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flower81 · Apr 1, 2008, 05:41 AM

My ginger taby cat is now 7 or 8 yrs old.
He was quite a chubby cat.
He now seems to be losing weight, however he still eats, plays, purrs and sleeps... his attitude hasn't changed.

Is there anything I need to worry about?

charlotte234s · Apr 1, 2008, 06:19 AM

It may just be getting older and sometimes as animals get older they lose weight. If he isn't sickly thin or showing other negative symptoms or poor health, not much to worry about. You should take him to the vet and get him checked for parasites though, if you're not on top of that sort of thing. Worms can make your cat lose weight, and eventually get sick.

flower81 · Apr 3, 2008, 02:20 AM

Thank you

morgaine300 · Apr 3, 2008, 04:34 PM

I don't consider 7 or 8 to be that old. A cat at that age can still have plenty of energy, and even a pinch of kitten left in them, and should still be relatively healthy.

If he was chubby, losing weight is probably a good thing from one point of view. Too many cats are overweight. But the other point of view is why is he losing weight, and I don't think it's an age issue. Has anything at all changes that you are aware of?

Yes, get him checked at the vet's. But get full blood work and urinalysis done while you're at it. That's old enough to start having blood work done, even if nothing appears wrong. (I've got one that's seven, appears perfectly healthy and I just got lab work done on him.) If nothing else, this can provide a baseline for when he gets older.

Losing weight for not obvious reasons can be a sign of some diseases, things worse than worms, though I think that's a bit on the young side. But I've seen plenty of exceptions.

flower81 · Apr 10, 2008, 04:03 AM

He still has energy and plays about like a little kitten. Got another cat and they play together which is so sweet.
So his behaviour seems fine.. and till now doesn't seem like he is losing more weight, but yes a visit at vet is probably necessary

Thanks

morgaine300 · Apr 11, 2008, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by flower81

He still has energy and plays about like a little kitten. Got another cat and they play together which is so sweet.
So his behaviour seems fine.. and till now doesnt seem like he is losing more weight, but yes a visit at vet is probably necessary

thanks

How long ago did you get the new cat and how much weight has this one lost? If he's only lost a little and he's been playing with that new cat, perhaps he's just getting more exercise?

I just got a new cat about a month ago and my 7 year old is now running around with her quite a bit. Not that he'd really gotten to be a totally lazy couch potato yet, but he was to an age of sleeping quite a bit and exercising less. But now he's running around all over and has actually lost a bit of weight.

But... I'm still a bit concerned even so. Your average person would not notice a bit of weight loss, but only more drastic weight loss. I don't know if you're the "average cat owner," or you're someone who notices more subtle changes. I had a cat with some health issues and that tends to make people learn to notice those subtle changes more, but I never did prior to that.