Cat loosing weight but thyroid level good?

My cat has a Hyperactive Thyroid and is being treated using Tapazole twice daily, latest blood test showed her at 1, Urine was normal, a bit lacking in Potassium, not diabetic yet she continues to loose weight and is now at 7.2 pounds down from 8.2 last November.

She was lathargic for a couple days but they gave her 150ccs Ringers Lactate Sub and she is perking up but I am very baffled by the weight loss?

She eats raw chicken and canned Natural Balance canned cat food, no dry foods and has always been very fussy.

Any idea why she continues to loose weight?

how much canned and raw are you feeding>? Did you discuss with the vet proper calorie level per day?

when was last blood work ? did it show any organ issues outside the Hyper?

She typically eats 3/4 can a day based on weight which seems pretty close as NB recommends 6oz or 1 can per 8 pounds.
She frequently gets her raw chicken (white as a between meal filler of likely 3 oz a day) so there is plenty of intake it seems.

Her latest blood workup was yesterday, I had them do a complete workup not just a Kidney / T4 and it showed Thyroid a 1, urine and everything else in the normal ranges with exception of Potassium 9 which is an easy adjustment Phosphorus is low normal as well.

This cat (Sissy) is a 16 year old Tabico (half Calico half Tabby) but this weight thing has me really baffled.

what is her ideal wt? she should be feed to that not the current wt... and with hyper t you may ask about feeding her to a higher wt... say ideal is 9-10lb you may need to feed to a 11-12 lb

Originally Posted by groingo

She typically eats 3/4 can a day based on weight which seems pretty close as NB recommends 6oz or 1 can per 8 pounds.
She frequently gets her raw chicken (white as a between meal filler of likely 3 oz a day) so there is plenty of intake it seems.

Her latest blood workup was yesterday, I had them do a complete workup not just a Kidney / T4 and it showed Thyroid a 1, urine and everything else in the normal ranges with exception of Potassium 9 which is an easy adjustment Phosphorus is low normal as well.

This cat (Sissy) is a 16 year old Tabico (half Calico half Tabby) but this weight thing has me really baffled.

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This is an extremely high number for potassium. After reading your thread I've done some research, the high potassium level could indicate diabetes or kidney failure, does your cat have CRF? (Chronic renal failure)

Quite often bloodwork may indicate high potassium levels when in fact it is an error caused by a haemolysed blood sample or by leaving the blood for a while before testing it. Your vet may therefore choose to re-run the test to be sure that you really are dealing with high potassium.



If, however, your cat does indeed have high potassium levels (which is relatively common in cats with creatinine over 5), it is important to try to reduce them, because a level above 6 can cause problems with the electrical signals in the heart, and in the worst case scenario a cat with severe hyperkalaemia could have seizures or even a heart attack. Unfortunately it is not always easy to control hyperkalaemia, particularly if your cat is no longer urinating much or at all. The first thing to do, of course, is to stop all potassium supplements, plus increased fluid therapy may help; you may need to use saline fluid rather than other types such as LRS, which often contain potassium.

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Source: http://www.felinecrf.org/treatments.htm


It's not uncommon for elderly cats with multiple health issues to have trouble maintaining weight, but if your vet was not concerned about a potassium level of NINE (normal range is 3.4-5.6) I would be looking for another vet or seriously questioning this one.

I agree, the vet has been a HUGE problem with misinformation and I am getting the blood reports for myself to see because of that very thing of conflicting information, yesterday alone I got three different answers to the same question form the same vet.

As far as her eating, I am going to adjust her food to enough for an 8 pound cat and see how much she eats in 24 hours...the key problem all her life is that she is a fussy eater, what I call a two part eater where whatever you set in front of her she only eats half then walks away....wait 15 minutes and she comes back and finishes the rest.

I truly appreciate the assistance, vets around here seem to be using the same book that focuses on cleaning your pocket book out rather than helping pets, you really need to be on you game or they will take advantage at every turn.

the key problem all her life is that she is a fussy eater, what I call a two part eater where whatever you set in front of her she only eats half then walks away....wait 15 minutes and she comes back and finishes the rest.

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This is a very common way for cats to eat. I have one who eats like that, the other two do not. (well they do, because I schedule/measure feed, but would gobble if I let them) Usually I pick up Tolly's dish and follow him with it, and offer it to him in another spot, for him to finish.

If you have only one cat, it shouldn't be a problem, just leaving it down for her. To keep it fresh though, you might try offering a smaller amount, and then 15 minutes later offering her another serving of it.

Elderly, and chronically ill cats often need extra coaxing to eat enough. I used to feed Ootay ( 5/09) every half hour when I has home to do it. She just didn't have a big enough appetite to fit too much in her tiny tummy at one time.

She liked me to sit with her when she ate, and stir the food around, pushing it back to the other side of the dish.

Also warming the food can help make it more appealing.

Feed smaller amounts, more often. Some cats seem to do better with less in the dish. If I put too much food in Tolly's dish he will not touch it (Ootay was the same way). No more than a tablespoon at a time.

Tolly also likes to be hand fed from time to time. If I want him to eat more than he has, I just sit next to him on the floor and put some (canned) food on my finger and let him lick it off. He really loves that.

PS I'm glad you are going to be looking around for another vet. Sissy deserves the best!

(PS I had a tortie named Sissy . She lived to be 21 years old)

Yes, Sissy has me well trained, I do the food warming and with her she is very fussy about location for feeding, it has to be where she wants it.

I do have a second cat Boots who has the nickname HOOVER because she eats everything and given the opportunity she will steal food and that has stopped completely by both feeding in separate doored rooms, Boots is my miracle cat, given up for lost and on her way to be put to sleep she had severe diabetes at 12 years old and through diet and determination she is diabetes free as if she has been reborn with the energy and activity levels of a five year old two years now!

Today Sissy is doing better and eating better and I have changed the way I feed the two completely by simply keeping each cats food completely separate in the proper amounts and making sure they eat it all by the last feeding making it much easier to see how much they are actually eating.

P.S. Sissy's Potassium levels were actually only 4 and everything else was in the normal ranges which confirms they were scamming me...which is the norm for vets in this area...I place them down with crooked used car dealers.

Originally Posted by groingo

My cat has a Hyperactive Thyroid and is being treated using Tapazole twice daily, latest blood test showed her at 1, Urine was normal, a bit lacking in Potassium, not diabetic yet she continues to loose weight and is now at 7.2 pounds down from 8.2 last November.

She was lathargic for a couple days but they gave her 150ccs Ringers Lactate Sub and she is perking up but I am very baffled by the weight loss?

She eats raw chicken and canned Natural Balance canned cat food, no dry foods and has always been very fussy.

Any idea why she continues to loose weight?

Click to expand...

i love cat too but my cat has not ever met this sickness
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