Weight loss

[mruffruff]

A week ago, I took an older cat into my cat room to stay for a while. She is 15 years old and her dad is in the Air National Guard. She had been staying at his house, alone, while he was away on duty. I originally was supposed to feed her and clean the litter pan every day. Unfortunately, the house was so over run with fleas, I refused to go into it again.

I took her to her regular vet for annual shots and a flea-killer called Capstar. The vet said she had lost about 2 pounds in the year before her last exam and another 2 1/2 pounds this year. This means she only weighs 6.6 pounds.

She has been eating well, mostly wet food.

The vet doesn't seem to have a clue about why she's losing weight. He wants to do a complete blood workup. Other than cancer, I don't know of anything that causes a loss.

I am hoping that a better schedule of feeding and some company (both human and feline) will do her good. She needs to go back to the vet for a booster in 2 weeks. I hope she gains something by then.

Does anyone know what could cause a weight loss like this? I doubt that her Dad wants to go for the blood work. He wants her back home as soon as he eliminates the fleas.

Mary

[wolflady]

Hello mruffruff. There could be many reasons for weight loss. Unfortunately, it is a very common side affect of many diseases. Have you noticed if she's drinking more water than usual? Diabetes could be a cause of weight loss, and extra water intake is a sure fire sign of that. Also, could be be having a reaction to fleas? It could be that she's allergic to them, and they're causing her to feel ill and not want to eat.

A blood workup is probably the best way to go to determine what is really going on. I hope she improves and gets better soon! Good luck and keep us posted!
**hugs**

[K & L]

http://www.petsdoc.com/html/askthevet/askthevetquestions/elderlyfelineweightloss.html

[mruffruff]

Thank you for the replies.

She has not been drinking a lot, nor peeing a lot; Diabetes was the first thing I thought of because my dog is diabetic. The vet mentioned a possiblity of tooth problems at the base of her back teeth, but couldn't see anything. She didn't have any obvious signs of tapeworms (rice) and she's been thoroughly dewormed. She still is doing a good job of grooming and she runs her motor (purrs) whenever I pet her.

I doubt that her owner will want to do a blood test. I'll certainly lobby for a full blood panel.

I didn't realize that older cats need different nutrients. I'll look for some special food for her this week end.

She's really a sweet little old lady. I never would have guessed she was so old. She still has the hiss to keep the others at bay :)

Mary

[slick]

I've looked after two other older kitties in my time and I noticed that the older they got the more they pooped and the skinnier they got. These two kitties did get a clean bill of health at the vets so I assumed it's part of the aging process. Good article that K&L referred you to. Make sure there is no medical reasons for the weight loss first.

Very sweet picture! Give some scruntchies from me please.

[mruffruff]

Well, I got a surprise yesterday. Daddy said to go ahead with the blood panel, "whatever is necessary for my little girl".

Dale has an appointment for Saturday, the 28th. And he said to buy her whatever food I thought she needed!

I've been trying to get a good picture of her, but black cats are hard to capture properly. This is all I have at the moment.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid65/p267d5aa0c4a83dc041c2d9494f0750a6/fbe6fd69.jpg

Mary

[K & L]

That is wonderful news! Please let us know how everything goes!

[jenluckenbach]

She's beautiful. I hope you can find out what will help her.