The Tails of Truth Podcast:

Why Is My Senior Cat Losing Weight? A Vet Explains

When a senior cat starts losing weight, it’s tempting to blame it on age. Dr. Angie and JoJo make the case that it’s never just normal. They answer the questions cat parents search for most: why senior cats lose weight, how much weight loss is too much, and whether kidney disease is really to blame. Dr. Angie walks through the workup she uses several times a week, from blood work and ultrasound to the hard decision between a diet change and steroids. She also explains why a $30 (turns out they're closer to $50...yikes!) baby scale may be the most useful tool a senior cat parent can own.

Weigh your senior cat at home with a baby scale Dr. Angie recommends. 

Key Takeaways

  • Losing one pound is a big change for a 10-pound cat. It’s about 10 percent of their body weight.
  • Unexplained weight loss, with no change in diet or lifestyle, is the kind that needs a vet visit.
  • Weigh your senior cat once a month at home with an inexpensive baby scale, starting as early as age 8 to get a baseline.
  • Call your vet after half a pound of unexplained weight loss, whatever your cat’s size.
  • Blood work comes first, to check for hyperthyroidism, diabetes and kidney disease.
  • Early kidney disease (stage 1 or 2) is unlikely to be the only cause of significant weight loss. In Dr. Angie’s experience, intestinal disease is often the real culprit.
  • An abdominal ultrasound looks at intestinal thickness and lymph nodes. An endoscopy is the only way to tell IBD from lymphoma, but many families can’t afford one, and that’s okay.
  • When a cat is losing a lot of weight, Dr. Angie starts steroids first. When weight is stable, she tries a novel protein or GI diet first.
  • Steroids don’t have to be for life. If they don’t help, you can taper your kitty off of them.
  • From her practice experience, cats managed with diet alone may still need steroids later in life.
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Sound Bites

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  • “Your cat has to have very advanced kidney disease for it to be the main cause of weight loss.” ~ Dr. Angie 

  • “Sometimes I think there’s a frustration in not getting a diagnosis sooner.” ~ JoJo

  • “There are some things that Western medicine just does a really excellent job at treating. And severe inflammatory bowel disease is one of them.” ~ Dr. Angie

  • “No shame if you didn’t see the weight loss. It happens to the best of us.” ~ JoJo 

  • “I felt like such a failure as an integrative veterinarian that like I couldn’t fix it with herbs.” ~ Dr. Angie

  •  “Cat marketing is so expensive. Babies are cheap.” ~ JoJo

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