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My cat won't eat! Does she have cancer?
Sorry for the long description but I think every detail counts!

My cat is nine and for about a year she started pooping outside of her box, literally right next to her box. I know when cats do this it’s usually a cry for help but I really thought nothing of it because she looked completely fine. About four months ago I noticed she started to gradually lose weight. Every time she would lay on me I would notice her stomach growling extremely loud. Sometimes you could hear it from across the room. So I decided to take her to the vet.

The vet did a check up, did some blood work and de-wormed her just to be safe. They figured she probably had kidney problems. When the blood work results came back, they were completely normal and healthy! The vet said that my cat had an infection because her white blood count was high. She explained it probably wasn’t cancer either because of the certain type of white blood that was high. So my cat got a shot of antibiotics to kill the infection and the vet gave her special calorie food to help her put weight back on.

I had to start hand feeding my cat. I also noticed she started pooping inside of her box again. After two weeks I called the vet to give her an update about how my cat was doing. My cat was still the same. I think she even lost more weight. So the vet told me she probably had cancer even though she told me two weeks before that the chances of that were slim because of the type of blood count that was high.

It’s been a month now since my cat has seen the vet, and she is still the same. You can tell that she is hungry because every time I make a plate of food for her she comes running for it. But when she starts to eat, all she does is take one bite, then she tries to bury the food. It’s almost like when she starts to eat she feels sick, or it looks like it hurts her to eat, so she stops. I’ve tried heating her food up, mixing her food with tuna, putting hot water on her food, but nothing seems to work. She’s hungry but she just won’t eat what she needs to eat. The only thing she seems to have no trouble eating are her kitty treats. She’ll eat those all day.

Was the vet just taking a wild guess and calling it cancer? My cat is becoming fur and bones. She doesn’t seem to be in pain. She still purrs and lays on you and greets you at the door. Some days she looks great and has a lot of energy, and other days she looks horrible. How can I make her eat more? I can’t just give her treats as her food for the rest of her life. I don’t know what to do. And I don’t want to put her down until I know for sure that she is ready.

You also have to watch that your cat doesn’t lose more than 2 lbs. because my cat lost 3 lbs. and he got hepatitis and jaundice and was one day away from death. My vet told me it was because cats cannot lose that much weight. It throws their body into survival mode. My cat was all yellow orange! But my vet (the hero) took him for a week and nursed him back to health. He lived another 14 yrs.!

But 14 yrs. later he got really sick so I got another opinion from a vet specialty clinic where they did ultrasound on my poor kitty. They discovered 4 large cancerous tumors and I had to put him to sleep. Good luck.
sunset | Feb 06, 2010

FYI……..PLEASE STOP feeding your cat "treats". I had a cat who ate treats ( husband fed her against my wishes ) so much that she wouldn’t eat her regular food. She developed kidney problems and died of renal failure………which could happen to your cat too, if she won’t eat her food and you continue to give her treats.

Boil some chicken, WITHOUT ANY SPICES……just plain…….then shred some up and see if she’ll eat it. Give her some of the broth from the boiling, too. If she’ll eat this, mix some cooked rice in with the broth & shredded chicken. Make sure that you give it to her WARM….. If you can get her eating, and gaining some of her weight back, you may be able to get her back onto regular cat food .

If you don’t have any chicken, maybe you have some Chicken Noodle Soup. Cats love this, and it’s good for them. At least, they get some nutrition. Just warm it and let her lap it from a dish.

I know some of these ideas are completely opposite, or confusing, but I’m just writing as I think of them…….Hope something helps…….and she feels better soon……….Good luck.
brutusmom | Feb 06, 2010

With the food, since she is willing to eat treats, I suspect she may be manipulating you a bit. She may know that if she tells you the food you served is disgusting (by burying it) you’ll come running with something else. On the other hand, if she is ill, especially if it’s kidney related, then food may genuinely just not be tasting right to her. It could well be a bit of both.

Get the OK from the vet first, but maybe the way to tackle this would be to leave her a bowl of dry food out at all times, and offer her some wet food maybe 3 times a day in small amounts. Before each meal throw away any stale food that’s been left, and wash out the bowl. I use just cold water: sounds weird I know, but hot water can set some things (did you know if you get blood on your clothes you should wash them with cold water?), and dish-washing detergents can contain chemicals that are bad for cats, and scents that put them off. Don’t use a plastic bowl for the same reason.

If she’s really not eating you could maybe use a ‘treat’ food for a while (nb ones marked ‘complementary’ don’t contain all the nutrients a cat needs so can’t be fed long term: unless she is terminal of course, in which case feed her what the heck she likes!), or some cooked chicken and rice (same notes as for complementary foods…). If you can get them try and get some freeze-dried cat treats: in the UK Thrive do prawns, chicken and tuna. These can be crumbled over food. You could also put some of the treats she likes on top of her food (ask your vet how many is OK). But whatever you put in the bowl, think twice about putting anything else out until the next meal.

Once you’ve decided on a strategy, make a commitment to sticking to it for a certain number of days. (Again, maybe discuss with your vet) Try and think back to how you used to give her her food: maybe you used to call her with a certain phrase, give her a quick stroke, then leave her to it? If so, that’s what you do. It sounds like food time has become a big issue. You need to get away from that for a while and make it a calm, relaxed, normal time. You definitely don’t want to hover, beg and sound worried: your cat will be wondering what the heck is up.

Good luck!
Rowan G | Feb 06, 2010

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