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Old March 4th 18, 02:22 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
John Doe[_2_]
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Default my cat refuses most of the food; lost weight

Alwood wrote:

I thought I posted it yesterday, but don't see it

appearing
anywhere....

OK, my cat Vas'ka (neutered male, 17 year old, tuxedo

cat),
has been progressively refusing all sorts of food, yet

he
feels hungry and keep asking for food... He's lost 6

pounds
withing a year (14 down to 8 now). He lost his front

teeth
(and we suspect his vision and smell sense got worse

too).
We tried dry food, soft (canned) food, high-caloric gel,
all kinds of treats, baby food, tiny chopped pieces of

raw
chicken, etc -- step by step he stopped eating any of

that.
With some canned food he would just lick out the liquid
part and leave the rest untouched. He is terribly hungry
and keep crying for food, but cannot handle any of it...

I took him to the vet a few days ago; they made a blood
test, here is the "nothing burger" result:

"Overall, no major issues were identified. He may have

some
very, very early kidney changes happening and shows
evidence on the CBC test for stress, but overall, the
biochemical tests were normal. In a cat that is

otherwise
healthy, this would be great news. In a cat, like Vasia,
who has lost a great deal of weight, it just means that
whatever is causing the weight loss is not going to be

easy
to identify. I would suspect dental disease may play a
role, but even then, I think we are missing something
aggressive, like cancer. We should do some additional
testing to try to find the answer. X-rays (about $***)

or
ultrasound (About $***) may be recommended as the next
step."

No advice about food; and no clear idea of possible

course
of action following the result of those tests. Most

likely
something drastic, like surgery. The costs of the new
tests, although they are pricey, are not the issue; I'd

do
that. My issue with all that is -- is worth to subject
Vas'ka to pain and dismal life quality for the rest of

his
remaining life which would be most likely not very long
anyway? Please share your thoughts, advice, or
experience...

And any ideas about a possible different food we perhaps
missed...


I am sure you know that you cannot just change a cat's
diet overnight. So that makes the situation even more
difficult.

You can euthanize him. Personally, given my situation, I
would consider all of the other cats that need help. Some
of them in the area do not have an eating disorder but do
not have enough food and they are in need of basic things.

The one time I had a beloved cat euthanized, it was
instantaneous. It could not have appeared to be less
painful. I still wonder how it can happen that quickly.
But some people have other experiences. I had no interest
in holding her, I wanted her to have every possible chance
of things going well, so I refused and let the vet tech
hold her. I suppose making sure a real vet does the
injection is a good idea.