Cat has lost a lot of weight

by Sarah
(Illinois)

My parents 7 year old cat began throwing up on a regular basis, and has now lost a LOT of weight, You can see her spine and the bones in her legs, we took her to the vet a few weeks ago and he told us to give her canned food to "coat her stomach" we've tried that and she throws it up, she won't eat dry food anymore, tuna is the only thing she will eat that she doesn't throw up. We also have noticed a few of her teeth are broken off. We are going to take her back to the vet (or maybe a different one) but what should I ask for? What should I expect, what could be wrong? I'm worried for the worst...

Answer by KAte
My advice is to definitely take her to another vet, one who will carry out some blood work to try and see if there is an underlining illness.

Severe weight loss like this can be causes by several things from a heart condition, tumor, diabetes or a thyroid problem. Blood tests should show up anything like this.

My cat had a thyroid problem and was also throwing up and lost a lot of weight. https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-thyroid.html

It is very important that she gets help soon as once all the body fat is gone, they start to loose muscle and this can result in broken bones.

Once the problem is diagnoses then treatment can start and hopefully stop the progression of the illness. I am shocked that your first vet did not suggest some tests.

Best wishes Kate

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