Expert: Tina - 11/24/2008

Question
I have an almost 2 year old cat, Sophie, who seems to have lost some weight recently.  She is an indoor cat and has only been outdoors for the first 2 months of her life as she was born in the country.  I have another cat, Lola, who is her sister from the same litter.  They both are spayed and had their first year shots.  I need to take them in for their second year shots.  I didn't get them tested for feline lukemia, as it was pricey.  It seems in the past 2 weeks Sophie has lost weight.  The bones are more pronounced in her back and ribs.  There has been no change in her diet other than some kitty snacks that she goes NUTS for.  I'm wondering if she is not eating her regular food in lieu of wanting the snacks.  Every time I'm in the kitchens he meows for them.  I haven't noticed that much of a difference in her behavior, though today she seemed to sleep more than normal.  She also has been extremely loveable.  She isn't a lap cat, but has been sitting on my lap a lot over the past two weeks.  She doesn't do it for a long time, but will snuggle up then run to the kitchen.  I travel a lot for work and she seems to lose weight like this when I'm out of town for an extended period of time.  She is also a very nervous and scared cat.  Any thoughts?

Answer
Hi Adrieanne,

A 2 year old cat losing weight is definitely a bad sign - usually at this age if anything cats start to become slightly less active than they were as kittens and gain a bit of weight. Any time your cat loses a significant amount of weight, the first thing I would do is take a stool sample to the vet and get a blood panel done. As a 2 year old she's not at high risk for many of the diseases that would normally cause weight loss in older cats, such as hyperthryoidism or kidney disease, but a blood panel will help you narrow down what could be wrong. She could have intestinal parasites even as an indoor cat, if she has ever has fleas she can have tapeworms, for example.

As an indoor cat, she is not at risk for feline leukemia and I do not recommend getting her tested or vaccinated for this disease. The test would be a waste of money and the vaccine can have serious side effects. The recommended vaccines are rabies - no more than every 3-7 years for indoor cats, and FVRCP every 2-3 years. There is no need to vaccinate indoor cats annually, not only a waste of money but it can lead to vaccine-associated sarcoma - a type of cancer.

There are also a number of cat foods which have been contaminated with substances that can cause acute kidney damage, and even if your food is not on a recall list it is clear that the contamination issues from food and ingredients in China has not been fully discovered.

I am not sure what you feed your cats, but I highly recommend feeding a high quality meat based canned cat food. Dry food is not good for cats and any food containing grain can lead to digestive problems, diabetes and more. Here is some information for you on cat nutrition and how to select a cat food:

http://www.felinenutrition.net

http://www.catinfo.org

http://www.catnutrition,org

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=whycatsneedca...

So, take your cat to the vet and have her stool and blood tested, and consider feeding her a better quality diet. Better food costs more but in the long run you will save money on vet bills.