Poor appetite

Hello,
My kitten has a very poor appetite. Any suggestion on how to naturally increase her appetite? She weighs 6 lbs and eats 1 3/4 to 2 cans of Kitten Wellness 3oz cans per day. Her mother is ferrel and I rescued her at 4 wks.
She's been dewormed twice, does not know how to drink water (tongue does not lap water), & is VERY (sunken) thin. She is very active, playful, responsive, personable. Her coat is shiny, clear eyes, excellent teeth, good gum colour, not in heat, and my Vet said her health is excellent. I am concerned because she only eats a bite here and there, then runs off and plays or lays down.  She never eats a "meal".  Anything will distract her from her food and she doesn't go back to it. The Wellness Kitten states she should be eating 4 cans given her weight & age, and at 31 weeks, should be eating 3 cans. I've tried increasing her appetite with canned salmon; fresh cooked fish eg: sole, pickeral, halibut; beef steak & roast; chicken; bacon; soft cooked egg; cottage cheese; kitten milk; but none of this works. No matter what it is she'll only eat a bit or two at best, and it has no positive effect on increasing her appetite. Wellnes Kitten canned food alone also does not increase her appetite. I've tried other high-end brands but she eats this brand the best. She has no allergies to cream. She will eat butter, but probably no more than 1/4-1/2 tsp.  I have not spayed her yet & want to wait till a little older.  She is an only cat and ours is an adult household. Any advice on how to get her to eat more on a daily basis?

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

The fact that she is unable to lap water and is distracted easily may be due to a congenital problem with her central nervous system and/or the nerves that control the tongue.  

Your veterinarian can give you prescription medications that may help to increase her appetite, such as cyproheptidine, or Mirtazipine.  Luckily,  by giving canned food only she should be able to get enough liquid.  Some cats are small eaters though,  and she sounds as if she is normal in every other way except for the bit of kitty ADHD.

Additionally, since she has a problem with her tongue, she may also have a problem with  her sense of smell.  It might help if you warmed up the food slightly, and alternately, introduced a small amount of the food to her mouth so that she can taste it, which may help to stimulate eating more.