Ok, I came here because of an ongoing issue with our family cat. Bear with me as I need to give context to the current situation.
About 9 months ago, our cat got sick. He had really bad nasal congestion and it wasn't going away. We ended up having to bring him to the vet. The vet didn't tell us anything definitive, just that there could be a few different causes. The vet gave us antibiotics for him to take to see if it would help.
After giving him the antibiotics, he got better. The congestion went away and he was eating normal again. However just a couple weeks after cessation of the antibiotics, the congestion came back. Not only did it come back, but he lost a lot of weight in the process as well.
We brought him back to the vet again and did blood work. All the blood work came back fine and oddly enough, didn't even show signs of an infection or any other type of cause for the nasal congestion. The vet also gave us more antibiotics, stronger ones this time, which again helped get rid of the nasal congestion.
It has now been a couple months since the last dose of antibiotics and the congestion hasn't come back. However, he still isn't putting the weight back on and isn't eating much at all. He is very gaunt, to the point where his body slopes inwards just in front of his hind legs and you can feel the ripples in his spine when you stroke his back.
We are at a complete loss as to what we should do here. Due to the economy, we are extremely tight on money and can't keep bringing him to the doctor all for them to keep telling us nothing is wrong with him when we know there is. He always begs for human food as if he hasn't eaten in days (which when he was very sick we would give him from time to time), but when we give him any now, he just throws it up or gets diarrhea as he seems to have a very sensitive stomach. His stomach has always been sensitive, but it's even worse now. He barely eats his own food and we feel horrible as for some reason, he's just so skinny.
We have tried several different types of foods, different brands (of the healthier choices out there), tried warming it, putting chicken broth on it, and more. It seems like the only food he wants is the human food that he can't hold down.
We are at a complete loss as to what to do here. I am hoping someone who's either more knowledgeable, thorough, and/or experienced than the other two vets we brought him to might be able to give us some insight as to what is going on here and what we can do. Any and all help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
About 9 months ago, our cat got sick. He had really bad nasal congestion and it wasn't going away. We ended up having to bring him to the vet. The vet didn't tell us anything definitive, just that there could be a few different causes. The vet gave us antibiotics for him to take to see if it would help.
After giving him the antibiotics, he got better. The congestion went away and he was eating normal again. However just a couple weeks after cessation of the antibiotics, the congestion came back. Not only did it come back, but he lost a lot of weight in the process as well.
We brought him back to the vet again and did blood work. All the blood work came back fine and oddly enough, didn't even show signs of an infection or any other type of cause for the nasal congestion. The vet also gave us more antibiotics, stronger ones this time, which again helped get rid of the nasal congestion.
It has now been a couple months since the last dose of antibiotics and the congestion hasn't come back. However, he still isn't putting the weight back on and isn't eating much at all. He is very gaunt, to the point where his body slopes inwards just in front of his hind legs and you can feel the ripples in his spine when you stroke his back.
We are at a complete loss as to what we should do here. Due to the economy, we are extremely tight on money and can't keep bringing him to the doctor all for them to keep telling us nothing is wrong with him when we know there is. He always begs for human food as if he hasn't eaten in days (which when he was very sick we would give him from time to time), but when we give him any now, he just throws it up or gets diarrhea as he seems to have a very sensitive stomach. His stomach has always been sensitive, but it's even worse now. He barely eats his own food and we feel horrible as for some reason, he's just so skinny.
We have tried several different types of foods, different brands (of the healthier choices out there), tried warming it, putting chicken broth on it, and more. It seems like the only food he wants is the human food that he can't hold down.
We are at a complete loss as to what to do here. I am hoping someone who's either more knowledgeable, thorough, and/or experienced than the other two vets we brought him to might be able to give us some insight as to what is going on here and what we can do. Any and all help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.