My cat stopped eating, lost weight, and isn't improving. What's next?

HI, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Newton! Wow, you have done a lot and I am surprised you haven't found an answer. I would be sure fecal testing has been done and feline leukemia/FIV testing, chest X-rays, B12/folate/TLI/PLI testing then I would take him to surgery to explore his abdominal cavity and I would biopsy everything. Looking for lymphoma. He should have a feeding tube (esophageal) placed a surgery so he can be fed while you wait for biopsy results. Also if it has been more than 1 month since the CBC/Chemistry has been ran I would repeat it. I wish you the best

Poor Sachi! Significant weight loss and inappetence are certainly a major concern. I'm glad to hear that his blood work (I assume a CBC, chemistry and T4?) was unremarkable. However, foreign body intestinal obstruction/blockages, intestinal malabsorption issues that can cause inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), chronic pancreatitis, or cancerous processes, do not necessarily cause changes on screening blood tests. If Sachi has not yet had abdominal x-rays or an ultrasound, consider talking to your vet about these tests as his next diagnostic step. If he has a foreign body obstructing his intestines, this is a surgical emergency, and these tests would be helpful in obtaining a diagnosis. If pancreatitis, IBD or EPI are more highly suspected, consider talking to your vet about testing for vitamins B12 and folate, as well as TLI and fPLI. I hope this helps!

I'm sorry Murray isn't doing well!! Unfortunately with his symptoms cancer could be a likely diagnosis. Other causes could be a foreign body or intussecption (where the intestines telescope into themselves), but without seeing him in person I can't say for sure. Next step would be x-rays to try to visualize the intestines or an ultrasound. I recommend speaking to your vet about doing these tests.

Thank you for your post! I am sorry to hear Shurbee is not doing well. My concern at this age would be some type of malignancy. In older cats, one of the more common things we see in regards to cancer is intestinal / GI lymphoma. This does not always show up on blood work. I would highly recommend Shurbee get an abdominal ultrasound as the next diagnostic step. Hope this helps and feel free to contact me with any further questions / concerns

Eevee is quite the beauty. Your options at this point are the recommended testing (which mostly looks for IBD, lymphoma, or other issues) or to try different treatments to see if anything works (prescription diets that are high in fiber, low allergy, or highly digestible, steroids, or particular antibiotics that decrease inflammation). There's no one perfect answer, but if she's not eating much, I would move forward quickly with whatever you decide.

He needs more testing. Just because the blood work is normal does not mean there is nothing underlying. Something is wrong. I suggest x-rays as the next step and maybe an ultrasound of the abdomen.

I would recommend blood work and an abdominal ultrasound. The ultrasound will be able to evaluate the gastrointestinal tract much better and can sometimes find foreign bodies that the x-rays can't. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.