Hi,

I have an almost-3 YO neutered male cat who has almost entirely stopped eating. CT is a big cat. He was 18 pounds before this, and it wasn't fat. Even being long-haired, he's always had a visible "waist." He's now lost about half his weight and looks & feels skeletal. I've had to take over his grooming since he quit doing it, and he's recently stopped purring when he cuddles with me, which tells me he's feeling worse.

I've had him to the vet and while some of the blood tests showed minimal elevations (5 points or less above "normal" in panels that would indicate problems with the liver or gall bladder, they were so close to normal that the vet can't guess at a specific problem. CT also seemed to have a very slight infection, so for lack of a clearer problem, the vet put my cat on antibiotics for a week. We stopped there, though, because there was no visible improvement, which suggested the infection wasn't the "real" problem. Vet also prescribed a Prescription Diet food that is low-fat to avoid fatty liver disease setting in.

I've got 4 cats at home, so until I had to isolate CT to feed him his special food, I didn't realize just how little he ate. He ate only a few pieces of the Prescription Diet the first day or two, then stopped eating it at all. I tried some regular canned food, and he eagerly licked up the "gravy" but wouldn't eat the soft chunks. I tried some wet "pate" style food next, and he wouldn't eat it.

Then I tried baby food, and finally found something he'd consistantly eat -some- of. He's up to about a tablespoon of baby food a feeding. He won't eat more, and he likes it better warm than at room temp or cold. He has an appetite -- he talks to me when I start fixing his food and dives eagerly into it. But by the time he's eaten about a tablespoon, his appetite is fading off.

His environment's been stable (no moves, new additions to the family, changes in my lifestyle, changes in diet) since August 04, and he's not my neurotic cat (I have one that licks his hair off when stressed). All my cats are strictly house cats and do not go outside, and all were tested for FLV/FIV before joining the household. There IS the possibility he's been stung by a scorpion; I do get scorpions in the house regularly, and he and my calico are always the ones who catch them. I've never seen any sign either of them have ever been stung, though.

A belly feeding tube & hospitilization aren't options. Either I find some alternative/natural treatment on my own to nurse him through this, or I have to put him to sleep. Obviously I don't want to have to do that, so I'm hoping someone here has some helpful ideas.

Thanks,
Kit

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