Our question this week was:

Dr. Jon - We have a cat that is 20 years old, and just found out that he has an enlarged heart, and is on medication for life. He keeps on losing weight and the veterinarians have ran tests and have no idea why, his fur was rough but is looking better. He is almost skin and bones. Do you have any suggestions?

Sincerely, Linda Leckliter

Answer

Hi – thanks for your email. You wrote asking why your 20-year-old cat is loosing weight. It sounds like your veterinarian ran tests.

Some common reasons older cats loose weight include kidney failure, hyperthyroidism, cancer or other chronic diseases.

Your veterinarian should run blood work, a thyroid level and x-rays of both the abdomen and chest as some screening tests to help determine the underlying cause of your cats weight loss.

An article that might be helpful to you is Weight Loss in Cats. Also – the article links above might be useful.

Best of luck!

Dr. Jon




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