Young Cat Eating but Losing Weight: Parasites, Malabsorption, Diabetes
๐จ Check first
While hyperthyroidism is typical when senior cats over 10 years old lose weight despite eating well, if a young adult cat or kitten aged 1 to 6 years eats their full recommended food portion daily yet grows so thin that their spine feels bony and their coat looks dull, nutrients are failing to be absorbed or another underlying illness is present.
๐ The answer in 3 seconds
- There are 4 main reasons a young cat cannot gain weight (or keeps losing weight) despite eating: 1) intestinal parasites (tapeworms, roundworms, or protozoa stealing nutrients), 2) a calorie calculation error in the food being given (the amount is actually less than needed for the growth stage or activity level), 3) poor digestion and absorption caused by chronic small-intestinal inflammation (IBD) or exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, and 4) diabetes (the body cannot use sugar for energy and passes it out in the urine).
- Pay special attention if these signs are accompanied by heavy drinking and massive urination, or abnormally large, soft, and foul-smelling stools.
- Begin by recalculating your cat's daily calorie intake, then visit a veterinary clinic with fresh stool and urine samples to undergo fecal examinations and blood panels.
๐ Flowchart
- Step 1Check the back of the food package and use a kitchen scale to measure the exact number of grams your cat actually eats in a day, and confirm that it meets the calories needed for your cat's ideal weight (when portions are eyeballed, it is surprisingly common for a cat to be getting far too little).
- Step 2Wrap freshly passed feces in plastic wrap and bring them to the veterinary clinic to check under a microscope for parasites, protozoa, or undigested fat and starch passing straight through in the stool.
- Step 3At the same time, have blood and urine tests (urine glucose, blood glucose, fructosamine, albumin protein levels, and so on) to check for diabetes or poor absorption by the internal organs.
โญ Step-by-step fix
Step 1 ยท What you can do at home right now
Check the back of the food package and use a kitchen scale to measure the exact number of grams your cat actually eats in a day, and confirm that it meets the calories needed for your cat's ideal weight (when portions are eyeballed, it is surprisingly common for a cat to be getting far too little).
Step 2
Wrap freshly passed feces in plastic wrap and bring them to the veterinary clinic to check under a microscope for parasites, protozoa, or undigested fat and starch passing straight through in the stool.
Step 3
At the same time, have blood and urine tests (urine glucose, blood glucose, fructosamine, albumin protein levels, and so on) to check for diabetes or poor absorption by the internal organs.
โ Never do this
- Deciding on your own that "a cat eating a lot but getting thin must need even more food" and having your cat gorge on a large amount at once (this puts more strain on intestines that are already not digesting well and leads to severe diarrhea).
- Never having a fecal test or deworming treatment at a veterinary clinic for a cat that was just rescued or has had fleas in the past.
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