My can's appetite has significantly increased for the past 3 weeks and seems to continue to increase but she is losing weight. She is 11 years old. I don't see any worms n her behind. Any ideas? She is also coming inside a lot more now. She is 7 pounds where she is usually 8 or 9 so it's not that huge of a weight loss, but with the significant appetite increase I feel something is off.
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Cat appetite has significantly increased but she is losing weight
- Thread starter KathyS
- Start date
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- Jun 15, 2017
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- 1,645
Medical disease challenges is a perfect place, Kathy.
Good for you to realize these symptoms are a clue to a deeper imbalance.
Have you created your holistic health care team yet? A local holistic, or sort of holistic, or a conventional vet who is open to you trying non-drug approaches and is fear free, or a mobile cat vet? That will be an important step at this point. This article will help you create the veterinary part of your team. Where do you live?
The first step, and @Dr. Jeff will be great at suggesting specific tests, is to get a senior cat blood test. With an 11 year old cat there are many possibilities, so blood tests and a good physical exam are needed. Until the blood work is back, feed as much as she wants to eat. Are you feeding a fresh food diet?
In an 11 year old cat it would be very unlikely to be worms, more likely to be a thyroid problem, or several other issues. The good news is that as a VIP member you will be fully supported in navigating treatment options in addition to the most important one - the happiness protocol. Double up on your attention, doing anything fun you know she likes, and trying new ones.
Keep us posted, schedule your VIP call with Dr. Jeff, be sure to read or re-read the 101 course.
Dr. Christina
Good for you to realize these symptoms are a clue to a deeper imbalance.
Have you created your holistic health care team yet? A local holistic, or sort of holistic, or a conventional vet who is open to you trying non-drug approaches and is fear free, or a mobile cat vet? That will be an important step at this point. This article will help you create the veterinary part of your team. Where do you live?
The first step, and @Dr. Jeff will be great at suggesting specific tests, is to get a senior cat blood test. With an 11 year old cat there are many possibilities, so blood tests and a good physical exam are needed. Until the blood work is back, feed as much as she wants to eat. Are you feeding a fresh food diet?
In an 11 year old cat it would be very unlikely to be worms, more likely to be a thyroid problem, or several other issues. The good news is that as a VIP member you will be fully supported in navigating treatment options in addition to the most important one - the happiness protocol. Double up on your attention, doing anything fun you know she likes, and trying new ones.
Keep us posted, schedule your VIP call with Dr. Jeff, be sure to read or re-read the 101 course.
Dr. Christina
Dr. Christina, Thank you! Yep I was able to get her in to see the vet for blood work and an exam tomorrow as they are going to work her in between appointments. This is not a holistic vet, but an honest one and I can at least get some type of baseline.
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- Feb 23, 2017
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Yes!
Perfect, an exam and fasted general wellness/"senior" panel including t4 and free t4 is a great place to start.
Feel free to include the test results in this thread when you receive them.
BTW - is your kitty drinking more or less than usual?
My cat is drinking a lot less water than usual and the blood work and thyroid tests look normal. But I'm not sure what blood work they did and she didn't fast before she had the labs. Everything on the blood work was normal except the EOS was slightly high at 1.0. the vet said it's possible she could be needing more food due to some nutritional deficiency and recommended feeding her more and waiting about 3 weeks and then looking at the possibility of an ultra sound--which is very expensive. She is eating more than ever: 2 very large bowls of food right after coming home. before she never did that And she ate before she left. I'm feeding her mostly stella and chewys salmon and chicken raw freeze dried food with a little water and also feeing her some wellness pate wet food. should I start her on vitamins. They stated she only lost 1/2 pound since they last saw her which was 2017.
it looks like the vet did
Thyroid
- A full CBC
- A full chemistry panel
- Kidney screening including SDMA
- Thyroid screening (TT4) which incudes the following
- TEST 1
- CREA, BUN, bun crea, phos, CA, TP, ALB, Glob,alb/glob, alt, alkp, ggt, tbil, chol, amyl, lipa,na, k, na/kcl,osm calc,tt4
- and the other test 2
- rbc, hct,hgb, mcv, mch, mchc,rdw, %retic, retic, wbc, %neu, %lym, %mono, %eos, %baso, neu, lym, mono, Eos, baso, plt, mpv, pdw, pct
- SDMA
- CREA (Creatinine)
- BUN
- BUN/CREA ratio
- PHOS (Phosphorus)
- GLU (Glucose)
- TP (Total Protein)
- ALB (Albumin)
- GLOB (Globulin)
- ALB/GLOB ratio
- ALT
- ALKP
- GGT
- TBIL (Total Bilirubin)
- AMYL (Amylase)
- LIPA (Lipase)
- Na (Sodium)
- K (Potassium)
- Na/K ratio
- Osmolality calculation
- Calcium
- Cholesterol
Thyroid
- TT4 (Total T4)
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- Feb 23, 2017
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Yes, depending on her TT4 level.
Hyperthyroid cats can have normal tt4. However free t4 catches these individuals.
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