My cat is losing weight but still eating. Is his new food to blame?

Poor Kiki! I would make sure that he is eating a kitten formulated food. Kittens need higher amounts of calories, protein, and calcium than adult cats in order to grow properly, and a kitten formulated food would provide that for him. If he seems to be skinnier, I would take him into the vet for an exam. The vet can weigh him and do a physical exam to determine if he is too skinny and losing, and can discuss with you reasons why this might be happen (such as food intolerances), and how to treat it.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would deworm him. Intestinal parasites are almost always present in young animals as they are passed from the milk. He could be getting more lean but this could also be an early warning sign that something is going on. I would collect a stool sample and have him seen for his first vet visit. The Vet can do an exam, test his stool, feline leukemia and FIV test him and consider giving his first vaccination. I wish you and Noah the very best!

I wouldn't think that a decrease in appetite and weight loss would result from a diet change. Some cats can be quite picky and will stop eating a food they previously liked or be hesitant to try a new food, but eventually these cats will eat once they get hungry enough and picky eating should not result in significant weight loss. I wouldn't be concerned about changing to an adult food in an 11 month old cat either - Kovu was probably very close to his adult height by that point. I think seeing your veterinarian to have Kovu's weight checked and for a complete physical exam sounds like a great idea, and if they feel he is in good health you can discuss trying to find good quality diet that he seems to like and then monitor his weight closely.

Thanks for visiting Petcoach. A lot of vets have a hard time assessing an overweight cat during an exam, mainly because some cats have a short temper and we are working against the clock in a lot of these cases. So sometimes we cannot feel for the ribs, spine, etc. It is very possible that Jasper was overweight to begin with and now is more ideal weight. Without a photo attached it is hard to tell, but as long as his other faculties are intact (i.e. eating well, normal stools), then I would not worry about the weight loss. The weight control food is limiting his calorie intake, and with his activity level, he is likely just going back down to his normal standard weight. He should level off with he weight loss once he has reached his ideal weight soon, if this is the case. Here is a website link so that you can assess his BCS (body condition score) yourself at home https://www.wsava.org/WSAVA/media/PDF_old/Body-condition-score-chart-cats.pdf If however, you are still concerned about his weight loss, and he seems overly hungry, then I would be suspicious of underlying thyroid disease. A thyroid test would be next on the agenda if he meets these criteria. Thyroid disease is typically easily managed in cats and he is of the age where we do see more of this disorder. i hope that Jasper's weight loss is attributed to his new food and that he starts to level off with his weight soon! Best wishes and take care.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Based on these lab results, I would suspect renal disease. BUN, Amylase, magnesium and CPK all can become altered with renal impairment. The weight loss may be due to muscle wastage due to chronic renal disease or something else may be going on. I would consider having Tigger's urine specific gravity checked and also send out an SDMA test to see if the kidney's are the main problem. At 14.5 years of age, renal disease would be high on my list of causes of these symptoms. Other problems such as cancer and inflammatory diseases may be the cause of the symptoms as well. I would recommend having your vet pursue additional testing to get more of a definitive answer on whether or not the kidneys are impaired and if not, coming up with further recommendations on diagnostics and treatment. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I recommend taking Tully Mars to a vet for blood work. He could be diabetic or have thyroid disease. Both of these illnesses can cause increases in appetite and weight loss. The blood work helps to rule in and rule out multiple diseases. Good luck and kisses to Tully Mars!

I would recommend having some blood work performed on your cat. Hyperthyroidism is a common disease in middle aged to older cats that causes an increase metabolism so cats are often very hungry but unable to gain weight. I would also recommend having your vet check a fecal sample to ensure that Koda does not have any intestinal parasites as this can cause weight loss as well. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.