My cat is so skinny and bony. Is her low weight a health concern?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is difficult to tell based on these pictures if he has a thin body condition. Weight loss or lack of weight gain can be seen with gastrointestinal disease, renal or liver disease, among many others. I would recommend that you consider having him evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment. Further diagnostics would include general labwork and possibly an abdominal ultrasound and a GI panel. Treatment if any would be based on findings. Good luck and have a great day! I hope you find this information helpful.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Chica. I recommend that she has bloodwork and urine testing done soon to check for diseases that could be making her so skinny. For example, thyroid disease is a common cause of weight. Diabetes can cause the same to occur. Other cats can have kidney disease. I would also recommend testing her pancreatitis. This can be done with the bloodwork. Fecal testing to rule out parasites can he helpful as well. This is especially important if she goes outdoors. I hope this information helps!

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.

Hi there. You're correct that being able to feel the backbone or hip bones more easily than normal when petting your cat is a common early sign of weight loss. This could be caused by a number of different things - she may have some type of infection, a systemic illness like liver or kidney disease, or a GI problem like inflammatory bowel disease or chronic pancreatitis (weight loss can be the only symptom of these issues, in some cats). I would recommend taking Narla back to the vet for another exam to discuss your concerns and see if she has lost weight since last time. Your veterinarian may recommend blood work, x-rays, or other testing if needed to help diagnose the problem.

Significant weight loss is always a concern, especially if his appetite is good. Hormonal conditions such as diabetes and thyroid disease or poor absorption and digestion of his food is possible and I would recommend a full physical and blood panel as soon as possible in order to stabilise his condition before he becomes too frail

From what I can see, she doesn't look too thin, however, if she has suddenly lost a significant amount of weight, I recommend getting her seen by your vet right away, as that could be a sign of diabetes, or hyperthyroidism, especially if her appetite is increased without weight gain or with weight loss. Like humans, cats' bodies change as they get older and this may be the case. If you didn't have senior bloodwork done last month at her appointment, I suggest getting it done to check for any underlying medical condition that could cause her difference in weight.

I would talk to your vet about checking her thyroid hormones. It is probably unlikely but definitely possible that her thyroid is too high causing weight loss and hair loss. I would also make sure she is on a high quality dry and canned cat food to help increase the caloric intake. If you aren't planning on breeding her, I would consider getting her spayed as long as she is healthy enough per your vet. I would definitely continue the vitamins. Also, I would talk to your vet about ruling other things out if they haven't already like parasites, giardia, feline leukemia, feline aids, and more. I hope this helps!