Hi,

Every once and awhile, one of my cats (who's usually around 13-14
pounds) goes on a hunger strike. In the past it's been because of me
having gone away for awhile. Well this past Monday I got a whiff of
Ferris' breath and decided to brush his teeth. Later in the week I
noticed that he wasn't eating as normal and seemed to have lost weight.

In the past my vet had done bloodwork and found nothing wrong, and had
also looked at his teeth and said he's seen far worse. He gave me a
prescription for an antihistimine which has a side effect of being an
appetite stimulant. After a week or so Ferris was back to normal.

This time I was convinced it was the same thing (he was upset from the
teeth brushing, or it made his mouth sore). I got more of the
prescription and was giving it to Ferris, but in addition to eating
only little bits here and there, he has been hiding and sometimes
meowing in a low, almost growl-like way at me. At one point (forgive
me) it seemed like he was manipulating me for moist food (they usually
get dry food and treats).

After a few days of this weird behavior and 3 different kinds of food,
I broke down and took him to the vet again, where his temp was normal,
his exam fine, and his bloodwork fine, although he was much crankier
than usual. He didn't like being pressed on in the stomach area, but
nor did he like being touched anywhere. (He's also developed a slight
limp and wouldn't let the doctor press on either paw to see what the
problem was.)

When I brought him home he seemed happy and more social than he had in
days, and ate. I figured great, I just wasted $145. But he's still not
eating properly and is hiding, and was yowling a bit after eating some
moist food this afternoon. I called the vet back and we're going to do
a teeth cleaning/possible extractions on Tuesday, because he can't see
any other reason for the problem.

I'm nervous about this because 1) the cat is acting weirdly and i find
it odd it's his teeth 2) the limp is unexplained 3) we've not done
other tests (however the vet warns that these are invasive) and so we
should take care of the most obvious possible cause first. I don't want
my kitty to lose more weight, and he's making me stressed with his
weird behavior.

Any thoughts??