The cat has lost weight and sheds a lot, but eats well: what is the reason

Physiology

At different periods of its existence, a cat moves differently. The resulting calories from a small kitten are spent on the growth of bones and muscles; the remaining calories are required for play.

The body of older cats may dry out due to age and for some other reasons, including:

• illnesses and stress;
• lack of vitamins;
• lost teeth;
• parasites.

Owners of older cats should closely monitor their condition and take them to the veterinarian if necessary.

Normal weight

On average, an adult animal should weigh from 3 to 8 kg. Such a cat drinks a lot of fluids, eats, and leads an active life.

The doctor determines the degree of fatness based on the following criteria:

• Exhaustion - the cat has no subcutaneous layer, protruding ribs, a retracted abdomen, and a thin, dense tail.
• Disadvantage - bones and ribs are visually visible, but there is already a small amount of fat. The cat's figure resembles an hourglass.
• The ideal is the presence of a thin subcutaneous layer, the ribs are not visible, but can be easily felt, the body size is proportional.
• Excess – under a thick layer of fat it is almost impossible to feel the bones. If you look at the cat from above, the back appears broad.
• Dangerous excess - bones cannot be felt, folds are present on all parts of the body.

Description

In the first years of life, a young male or female cannot, by definition, gain weight. The kitten's skeleton is forming and its body is stretching. Young cats are constantly playing, jumping and moving - they burn calories themselves. The older animal has lost weight because it is not as active. The cat should gain weight, but up to a certain limit.

An older cat may lose a lot of weight for the following reasons:

• The cat has lost weight and becomes ill when the animal gets into a stressful situation. Fear and hostility towards a stranger or another pet completely interrupts the appetite. Recovery will take time, but stress for older cats is also a cause of illness. And more serious than the one when the cat lost weight.
• The cat will lose weight and stop eating and drinking if its teeth are in poor condition. An old cat may lose them altogether. It is recommended to buy specialized food that does not cause problems for an elderly animal and contains additional strengthening vitamins.
• When a cat has lost a lot of weight and is eating regularly, we can talk about worms. Helminths enter the body through water - not every owner makes sure that there is clean liquid in the cat’s saucer. Your pet may become ill. It is important to carry out timely treatment.

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You can understand why an old cat doesn’t get fat if you start doing periodic tests for vitamin deficiency. As you age, your body needs more and more nutrients. For older individuals, special industrial feeds are produced with mineral inclusions and additives aimed at strengthening the immune system and normalizing metabolic processes.

And besides, cats that are not fed correctly lose weight and shed. Food from the owner’s table, unbalanced “natural” food, cheap food (especially if they are combined with “human” treats) also often become the reason for the pitiful appearance and condition of the pet.

Widely advertised economy-class foods are often made from plant proteins, which are both harmful and insufficiently nutritious for the body of small predators. Despite a good appetite and the appearance of abundant nutrition, cats lose weight and their fluffy coat in this case.

But diagnosing an animal on the Internet is even stupider than guessing on coffee grounds. Only a veterinarian can make a diagnosis and give competent recommendations after a conversation with the owner and examination of the pet. Once again, we would like to note that you should not delay a visit to the clinic: if the cat is very thin and shedding, this is a very alarming signal.

You only need to worry when your cat is actively losing weight and becomes malnourished. In order to determine the degree of thinness of a cat, a special condition scale was developed.

It consists of 5 stages and describes the cat’s condition from obesity to emaciation:

1. Emaciation: in adult animals, the abdomen is strongly retracted, the figure has the appearance of an hourglass. The tail is bony to the touch, without palpable muscle and fat tissue, the ribs are clearly palpable and visible, there is no layer of fat on them. The cat's waist is so narrow that its figure resembles an hourglass.
2. Lack of weight is characterized by maintaining an hourglass figure, all bones are clearly palpable, the stomach is retracted. The amount of fat on the ribs is extremely small.
3. With normal weight indicators, the animal looks slender, the stomach looks toned, and the waist is clearly defined. The ribs can be felt through the thin layer of fat covering them.

Why is a cat losing weight?

