15 yr old cat losing weight

Question
Our 15 year old maine coon cat has been losing weight for the past year and is now quite thin, but active and with a good appetite.  She lives indoors and has been given worming medicine, but continues to lose weight.  Any ideas on what is wrong?  Is this just because of her age perhaps?

Answer
Hello Greg,

I am not a vet so I would suggest asking your question in the ask the vet category.  Has she been given a thorough check up?  I wouldn't blame it on age, it could have something to do with it if her aging immune system has caught a virus or something to that effect but age alone does not cause a cat to loose weight.

Have you ever looked into a raw diet?  What does she eat?  Raw beef is awesome for putting weight on a cat, but again you need to rule out illness and make sure she is not skipping meals.  Unfortunately cats are prone to fatty liver disease if they do not eat for a length of time, it is a viscous circle of not feeling well, skip a meal which makes them feel worse so they skip another meal and it can get serious very quickly with a cat.  If she is not eating use everything you can to entice her, broth, cooked chicken (NO BONES IF COOKED!!!) if you are not comfortable with raw, basically anything that will get her to eat.

Again, I am not a vet but in my opinion she needs to be seen and get a full CBC done that would show any problems that may be occuring that aren't completely obvious.  Also a stool sample so you can pinpoint any actual worms and treat for those specific varities, Especially something like a tapeworm which would do exactly this requires a specific medicine.

Hope this helps,

Natoma