My senior cat is skinny and eating fine. Does she need more tests?

I would recommend the bloodwork if possible. Many of the symptoms your describe could be due to hyperthyroidism which can often be managed with diet or medication. Renal disease diabetes are also concerns. Speak with your vet to determine what they suspect is most likely and find out if it is possible to test for one thing at a time instead of running a full panel at once. The vet will suggest the best options but often if you explain financial constraints we can work with owners. If unable to do the diagnostic testing then euthanasia is a reasonable option to prevent her from suffering. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach

Tori does look a little thin. It is very common for the physical exam to normal but there is no way the vet can tell what is going on inside with the function of the internal organs. So, if lab work was not done, I suggest that as the next step. Cats, as they age, typically get one of three diseases: 1. kidney disease, 2. hyperthyroidism and 3. diabetes. All of which can cause weight loss and all of which can be easily detected with simple blood testing.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Based on these lab results, I would suspect renal disease. BUN, Amylase, magnesium and CPK all can become altered with renal impairment. The weight loss may be due to muscle wastage due to chronic renal disease or something else may be going on. I would consider having Tigger's urine specific gravity checked and also send out an SDMA test to see if the kidney's are the main problem. At 14.5 years of age, renal disease would be high on my list of causes of these symptoms. Other problems such as cancer and inflammatory diseases may be the cause of the symptoms as well. I would recommend having your vet pursue additional testing to get more of a definitive answer on whether or not the kidneys are impaired and if not, coming up with further recommendations on diagnostics and treatment. 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 recommend to have her examined. Certainly something like cancer is possible but there are some other conditions that are common in older cats like renal disease and hyperthyroidism that generally respond very nicely to treatment but this does depend on the severity. If renal disease is caught before things get too bad, cats require a special diet, sometimes a medication, sometimes subcutaneous fluids and the average time of quality life after diagnosis is 2 years. https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-care-for-a-cat-with-kidney-disease/ Hyperthyroidism can be controlled with a special diet, with medications or with a permanent solution like radioactive iodine treatment. Many cats with this condition will live normal live expediencies as long as they are medicated. https://www.petcoach.co/article/hyperthyroidism-in-cats/ It's always best to know whats happening. That way you can made an educated decision and prevent any suffering. Bloodwork and a urinanalysis will give you and the doctor a good idea of what is happening inside Natasha's body and then you can make an appropriate decision once you know what your options are. I recommend to get this done within the next day or two since both of these conditions will respond best to earlier intervention. I hope this helps.

Hi. For weight loss, we would want a CBC checked, a full chemistry to check liver/kidneys/electrolytes/and glucose, a thyroid, and a urine test. If those are all normal, xrays will need to be done in weight loss cases. Good luck

Thank you for your post! I am sorry to hear Shurbee is not doing well. My concern at this age would be some type of malignancy. In older cats, one of the more common things we see in regards to cancer is intestinal / GI lymphoma. This does not always show up on blood work. I would highly recommend Shurbee get an abdominal ultrasound as the next diagnostic step. Hope this helps and feel free to contact me with any further questions / concerns

Hi there. I would have Salem see your vet for a physical exam and blood work. Older cats can lose weight for several reasons and your get can test for those on blood work (like kidney disease, thyroid disease, etc). Your vet can then help find a way to help Salem. Best to you and Salem!