Pathology

If a cat eats a lot of food, but loses weight, there are several reasons:

1. Presence of parasites . Worms or helminths can destroy a pet’s body from the inside. Even though the cat eats a lot of food, he continues to lose weight. A cat can become infected with helminths through dirty shoes, unwashed hands, or a dirty litter tray. You can get rid of parasites only by using special medications (treatment is carried out for at least six months).
2. Diseases of internal organs. In diseases, there are two mechanisms for losing weight: lack of appetite and small doses of food consumed; and the process of digestion and absorption of food is disrupted. Endocrine diseases and pathologies of the digestive system lead to weight loss even when eating enough food. Associated symptoms are apathy, hair loss, diarrhea or constipation, etc.
3. Stress. If an animal is stressed for a long time, it may lose weight even with a good appetite. If a cat is depressed, there may be no appetite at all, which also affects weight. Well, you need to wait for the cat to return to normal; neurological disorders require treatment and sedative medications.
4. Infections. Infectious diseases are always accompanied by weight loss. All because the pet refuses food and water. The most common diseases are calcivirosis, rhinotracheitis, viral peritonitis, and panleukopenia. Often these diseases lead to the death of the pet.
5. Tumors. Any malignant neoplasms can cause exhaustion in a cat. The animal has no appetite, hair falls out, and vomiting and diarrhea are possible.
6. Allergy. If there is an allergic reaction, the cat may lose its sense of smell, making it difficult for it to perceive food. She will eat less and lose weight.

Don't forget about vaccinations. Most people believe that if an animal lives in a house, it cannot get sick. We can bring various viruses and infections with clothes or shoes, and cats living at home are more susceptible to them than street cats.

Physiological reasons

The conditions in which the animal is kept also matters. Here the reasons for weight loss can be:

• Mating period. During this time, pets may forget about food and lose body weight. At the end of the period of “festivities” the animal returns to normal. Changes in temperature. In winter, the cat accumulates fat; in summer, the fat is absorbed.
• Pregnancy . During pregnancy, a cat's appetite is always good, but as soon as she starts feeding kittens, she may lose weight. Everything will fall into place as soon as the feeding period is over.
• Feed. A cat's weight directly depends on the quality of food consumed. You cannot suddenly change her diet from dry food to homemade food. Due to menu changes, the pet always loses weight.

Most owners do not check the weight standards for their pet, taking into account its age and breed.

The main reasons for stopping or stunting a kitten's growth

If a kitten has problems, their consequences will become noticeable in the first month of life. The main reasons why a kitten does not grow are:

1. Poor, insufficient nutrition. In the first month of life, a kitten may suffer from a lack of milk from its mother cat. In older age, nutrition is most often simply inadequate; it lacks either nutrients or calories.
2. Unbalanced diet and regimen. When a kitten does not eat well or the normal feeding regime is disrupted, then it gains little weight. In particularly advanced cases, it does not grow at all.
3. Heredity or genetic abnormalities. When getting a purebred kitten, you need to know exactly what diseases it can get from its parents. This will significantly save time when identifying the reasons for poor development and will allow you to quickly decide what to do in the current situation. In addition, it is worth considering what size the pet’s parents were at the same age. It is quite possible that if the kitten is in good health, it does not grow and remains quite small, because its parents were not large either.
4. Viral and infectious diseases. Often, being underweight is a consequence of past illnesses. Infections, affecting the kitten’s fragile body, lead to disruption of the gastrointestinal tract, which impairs the absorption of nutrients. Accordingly, their level in the blood decreases sharply, the organs do not receive enough of the materials they need, and the kitten grows slowly or stops gaining weight altogether.
5. Infection with worms. If a kitten gets worms, this inevitably leads to sad consequences. Whatever the age of the pet, helminthic infestations will always be dangerous to its health and even life. Because of them, the kitten not only grows poorly, but can also die.

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Dangerous and safe symptoms

You shouldn’t worry when your cat is thinner if he has:

1. a certain breed - Bengal, Somali, Abyssinian;
2. active lifestyle;
3. age more than 10 years;
4. change of lifestyle (moving, new litter box, new owner).

If the pet is in a calm state, but is suddenly losing weight, then the symptoms of the disease may be:

• drowsiness;
• At first the cat led an active life, then suddenly became lethargic and apathetic;
• loss of a large amount of hair;
• blood in excrement;
• nausea, constipation or diarrhea;
• heat;
• blanching of the mucous membranes.

When should you not panic?

An animal's activity is the best evidence of health. A cat that constantly plays, runs, sleeps little and constantly asks for food is not at risk and periodically loses weight. The morning amount of food is burned in a matter of hours and therefore in the afternoon the pet will ask for more. But you should not overfeed your cat.

Old cats are already losing interest in games, losing weight, and it’s not a matter of illness. With age, the cat moves and studies less and less, and observes and evaluates more often. The fewer movements, the less energy is burned, and, accordingly, the minimum amount of food will be needed.

Mild poisoning for cats is a common situation, especially if the pet eats the same food as the owner. Diarrhea for two to three days does not indicate a serious illness. If the problem persists for more than a week, it is wise to contact a specialist.

