elderly cat losing weight

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I am very worried about my Porky, some 18.5 years. She seems to be losing more weight. She takes thyroid medicine. Her appetite is OK. If she goes to an empty food bowl, I offer her things. Sometimes she's fussy, but she eats and drinks. She's maybe walking a little stiffly? She's always been crotchety, and she warns Boots off if he gets near her. I have a vet appointment Thursday AM.   

[Maura]

Porky is very old. Most cats don't live that long. Your vet might recommend a different cat food at this point. She may need a calcium or cal-mag supplement if she can't get enough from her food.

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May 28, 2019 16:32:26 GMT Maura said:

Porky is very old. Most cats don't live that long. Your vet might recommend a different cat food at this point. She may need a calcium or cal-mag supplement if she can't get enough from her food.

Thanks for that and the suggestion. I do need to keep my perspective. She is very old, but seems so resilient. I want to give her every chance. If the vet doesn't suggest it, I will ask about a blood panel. They were shocked a year ago December at how "average" her blood work was. She had a bottle cap-sized cancer removed from near her sternum.

I am going to make it a point to watch while the three eat. Boots will gobble his, then try to eat Hisser's portion of wet food or bits of people food. He doesn't actively take Porky's, but it may be she wanders off to avoid him. There is always dry food available free-choice. I can easily enough give her small extra meals, too.     

[christie]

Her thyroid meds may need to be adjusted. My cat, 16 years old, is on the lowest dose pill 2x per day. Vet said that most cats end up on the higher dose pill at some point. My cat dropped 1.5 lbs (she gained all the weight she lost due to her thyroid plus some "extra" then dropped some weight). She did feel better and does go outside for about 20-30 minutes in the morning. However she is slowing down.

But it may not be Porky's thyroid. I take my cat in twice a year to have her blood checked. She is getting arthritis in her lower spine and has permanent damage from an injury she suffered 8 years ago. She too is a resilient old gal but like humans, the body wears down. There is a high calorie wet food you can buy from the vet.

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Thank you, Christie. Porky has only been on thyroid med some 3 months. The vet noticed Porky's heart rate didn't settle down during a check-up and suggested testing just in case. She was retested after a month. She gets 1/2 tab twice a day. She stopped accepting chewables, so I am now using the regular tab, also 1/2 2x, in Greenie pill pockets.

I bought some Sheba, and offered Porky "lunch". She went straight through two little containers, plus a dab of tuna and some chopped boiled egg. She was ready to eat again when I got home from work. She just ate 1.5 containers this AM. It would be $$$ to feed just that commercial food. I'm hoping it's as simple as she's not eating enough even though there's food around, but I am prepared to hear it's more.

[christie]

Back in the day, there wasn't a lot of variety in cat food. The cat from my childhood/teen years, seemed to get bored of most flavors. Towards the end of his life, he basically ate one flavor of canned cat food. It was the STINKIEST flavor - I suspect his sense of smell had decreased in his old age and STINKIEST is what he could still smell. So perhaps a topping of "smelly stuff" lol will encourage her to eat. I offer tuna cat food (or some other fish flavor - NO gravy stuff as one cat tends to regurgitate gravy cat food) once a week. During Lent, they get it on Friday

[willowgirl]

Take a stool sample if you can. Could be tapeworm! One of my "shared"(with the neighbor) cats at the old farm started getting skinny last summer. She was 11, so I figured maybe it was age-related ... that's a pretty good run for an outdoor cat! But I wormed her (twice I think) and now she's a butterball again.

[LauraD]

Could also be kidney disease or diabetes

[christie]

May 29, 2019 19:35:30 GMT willowgirl said:

Take a stool sample if you can. Could be tapeworm! One of my "shared"(with the neighbor) cats at the old farm started getting skinny last summer. She was 11, so I figured maybe it was age-related ... that's a pretty good run for an outdoor cat! But I wormed her (twice I think) and now she's a butterball again.

Or roundworm - my other cat killed a rabbit. This always means worms, usually tapeworm. I took a stool sample in, negative. She's a lean cat to begin with and was looking a bit leaner (I have Laurel and Hardy cats lol) but I didn't see any indication of tapeworm. Her annual checkup was a week later, brought in another sample. Vet tech said "we just tested" and I said test again. Vet treated her with a topical, just in case. Just as I was leaving, the vet came out and said "you were right - roundworm". And since the cats do share a litter box, I had to treat the old cat. Thank goodness for topical treatment. Felines of a "certain size" required a pill plus. But topical made it easy for me to treat her at home. I told her "don't be mad at me, be mad at the other cat!"

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Update: Porky has lost more weight. Not as much as my baby scale showed. I'm going to weigh her again today to see just how different my scale is from the vet's. He said that between the weight loss and that her heart rate is still fast, I should up the thyroid medication and bring her back in a month. No blood draw this time. Let her eat what she'll eat, and keep an eye out that the others don't take her share. Watch for any other changes. Practical and reassuring.

[christie]

I concur with upping the thyroid meds. My vet described my cat's thyroid issue as "like drinking caffeine all day". Cat takes 2.5 mg pill 2x per day. Her thyroid was 11.4 when she was first diagnosed.

[countrymom22]

Glad you're getting good news. I always fear the worst with the old timers. Hopefully upping her dosage will help and she'll gain back the weight she lost soon.

Isn't it so reassuring to have a vet you can trust? I love my guy!