My cat is losing weight near her back end but acts normal. Is it worms?

A 3 pound weight loss is indeed significant and not normal. There could be many reasons for this, and there is just no way to pinpoint the cause without a hands-on exam and possibly blood work. I suggest you take your kitty to a veterinarian for a wellness exam.

Poor Rusty! Cats can have worms even if you don't see them in the feces. Oftentimes, there are eggs in the feces, but those can only be seen with a microscope. Sudden weight loss in cats can also be caused by diabetes, kidney disease, systemic illness, infection, or injury among other causes. I would have Rusty seen by a vet asap, and bring along a sample of his feces for the vet to examine. In addition to looking at his feces, the vet can do a physical exam, blood tests, and a urinalysis to diagnose what is causing his weight loss. Once the cause of the weight loss is diagnosed, the vet can discuss treatment options with you.

I'm sorry that Ella is not well. Unfortunately, I do not think worms is the cause of her issues. At her age it is likely something worse, like cancer or organ failure (ie: kidney or liver). I suggest you get her to your vet for an exam and some blood testing. You must realize that at 14 years old she is about 80-85 years old in human years and things can be failing. Your vet can help you determine what is going on and what the next steps are. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I agree that a heavy worm burden can cause what you’re describing. In fact, it is the most likely reason. You can try an over the counter cat dewormer from a pet store. Follow the directions exactly in terms of amount and number of treatments. Hopefully, that’s all it takes to get her feeling better. Unfortunately, there are other (much less common) things that can cause large belly, weight loss, and lethargy including: FIP, heart failure, liver failure, cancer, protein problems, etc. So, if the dewormer doesn’t help, you may have to decide if you’d want to take her to the vet for further testing or if you’d like her humanely euthanized, etc. Best wishes and thank you so much for taking care of this stray!

Intestinal parasites can be picked up from the environment. If this is a tapeworm you saw (looks similar to a grain of rice), fleas can transmit tapeworm to cats. I would recommend treating Venus with a product called Profender, which will treat intestinal parasites including tapeworm. I would also consider using a flea and tick preventative such as Revolution or Frontline. I would also consider bringing a stool sample to a veterinarian to help diagnose what kind of intestinal parasites these could be. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

The deworming pill and the symptoms you described have nothing to do with each other, if he is losing his fur and losing weight he is suffering from something serious. Sudden weight loss is always a very big warning light that should not be taken lightly, it's usually a sign of an internal disease that needs to be investigated, i strongly recommend taking him to the vet in order to get it checked, he will need to have a blood test done and possibly an xray as well in order to attempt to diagnose the reason for these symptoms.

Your first picture looks potentially like a tapeworm proglottid (immature tapeworm), which are common in cats and are usually spread through fleas. Tapeworms do not usually cause many clinical signs however, and depending on Rainbow's age I'd be worried that something else might be causing her weight loss and poor/matted coat - hyperthyroidism or an overactive thyroid would be one possibility in an older cat. I would recommend seeing your veterinarian who can check a stool sample to help rule out other types of parasites and prescribe the correct deworming medication. They might also recommend checking blood work due to the other symptoms.