did "weight loss" search ... but

hi, i am new here, and it is because of my Mischief ... i tried doing a search, but nothing came up, so forgive me, please, if i am reasking an already asked question ...

my little female tiger, about 13 years of age, has been losing weight ... i have made a vet appt., but they are not in a real rush to see her, so i thought i'd see if other cat owners have had this happen, and get an idea of what may be her difficulty in the meantime ... kinda hard to sit still and wait ...

she has stopped eating for a week or so and, as i said, is losing weight ... she still drinks water, urinates, does not seem to be in any pain, still gets around, goes outside and explores ... the only other difficulty i see is that her eyes are a bit more watery, but that is about it ...

any thoughts?? i would be grateful to hear them ... ty ... deb

Did you tell the people at the vet's office that your cat has quit eating? He really should be seen as soon as possible. You said he has watery eyes he may have some kind of upper respiratory infection and may not be able to smell the food. If he has a regular wet food you could try heating it a little to make it smell stronger. You could also try a particularly smelly canned food. Fancy Feast is one food that a cat who won't eat will sometimes eat. You could also try stage one meat (chicken or turkey) baby food. Look at the label and make sure it is the one without onion. If he won't eat those without heating, try heating those as well.

If your cat hasn't eaten for a week, you need to get it to the vet ASAP. I'd not care what they think at the office, I'd be there tomorrow!

Stephanie

Has your cat been drinking more water than normal?

Originally Posted by CatsRMyKids

Has your cat been drinking more water than normal?

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no ... drinking about the same ... really, everything about the same except her not eating ... and she is so petite to begin with, that it even took us a bit to notice that she was getting too thin ...

and i do want to thank you all for your reassurances ... tomorrow, to the vets, appt. or not ... but i did so appreciate your responses, because i know of some of possibilities of what might be said, a bit prepared ... and that is always a good thing ...

... i guess maybe we will just sit there till we can be seen ... ty ...

Originally Posted by stephanietx

If your cat hasn't eaten for a week, you need to get it to the vet ASAP. I'd not care what they think at the office, I'd be there tomorrow!

Stephanie

Click to expand...

DITTO THAT!

A week is a very long time for a cat to go without food. Cats can develop hepatic lipidosis, a very serious condition, from lack of food.

Don't let this happen - get Mischief to a vet as quickly as you can.

If your vet is not concerned about your cat not eating for 1 week ......CHANGE VETS. You need to get your cat in to a vet ASAP tomorrow.

Let us know what the vet says about your kitty. I would encourage the vet to run blood tests to check kidneys and thyroid.

Just a thought, since my kitten is going through this, have her stool checked for Giardia, may take a few fecal exams before it is found, but a couple of the symptoms are loss of appetite, and weight loss. Not every animal infected will show symptoms. One of the main causes is from drinking from contaminated water sources, and since your cat goes outdoors, there is a chance that may have happened. My kitten has loose stools(diarrhea a couple times)with this, but has been eating alot, but vet said she was not gaining weight, so symptoms may vary from each case. Could be something else, but couldn't hurt to have a fecal done for the Giardia.

Originally Posted by CatsRMyKids

If your vet is not concerned about your cat not eating for 1 week ......CHANGE VETS. You need to get your cat in to a vet ASAP tomorrow.

Click to expand...

you, and all here, were so right ... that i did, new vet ... the next day, thursday, she had begun to smell, dehydrated ... ... i asked around at work, to see who some were going to see ... i called ... he had me in immediately ... he looked at her, and could see swollen gums (even though, to the untrained eye, they did not look swollen) ... he said it hurt her to eat and that was what was causing her eye to be runny ... he did blood work, which ruled out more serious problems ... he said glucose low, but could be from lack of food (he will check that again in about a weeks time) ... he gave me some intense liquid food for her, and antibiotics ... she is doing pretty well ... she is fighting with us when we try to give her her meds ... hehe ... so that be good ... thank you all sooooo much for your concern 4mischief, and direction ... ty ...

It sounds like you found a good vet and I am glad it didn't turn out to be anything really serious.

I am so glad to hear you found a vet and kitty is doing better. My cats are like your kitty.........the better they feel the more they fight the meds.

I'm so glad Mischief is doing better and that you got her in to see the vet. Please keep us posted on how she's doing.