help needed please

hi ya , My mums cat is 16 years old but over the last month he has lost a lot of weight. other than that he is eating well , purring lots and still seems ok. Sometime when he is eating he will stop and just stares at his food which seems weird with his head down .Also he is making a grinding sound while eating ? Its his weight that we are worried about really he is in at the vets tomorrow so hopefullythey will shine a light on this but thought in the mean time i would ask if anyone elses cat had something similar. thanks for any help on this . Louise

The vet will be able to better pinpoint what is happening as it could be all sorts of things. If he is eating ok, it could be his thyroid is out of whack and that is very treatable. Also, the vet will check his teeth as problem teeth can cause cats to not eat as well.

thanks for that , i know its hard to tell over the pc but that may help to put our minds at ease till then . thanks again. louise

Is he eating anything? If not, can you try giving him some strong-smelling canned food or finger feeding him? Good luck with the vet appointment tomorrow--keep us updated.

Since he is 16 years old, it would be wise to have a geriatric blood panel done on him. You need to find out why he has had such a significant weight loss. Weight loss with a good appetite can signal hyperthyroid, grinding teeth and weight loss is often a symptom of renal disease...there are many different conditions that bloodwork can diagnose. Good luck to you and your kitty!

Pookie & the girls

Oh I hope they can find a simple solution for your Mum`s cat.
I know my sister has an older cat that was losing a lot of weight. She`d always given him mostly dry cat food.....and when he acted not so intrested in eating, and the vet could`nt find anything really wrong with him except for old age, and that possibly his sense of small was`nt up to what it used to be, she suggested my sister buy some Sheba canned cat food for him because it has a stronger smell. She did and it seemed to do the trick for him. That was 2 years ago , and although he is still quite a thin old fella, he did put some weight back on and is doing well on it.
I hope it is something that simple for your older guy too.
Linda

thanks all for your kind words. yes he is eating wet food 3 times a day and other tip bits like chicken ham and tuna.He was very over weight before he lost the weight and now you can feel his back bone which isnt nice.It all started really when my mum went away for 2 weeks she had a kitty care lady going in twice a day to feed and look after him as he is to old to take to a cattery ,so weather it was him pining for her i dont know . She weighed him when she got back with the weight lost to keep her eye on it and within one week he had put 1 pound on and also this week another pound, but she says he still seems to be very distant, stares into space alot which he never did before. Like you all say hopefully the vet will have the answer .She is just very worried they will say they need to put him to sleep. !!!!!!

When she takes him to the vet be sure she tells him about , not only the weight loss, and the fact that she was gone 2 weeks when it started, but also the fact that his has gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks since she`s been back.
I`m not sure what`s going on with him....but gaining a pound a week sounds like an awful lot to me for a cat. Knowing this may help the vet to figure out just what his problems is.
Linda
PS Say a 10 pound cat gained a pound in a week....that would be = to a 100 pound person gaining 10 pounds in one week...and that seems quite excessive to me.

hi mum has just got back from the vets with fluffy they have said he has a growth the size of a golf ball. There is nothing they can do, she has brought him home as they said he otherwise seems well as he is eating and purring.The vet squeezed the growth and he didnt even cry?I think the growth is cancer but they didnt say. They never said how long he would have , does anyone know how long he could last as my mum is devastated?Thanks to you all for your help on this. Louise

Louise, I'm sorry the news isn't good. It is hard to say how long because it depends on the growth and how it progresses. Now is the time to spoil the little darling and your mum to enjoy the time she has left with him.