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I'm dealing with this right now with my Romeo. He once was a fat 20lb cat he's now down to 12 lbs. He was diagnosed hyperthyroid in March and in June diagnosed IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) or Lymphoma. We are treating it like it is IBD as the diagnosis can't be accurate without surgical biopsy which I won't put him through. Treatment for the two is similar. With IBD they are most likely allergic to a protein or grain in foods they have been eating and you can control it with diet change. We have put him on mostly canned and choosen novel proteins that he hasn't had like Natural Balance Duck, Venison or Rabbit. There is also a brand called Instinct that have these proteins.
I've also found a fish that he likes, Avoderm Sardine, Shrimp and Crab. We tried him on prescription dry to nibble on if he wants, Royal Canin HP or Hills Z/D. He chose he Z/D which I'm not crazy about because it has grain but he seems to be doing fine on it.Cats don't consume enough water to keep their kidneys healthy, canned provides more water content so I don't really care if he eats the dry.
Some people have had success with making the switch to raw diets, I hope you are one of them. I made him some Turkey and mixed in the nutients called Missing Link one day and he walked away from it.
BTW, if your kitty appears nauseous you can try 1/4 pepcid ac tablet, that helped Romeo a lot when he was nauseous and vomiting.
He's now on a dose of prednisolone for the IBD twice daily and Methimazole twice daily for hyperthyroid. I get the prednisolone compounded into a chicken flavored gel so I don't have to pill him and the Methimazole is compounded into a transdermal gel you rub into the flap of his ear that has no hair.
Good luck!

The Hills Z/D prescription does a hydrolysis process that renders the protein (chicken) non allergen. I believe chicken is Romeos allergen or corn, he was raised on Science Diet. I tried the Royal Canin HP, soy is the protein source at first he liked it but changed his mind within a week the other 2 cats without the IBD liked it.
You might try the Natural Balance Duck or Venison dry, it's available at Petco. An allergy to chicken doesn't mean he'd be allergic to all fowl. You can return it if your kitty doesn't like it. Natures Variety makes a Lamb Dry (Praire), my cat liked their canned more, that I can find at Pet Supplies Plus also at a local feed store.
I also feed them Natural Balance Duck & Pea canned & Halo lamb both available at Petco. The Halo I have to smash the peas & carrots or they leave them in the dish. The Avoderm Sardine, shrimp and crab I get at Petsmart. Yes, I go to 3 different pet stores!
Since the dry is the most expensive of all the food, I've started feeding canned 3 times a day this way they don't consume so much dry. They like the fish mixture the most but I don't want that to be the bulk of their diet so that's why I get the Duck & Lamb. If they turn their nose up I just add a little juice from the canned tuna. I don't store any of the food since all three are on the same diet, it's easier for me that way. They didn't have any tummy upset problems the Royal Canin HP is made to switch right away, the Hills Z/D I did slowly the canned it made no difference. You can try and store it in the fridge and warm a little with the micro and see if he'll still eat it. The Natural Balance & Avoderm come in small cans which is nice.
You might want to join the IBD group on yahoo, they've been very helpful.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/FelineIBD/

With food trials sometimes it takes along time to see results. I did canned Lamb only for 2 weeks to make sure it wasn't an allergen. The Avoderm was a suggestion by my vet because most cat canned fish food doesn't have shrimp, crab or sardines they use other fish so the thought is that he wouldn't be allergic to those.
If you run into a problem with your kitty not eating ask your vet about B12 injections, there is more information on that on the yahoo board. I swear by it! It worked with my Romeo as well as his Prednisolone and pepcid ac. I'm finally seeing him put on more weight, it was really scary for a while there.

Hang in there!