i am worried and heartsick for our guy
we brought our maine coon babba home three or four months after we had to send our big guy across the bridge in sept 2008. he was only 12-13 pounds when we brought him home, but now he's down to about half that.
we took him to the vet in january or so and she couldn't find anything. his blood work was good, kidney functions looked good, he tested negative for fiv, flv and one other common virus and his teeth looked in pretty good shape. he's always been a finicky eater, so we decided to try to get him to eat some kitten food and keep a list of the foods he would eat.
but the weight kept coming off, so i took him in again today. i cried while we waited in the exam room, i petted him and held him and told him how good a boy he is. he was so calm during the exam, but again the doc was stumped. all his vitals were good, she couldn't find anything when she poked around his belly. she said his teeth could use a cleaning, but there are no issues that would cause this. she gave him a bit of fluids, prescribed an appetite stimulant and sent me home with supplies to gather a stool and urine sample to bring in early next week.
we really think there's something wrong with his sense of smell. he usually gives things one or two sniffs before he turns his nose up - no tuna, no chicken, no lunch meat, all but three or four varieties of canned food, we've tried least four different types of dry food - and they're free fed, so there's no shortage of food. he's most likely to eat when we open a fresh can of particularly pungent cat food. he won't eat a whole can a day, but won't eat the leftovers when it's set out for him the next day. i told my dad to try sticking the food in the microwave long enough to just get it warmed so he can smell what it is. i also suggested sticking a cotton ball soaked with rubbing alcohol or lemon juice under his nose to see how he reacts, which is about the only way i can think of to test his sense of smell.
he's also getting fed separately now because the girls are such damn pushy pigs and he's a pushover.
our next step will be xrays and possibly ultrasounds to see if there's something the doc couldn't feel.
he's part of my dad's brood, so i usually only seem him 3-5 times a month, but it's just killing me to see him go through this. he is a sweet and lovey boy who has integrated so well into a pride that was establish nearly 14 years ago. but i'm not going to lie, i'm glad i'm not the one who has to gather the samples.
i feel so helpless and it's breaking my heart.
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Your kitty is a lucky boy to have you all so loving and caring. Keeping my fingers crossed for you and for him. I hope all is well and he is just going through something.
