Lack of appetite in a Cat

by Larry
(Wilmington DE)

TUT

We have a 13 year old Himalayan Cat with a history of urinary tract problems. A mixture of Purina One urinary tract health food and hairball food is left out for him and the other cats to eat. After he blocked he was hospitalized. We later had him operated upon to stop the blockages. We feed him 1 tablet of DFS urinary acidifier 500mg to control his crystal problem. We used to give him acidifier every day but have cut back to every other day and a syringe of water on the off days. We also feed him turkey, beef, or ham baby food, a couple of spoonfuls if he will eat it. Last year he was 7.5#. We just took him to the doctors recently he was only 6.5#.
Of course, we are greatly concerned with his weight loss esp since he is so small. We had a blood test run and a hyperthyroid test run. The vet said his liver value was higher than normal about 250. The rest of the tests came out good.
We were wondering what could be causing his lack of appetite? Gastrointestinal upset or some other medical problem and what should we do about it?
He is much loved cat and we want him to be happy and healthy.


Dear Larry,

Urinary acidifiers are no longer considered safe in cats. Their urine should be acidified with the proper diet. I would highly recommend SO prescription urinary diet.

Can you write back and tell me exactly what his creatinine, BUN, Phosphorus, White Cell Count, and Hematocrit were as well as his calcium and potassium and exact thyroid level? Oh, and also, which liver enzyme was elevated? Once you do that, I can make further suggestions. I would very much like to help you if I can.

Thank you,
Dr. Neely