The weight of animals always raises doubts among owners, whether they have an overweight cat at home or live with a very thin one. But, many times, the changes in the weight of our animal are indicating the presence of some hidden disease and, therefore, it is an indicator that we cannot ignore.
In this article on our site we want to explain what causes may exist when the cat eats well but is very thinWhy happens? It's one of the most frequently asked questions in veterinary practice, and then we're going to answer it.
Weight loss in cats
When we have an overweight animal at home, it is always easier to put it on a diet, since it will eat what we give it, but what happens if it eats the same as always and loses weight? Here we have a problem. If you lose 10% of your weight in a short period of time, we could be facing a serious problem.
Weight loss is not a disorder in itself but it can be an indicator of another disease that our animal is suffering from. In any case, the cat can not only lose weight due to illness, but also due to psychological stress or changes in diet. We will detail below the possible causes of your weight loss.
Simple causes
We will start with the simplest things that we sometimes overlook. We can have a very energetic cat and it is very difficult for him to settle for what we give him to eat. He usually turns around and doesn't eat, so sometimes we opt for less nutritious foods and lose weight. They are cats that play a lot, jump, run and sleep little. In these cases, we should increase the portions or choose a more nutritious food for them and see if they continue without gaining weight or, on the contrary, begin to regain their ideal weight.
psychological stress is usually one of the main reasons why your cat eats well but is very thin. It may be due to changes in the habitat such as moving, abandonment of a member of the household family, whether animal or human, many hours of solitude or, on the contrary, too much activity in a house where there was none. This happens a lot in the homes of grandparents who spend a season with their grandchildren and the cats are forced to have an extra activity that they did not have before. There may be depression due to the death of an owner and/or companion or new family members.
The changes in diet are usually another reason that causes weight loss in the feline. We must keep in mind that even if we do not see diarrhea and/or vomiting, they may be going through internal changes due to the new food. It happens a lot when we switch from commercial feed to homemade food. Habits tend to change, since in homemade food we force them to eat when we put the plate and we don't leave it there all day so that they eat when they are hungry, as happens with dry feed.
Diseases that can cause the cat to be very thin
In general, when disease-associated weight loss occurs, it is common to witness other symptoms. There may be hair loss or dull fur, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, increased thirst, etc. It is very important to talk to the vet about this and tell him about everything observed, since it will be necessary to look for the cause that is triggering these symptoms.
Although there are several pathologies that can cause the cat to eat well but be very thin, the most common are usually the following endocrine diseases:
- Mellitus diabetes
- Hyperthyroidism
Normally both are associated with cats over 6 years old.
In addition to the above conditions, there may also be digestive problems from the mouth, such as missing teeth, tooth infections or gums, etc., even throughout the digestive tract, such as stomach ulcers, inflammation, stomach or intestinal gas. There may also be presence of tumors that do not yet show symptoms other than decreased body weight. Likewise, there may be the beginning of kidney failure, which if we are not careful, can lead to chronic kidney failure with everything that this disease brings over the years.
Diagnosis and treatments
When we detect that our cat is losing weight we must go to the vet to carry out the corresponding tests. We must tell him about the possible simple causes that fit our feline so that he can consider them in the clinical history and determine the best treatment to follow.
Surely, the veterinarian will perform a blood test and, perhaps, a urine test to make the diagnosis, and rule out or confirm the presence of the aforementioned diseases. If finally the cause that explains why the cat eats well but is very thin is a disease, the specialist will be in charge of stipulating the best treatment to combat it.
