Browsing tag: weight loss

Are your cat’s kidneys crock? – The signs of kidney failure








“The early signs of renal disease are vague…”









Cat Henstridge BVSc MRCVS – Read more of her blogs at www.catthevet.com



Question from Gemma Loopylou Moorey:


Answer from Shanika Winters online vet:



An average cat weighs between 4 and 6 kg so even a change of a few 100g of weight is significant on such a small animal.  Ideally your vet will weigh your cat each time they are seen; it is easy to keep track of your cat’s weight at home too, weigh your cat carrier empty and then with your cat inside and the difference is your cat’s weight.  This should be easier than trying to convince your cat to stand on weighing scales.  Some owners may be able to weigh themselves and then again when holding their cat if the cat carrier causes stress.

The fact that you have described that you can feel your cats ribs and you could not before suggest a lot of weight has been lost.

You have mentioned that your cat seems to meow as if in a bad mood, this is what we would call a change of temperament.  Changes to a cat’s temperament can be due to many stresses or changes to their home, environments, routine, companion animals or due to pain/illness.

What will happen when I take my cat to the vet?

Your vet will ask you lots of questions about your cat’s general state, what time scale the changes have happened over and if you can think of anything that may have led to the weight loss and temperament change such as moving home, new pet/family member and or exposure to chemicals such as rat/mouse poisons.

Your vet will then perform a full clinical examination of your pet including recording its weight.  If the physical examination and the details you have given your vet are not enough to confirm a diagnosis then your vet may advise further test most likely blood tests and or x-rays to work out what is happening with your cat.

What will the blood tests and x-rays tell us?

Blood tests usually consist of routine haematology, biochemistry, and or specific disease test.

Haematology looks at your cat’s red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.  These give an indication of whether your pet is fighting an infection, anaemic (low in iron) or has abnormal cells or parasites present.

Biochemistry looks at the chemicals in your cat’s blood and gives an indication of how the major body organs are functioning.  Significant changes can suggest for example liver or kidney disease.

Specific disease tests include looking for viruses such as FeLV (feline leukaemia virus), FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus) and increased levels of thyroid hormone (Hyperthyroidism).

X-rays are often done of the chest and abdomen( tummy) two views of each at 90 degrees in order to look for any obvious abnormalities such as enlarged or shrunken organs or unexpected tissues ( infection or tumours).

Some practices may also offer ultrasound scans and or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans to help make a diagnosis.

Biopsies may need to be taken, this is when small or large pieces of tissue are removed from your cat (under anaesthetic if appropriate) and sent to a laboratory for analysis.

What happens next?

Hopefully all the information your vet has found out will lead to a diagnosis and then treatment plan for your pet.  From the information you have given in your question some of the possible disease that come to mind are Kidney failure, hyperthyroidism and or a severe infection.

Kidney disease can be treated by increasing your cat’s fluid intake, reduced protein diets, anabolic steroids( body building) and various medications to reduce the components in your pet’s that are difficult for the kidneys to deal with .

Hyperthyroidism can be treated medically with tablets to reduce thyroid hormone production, surgically by removal of thyroid gland tumours or by radiation therapy to destroy the thyroid gland tumour tissue.

Severe infections can be treated by use of appropriate and in some cases several antibiotics at the same time, and supportive intravenous fluid therapy.

I hope that this answer has helped you to understand some possible causes for your cat’s condition and why a full examination from your vet with or without further tests is most likely to help lead to a diagnosis and treatment plan for your cat.

Shanika Winters MRCVS (online vet)









The second tip is to stick to a standard diet, without extras. It’s a common misconception that dogs and cats get bored with their food. When pets turn their noses up at their dinner, it’s often because they aren’t hungry rather than because they don’t like it: they will often still eat interesting nibbles if offered. It’s similar to the way that we humans will often manage dessert at the end of a meal, even if we’re feeling comfortably full. This is a common cause of weight gain in pets, just as it is in humans.

