Cat won't eat

Neutered male, 8 years old:

Eli ate very little according to pet sitter, while we were on vacation, now
losing weight (12#, down to 9#), and has eaten virtually nothing for a
couple of weeks.

Vet found nothing wrong; blood work normal, X-rays showed no tumors, no
blockages. The did tooth cleaning and extracted a couple of bad teeth.
He's still not eating, other than an occasional teaspoon hand fed by a
caring lady....

Don't know what else to do. He wants to eat a bit of grass, which may be a
clue, but nothing in the cat pan, due to almost nothing coming in.


Background:

Major changes, in the form of a my S.O. moving in 3 months ago with her
mini sheltie, who has lived with cats before and wants to be pals. Which
the cat is having none of. No hostility, just "go away kid; you bother
me...."

I'm fresh out of ideas.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

On Aug 9, 9:06 am, Gary Woods <garygar....TakeThisOut@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Neutered male, 8 years old:
>
> Eli ate very little according to pet sitter, while we were on vacation, now
> losing weight (12#, down to 9#), and has eaten virtually nothing for a
> couple of weeks.
>
> Vet found nothing wrong; blood work normal, X-rays showed no tumors, no
> blockages. The did tooth cleaning and extracted a couple of bad teeth.
> He's still not eating, other than an occasional teaspoon hand fed by a
> caring lady....
>
> Don't know what else to do. He wants to eat a bit of grass, which may be a
> clue, but nothing in the cat pan, due to almost nothing coming in.
>
> Background:
>
> Major changes, in the form of a my S.O. moving in 3 months ago with her
> mini sheltie, who has lived with cats before and wants to be pals. Which
> the cat is having none of. No hostility, just "go away kid; you bother
> me...."

Unfortunately, you have a number of issues going on here. First, how
is Eli's overall demeanor? Does he want to play, purr, be with people?
Is he lethargic, hiding, or otherwise acting unusual (signs that he's
very ill)?

First and foremost, you need to get him to eat! He's lost a lot of
weight in a short amount of time, which is very dangerous for cats.
Have you tried tempting him with his favorite treats? As a short-term
measure to jump-start his appetite, try a fish variety of Fancy Feast,
warmed slightly in the microwave. Another short-term food is Hills A/
D, which is very palatable. You can also use meat baby food (without
onions), turkey or chicken. Anything to get him interested in eating
again, then slowly switch him over to a better diet.

Have you asked your vet about giving Sub-Q fluids at home? I'm sure
he's horribly dehydrated and isn't feeling well because of that. If he
won't eat anything on his own, also ask your vet about force feeding.
It's not a pleasant thing to do, but he needs nutrition badly.

Another idea is to ask for cyproheptide (sp?). It's an antihistimine
that also stimulates appetite, very safe and inexpensive to get from
your vet.

Also, please keep the cat and dog separated right now until things
settle down. It's obvious that he's under a large amount of stress
right now and this might be worsening his condition.

Rene