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Weight Loss In Cats

 

There are a number of potential reasons for weightloss in cats. Diabetes, thyroid problems, liver or kidney problems, or a chronic infection all could cause your little friend to lose weight suddenly. Any animal suddenly losing weight should be checked by your veterinarian to look for these or other diseases.

 

Diabetes
Diabetes in cats is usually type II diabetes. This is similar to the adult onset diabetes that we humans can get. The problem in cats usually comes along with a life of excess and most patients are quite fat when the disease is noticed. Fortunately, it often goes away once a normal body weight is achieved. However, diabetic cats still must have treatment in the early stages or else a downward spiral of weight loss leading to death can occur. Treatment options can be with special diets, pills to reduce sugar levels or injections with insulin. If your cat is drinking a lot of water, this disease may be one of the concerns of your veterinarian.

 

Over Active Thyroid
Since 1977, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of cats showing signs of thyroid disease. Before that time, it was a relatively rare problem but now, many cats are diagnosed every year. It seems that the normal function of the thyroid gland to set the body's basic activity level is changed to a much faster rate. A benign tumor of the thyroid gland is usually the culprit, producing extremely high levels of thyroid hormone. As a result of this increased metabolic rate, the body starts to burn energy from every source. In fact, in the United States, some of the craze diet pills for people were found to have high levels of thyroid hormone in them.

 

However, since the body starts running in high gear all the time, wear and tear also occurs. Damage to the heart and kidneys is very common with this disorder. In addition, because food passage is also sped up, much of the food goes directly into the litter-box before the digestion is complete. Treatment of this disease includes surgical removal of the tumor or management with pills to stop the hormone from being made.

 

Liver Disease
Cats are blessed with an amazing liver! Their liver can do many things but it has two weak areas. It cannot handle Tylenol (Acetaminophen is very toxic to cats. Never give them Tylenol!!!) and it cannot handle a lot of fat. The job of the liver is to remove harmful things from the blood and to be a central regulating centre for many body functions, especially the blood sugar level. For some reason, not completely understood yet, a fat cat can suddenly send the signal to start breaking down fat, and suddenly fat starts to flow towards the liver in extremely high amounts. The poor liver literally gets jam packed with fat, leaving it no room to do anything else. Unfortunately, the treatment for this "fatty liver" problem is not as we would like it to be. The earlier it is diagnosed, the better the chances are. Do not wait any longer to get you cat checked out.

 

Kidney Problems
If you think of the liver as a detox centre for the body, the kidneys are the filter. Here all the blood is filtered and the urine is produced. Sometimes the holes in the filter can get damaged and too much needed protein or sugar gets flushed away in the urine. Obviously, if you are losing needed nutrients, your body tries to make them up by using up the stores (fat). Again, early diagnosis is important for adequate treatment.

 

As you can see, sudden unexplained loss of weight, can be a serious problem.

 




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