Third, if you’re worried about your pet’s weight, consult your vet. There are medical reasons for weight gain that may need to be ruled out, and a regular (free) weigh in on your vet’s electronic scales is the best way to monitor your pet’s body condition. It’s difficult to assess this by just looking, especially when you see your pet every day, because weight gain happens so gradually.

Pets don’t get fat because they choose to eat too much: it’s because their owners choose to feed them so much.

If you have an obese pet, there’s no dodging it: it’s your fault. The situation can be remedied, so don’t despair. Take an action to do something about it today. Go on: pick up the phone, call your vet and arrange that all-important weigh-in.

Hyperthyroidism in cats.

This is one of the most commonly diagnosed endocrine (hormonal) diseases in cats.

Many older cats suffer from a variety of symptoms which might just be put down to ageing, or might previously have been attributed to kidney disease, but many of these will actually be in the early stages of hyperthyroidism. Over the last 20-30 years a great deal of research has been done on this disease, and treatment has improved as a result.

The thyroid glands lie in the neck, one either side of the windpipe, with occasional extra smaller glands present in some cats. The glands produce thyroid hormones which are involved in regulating metabolism, so they have an effect on most systems of the body. The glands can become enlarged and overactive, producing too much thyroid hormone. This is usually because of a benign (non-cancerous) change in the thyroid gland, but more rarely it can be caused by a tumour called a thyroid carcinoma.

Fluffy-BWThe typical cat with hyperthyroidism will be an older cat with some or all of the following symptoms:

  • loss of weight
  • increased appetite
  • increased thirst
  • increased heart rate
  • heart murmur
  • restlessness or hyperactivity
  • digestive upset
  • an unkempt coat
  • swelling of the thyroid glands in the neck

These sorts of symptoms will arouse suspicion that hyperthyroidism is the cause, but it can only be confirmed with a blood test to measure the levels of thyroid hormones. This would usually be combined with other tests to check kidney and liver function and to check for diabetes, as all these can have similar symptoms and of course there might sometimes be more than one problem going on.

If hyperthyroidism is diagnosed, treatment usually begins with tablets. The drugs reduce the production of thyroid hormone. The dose and frequency will depend on which drug is used and on how high the thyroid hormone levels were on the blood test. After 2 or 3 weeks a second blood test will show whether the levels are becoming closer to normal, at which time the dosage may be changed. If this treatment suits the patient, it can be continued long term with regular monitoring by blood tests. However, some cats are harder to give tablets to than others, and a few will suffer from side effects.

Another treatment option is surgical removal of the thyroid glands, which is usually very successful and offers a more permanent solution. The operation does involve some risks, particularly the risk of damaging other small structures next to the thyroids, like the parathyroid glands. (These are important in regulating the levels of calcium in the blood, and if damaged during surgery supplementation with calcium could be needed.) A cat with heart problems may be a poor risk for surgery, but often tablets can be used first to improve health so surgery is a better option, and additional drugs to control any heart problems may be given. In most cases, cats which have had their thyroids removed will not need to take tablets, but sometimes the problem can still return later, if for example the cat has some smaller gland tissue which was not removed with the main glands. This extra thyroid tissue, known as ectopic thyroid tissue, can be located anywhere in the neck or even within the chest. In some cats only one thyroid is affected at first so only one is removed, then some years later the same condition could occur on the other side.

The other main treatment available is with radioactive iodine, which is a specialist treatment only available at some centres in the UK. Radioactive iodine is given to the cat by injection and it becomes concentrated in the thyroid gland, where the radioactivity destroys the damaged tissue. One of the disadvantages of this treatment is that the cat has to be hospitalised for several weeks because of safety issues surrounding the radioactive material used. It is not dangerous to the cat itself but has to be handled safely to protect people working with it.

Decisions on which treatment would be best for an individual cat are best made in conjunction with the vet who knows all the details of the case. Where complicating factors like heart disease or kidney disease are present, these need to be treated as well. Once diagnosed, the outlook for a cat with hyperthyroidism is usually very good. Whichever treatment is used, it is likely to prolong life and improve the quality of life.

If you are worried that your cat is showing any of the symptoms listed, talk to your vet or use our interactive Cat Symptom Guide to help you decide what to do next.

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