Animals experience stressful situations more difficult than humans, but faster. The appearance of a kitten, puppy, child, scary cat plush toy or new person in the house can completely destroy the appetite and lead to the animal losing weight. There is no need to panic: within a couple of days the cat will return to its usual feeding schedule.

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Treatment

In case of physiological reasons, no measures should be taken . But if there is a pathology, you need to get rid of it as soon as possible.

The cat must be shown to a veterinarian, who will order an examination, blood and stool tests, and x-rays. Once the picture becomes clear, the doctor may prescribe:

1. medicines;
2. vitamin supplements;
3. change of diet;
4. change of activity mode.

Diagnosis of the causes of exhaustion in a cat

Based on the fact that there are a large number of reasons that can cause exhaustion in a cat, the owners of an exhausted cat will need to contact a veterinarian at their veterinary clinic. Veterinary specialists will conduct a clinical examination of your cat and collect a medical history.

• In order to exclude helminthic diseases, feces will be taken for examination in a veterinary laboratory for worms.
• To exclude inflammatory processes and anemia in the cat, a complete clinical blood test will be performed.
• A complete biochemical blood test will be performed to determine the functioning of the liver, kidneys, protein and sugar levels in the blood.
• A urine test will allow your veterinarian to evaluate kidney function, look for protein in the urine, and sometimes detect infection.
• In order to exclude oncological diseases, the presence of foreign bodies in the gastrointestinal tract, fluid in the chest and abdominal cavity, an X-ray of the chest and abdominal cavity will be taken.
• Using an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity, a study of the liver, kidneys, pancreas, and the functional state of the intestines will be performed.
• Your older cat will have your thyroid hormone levels measured.
• Bile acid levels will be measured to assess liver function.

How to feed

If a cat loses body weight, the fault may lie with its owner, who incorrectly compiled his daily menu. There are rules, if followed, the cat’s weight will always be normal:

• Mixing dry food and homemade food is unacceptable. A cat develops one type of digestion, which is aimed either at “artificial” food or at natural food. When feeding dry food, your cat needs more fluid. If you change your diet frequently, your stomach will not be able to adapt in time, and you will begin to lose weight.
• Don't trust advertising. Such well-known brands as Whiskas and Kitiket are not a sign of quality. They are accessible to everyone, but contain attractions. These components are addictive. This is a serious burden for the pet’s stomach and intestines. You can extend your cat's life if you feed him food from a specialized store.

It is necessary to give preference to only one food option, otherwise, in addition to weight loss, various diseases may develop. This is natural food or branded industrial food.

ATTENTION! The packaging must be labeled holistic, premium and supreme. These are classes that indicate that all production standards have been met.

What to feed a cat to gain weight, how many times a day, basic nutritional rules

High-protein food is the main way to fatten a cat. However, do not rush to choose food from the economy segment: the ingredients in these feeds are of low quality (corn, slaughterhouse waste, etc.). They simply will not benefit your pet because they do not provide sufficient nutritional support and also affect how food is digested and how the animal feels and looks.

To avoid buying useless food, always read the ingredients on the packaging. The first ingredient listed must be a clean source of protein (chicken, salmon, rabbit, beef, etc.), but not organ meats or grains. Cats also need an external source of taurine, so pay attention to whether this element is in the food.

Some breeds (for example, Scottish) are prone to food allergies. In this case, it is advisable to select food together with a doctor.

If the cat is thin, the solution to the question of “how to fatten” may be kitten food. These foods are always richer in protein and calories and are usually used in the nutrition of kittens up to one year old, ensuring intensive growth and development. The quality of the feed, again, must be premium.

Natural food

A cat's diet should contain two types of products: meat and fermented milk.

The meat diet must include beef, cut into small pieces. To get vitamins, you need to add vegetables or special additives to the meat. In pet stores you can buy special powders containing all the necessary vitamins.

ATTENTION! Fermented milk products include low-fat cottage cheese and kefir (1%). Cottage cheese should be on a cat’s menu 1-2 times a week.

Grass

If a cat is losing weight, its diet must include green grass. It is necessary to normalize the functioning of the digestive system. The herb contains manganese, zinc, pantothenic acid, and various vitamins that help the body get rid of parasites and strengthen the immune system.

Forcing your cat to intentionally eat more food can be dangerous. Excess weight increases the load, reduces the pet's activity and leads to the development of various diseases.

If you constantly monitor changes in your pet, you can notice the symptoms of the disease in time.

IMPORTANT! Monitor the animal’s weight and lifestyle, feed it the right food. This will not only improve your well-being, but also prolong its life.