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Cat losing weight, but blood tests came back normal...
I moved my two cats with me to Australia 2.5 years ago (they are now 12yo). They went from being sedentary indoor cats to a bit more active indoor cats who would occasionally patrol our courtyard/backyard area hunting geckos. One cat started losing weight which I assumed was due to his new active lifestyle, plus they both came out of quarantine a bit lighter than they were.
He started at 19lbs (he is a *big* cat and our old vet said he could stand to lose a few pounds but he was by no means obese.) He is now 13 lbs. Actually, I think he looks good at this weight but that is a lot for a cat to lose - it happened over the course of a few years. Recently, other symptoms have appeared. He whines a lot, has loose stools sometimes, eats a TON. Litter box use is fine, though he prefers to go outside now if he can, but upon observation does not appear to be in any pain or difficulty. It's kind of hard to tell if some of this is just an old age thing. To be honest, he's always been a cat only a mother could love - neurotic, whiny, asking for pats then biting your hand. His personality hasn't changed from that so his grouchiness isn't necessarily an indication something is wrong.
Research says thyroid so I take him to the vet and everything comes back normal. Any other ideas of what to look for?
Thanks very much in advance!
Re: Cat losing weight, but blood tests came back normal...
The first things that pop into my head are: a food intolerance/allergy, inflammatory bowel disease, or cancer of the GI tract. What does your vet think? Have they talked to you about doing any medication or diet trials?
Thanks for the ideas! My experience with this vet has been really disappointing. They did the blood tests, but gave me no opinions other than the bloodwork all looks really good for a senior cat. I asked if the bloodwork would indicate cancer. Vet said he would expect to see levels of certain things elevated which might indicate further testing - he didn't see that. Obviously I need to find a new vet (I had several unprofessional interactions with this vet/clinic) but am unsure where to start since Australia is a pretty cat intolerant place. I guess what I mean is, there doesn't seem to be the level of expertise here regarding cats - people are shocked I would bother taking a cat to the vet at all.
Food intolerance is something I can look into. Both cats were fed California Natural in the US but this is very hard to find here and is $70 for a 6lb bag. I switched them to Eagle Pack until there were distribution problems with it and I was forced to then go to Iams or Nutro (not good food, I know, but the only other options are things like Purina and supermarket brands.) There is actually less vomiting on the Iams than on the Eagle Pack.
I wonder if it would hurt to put a cat on a low dose of thyroid meds to see if there's improvement?
Unfortunately there's no blood test that will diagnose cancer. I would make an appointment for an abdominal ultrasound to see what's going on.
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