My cat has lost 2lbs in 15 months. Unintentionally

I took my cat Paco to the vet yesterday for two shots he was due for. He has been acting completely normal and active like usual. When they weighed him, he was down from 9.75 lbs to 7.75 in the span of 15 months. He's a bigger cat in size but not weight. The vet has always complimented me on how good he looks physically and how he maintains an excellent weight. I have not noticed his weight loss. He has always been a very hungry cat in the five yrs I've had him....he is almost 10 now. The vet explained some cats are just ravenous eaters who are otherwise heathy like one of her cats or being hungary all the time could be a problem. Again, he has always had a borderline ridiculous appetite but has seen his vet on a regular basis and checked out ok. She suspected hyperthyroidism but blood work came back good today. That was ruled out as well as diabetes and any other problems that blood work would show. I have to take a stool sample in Monday. She said it could be a parasite or an intestinal problem and if so, should be treatable. I asked about cancer and she thinks although certainly possible, it is lower on the list of probabilities. I do know unintentional weight loss is a possible symptom of cancer so now I'm a nervous wreck. Has anyone had a similar experience and what the outcome was? It going to be very difficult for me the next few days waiting. I have upgraded his inexpensive typical food I normally get from the grocery store to expensive and hopefully more nutritious Blue Wilderness high protein food. He likes it so I'm happy. I do want to add one thing that I did not tell the vet because I didn't think of it yesterday. The first 3 1/2 yrs I had him I worked normal 8 hr day or early evening shift like most of the world but in the past 1 yr 7 months, I have been working Mon-Thurs from 10am until 9pm. This means he goes without eating from approx 9:30am-9:30pm Mon -Thurs the past 1 Yr and 7 months. His weight loss happened over the past 15 months. Maybe I'm just gasping at straws because I'm praying it's not cancer but I wonder if that would have caused a weight loss? I normally don't work Fri-Sun (lucky me I know) so he eats normally those days. Any help, thoughts or suggestions are welcomed! Thank you!

during the change in work schedule, is/was Paco eating less? are you feeding all-wet, all-dry, or some combo?

I work 13 hour shifts (not every day obviously) I give 4 wet meals a day using a timed feeder. So I give a pouch before I go to work and then set the feeder (2 compartments ) to open in 4 hours (another pouch), then the other compartment to open in 8 hours (another pouch). I then give another before bed. She doesn't always eat everything, but it's a good feeder, never fails to open. My cat is underweight, boarderline thyroid levels! If you are not able to get a feeder I would suggest leaving dry food out for her to graze when she wants to.

All dry food only. He does not like any wet food whatsoever. As far as eating less I would say yes but not extremely less. He eats several small meals throughout the day fri-sun but mon- thurs I'm not home all day so he just chows down at night unfortunately. So overall he's eating less than he was 2 yrs ago but enough to have him lose 20% of his body weight I would think. Then again, what do I know.

He eats his food immediately so if I left him food in the bowl, it's gone right away. Lol. Maybe I can try an auto feeder though I fear he'd knock it over.

Will she eat a larger portion of what you're already giving her? When I asked for advise on TCS about trying to get my cat to put on weight, someone suggested giving a boiled or scrambled egg yoke every few days. I do do this, she loves them. Does she like egg, or cooked chicken- to add as a treat to increase her kcal intake?

Sorry meant to write he not she! Yeah try the auto feeder or timed feeder, if he eats all you give him you should be able to increase his intake.

He likes cooked chicken. Never tried eggs. I think I can definitely find ways to "plump" him up with good food/protein it's the weight loss along with a very hardy appetite that's my overall concern. Good thoughts and ideas so far, thanks very much.

My experience with cats that lost weight due to a serious health issue was that they lost weight very quickly and suddenly. And it was noticeable - very. Had a big cat named Yoda that was losing weight very obviously. We had no idea until a couple months later that he was in renal failure. But again, it was very quick and very noticeable. 

My Sara lost 10 oz in a week not long ago from a tummy upset (still don't know why it happened) - and she was only 4 lb 14 oz to begin with. But she wasn't eating other than what I was force-feeding her at that point. It sounds like your baby is eating well though. I was gonna ask about hyperthyroidism, but glad to hear that was ruled out (although that still leaves you with questions unfortunately).

