroid, or IBD but it sounds like you have that covered. We've had cats with both. How about increasing the thyroid for more appetite? I'm sure your vet knows what to do, a lot more than I do. Can you post your results for us cat folks?
kknowlton wrote: This is the second of our cats to do this (interesting - both are/were our only females). She never used to be very fussy, but over the last 3-4 months she has become so. I thought she was just trying to be a "princess," but she got fussier and fussier, and now virtually eats nothing except a small amount of tuna (not cat food, but regular cans/packets of tuna processed for human consumption).
Brevity snipped.
PLEASE get her off the tuna!!! It's far from a complete food for cats. It lacks too many nutrients to be used as anything but a rare treat. I've heard that too many times cats will get addicted to it and eat nothing else. Maybe you can try mixing some canned cat food in the tuna if that is all she will consume. You need to get a second opinion if the vet you took her to offers no real answers.
I've been switching brands and flavors of cat food a lot lately, even up to several times a day. Nothing appeals to her. She has been eating a bit overnight, mostly from packets of tuna (the people variety, not cat food), and I have been syringe-feeding her baby food a couple times a day (which is a real struggle, as all cat-parents know! ) Same result with the refrigerated/heated-up food as 2chiefs has had; from my reading, that seems pretty common. The vet gave the cat some Nutri-cal at our last visit - it didn't seem to help much, and it's as much of a struggle as syringe feeding (this cat does not like that stuff, or hand-given "treats," etc.
No inordinate vomiting - mostly just associated with hairballs - and no diarrhea, but some constipation. As far as finding another vet, this is the only one within several hours' drive that seems to be cat-oriented (dogs are much more popular where we live now).
Thanks, everyone. Lots of possible outcomes here. We'll see how it goes.
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because a steroid administered Thursday didn't seem to make any difference - and if she had inflammatory bowel disease, it would apparently have made a huge difference. 
