Cat won’t eat, we’ve done all the tests and don’t know what to do
I’m a 21M from IL, USA. Cat is a 12M, neutered.
My cat dropped from 12 lbs. to 9 lbs.
We took him to the vet. They did blood work and an exam and determined that there was nothing wrong with him. His kidney function was fine, as was his pancreas and every other organ that they had access to test.
He dropped another 0.4 lbs. and we took him to a second vet. They did a dental on him. They discovered a chipped canine and did dental X-rays but said that they don't know why he is not eating. They said to continue the gabapentin and prednisolone that he was prescribed.
We took him to a third vet after he was still not eating and they did an ultrasound which came back clean. They said that he needs to be put on hunger meds. They injected him with Cerenia and they gave him the appetite stimulant.
He went home and ate a whole lot and we thought things were getting better, but still decided to take him to a dental specialist, who said that we did all the work that was required to diagnose him, but he was still sort of bamboozled. His best guess as to why our cat may not be eating is the chipped canine having an exposed nerve, which could be leading to an infection in the bone in the mouth. The dental specialist also noted something called buccal bone expansion, which isn't a big cause for concern but does require extractions so we booked a surgery for the chipped canine removal and other affected teeth
But after a couple of days his eating slowed again and now he's back down to eating nothing.
We've tried every permutation of food to get him to eat, ranging from treats to puree to tube treats to pate and kitten food. He sniffs the bowl, has a couple of bites, gags, and walks away but he's hungry because he keeps meowing at us for food.
Does anyone have any ideas on what we can do to get him to eat? We have a surgery booked but he needs to eat in the meantime, and we’re extremely worried for him.