I adopted a cat from an animal rescue in February. She had been there two years. She is 3 yrs old. she doesn't like other cats. I tried to integrate her into my "herd" (have five others) but she got picked on by my normally sweet timid female and chased by some of the others. She took over my bedroom (always sleeping on the bed) but had to run downstairs to use the litter box. I would feed her separately. About a month ago I decided it was too stressful for her to have to run to the basement to use the litter box so I put a litter box in my attached bathroom and shut the bedroom door. She seemed happier with this arragement for a few weeks. I went on vacation for a week and had someone house sitting for me. It was reported that my secluded cat would only eat dry food that week.

I have noticed she is looking thin (my other cats are all around 10 plus lbs and she is 8 something. I tried feeding her different types of foods but she just nibbles and walks away. Tried catnip (heard it can be an appetite stimulant) but that seemed to cause her to eat even less.

She does eat so its not as though she's starving herself but she just licks the gravy from canned food or nibbles on a few crunchies. When I feed her in the morning often she doesn't even get up to look at the food. I will put it on the bed in front of her and she eats two bites and walks away. I thought maybe she was depressed or lonely so I put my least aggressive sweet baby cat in there with her. She seemed interested in this for a few days (she perked up) and now she's back to being miserable and grouchy and not eating much at all.

I took her to the vet last week and she found nothing wrong with her. Did a stool sample test for bacteria and everything was negative. Vet gave me an antibioitic to give her "just in case" there was something she didnt' catch. I'm worried about giving her the antibiotic if the cat doesn't need it because it can cause loose stools and mess up the normal good bacteria in her stomach. So I gave her two doses and stopped. Vet now says we can put her on an appetite stimulant-mirtazapine- but I've read some things about it that I don't like. the cat weighs 8.2 lbs. Vet said she is healthy and she can feel fat pads around her underarms and back. Just doesn't carry fat on her stomach the vet told me.

My other cats all beg and plead for their dinner and breakfast and maybe that is why I'm so worried because this one seems to care less if you feed her or not. she does seem to eat more at night (when its dark). Any ideas?