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Old March 3rd 18, 08:31 PM
Alwood Alwood is offline
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First recorded activity by CatBanter: Mar 2018
Posts: 5
Default my cat refuses most of the food; lost weight

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...

Great thanks! -- Alwood

Last edited by Alwood : March 3rd 18 at 09:27 PM.