Why is my senior cat eating a lot, losing fur, and wanting indoors?

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. So sorry your cat is having this issue. I suggest you get him to your vet for a check up and some blood testing. Thyroid disease is very common in older cats as is kidney disease and diabetes. All of these things can cause similar symptoms and all are easily diagnosed with simple blood testing. You need to realize that at 17 years old he is about 85 in human years. At this age, things start to fail and go wrong. You need to find out what is wrong so you know how to best treat him. Some things are very easily treated with daily medications. I don't think this is something you are going to be able treat at home without knowing what the underlying cause is. Hope this helps. Best wishes!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If Coco has been losing weight, I would recommend having her blood tested and having her thyroid level checked to see if the weight loss and fur loss are the cause of a hyperthyroid. 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.

If he seems to be losing weight, I would make sure her thyroid level was tested. If so, the skin could be due to an allergy or other skin condition. Thyroid level being high can cause skin and hair changes so I would first get this level checked out. As for the skin, you can use Douxo PS calm shampoo and mousse, both of which can be found online quite easily. 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.

I suggest you schedule a vet visit and blood work for Elskan. Since she is an older kitty she may be suffering from a kidney problem, hyperthyroidism or diabetes. All of these can be ruled out with a blood test. A shaggy coat and accidents also are signs that Elskan is not feeling well.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Losing weight despite having a good appetite is a classic sign seen with hyperthyroidism. This is just one possibility among other conditions. I recommend you check in with a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. They would be able to check for this and proceed with therapy accordingly. Best of luck!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies though it could certainly be something else and it is hard to know without an exam. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. Fish oil works great for dry skin and you may get this online or at your local pet store. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

As he is already 11 i would suspect a condition called hyperthyroidism, the main symptoms is constant hunger. you will need to take him to the vet to get it tested, a medical treatment is available for this condition.