cat ceases meowing

Question
Hi Dr. I have 16 year old Cat (Tiger) and last week we noticed him opening his mouth wide and gagging, as if trying to regurgitate, not often, but none the less troubling,,,we first thought furball, but after several days eliminated it as a cause; he also stopped meowing (and he was a very vocal cat)...he eats fine, uses his box on a regular basis and drinks fine,,,he has lost weight, but we attribute that to his age. We have hesitated bringing to the Vet, for he is otherwise fine...he head buts and purrs and everything he has always done except for going silent....any guesses??..thank you Nick

Answer
Without an exam I could not begin to tell you what is wrong.  There are things like bad painful teeth, fluid in the chest, or some metabolic problem causing this.  If he is not losing any weight, then it is probably nothing very serious.  If it continues, I would recommend having him checked.