Hopefully he will put on weight with this.

Did the vet give something- incase it was parasite related?

I' m sure the vet would have suggested more tests, if his initial blood work had been suggestive of cancer, so don't worry, just keep an eye on his weight

I would suggest getting a baby/pet weighing scale to monitor his weight, but I bought one and she will not stay still long enough to get a reading lol. So I just have to make sure her jeans are not getting to loose - JOKE

Good luck, let us know how u get on

I guess the fact that it was over time and I didn't notice is favorable. BTW, Yoda is an awesome name.

The vet did not give him anything yet. She said bring in the stool sample Monday and go from there before starting any possible expensive tests unnecessarily. She's a great doctor so I'm hopeful and thank you for the well wishes

Yeah sounds like you're in good hands, try not to worry- it's hard though I know!

i pick up my cat, get on the scale, then get off and put down my cat, and then get back on the scale. 

Good idea!

JayJay311 said:

The vet did not give him anything yet. She said bring in the stool sample Monday and go from there before starting any possible expensive tests unnecessarily. She's a great doctor so I'm hopeful and thank you for the well wishes

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Hi, how's it going? Any news?

Thank you so much for asking. Paco had an ultrasound after his stool sample came back good.His lymph nodes are very much enlarged as well as thickend intestines indicating lymphoma (cancer) most likely.A different Dr and hospital did the test because my Drs machine is being replaced. The Dr indicated it could be due to my cats corona virus turning into FIP which would be fatal as well. Only way to 100% know if its cancer is biopsy of intestines (surgery) but she as well as Pacos normal Dr agreed they wouldn't do.Either illness would be treated with the steroids I'm giving him now so they feel its not worth it. I only talked to his regular Dr over the phone but I have an up coming appointment with her soon. She said if he survived 2-6 months, that would be good. I had to ask her. He is doing fine besides sleeping a bit more but needless to say I'm distraught beyond belief. I'm gonna ask about chemo pills but since it didn't come up on the phone, I'm guessing she won't recommend that either. I have a lot of questions. Friday was one of the saddest days of my life

So sorry to hear about this.

Just wanted to chime in with what I think I know about coronavirus/FIP because I adopted two cats who were known positive.  The shelter they were in tests a lot of things and thus while most of us don't necessarily know when our cats are positive for coronavirus, I do, as apparently do you.

My understanding:  something north of 50% of cats would test positive for coronavirus, perhaps as much as 70%.  It tells very little to have a positive result.  Also, past age 2 or so, it is very unlikely to become FIP is my understanding.  So it's not impossible but at our cats' ages this seems less likely to me.  The main danger of a coronavirus positive cat at this age is spreading it to a young cat who would be more susceptible to it mutating into FIP.  This is why the shelter makes note of it, so that people use extra precaution to prevent cross contamination.  My vet is always quick to stop me even worrying that anything is wrong regarding coronavirus when there has been an issue with one of the cats.

So to me anyway I would think it more likely to be the lymphoma.  I was thinking well at least there would be something to do with lymphoma whereas with FIP there is nothing, but it's really not much better.  You can do chemo but you might have to think about quality of life issues and such, and my quick search suggests prognosis is mainly measured in months, even with the chemo. :-(

A tough time to be sure, my thoughts are with you.....

I appreciate the kind words and input. What gets me is you would never know he was sick. The 2-6 month prognosis really worries me because if true, he will get real sick real fast and it makes me sick to my stomach knowing this is in his future. Hoping for a miracle.... Not for a cure but for him to beat the odds and last longer than that. Comfortably of course.

I'm so sorry to hear that, can't imagine how you must be feeling! Not a very nice thing to be told over the phone either.

I don't know much about either of the conditions so I'm not much use, but I hope the vet is able to answer all your questions and give you more information when you see her, and discuss palliative care and comfort for the time he has left

It must be a good thing that paco is still behaving normally, I wonder how they can give an accurate timeframe as it must be so difficult to tell!

keep us posted, if u feel up to it

Best wishes