Why is my 12-year-old Ragdoll underweight, picky, and vomiting?

Hi! It does concern me that Myla has lost a noticeable amount of weight over the past few months. It's certainly possible that this could be due to her picky eating habits, but I wouldn't necessarily expect her to lose a considerable amount of weight from that alone since I'm assuming that she's always been a bit picky. Other causes of weight loss can include inflammatory bowel disease, a heavy burden of parasites, cancer, kidney disease, or diabetes, although we often see other changes associated with many of these conditions. I do think it would be best to take Myla to her vet for an exam and some diagnostic testing (blood work and/or imaging - x-rays or ultrasound) to try to get to the bottom of this situation. Until her appointment, try feeding her wet food in a room away from your other two cats so that you can more accurately see exactly how much she's eating. I hope that everything goes well!

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!

In an older cat, my first thought would be dental disease. This would be painful for Krinkle, cause him to eat less, and subsequent weight loss. It could also be that he has diabetes, kidney failure, or hyperthyroidism. Having him seen by a vet this week is a good idea. I hope this helps!

Romeo is gorgeous! Thank you for including pictures. Missing teeth is not a reason that Romeo should be vomiting. I think I would recommend having your vet do an exam and do some blood work to evaluate for something like hyperthyroidism which causes cats to eat more, but not gain weight because their metabolism is abnormal. It is a treatable condition, and there are certainly other things that could be going on with Romeo, so I would start with a trip to the vet to determine what might be going on with him and to determine how to treat it. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and that Romeo feels better soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Chronic diarrhea in an older cat with vomiting can be a sign of an inflammatory bowel disease or intestinal cancer. The only way to differentiate between the two disease is a surgery to take biopsies of the intestines and have them analyzed. Based on the diagnosis, the diet may be changed or vitamin supplements or steroids may be added to manage her symptoms. They will check for parasite and check her labs for any renal or endocrine disease

Vomiting and diarrhea can be a sign of a number diseases including food sensitivity, inflammatory bowel disease, thyroid disease, kidney and liver disease, or intestinal parasites. If you have access to his previous vet records I'd recommend making an appointment with a veterinarian to discuss the previous results and where to go next. Even though he's maintaining his weight daily vomiting and diarrhea is still concerning. While cats can lose teeth secondary to dental disease this is probably not related to the vomiting and diarrhea.

Poor Checker! This is a huge amount of weight to have lost in a year, so I would say that something is definitely wrong. In older cats with significant weight loss like this and normal blood work, the most common possible causes would be an intestinal absorption issue like inflammatory bowel disease (which can be present even if she is not having diarrhea), or some type of abdominal cancer. The next diagnostic steps would be abdominal x-rays and ultrasound, with exploratory surgery and intestinal biopsies if needed to get a definite diagnosis. If this isn't possible for financial reasons, a trial course of oral steroids and injectable vitamin B12 might be helpful - I would suggest discussing these options with your vet to see what he/she recommends.