Is it Normal for a Cat to Lose Weight in Canton, GA?
If you have a cat, you might not always be sure if your cat is feeling well or not. Cats can hide when they are dealing with health issues until they are quite severe, which can lead to cat owners needing to guess if their cat is healthy or not. Your cat’s weight can tell you a lot about their overall well-being, which is why you should be paying attention to this factor of your cat’s health on a daily basis.
While you do not need to weigh your cat every day to check on their health, you should have some idea about what their weight looks like to the naked eye. This can help you to tell if your cat has lost weight and help you to pay attention to other possible signs of health issues. Cat weight loss, especially when abrupt, is not normal and could be a sign that your cat is having health problems.
Why Do Cats Lose Weight?
In most cases, your cat should be able to maintain their normal, healthy weight with ease. If you are feeding a quality food and your cat has access to clean water on a daily basis, your cat should not struggle to maintain a healthy body condition. If your cat is getting thin suddenly, there are some health conditions that could be causing this weight loss.
Not all these conditions will respond to treatment, but most of them can be handled with the help of your veterinarian. Any time that your cat loses a lot of weight, you should at least consider taking them to the vet. Even if your pet is not showing any other signs of feeling poorly, sudden weight loss is not normal and can be a sign of various health issues that will necessitate a trip to the vet.
1. Oral Health Issues
Cats with loose teeth, dental disease, or broken teeth can be in too much pain to eat. These kinds of conditions can also lead to heart issues and systemic infections, which you will want to be sure to avoid. If your cat has stopped eating or appears to be hungry but unwilling to eat, you should take them to the vet to be checked out. Your cat might need teeth pulled, or they might need a full teeth cleaning to alleviate their dental issues.
2. Kidney Disease
Cats of all ages can be impacted by kidney disease, although it’s much more common in older animals. It can be possible to treat kidney disease in cats, especially when it is identified early. You will want to be sure that you check for signs of dehydration or excessive drinking, as well as changes in litterbox behavior or use if you think that your cat’s kidneys might be the reason for their weight loss. Kidney disease can be managed with medication, at-home hydration, and supportive dietary changes.
3. Thyroid Issues
Some cat breeds are more prone to this health issue than others, but all cats can suffer from thyroid issues. You should look for sudden, severe weight loss as well as excessive grooming behavior, skin issues, and changes in energy and appetite. Thyroid issues can often be treated quite easily, and your vet can diagnose and advise a course of treatment for this condition. Most cats can be managed for years on medications and with dietary changes.
4. Anxiety
Some cats can become quite anxious when their living situation changes or when you get a new pet. Some cats might just be anxious by nature. Anxiety can lead to your cat being too worried to eat or drink enough, which can result in weight loss. There are lots of ways to improve anxiety in cats, and your vet can help you to create a treatment plan for this condition.
5. Cancer
Animals that get cancer almost always lose weight at a dramatic rate. You might have felt like your cat looked healthy one day and then was suddenly much too thin a day later. This is often a key sign that your pet might have cancer, and you should take them to the vet right away if you notice this kind of weight loss. Cancer can be treatable if it is caught early, but not all cancers will respond to treatment. The more that you know about your cat’s potential cancer, the easier it will be to make a plan for care and treatment of this condition.
6. Having Kittens
Cats that have just had kittens and are nursing will sometimes lose weight while they are caring for their young. This can be normal and should not be an immediate cause for concern, but you should be worried if your cat does not start to pick weight up again once she is done nursing her kittens. Make sure that your cat with kittens is being fed enough food and that the food she is being fed is balanced for nursing cats. Your vet can help you to build a feeding plan for your cat if you need some support with this need.
Cat Weight Loss Can be a Sign of Health Concerns
If your cat has been losing weight, you should be sure that you take them to the vet. It is always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to checking out your cat’s health. Your vet can rule out many serious conditions and help you to figure out a way to make sure that your cat can gain weight and get back to feeling well again.
Cats need to have some body fat to maintain organ health, so you will want to be sure that you do not ignore your cat’s weight loss once you are aware that there has been a change.
If your cat is experiencing weight loss give your Riverstone Animal Hospital vet a call at (770) 479-7141 today!