Portia is down to 5 pounds :(

[StillMedusa]

Took the feisty beastie for her jabs today.
Her heart is still good but she is losing weight again. Never a big cat..she's a dainty torty under a heap of fluffy long hair.
But she IS still getting thinner, and the vet says she has very little muscle mass now, which explains why she doesn't jump on the kitchen worktop any more (for which I am grateful )
No apparent kidney issues, thankfully.
But when she is snoozing...which she does 22 hours a day now, she is so skinny she looks flat!
She still purrs as soon as you touch her , still bites after 4 strokes and still slaps me awake every morning, but it is plain to see that she is OLD. I always thought she'd make it to 20 but I doubt that now...she's 17.5

I have been feeding her anything she wants... boiled egg, chicken, tuna.. mussels . Is there anything else I can give her that is fattening ? She won't touch cat food any more..just licks the jelly off.
I was able to pick her up off the bed (here she was this morning) and stuff her in her basket without a fight. THAT makes me sad as she always used to shred me in the process!

I think I'm just raging at the unfairness that I won't have her forever. :(

Meant to add a pic...

Presume the vets have done bloods to rule out a medical cause?

Also, if she is only having human food she will need supplementing with taurine - without it cats eventually are at risk of developing a serious heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy.

When ours have been off their food we've had some success tempting them with foods like cosma and applaws wet (but again these aren't complete foods so need supplements in addition.)

Yes she has had blood tests...nothing picked up. She does nibble at Royal Canin sensitive dry ( which is meant to be a complete food) so vet said it was ok to just let what ever else she fancies... pretty much any food is better than none. I think she is simply winding down tbh :(

Bless you Medusa I don't know what to say . You know Portia best so go with what you feel. If she seems comfortable then just spoil your girl rotten. This is the awful part of pet ownership .

How about lick e lix? Does Portia like that? Duck with crispy skin? Salmon?

I'm sorry that your feisty old lady is getting on Medusa.

I was going to suggest skin (chicken) too. Is Portia lactose tolerant? If she is you could try some double cream, full fat soft cheese, cook things in butter etc. Also could replace her biscuits with kitten ones? More calorific and seem to be more tempting.

My old cat likes cheddar cheese, no idea if it's bad for cats, I only discovered she liked it when she stole my sandwich! Now she gets a tiny bit every now and then.

Has she had her thyroid levels checked? My little one has been very ill and lost lots of weight due to having hyperthyroidism

My advice is don't worry too much, she is old and it may be natural changes that are happening in the same way we as humans have things happen in old age that aren't medical just age related.

Just look after her, feed her anything she fancies, make sure she isn't unhappy or in pain and adjust how you treat her to what she tells/shows you she needs. Do this until it's time to make the hardest decision you will ever face but you will face it because you love her and will always do what is best even when it devastates you. Before that time comes though enjoy her and help her to enjoy you/life.