My cat is about 12 years old and is a female Tonkinese. Suddenly she became really lethargic and stopped eating her food except for little bits. She went from 9.5 pounds to 9 in a week. I took her to the vet that week and she was hydrated and put on antibiotics. She was and still is on Prednisone for the asthma she was diagnosed with about 10 months ago (she has to be on it every other day or so and they did make sure it was asthma, not heart worm). She also had dental issues in the past and this exact behavior was exhibited before which is why she was treated with the antibiotics and given pain meds so her teeth did not bother her.

For the first week and a half she was great with the antibiotics and pain meds but all of a sudden she went back to where we started. I took her back to the vet who ran blood work which came back fine (no thyroid issues, no kidney or liver issues, no elevated white blood cells, cancer…you name it, it was negative). They took a fecal sample today and I have yet to get the results back but the vet says it is most unlikely that she has an intestinal parasite. Now Pandora is down to about 8 pounds but she eats, little bits at a time (eats and drinks). I actually saw her eating some dry food today which she has not eaten in months. She is getting a medication to stimulate her appetite but that is given every 3rd day and she seemed most hungry today, the day before she actually gets her next pill.

She is still very lethargic (except when she is at the vet and awhile after she walks in the front door here at home) and even stumbled a bit at one point after scratching her paws on her cardboard scratch box. It was like she tipped because she lost her footing. Her temp. is normal, her blood pressure is in normal range, she is getting hydrated subcutaneously by the vet as much as she needs it (she went today again). She is so weak and limp when I pick her up and she just moves real slow; it’s just not right. I did see her grooming her head today which I haven’t seen in a week so at least she is eating and cleaning up after herself.

Does anyone have any ideas? If she starts to get better at all I am going to go in and get her teeth cleaned and she needs two extractions but the vet didn’t seem to think that the condition of her mouth had anything to do with the way she is behaving.Her gums are pink, not pale white.
IN RESPONSE TO EVERYONE: The vet did check for tumors and was not surprised that she didn’t find anything because if an animal has cancer they often have an increase in blood cell count which she did not have. She did have an x-ray not that long ago as well.

I will talk to the vet again about the prednisone although the blood test showed that it is not effecting her negatively. Usually if prednisone is causing issues it will show up in the form of liver or kidneys disease.

Thank you for that website! I will look into it and share the information with my vet, she is very wonderful and is trying to look at every possible scenario.

Last but not least, I am trying to prepare myself for the idea that there may be nothing I can do and I am spending as much time with her as possible. I am just not quick to give up as long and was I do for her does not cause her any additional stress. Thank you for the kid words. I meant as long as what I do does not cause her more stress. I think my brain is ahead of my typing, ha ha.
and I meant kind words, lol. I am horrible.
UPDATE:

Just so everyone knows, it was found that she has a tumor in her abdomen. She hadn’t had a BM in a couple days so I took her in for an enema and two vets examined her again. It’s about 3/4-1 inch big and they said they could do an ultrasound and possibly exploratory surgery but I don’t know if that is worth it if all they can do is go in there and do nothing. She might not even deal well with anesthesia with her asthma and slightly enlarged left side of her heart. I am so heartbroken right now knowing I have to keep an eye on her and let her go. I have never felt so helpless in my life. Thank you all for your answers. At least I know what I am dealing with.