Oscar can't seem to eat, though he wants to
Our 15-year-old marmalade tabby has always had a good appetite, usually eating all his wet food the moment we put it down. A thyroid problem was diagnosed last year when he began losing weight, and he's been responding well to the medication ever since.
But over the last week, he's been behaving strangely with his food. He seems hungry at his mealtimes, and begs whenever we are eating something tasty like roast chicken, but when we feed him, he licks the food, takes it briefly in his mouth, and then drops it. Then he resumes begging. It's not normal for this cat to play hard-to-get, so we're wondering if something may be wrong with his mouth -- maybe it hurts him to eat. Any thoughts on what may be wrong? Oscar's going to the vet this week.
thanks! and plot thickens...
What a nice group of people you are to extend these friendly welcomes to me. I feel better already.
However, Oscar's favorite human (a.k.a. "Big Mommy,") feels Oscar's problem is psychological, i.e. Oscar will treat his food this way when Big Mommy is away and he misses him. (Yes, Big Mommy is a he. As a kitten Oscar assigned mommy status to his favorite human, who happened to be male!) So Big Mommy won't agree to take Oscar to the vet.
However, Big Mommy is not only out of town but FAR AWAY out of town, for a good long while! So the remaining two of us are plotting to get Oscar to the vet secretly...
In the meantime, Oscar does finish his food overnight, so he is not going without nutrition.
I'll let you know what happens, and will hunt down a picture to share with you of our funny Oscar.
