My cat is 11 and has been loosing alot of weight. She acts and eats like normal. What could be causing this?

Question

We have also got a new kitten who bugs the heck out of her. So could stress cause her weight loss? She was not in any means an over weight cat she weighed 10 lbs and now you can feel many of her bones sticking out and you can tell just by looking at her that she is super thin. She has always been healthy and my other 3 cats are fat. So what is going on?

Answer 1

Worms probably.

Answer 2

Take the cat to the vet for a check up. She is a senior now, so regular checkups are even more important. Stress causes weight loss by disrupting the cat's eating patterns - if she's still eating as normal it isn't stress.

Losing weight while still eating well is a classic sign of hyperthyroidism, a very common condition in older female cats. It can be controlled with tablets, and it needs to be or it will end up affecting the cat's heart. See your vet - and I would get some advice about the overweight cats too if you want them to live a long life.

Chalice

Answer 3

THYROID. Whenever an old cat has unexplained weight loss a blood test should be done that includes a thyroid check.
Also- I have a 15 year old who wasn't putting on weight like he
should be & it turned out his kidneys are failing, and he was skinny due to lack of fluids.
I thought cats lived until 20 but it turns out average age is 10 to 12, and 15-20 is a good long life for a cat.
Please do a blood panel. 11 is definitely a senior citizen, and it may be she just needs thyroid pills a couple times a day
(Thyroid stuff is really common in old cats) or fluid support.

Answer 4

Hi,

The first step is to have her evaluated by a vet. While it is possible that stress from the new kitten may be causing her to drop weight, but if she is super thin something else may be going on. Just a couple of possibilities are parasites (she may need to be wormed), dental problems...sore teeth may make it uncomfortable to eat....an underlying illness that you do not know about.

So, vet appointment is suggested.

Wendy S.

Answer 5

Take her to the vet - diabetes, kidney disease, hyperthyroidism are all common in a cat this age and can be easily diagnosed with bloodwork.
Deworming is also a good idea as well (though worms are much less likely to be causing her weight loss) seeing as there is a new kitten in the house who could easily be shedding worms.
So, take her to the vet to get some basic bloodwork including a thyroid screen and deworm all pets (dogs and cats) in the household.

Answer 6

She could be diabetic. Both my cats started to lose weight ( at different times) and it turned out they were diabetic. The vet can do a simple blood test to check. It fairly common in older cats.

Answer 7

first is she a indoor cat who never goes outside as are the other cats? if not got all her shots. I'm not sure it could be stress but my cat kiki who we had to put down about two years ago had the same symptoms at first. she was a indoor cat all the time as is our other cat violet who is 12 now violet was given birth to by kiki. anyway those symptoms kiki had for a short while then later on when you touched her she would yowl in pain. turned out she was getting bone spurs and her spine bones were disappearing and her stomach the acid in it was eating her stomach. you might want to get your cat checked out at the vets for anything wrong but i hope its just stress and shell be ok

Answer 8

take a photo of yourself each week so you can see your physical transformation

Answer 9

Add extra few minutes to a workout

Answer 10

Eat an apple instead of bottled juice

Answer 11

She might have worms. Take her to the vet and have her looked at. And try to keep her in a non stressful environment. The kitten might have something to do with it but you should take you cat to the vet