Just to add on here, as you have some good feedback so far .... BUTT
cancer cachexia is a well known phenomenon and a vicious cycle :
don't want to eat ... lose condition ... SO don't want to eat ... etc.
and food avoidance/intolerance/inappetance etc., as mentioned ... ALL play into this
especially when a patient is nauseous and dehydrated = FLUIDS FLUIDS FLUIDS !!!!!!
MY lesson learned as a vet of many years :
feline patients CAN literally starve themselves to death because of food avoidances.
Complex problem, no easy answer BUTT many of the issues MissMolly mentioned play into this, as in ...
feeding site, sight !, feel, smell, taste, location, association with other events ( getting meds in foods ), presence of others ... etc etc etc.
(( feeding rehab felines in the hospital often involves using a "sacrificial food " i.e. one fed in hosp to get them going again BUTT NOT their regular food, because if we feed THAT ... they associate it with the hospital and then go home and WON'T EAT !!! ))
these patients literally kill themselves despite all best efforts
we have had to resort to gastro / PEG tubes to " feed them through their disease " so starvation did not kill them.
My take is : IF oral nutrition is becoming a NON-option ... then adjunct feeding techniques may need to be considered
AND that does not mean someone sitting down and trying to "force feed"
You need expert advice and backup on this if it persists.... AND the liver / jaundice are involved .. see next info please
NEXT :
regarding the "jaundice" / icterus issue :
again as a vet of many years, icterus is generally one of 3 types ... prehepatic, posthepatic or hepatic.
The Kidneys may actually be involved, as human renal processes are actively involved in conjugating and eliminating the toxic wastes which produce jaundice ( bilirubins ) and kidney function must be adequate to excrete what is produced. An overload of "bilirubins" presented to the liver itself, may overwhelm it even if it is functioning normally, and finally the actual liver itself may not be functioning normally even in the absence of the other 2 situations, and unable to process bilirubin for excretion..... ALL leading to the build up of the toxins and clinical jaundice
This is a VERY simplified explanation.... BUTT
This is a
complex problem.
ALL the answers should be in the blood tests and imaging.
IF the Docs don't have that answer, then kick their BUTTS to keep doing more tests and FIND THE ANSWER !!!!!
PM me if you need more info / input / or backup
HARMONY
CRguy on the Journey